Joel
and I have been watching and enjoying Voltron: Defender of the Universe
(1984) on Netflix over the holidays.
Although
Voltron
hasn’t quite reached the level of Joel’s current/ongoing Cyberman/Doctor
Who obsession, he loves one aspect in particular of the Japanese animated
series.
In
each episode, Haggar the Witch sends a fierce ro-beast to challenge Voltron and
the heroes of the Galaxy Alliance. These
ro-beasts arrive on planetary surfaces in kitted-up space coffins: weird
colorful caskets that “birth” the monstrosities
In
1984, the company Panosh Place created a whole line of really great Voltron
toys -- ships and figures -- including the Coffin of Doom (containing the Ro-Beast
Scorpius) and the Coffin of Darkness, which houses the Ro-Beast memorably
called “Mutilor.”
Both
of these swing open coffins house Voltron action figures, and feature
forward-aiming armament, as you can see from the photographs. The back of the coffin box describes the grim
vehicles thusly: “Only a dreaded Ro-beast
could live in this evil coffin. But this
is no ordinary resting place, because this horrific flying machine takes
Scorpius/Mutilor on his barbaric missions.
It
goes on to say: “Combat and chaos, that’s
why Haggar the Witch created the Coffin of Doom/Darkness. And with its wings spread, war lamp lit and
clicking battle sound, it more than lives up to its creator’s most diabolical
dreams.”
The
boxes also describe the terrifying pilots.
They thrive on “combat” and pilot the coffins.
“From
the moment you see” their "eerie glow” and hear their “forbidding sound, you
know that evil is on the way.”
“Voltron,
beware!”
Alas, the pilots are sold separately from the coffins of doom/darkness.
Now I
just need to get my hands on a Panosh Place Voltron and Castle of Lions…
Holy crappola! I remember that! I used to see Voltron back when I was a kid...I hear a movie is in the works, actually, I'm kind of surprised they haven't made it already considering how popular Transformers is and now Pacific Rim....a Voltron movie should get made already.
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