Playmates Toys’ “Voltron 84″ Classic Legendary Lions, which were originally released at mass retail in late 2017, are being re-released as a GameStop exclusive.
The five lions combine into a 16” Voltron. Black Lion features electronic lights and sounds. Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow Lion each include a variety of accessories.
As co-host of Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast, I reviewed these lion toys for the podcast’s YouTube channel. Check it out here.
Here is a link to all Voltron merchandise at GameStop: Link
These are my all-time favorite toys of the 1980s Voltron lons that don’t carry pilot action figures. (Yes, I like them more than the Popy/Bandai Golion of the early 1980s, the classic Matchbox version in the mid-1980s, and the Bandai Soul of Chogokin GX-71 of 2017.)
One of the surprisingly few links between the Lion Force and Vehicle Team episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe is the familial link between Pidge, a member of the Voltron Lion Force and the pilot of Green Lion, and Chip, a member of the Voltron Vehicle Team’s Air Team, and the pilot of Rugger 4.
Because 104 episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe were adapted from episodes of Beast King Golion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, some Voltron fans believe that Voltron‘s mythos was created mostly by happenstance, as each episode was adapted. There is almost certainly a degree of truth to this notion, but if a viewer examines the episodes more closely, he or she might find more depth to the story and characters than one might expect — and perhaps more than the writers actually intended. This is certainly the case with Pidge and Chip.
“Letters from Home” establishes that Pidge and Chip are twin brothers.
LISA: Chip’s very close to his brother. Don’t forget — they’re twins.
The episode also establishes that the brothers are orphans.
LISA: Chip and Pidge were orphans as children. Their adoptive parents took them both, so they wouldn’t be parted.
Pidge, himself a highly intelligent person, considers Chip to be the smarter twin, as he indicates in a letter to Chip in the episode “Letters from Home.”
PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): You always had the brains!
Later, after Chip has joined the Voltron Vehicle Team, his teammates acknowledge and admire his intelligence. In “A Man-Made Sun,” the five-member Air Team (of which Chip is a member), and Sea Team leader Krik, are in a death trap.
JEFF: Chip, you’re the scientific whiz — any suggestions?!
Chip saves everyone, after recalling some of his and his brother’s childhood interests.
CHIP: My brother Pidge and I used to study solar power as a hobby.
At some point in their childhoods, Pidge and Chip are adopted. They meet their parents at the orphanage. Pidge recalls some of the details behind the adoption in “The Green Medusa.”
PIDGE (inner monologue): I know what it’s like… finding new parents and a new home. I was an orphan, and I remember the day my new parents came to take me away. (Flashback to the orphanage) WOMAN: Are you sure you’ll like living with us? PIDGE: Yes, ma’am. I know I will. (Present) PIDGE (inner monologue): She was very good to me, but I always wished I’d had my own mother.
Pidge provides further details of the adoption in a letter that he writes to Chip in the episode “Letters from Home.”
PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): Remember the day at the orphanage, when Mom and Dad came to adopt me, and I said I wouldn’t go unless they took you, too? We swore we’d never be separated! Well, we’re finally separated, and I miss you.
The accompanying video, reused from “The Green Medusa,” shows only Pidge shaking the hand of his future adoptive mother.
We don’t know how old Pidge and Chip were when they became orphans. We don’t know how old they were when they were adopted. For that matter, we don’t know old they are in the “present” of the Voltron programs. In the footage from “The Green Medusa,” Pidge looks the same as he does in the “present” scenes of the program. This might suggest that Pidge and Chip were adopted no more than a few years before they joined the Voltron Force.
How are we to interpret what Pidge told Chip in the letter? Were Pidge and Chip’s future adoptive parents really planning to adopt only Pidge? Did Pidge have to put his foot down and insist that they also adopt Chip? Maybe the prospective parents had just met only Pidge, and Pidge told them up front that he and Chip must be adopted together, perhaps even before the prospective parents knew that Pidge had a brother.
