Shogun Warriors – 24 Inch

Shogun Warriors – 24 Inch 1977-1980

Mattel always had huge success in foreign markets, which gave them access to many foreign properties. Anime and Tokusatu shows, based on giant battling robots were extremely popular across Asian markets. This inspired Mattel to create a new line of robot toys for North America, thus, the Shogun Warriors were born. Mattel’s 24 inch Shogun Warriors line was released from 1977 to 1980. Seven giant robots were released in all, with Goldrake/Goldorak only being released overseas. The creature lineup consisted of just two monsters, being the iconic Godzilla and Rodan!


For more information about Mattel’s Shogun Warriors 24 Inch Figures, please see bottom of the page for a complete summary.

Shogun Warriors (1977-1980): 24 Inch Figures

Mattel released seven different Shogun Warrior figures for their Jumbo 24 Inch sized series. An Eighth figure, Zargon, was released as a Sears Exclusive and yet another figure, Goldrake/Goldorak, was only released overseas.

Daimos

Market Value:
Boxed $850 – $1,000
Loose $200 – $300

Daimos
Accessories: Firing Yellow Rockets x 4, Launching Fist, Detachable Arm
Years Released: 1979, 1980
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: Daimos did not suffer from many of the original variations of the other Shogun Warriors figures, mostly due to its late release. Also, due to this late release, Daimos is among the harder to find robots from the jumbo Shogun Warriors. Daimos did not have a lot of the neat features that other Shogun’s had. He came with four yellow missiles, that would shoot from leg launchers. Two unique features about Daimos are his arms could bend at the elbows and his head rotated 360 degrees.

Dragun

Market Value:
Boxed $400 – $500
Loose $150 – $225

Dragun
Accessories: Shuriken Missiles x 10 (later versions would only have 6), Battle Axes x 3, Spinning Saw Blades on the Gloves
Years Released: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: Dragun was among the first Shogun Warrior jumbo figures to be released in 1977, and would go through a few variations during its run. Like the other initial Shogun’s in 1977, Dragun had a head made of softer material, which was changed on future waves. There were varying screw patterns holding it together, depending on which version. The wheel trucks were initially molded onto the figure, but later releases would see them as attachments. There are also minor color variations with the later releases.

Gaiking

Market Value:
Boxed $450 – $550
Loose $150 – $225

Gaiking
Accessories: Rockets x 4, Chest Launcher, Launching Fist
Years Released: 1978, 1979, 1980
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: Gaiking was released in 1978, along with Godzilla. Gaiking is one of more easy identifiable Shoguns due to his unique design and paint job. He comes with a bright yellow dragon face on his chest, with the eyes acting as rocket launchers. His right fist could also launch towards his enemies. The rockets for Gaiking were the same exact ones that also accompanied Mazinga. Gaiking also had the same bendable arm as Daimos. This was a good thing, because it allowed Gaiking to aim his fist at a target before launching it.

Godzilla

Market Value:
Boxed $550 – $700
Loose $200 – $300

Godzilla
Accessories: Launchable Fists, Detachable Tail, Tongue of Flames
Years Released: 1978, 1979, 1980
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: The shogun Warriors wouldn’t be much of an action figure line with a bunch of robots running around looking at each other. They needed an enemy to fight, so Mattel came up with two amazing creatures to fit that bill. One of them was the legendary Godzilla himself! Godzilla was released in 1978, and wasn’t exactly considered a “Shogun Warrior” or Jumbo Machinder, but like I said, the good guys needed a bad guy to fight. Godzilla has the distinction of being the shortest of the jumbo Shoguns, coming in at 19.5 inches. To make up for the lack of gadgets or accessories, Mattel made Godzilla’s fists launchable. He also had a “Tongue of Flames” that would come out of his mouth when you worked the red lever on the back of head.

Mazinga

Market Value:
Boxed $400 – $500
Loose $150 – $250

Great Mazinga

Market Value:
Boxed $400 – $500
Loose $150 – $250

Mazinga / Great Mazinga
Accessories: Firing Rockets x 14 (later versions would only have 10), Swords x 2, Head Spaceship, Gauntlet Fist
Years Released: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: Mazinga was among the first Shogun Warrior jumbo figures to be released in 1977, and would go through a few variations during its run. Like the other initial Shogun’s in 1977, Mazinga had a head made of softer material, which was changed on future waves. There were varying screw patterns holding it together, depending on which version. The wheel trucks were initially molded onto the figure, but later releases would see them as attachments. There are also minor color variations with the later releases. The name change took place during the 3rd wave of jumbo figures, and the missiles saw a color change from red to white from this wave on.

Raydeen

Market Value:
Boxed $400 – $500
Loose $175 – $275

Raydeen
Accessories: Delta Wing Missiles x 5, Shield, Launching Iron-Cutter Battle Axe Fist
Years Released: 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: Raydeen was among the first Shogun Warrior jumbo figures to be released in 1977, and would go through a few variations during its run. Like the other initial Shogun’s in 1977, Raydeen had a head made of softer material, which was changed on future waves. There were varying screw patterns holding it together, depending on which version. The wheel trucks were initially molded onto the figure, but later releases would see them as attachments. There are minor color variations with the later releases as well. Later versions also saw Raydeen’s shoulder guards being removed for some reason.

