May the 4th and Friday Flashback day!
Kagaku Ninja Tai - Gatchaman
Tatsunoko Productions 1972 animated series became an international favourite when aired by Sandy Frank Productions in 1978.
Many of the toylines sold in the west had no bearing to the Sandy Frank show as they are from the Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter series, making them a curio rather than a must have back in the 1980's. As with most toylines this makes the later toys produced by POPY/Bandai difficult to find 40 years later, as are country specific toys.
Timeline of the vintage and original animated series.
1972-1980: Tatsunoko Gatchaman 105 ep, Gatchaman II 52 ep, Gatchaman Fighter 48 ep.
1978-1980: Sandy Frank BOTP 85 ep, created from the 1st Gatchaman series for the western market by editing and adding scenes for new characters such as 7-Zark-7 and 1-Rover-1 and adding space travel.
1986: Turner G Force 85 ep, used both BOTP Sandy Frank 85 ep and original Gatchaman first 87 ep in order (excl 81 & 86) to make a more faithful to the original series i.e. Goodbye 7-Zark-7, 1-Rover-1, space travel and Hello violence with more accurate dialogue.
1996-1997 Saban made Eagle Riders 65 ep from Gatchaman II & Gatchaman Fighter 100 ep.
There are other animated rehashes including OMV and of course cross-overs such as a Time Bokan crossover with Hurricane Polymar missing from the list.
Gatchaman Crowds and the Gatchaman movie are modern re-boots.
May the 4th to all Sci Fi, even though Gatchaman predates 1977, it was the coining in on Star Wars that brought Battle of the Planets to the rest of the world.
1978-1980: Sandy Frank BOTP 85 ep, created from the 1st Gatchaman series for the western market by editing and adding scenes for new characters such as 7-Zark-7 and 1-Rover-1 and adding space travel.
1986: Turner G Force 85 ep, used both BOTP Sandy Frank 85 ep and original Gatchaman first 87 ep in order (excl 81 & 86) to make a more faithful to the original series i.e. Goodbye 7-Zark-7, 1-Rover-1, space travel and Hello violence with more accurate dialogue.
1996-1997 Saban made Eagle Riders 65 ep from Gatchaman II & Gatchaman Fighter 100 ep.
There are other animated rehashes including OMV and of course cross-overs such as a Time Bokan crossover with Hurricane Polymar missing from the list.
Gatchaman Crowds and the Gatchaman movie are modern re-boots.
May the 4th to all Sci Fi, even though Gatchaman predates 1977, it was the coining in on Star Wars that brought Battle of the Planets to the rest of the world.
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