In any case, how would Chip feel to be reminded, years later in a letter, that Pidge had insisted that Chip be adopted along with him? Pidge undoubtedly meant it to express how close they were to one another… but it’s also possible that the words, especially if said repeatedly over years, would make Chip feel inferior to his twin brother.
I point this out, because at the beginning of “Letters from Home,” Chip is sad because he hasn’t received a letter from his mother. (He receives the letter from Pidge at the end of the episode.) To hide this from his teammates, he goes so far as to write a fake letter that he claims is from his mother.
CHIP: Mom says, “I think of you often. We had a nice long letter from your brother Pidge today. He’s fine. I wish you and he were stationed together. Twins shouldn’t be separated. I miss you both.”
One might interpret this as more than a fake letter. It sounds like a cry for help. Maybe Chip isn’t doing well with the separation from his brother, but he perceives that Pidge is doing fine. And maybe it’s Chip who wishes he and Pidge were stationed together, especially when we learn later from Pidge’s letter that the brothers swore they’d never be separated.
In any case, Chip’s friends notice his sadness.
KRIK: Obviously his mother, for some good reason, couldn’t write to him this time around. So he felt abandoned all over again.
Chip is so distraught that he fails to join the rest of the Air Team on a mission. Later his teammate Rocky looks directly at Chip and speaks of him in the third person, with words so pointed as to suggest that Rocky knows just how to hurt his friend most. I don’t think Rocky means to be as hurtful as he comes across, since in many other episodes, he and Chip seem to be close pals, but…
ROCKY: This squirt thinks because he’s small, he gets special privileges! Well, he don’t! He’s gotta grow up and learn to be half the man his brother Pidge is!
Chip felt abandoned by his real parents, and he feels abandoned now from not having gotten a letter from his mother. He feels inferior to his twin brother, and Rocky’s words seem to confirm that belief. Ouch.
Later Chip talks about his fake letter to his friend, Lisa of the Sea Team.
CHIP: I wrote this to myself, and everybody knows it. How can a person be so dumb and live? Why didn’t she write? Maybe something bad happened to Pidge!
Chip just said, in so many words, that he doesn’t deserve to live! Then he covers it up by worrying once more about Pidge.
And how does Lisa respond?
LISA: Everything’ll be all right, Chip. You weren’t the only one who didn’t get mail. Sometimes a packet gets held up or lost. Aw, come on. You wouldn’t want your brother to see you like this, would you?
Soon afterward, a Robeast attacks, and the Voltron pilots are called to their ships.
LISA: Chip, yo you hear that? They need us. Come along. It’s not too late! What about Pidge? Wouldn’t he jump if *his* team needed him at a time like this? CHIP: Wait up, Lisa! I’m coming! Just because I’ve been a wimp, doesn’t mean I have to stay a wimp! LISA: You’re no wimp.
Lisa also means well, but her words seem to reinforce — twice — that Pidge is the better of the twins. And when Chip calls himself a wimp, she refutes his feelings.
I feel for the guy.
And at the end of the episode, when Chip finally gets that letter from Pidge, how does it conclude?
PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): Mostly I work with our Voltron team to defend Princess Allura and her planet from invasion. I fly the Green Lion, and I form Voltron’s left arm. I’m left-handed, you know. What part are you on your Voltron team? You oughta be the head. You always had the brains! Hey, do you think we’ll ever get to take that vacation we’ve been dreaming about for years? Well, write soon, and fill me in on everything! Chip (in tears, reading the letter): Love, Pidge.
Although the letter doesn’t state this outright, it seems like this is the first letter that Chip has received from Pidge since they separated. Why else would Chip not know about Pidge’s mission, or which Lion Pidge pilots, and why would Pidge not know which Rugger Chip pilots?
It’s no wonder that Chip is so sad. He became an orphan. He feels that he was adopted only because Pidge insisted that Chip be adopted. He feels inferior to Pidge. His friends’ words seem to reinforce that he is inferior to Pidge. He hasn’t heard from Pidge in weeks, months, or even longer. And he hasn’t heard from his mother as he had expected.
But it gets worse. In an earlier episode, “Pidge’s Home Planet,” Pidge and Chip’s home planet is destroyed!
