VINTAGE GOKIN 1977 CLOVER ST ZANBOT 3 (ZAMBOT) MUTEKI CHOJIN ZANBOTTO
- patmuseum
- Feb 10, 2019
- 2 min read
Zambot 3 is an anime series that was aired in 1977-78. It was an uncoventional and pretty intense anime, but more on this later. I was in the flea market today looking for the elusive Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner Lego set for a family member but I found this vintage robot instead! Wasn't really sure if I was going to buy but once I saw the contents, I bought it without hesitation.. This figure looks mint with minimal wear, comes complete with all the accessories, missiles still attached to sprue and with both unused sticker sheets!
This robot is commonly known as Zambot 3 but as you see from the box art, it is stated as Zanbot 3. So I'll refer the figure as Zanbot as per the box.
It has a round sticker with Zanbot image. There are no copyright date on the figure or box. Since the anime was aired from 1977-78, I presumed this toy is from that time too.
The toy looks new!
Play feature No 1 - the usual shooting fists (plus now open palms). The two chrome missile launcher attached to the knee and it shoots missiles, swords and the arrow heads. The red arrow thingi also attached to the hips of the robot.
His fist can't hold the sword or sai. But the weapons can be inserted into his arms and fired off.
The same goes for the red arrow heads thingi. I don't know what they are called but I am pretty sure they have some very cool name...
The figure is about 70% diecast. The entire upper body, torso, hips and legs are diecast.
It has small white wheels in his back pack and underneath both feet
It comes with 2 pairs of hands - fist and open palms. Checked all the firing mechanism on the figure - the spring works great despite its age. (42 years as of todate)
Articulation is limited to the shoulder and elbow.
Legs move a teeny bit to the back.
Play feature No 2 - It has a shooting head. The head is given the name Zanbird.
Play feature No 3 - Transform into a ship ...well kind of. Just lay the figure down, straighten the feet, extend the wings and you can roll it along. (Remember the mini wheels on the back pack and feet?).
Clover logo embossed on his butt.
Another copyright thingi embossed on his legs.
Coming back to the anime. It was intense and unconventional because in the final episode, (spoiler alert) the robot got destroyed and two of the main characters died in the battle. And these main characters were kids!! Imagine kids watching 'kids' die in an anime??!! Then there's the human bomb episodes where the aliens used human as bombs.... it was very matured for a kid's show!!
As for the toy, this is a real gem and if you like diecast vintage super robots, it is highly recommended. It is quite rare and expensive for a complete mint in box specimen.