1979?
Euro Grendizer ("Goldorak"). When Mattel released their series of Shogun Warrior toys in the USA, the towering Jumbos were among the crown jewels of the lineup. Unfortunately, the series started running out of steam in the Star Wars-crazed late '70s, and Mattel ended the reign of the two-footers with Daimos.

Things were chugging along just dandy in Europe, though, where TV producers had the genius idea of actually broadcasting the animated shows the robots came from to hype the Shoguns. Seeing as the shows were basically produced as half-hour-long commercials to sell the toys in Japan, this'd seem like a no-brainer, but for a variety of reasons, it just never happened in the 'States. The shows hit Europe like wildfire, though, and Grandizer -- dubbed as "Goldorak" in France and Italy -- rocketed to the top of the heap. (In fact, the guy responsible for importing and translating the show into French, a man by the name of Saban, eventually scored paydirt again in the '90s with a pleather-clad kung-fu squad known as "The Power Rangers.")

Anyway, just as the Shogun series was taking its last gasps in America, Mattel Europe released this Jumbo toy as an exclusive for the robot-crazed European market.

Before fanatical collectors started going on an Internet-fueled rampage to find Japanese Jumbo toys, this Euro-only Goldorak was THE must have non-American Machinder. Sure, it was just a stipped-down shadow of the Japanese version; these days it's such a common sight on online auction services that people barely give it a second glance. But in a day and age before the internet and ebay and Yahoo Japan, it was seriously difficult (and expensive) to try and track one down.

Matt Alt