PIDGE: Picking up radioactive missiles heading for Planet Balto! Oh, no! That’s my home planet, Keith! It’s being attacked! PIDGE: “My family was moving to another planet. I don’t know if they made it! Gotta go and see! LANCE: The whole planet has been destroyed! Wiped out! HUNK: Pidge, we’re near your village! PIDGE: I see, but I don’t recognize it. Wait, that’s my school… my home! PIDGE: Looks like the people escaped to another planet, but my world is sure ruined! KEITH: At least we’re sure everybody got safely off the planet before Lotor started his dirty work.
After a battle between Lotor and Voltron, Balto explodes!
PIDGE: At least I can think of Planet Arus as my home now till I find where my family has gone. Wish I could’ve seen my back yard once more.
Later in the episode, Pidge receives welcome news from his friend and teammate.
ALLURA: When get back to Arus, I’m going to make you an honorary citizen! Then you’ll have both a new home and a new world. Okay, Pidge? PIDGE: I’d like that.
And later, on Arus:
ALLURA: To Pidge! Now a full-fledged citizen of Planet Arua! PIDGE (to the Space Mice): Hi, fellow citizens! This is *my* country now! I could become a duke! An earl or a baron or maybe even a knight! But gimme your honest opinion. Am I too short to be a prime minister?
Pidge might seem to be in a better state than his brother, but Pidge might not be in the best mindset either. In “The Sleeping Princess,” Prince Lotor and witch Haggar execute an elaborate plan to make Princess Allura seem to have died, so that during her funeral, they can steal her body and take her back to Planet Doom. As Lotor drives the hijacked, horse-drawn hearse, Pidge jumps onto the carriage and tries to strangle Lotor. Eventually during a skirmish, Lotor stops the hearse and holds the unconscious Allura in his arms, ready to take her away. Pidge halts their plans temporarily by revealing a grenade and pulling out its pin with his teeth!
PIDGE: Her life means more than yours or mine or anybody’s!
Lotor then puts Allura on the ground.
PIDGE: Now get out! I oughta feed you this!
Then Pidge, who is still holding the live grenade, charges at Lotor and Haggar! Hunk and Keith plead with Pidge to get rid of the grenade, but he ignores them. As Pidge reaches Lotor, Lotor leaps over Pidge’s head. Pidge is knocked backward, landing next to Allura, and the grenade flies out of his hand. Pidge places himself over Allura’s body to shield her from the coming blast. The grenade lands on the hearse and explodes!
What was Pidge thinking? Anyone in the Voltron Force would stop at nothing to protect Allura from Lotor, but… a grenade? Why did Pidge have a grenade to begin with? Was he the only person who brought a grenade to Allura’s staged funeral? And why did he pull the pin so early during the confrontation with Lotor?
Pidge usually seems like an outgoing and joyful person, but his behavior during this incident suggests that he was in a dark place. Did he feel imdebted to Allura for making him an honorary citizen of her planet? Was this culmination of his childhood as an orphan, a lengthy separation from his twin brother, and the destruction of his home planet?
Pidge and Chip weren’t the only kids in their adopted family. They also have a younger sister. Pidge mentions her in the episode “Surrender,” after he meets a young girl named Tammy, who tells Pidge that after she grows up, she wants to become a Space Explorer like Pidge and the rest of the Voltron Force.
PIDGE (inner monologue): She reminds me of my kid sister back with the Space Explorers on Planet Terra.
Even as members of the Voltron Force, Pidge and Chip seem to be minors, and they have an even younger sister who is among other Space Explorers. If we assume that Pidge and Chip are about twelve years old, how old would their younger sister be — ten? Even younger? Tammy seemed to be no older than about eight.
March 4, 2019, Update: Shannon Muir suggested to me that perhaps one or both of Pidge and Chip’s adopted parents were career Space Explorers. This might have influenced the brothers’ decision to become Space Explorers themselves, and it might explain why their sister was “with the Space Explorers” — because she was with her parents.
How are Pidge and Chip related to their sister? She is mentioned only in “Surrender.” She might not be their biological sister. She might be the biological child of Pidge and Chip’s adoptive parents — or she might also be adopted.