Rodan

Market Value:
Boxed $4,000 – $5,000
Loose $800 – $1,100

Rodan
Accessories: Wings, Opening & Closing Beak, Claws
Years Released: 1980
Scarcity Factor: VERY tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: The shogun Warriors needed an enemy to fight, so Mattel came up with two amazing creatures to fit that bill. One of them was the legendary Godzilla himself! The other was his longtime adversary, Rodan. Rodan was released in 1980, and was the last jumbo Shogun Warrior to be released. Rodan was made in the same scale of Godzilla, making him shorter than the other robot Shogun Warriors. Rodan did not come with any gadgets or accessories, aside from his opening and closing beak when you worked the red lever on the back of head. Loose versions of Rodan are usually found with torn or broken wings, due to child wear and tear.

Zargon

Market Value:
Boxed $2,000 – $3,000
Loose $900 – $1,200

Zargon (Sears Exclusive)
Accessories: Launching Fists x 2, Dual Crank Wheels, Detachable Face Chest Plate
Years Released: 1979
Scarcity Factor: VERY tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: Zargon is a bit of an mystery. He is not usually considered one of the regular Shogun Warriors, but was made by Mattel and is a part of the Shogun Warriors line, so yes, he is a Shogun Warrior. Zargon was released for only one year in 1979, as a Sears Exclusive. There’s not a lot of information written about him, but according to the box description, “He’s many toys in one, He’s self-propelled, and his fists launch like rockets”. Zargon is also advertised as “Mechanized”. He definitely resembles Gaiking, with the giant yellow dragon face on his chest. Needless to say, this is the rarest robot Shogun Warrior from the Jumbo line.

Goldrake

Market Value:
Boxed $1,500 – $2,000
Loose $750 – $900

Goldorak

Market Value:
Boxed $1,500 – $2,000
Loose $750 – $900

Goldrake / Goldorak
Accessories: Firing Rockets x 14 (later versions would only have 10), Swords x 2, Launchable Fist, Scythes x 2
Years Released: 1978, 1979
Scarcity Factor: VERY tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: This jumbo Shogun Warrior was never released in the United States, and primarily only sold in European and Asian markets. The Italian version was named Goldrake, while the French version was named Goldorak. His hand had the same rocket firing mechanism as Mazinga, along with the same type of rockets. His non-firing hand was able to be launched. Goldrake/Goldorak also came with two Scythes which could come together and form a larger weapon. This is considered among the rarer Shogun Warrior items and can be very difficult to track down on the secondary market.

Shogun Warriors (1977-1980): 24 Inch Accessories

Mattel did not release any accessories to be used with their 24 inch Shogun Warriors figures during its run.

Shogun Warriors (1977-1980): 24 Inch Playsets

Mattel did not release any large scale playsets for their 24 Inch Shogun Warriors line, but how cool would it be if they did. Can you imaging the size of the playset!

Shogun Warriors (1977-1980): 24 Inch Vehicles

Mattel also did not release any vehicles for their 24 Inch Shogun Warriors line, as it wasn’t really necessary with these giant robots that could fly.

By the mid 1970’s, the toy industry had changed in a big way. Action Figure lines were dominating toy sales and every company was trying to get the next GI Joe or Six Million Dollar Man line. Mattel Toys was enjoying massive sales and success with their ultra popular Barbie Doll line for girls and Big Jim action figure line for boys. Mattel’s Big Jim may have been winding down in the U.S toy aisles, but it was still dominating across the globe on the International market. This huge success in foreign markets allowed Mattel to take some chances on other foreign properties as well. They saw that Anime and Tokusatu shows were huge in Japan, and across many Asian markets. Many of these shows focused on giant robots that fought other giant creatures. That gave Mattel the idea to create a new series of toys based on similar giant robots and creatures for the North American market. Thus, the Shogun Warriors were born. The Shogun Warriors focused on a team of giant robots, that borrowed from existing popular Japanese shows to fight giant creatures, that also borrowed from already existing monsters. Mattel’s initial Shogun Warriors line was released in 1977, and focused exclusively on the giant 24 Inch figures.

Mattel had a huge already established universe of characters to chose from, when it came to putting their Shogun Warriors team together, and they chose some pretty iconic characters for their Shogun Warriors toy line. The team of giant robots consisted of Daimos, Dragun, Gaiking, Raydeen and of course, Mazinga. The creatures lineup consisted of just two monsters for the good guys to fight, but if you had to pick just two monsters for a series, it would be these guys. Yes, we are talking about Godzilla and Rodan! Each character went through various packaging variations but the figures pretty much remained the same. The figures were accompanied with a lot of different accessories and super cool attack actions that made these things incredibly fun to play with. Another figure, Zargon, was offered for only one year in 1979 as a Sears Exclusive. Another figure, Goldrake/Goldorak, was only released overseas and never saw the inside of an American retailer.

The packaging for the 24 Inch Shogun Warriors line was very eye catching, and saw some minor changes during its run. The initial design used a box format, with the figure inside of a closed box. The box front was adorned with a beautiful large action photo of the same figure, front and center. The general paint theme was a multi-color look with a focus on the classic Shogun Warriors logo, just below the figure photo. The logo featured the word Shogun in big, bright red letters with Warriors in smaller yellow letters. Both words were centered on a bright yellow background. The name of the character was always directly underneath the logo. Later releases of this line had minor variations to the box, but essentially kept the same design. One significant change was to Mazinga as his name was changed to “Great Mazinga” on later releases.

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