I was like most 80s kids – glued to the TV, mindlessly watching any cartoon I could find. There were shows like Popeye, Looney Tunes, Smurfs, He-Man, and GI Joe. But among all these cartoons, there was a group of shows that felt… different. Namely, they were more mature, the art style was cooler, and the stories felt more engaging. One of those shows was today’s topic: Voltron, Defender of the Universe.
To put it simply, Voltron was special. Compared to the other shows I watched daily, Voltron came from another universe. For example, the excitement of giant robots, space battles, and a heroic team of pilots were things the other shows just didn’t have. Also, it felt like it was for an older audience, and there was something about the animation and art style that set it apart from the rest. Then, there were the mice… and the king… and, of course, the huge robot lion warriors joining togther into a single cohesive team to fight monstrous creatures in space with an impossibly big sword. What’s not to like?
(^._.) ▬▬ι═══════>
Unfortunately, the show took an unexpected turn. One day, I tuned in, and Voltron was suddenly about a whole bunch of weird dudes driving a whole bunch of weird vehicles. Sure, the vehicles could combine into other things, including a big robot.. but it wasn’t Voltron! Where was the Voltron I loved? Why was this new series so different? I genuinely felt confused and betrayed. Nevertheless, I kept waiting for the lions to come back, and when they never did, I gave up on Voltron.
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Ultimately, it wasn’t until my late teens that I discovered Voltron was actually anime—a piece of Japanese media that had been remade and rebranded for American audiences. Suddenly, everything made sense. The art, the style, the storytelling—it all clicked. I learned that the original Voltron—the lion-form version—was a heavily edited version of an unpopular Japanese anime called Beast King Go-Lion. You see, enterprising businessmen had packaged Go-Lion together with another Japanese series, Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, to create what we know as Voltron in the U.S. It was an ambitious attempt to “Voltron” together two unrelated series in service of one noble goal: selling toys to American kids.
(ﾉ$ヮ$)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ヽ(￣(ｴ)￣)ﾉ
As a kid, the Voltron toys were everywhere. There were five lions, all unique, all special. The blue lion piloted by the Princess, the green lion by Pidge, the yellow by Hunk, the red by Lance, and the black lion by Keith. I always wanted the full set so I could form the legendary Voltron, but I was never lucky enough to have any of them. To her credit, my mom did get me a Voltron toy, but it wasn’t the lion version I wanted. Nope, she ended up getting me a non-transforming Vehicle Voltron toy.
┻━┻︵ \(°□°)/ ︵ ┻━┻
As an adult, I decided to dig deeper and watch the original Go-Lion episodes in Japanese. A wave of nostalgia flooded over me, but when I watched the episodes objectively, I realized something. The series wasn’t as amazing as I had remembered. It lacked the emotional depth that makes other great anime stand out. I understood why Go-Lion wasn’t a hit in Japan—it just didn’t have the magic that makes stories truly unforgettable.
‿( ́ ̵ _-`)‿
However, Voltron still gets one thing absolutely right: the toys. While the original die-cast toys from the 80s hold a special place in my heart, several advancements have also been made along the way. Companies have produced a range of high-quality toys aimed at adult collectors, with advanced posability. In fact, in the featured picture you can see my collection: the original 80s Voltron toys in lion form, along with two Soul of Chogokin figures: the GX-71 Beast King Go-Lion (back-left) and the GX-88 Dairugger XV (back-right).
d[o_0]b
These toys aren’t just pieces of plastic and metal; they’re reminders of a time when I first fell in love with something that became a lifelong obsession. I love posing them, dusting them, and sometimes just looking at them with a wistful smile. It’s a nostalgic feeling that re-watching the anime never quite gave me. It’s the toys that bring me back to those moments of childhood wonder.
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Voltron—specifically the toys—holds a special place in my heart. It sparked my interest in anime and manga, and it continues to be a part of my collection to this day. If reading this interested you, keep an eye on ye olde blog for more posts like this!