In “Final Victory,” Lotor has been defeated — although it’s not known for how long — and Pidge contemplates the future.
Pidge (inner monologue): Now that there’s peace in *this* part of the universe, I guess the Galaxy Alliance will be sending us out on assignment some place else. Hey, maybe they’ll call us back to join the rest of the Voltron Force! I’ll get to see my brother, Chip, again! I’m gonna write him a apace letter right away!
Aboard the Stellar Ship Explorer, Chip receives another letter.
ROCKY: Hey, Chip, looks like you got a *real* letter today! CHIP: It’s from my brother, Pidge! He says their Voltron Force defeated all the Drule bad guys in the Danubian Galaxy. Now maybe they’ll be coming back to join us! If the Galaxy Alliance doesn’t decide to transfer them to another trouble spot. JEFF: And if *we* don’t get sent to another galaxy! But then we expect that, because we’re all a part of Voltron, Defender of the Universe!
The twins finally re-unite in “Fleet of Doom.” We see them smiling and shaking hands, and a Space Mouse sits on a shoulder of each brother. Chip is taller than Pidge, and they don’t look exactly alike, which suggests that they are fraternal rather than identical twins.
After the events of “Fleet of Doom,” I imagine that Pidge showed his brother some of the Space Mice’s talents, which he had mentioned in his first letter to Pidge in “Letters from Home.”
PIDGE (voice over – as if reading his own letter to Chip): When we’re not flying, I spend my time training animals. You oughta see the great act I’m putting together with some very clever mice here at the Castle.
As an additional curiosity, in “A Ghost and Four Keys,” Pidge calls himself an “Earth man.”
PIDGE: Come on, you robots! You’re only a bunch of nuts and bolts! Let’s see what you can do against one little Earth man!
Why would Pidge call himself an “Earth man?” Before joining the Voltron Force, the brothers had lived on Balto. Did they live on Earth before they were adopted? Were they born on Earth? Did Pidge call himself an “Earth man” simply because he had attended the Space Academy of the Galaxy Alliance, which was headquartered on Earth? Voltron: The Third Dimension establishes Pidge to be a native of Balto, and Voltron Force establishes the same for Pidge and Chip, but that’s not necessarily true in Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
August 23, 2019, Update: I recently noticed a voiceover line of Pidge from the episode “The Little Prince.” The Voltron Force, trapped on the Omega Comet, is on its way to oblivion. A mysterious angel appears before them and offers to them the opportunity to proceed to the afterlife, sacrificing Arus to Lotor, or to return to Arus, sacrificing this opportunity to see what lies beyond. Pidge considers the alternatives:
PIDGE: Maybe I’d see my family again. No, we’ve gotta go back to Arus!
It’s unclear whether Pidge is referring to his biological parents or his adoptive parents. In “Pidge’s Home Planet,” Pidge mentions that he needs to find out where his presumably adoptive family has gone following the devastation of Balto. Maybe he subsequently learned that his adoptive family did not survive.
Pidge and Chip overcame major obstacles in their younger years, they lost their home planet, and they continue to struggle with feelings of abandonment and insecurity. But they are every bit as heroic as their bigger teammates in the Voltron Force.
During a recent re-watch of the Voltron: Defender of the Universe episode “Letters from Home,” which was adapted from the Armored Fleet Dairugger XV episode “Get Yourself Together, Mutsu,” I noticed a funny Easter egg.
In this single shot, Ginger’s Voltron vehicle or “Rugger” bears the name “USS Enterprise,” presumably from Star Trek! Some old-school fans differentiate the Vehicle Team episodes of 1980s Voltron by likening it to Star Trek, while likening the Lion Force episodes to Star Wars. Maybe this is why!
I have no idea why the “USS Enterprise” marking would be next to an “SR-5” marking. Ginger’s Rugger is Rugger #5, so “R-5” would make sense… but what’s with the “S?” In Voltron, Ginger is part of the Air Team — but “Air” doesn’t start with “S.” The five Air Team vehicles combine into the Strato Fighter, so maybe that’s where the “S” comes from. On the other hand, in Dairugger, the team is called the Air Rugger Team — the “Aki Team” for short, and the five Ruggers form the Air Rugger. None of those terms start with “S.”
