Mazinger Toy Lines - Play Ful Mazinger Z

Play Ful Mazinger Z

As in many other countries of Latin America, Mazinger was extremely popular in Argentina in the 80's. Because of the demand for merchandising, in 1985 toy manufacturer Play Ful obtained a license from Toei Animation to produce a line, but unlike other franchises (more popular in the U.S.), there were no moulds available to produce the toys, and so Play Ful had to develop their own. The resulting dolls were made of PVC and very fragile, but held a decent level of resemblance to the original characters, sometimes modifying the colors.

The first one to be made was Mazinger Z, and it featured launchable fists and a separate Hover Pilder. Subsequently, mechanical beasts Belgas V5, Brutus M3, Grengus C3 and Gelbros J3 were added to the line. These shared Mazinger's body but with different paint work and the particular traits of each mecha. Grengus C3 for example, didn't have fists but its characteristic black orbs, and these could be launched just like Mazinger's fists. Gelbros J3's left and right heads were fully articulated, and had claws instead of hands.

Aphrodite A was also included, and was probably the model that stranded the most from the original mecha. Her body was specially made and was completely different from the "male" mechas. She featured 3 pairs of breast missiles that could be fired thanks to a mechanism in her back. Jet Scrander was produced later, and also a Great Mazinger doll, which was a modified Mazinger Z.

Nowadays is quite difficult to obtain most of these toys in good conditions, since they were so fragile and had a number of accessories that could easily be lost.