Hover Pileder & Mazinger Head by Soul of Popynica

Those of us who were born during the 70’s very well remember who was probably the most popular Super Robot – Mazinger Z. Through the years Mazinger enjoyed TV series, t-shirts and of course toys. When Bandai started out with their Soul of Chogokin (SOC) line their very first character was Mazinger Z (GX-01). Collectors went crazy and started collecting the SOC line. It was a success and Bandai even released a black version, gold version and eventually a reissue aptly name GX-01R.

Bandai eventually released another line called SOP or Soul of Popynica. SOP launched two items that would make Mazinger collectors go crazy, the Hover Pileder (PX-01) and a Mazinger Head (PX-01X).

Hover Pileder also includes its pilot Koji Kabuto while the Mazinger Head features light up eyes when you land the Pileder on top of it. Those of you who enjoyed the series back then know what I am writing about. Once Koji’s Pileder lands on Mazinger’s head, the Super Robot is activated thus giving Koji full control.

You can still probably purchase the Hover Pileder but the Mazinger Head has long been sold out (2000 release). I bought 2 sets (one for my friend Kenneth) around 10 years ago during one of my vacation trips to Hong Kong. The Mazinger head is a rare collectible and I have been asked several times by several people if I am willing to sell it.

PhoTOYgrapher’s Perspective:

The Hover Pileder is die-cast and Koji is a bit pose able so you can do certain ‘scene’ shots. The Mazinger head is made of vinyl and you put two AA batteries for its light up eyes.

I am thinking bringing them outdoors and maybe get a good sky background. If you are doing tabletop then digitally enhancing the background is the way to go. You can do a flying scene for Pileder by tying some strings and removing them later via Photoshop. For the more creative minds like my friend Bleau who totally made my jaw dropped when he posted his Iron Man pictures, he used an LCD TV as a backdrop and then retouched via Photoshop.

The results? See it for yourself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11178052@N03/sets/72157622502501738/

Issue:

1.) I was wondering why SOP never continued this line, it would have been nice to see a head versions of Great Mazinger, Boss Borot, Aphrodite, Venus A, etc.