Then again, I’m trying to rationalize a marking that’s next to a nonsensical “USS Enterprise” marking. Curse you, brain, for overthinking yet again! :)
Neil Ross, best known to Voltron fans as the voices of Keith and Pidge in Voltron: Defender of the Universe, has written a new book called Vocal Recall: A Life in Radio and Voiceovers. As described on Neil’s website, NeilBook.com:
How does a kid who survives the rain of V-2 rockets on London in the waning years of World War II, end up in Hollywood announcing the Diamond Jubilee of Oscar? Veteran Hollywood voice actor Neil Ross tells the amazing story of his life, and fifty-plus year career, in two exciting, highly competitive professions in his autobiography: Vocal Recall A Life in Radio and Voiceovers.
Check out NeilBook.com for a full description of the book, plus sample pages. The book can be ordered as a paperback, a downloadable audio book read by Neil Ross himself, a downloadable eBook in Kindle format, and as a downloadable e-Book in PDF format. You can also order a custom autographed bookplate to personalize your book.
Ross’ many other Voltron voices include but aren’t limited to Jeff, Chip, Bandor, and Commander Steele from Voltron: Defender of the Universe, and Keith and Amalgamus from Voltron: The Third Dimension.
In “Escape to Another Planet,” Coran mentions that, when Haggar first broke Voltron “into five separate units” that “came falling down as mechanical Lions, each one a fighting machine.” Coran then states that “each Lion buried itself in a different part of our planet as it landed.” Accompanying Coran’s tale are visuals of where each Lion lands.
In the same episode, overhead views reveal that the Castle on a small island at the center of a lake. Dense trees encircle the lake, and the Castle faces a much larger forest on the surrounding land. A bridge that starts at the Castle’s main entrance connects the island to the surrounding land. Beyond the circle of trees behind the Castle is a deep canyon, beyond which is a desert, and a pool of lava can be seen in part of the canyon.
All five Lions land near the Castle. It turns out that each Lion’s den would be established at or near its crash site.
Red Lion crashes in the lava pool in the canyon behind the Castle. Coran describes Red Lion’s den as being “beneath the fiery lava of the volcano.” In “A Ghost and Four Keys,” when Lance first operates Red Lion, it exits a cave to one side of the lava pool, and it runs along what looks like a land bridge with lava on either side. It’s not known whether the land bridge was natural or constructed sometime after Red Lion landed.
Green Lion crashes in the forest, and Coran describes the den as being “hidden deep in the forest.” The den is shown as being inside the stump of a giant, fallen tree. It seems unlikely that Green Lion originally landed inside the tree.
Blue Lion crashes in the lake that surrounds the Castle, and Coran describes the Lion’s resting place as “somewhere at the bottom of the lake.” In “Magnetic Attraction,” the lake water has boiled away, and Blue Lion is seen to rest on an artificial dais. An elevated tunnel leads to the dais. Maybe we’ll consider how the artificial dais came to be in a future article.
Yellow Lion crashes in the desert — presumably the area on the other side of the canyon. Coran says that “the Yellow Lion lies hidden out on the sands of the desert.” The den is shown as being inside a gigantic stone sculpture of a lion. It seems unlikely that the statue existed before the Lion landed.
Black Lion crashes somewhere off-screen, but near the Castle. It is later shown to be “on top of the lion monument.” Initially it is hidden inside the lion statue on the tower. In “The Missing Key,” when Keith first operates Black Lion, it breaks out from within the statue, destroying it, and in subsequent episodes, Black Lion simply rests atop the tower, in plain sight.
Now that we know where each Lion’s den is, let’s examine how the Voltron Force pilots get to the dens from the Castle’s control room.
Chutes, Tunnels, and the Launch Area
One of the most prominent features of the control room of the Castle of Lions is a large control panel on the top of a circular, elevated platform. In early episodes of the program, we learn that the control platform can rise some eight or nine feet (2.4 to 2.7 meters), revealing five open doorways, each of which is at the top of a long, vertical chute. The doorways are numbered 1 through 5.
