1980s VOLTRON PART 6 - 1984 MATCHBOX VOLTRON 1 (a.k.a DAIRUGGER XV)

I wasn't sure if I was gonna like this toy. It is not a chogokin, the cartoon was weak compared to the Lion Voltron (Golion in Japan) and it had ridiculous 15 vehicles that combined to form 1 giant robot. By chance I got this from a local collector and after playing with it for a while, I am hooked. This is one great toy robot and standing at 16" tall, it is taller than my Godaikin Golion!

The Matchbox version doesnt comes with sword and mini antenna like the Japan Popy version. Here's the box art. Beautiful.

Here's the combined Air Warrior.

Some refer to this as Sea Team but the instruction says its Space Warrior.

Finally, the Land Warrior.

Some of these vehicles have rubber tyres. One of the reason I hesitated to buy this earlier is because of the rubber tyres - these tyres gets crack and worn out over time. Luckily this set of wheels are still in pristine condition.

These vehicle also have 'motorised' action. (Motorised = friction)

Here he is, fully combined! The joints for the red plane that attaches to Vehicle Voltron's chest is quite stiff. I had trouble removing it earlier and was worried it might break. So for the robot transformation, I just put it gently on the chest, didnt push all the way through.

And this guy is heavy, eventhough it's plastic.

What's cool about this toy is that it has Rocket Punch Feature! And the elbows bends.

All the vehicles have this embossed copyright mark. It is stated as 1982, but I guess Matchbox's version only came out 2 years later. 1982 was the year the original Popy Dairugger XV release.

Overall, it's very nice and I am satisfied. The only worry is the rubber tyres. Hopefully it will stay this way for years to come. eBay prices for a complete mint in box is USD350 - 500.