For much of my 1980s childhood, I thought the doorways were located along the periphery of the Castle control room — even though they are shown in multiple early episodes to be beneath the control platform. Why? In retrospect, I can think of two reasons:
In the 1980s, you couldn’t watch TV on demand. Unless you owned the episode on a licensed videocassette, or you recorded the episode on videocassette, you couldn’t easily rewatch specific episodes.
In the often reused stock shots of the raised control platform, the platform has a much smaller diameter than it should — and only one doorway is visible in each shot. This was probably a deliberate choice. Had multiple doorways been shown in each shot, multiple pilots would also need to be shown running toward their respective doorways. This would be more costly to animate, and it would limit the usability of each stock shot. For example, if a particular episode showed only Pidge running for his Lion, then a shot of Pidge in the foreground and other pilots in the background couldn’t be used.
To reach the Lions’ dens, each pilot runs through one of the doorways and takes hold of an overhead grab bar with both hands. The grab bar is suspended by a cable, and once the pilot holds the bar, it begins a rapid descent in the chute.
How far the chutes extend isn’t clear, but all five terminate at the ceiling of a circular “launch area.” Inside the chamber are tunnels that extend radially outward from the chamber. Inside each tunnel is a shuttle that points away from the center of the room. The pilots’ grab bars stop descending just above the ceiling of the chamber, so each pilot lets go of the grab bar and seems to fall into the aft section of the shuttle.
(In the DVD version of “The Missing Key,” Allura is seen to be dropping from Blue Lion’s vertical chute — but in the story, it’s supposed to be Sven.)
It should be pointed out that, to this point, each pilot is not wearing his or her uniform. At this point, the shuttle’s aft section seems to be a closet, because soon, at the back of the shuttle’s open cockpit, twin doors slide open, and the pilot emerges, wearing his or her uniform and seated in a chair that slides from the aft section into the cockpit.
The pilots then launch their shuttles — in unison — and each shuttle races ahead in its tunnel. The fact that all five shuttles launch at the same time suggests that every pilot waits for the others to finish changing clothes. Maybe each shuttle’s closet has a fancy machine that quickly removes the pilot’s “civilian” clothes and puts on the pilot’s uniform.
At first, the tunnels have metallic walls, but eventually the walls become mostly transparent. Beyond the tunnel walls…
Black Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by flat stones.
Red Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by lava.
Green Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by earth and tree roots.
Blue Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by water.
Yellow Lion’s tunnel is surrounded by round stones.
By the time each shuttle reaches the end of its tunnel, the tunnel walls are metallic once more. Above the tunnel end is another vertical chute. A track descends from the chute and behind the shuttle’s seat. The track lifts the seat out of the shuttle, and the seat continues to ascend the chute and into a port on the Lion’s chest.
When we next see a pilot in his or her seat, the seat ascends into the Lion’s cockpit through a hatch in the cockpit floor. In later episodes, it’s clear that a Lion’s cockpit is inside its head. This raises the unanswered question of how the pilot seat travels from the Lion’s chest into the Lion’s head, beneath the cockpit.
Once inside a Lion’s cockpit, the pilot puts his or her key into a slot above the large display screen at the front of the cockpit.
Shuttle Tunnel Routes
The five shuttles start in a common room. Each Lion den is located at a distinct elevation:
Black Lion’s den is atop a tower, above ground
Red Lion’s den is at the bottom of a canyon
Green Lion’s den is in a forest, at ground level
Blue Lion’s den is on the bottom of a lake
Yellow Lion’s den is inside a statue in a desert, at ground level
Because many if not all dens are at different elevations, one might wonder where the launch area is with respect to the dens.
The closest den is Blue Lion’s, at the bottom of the lake surrounding the Castle. The only thing we know about the depth of the lake is that it must be deep enough to conceal Blue Lion.
If we assume that the Blue Lion shuttle tunnel is fully horizontal — in other words, that it has no slope — then the floor of the launch area must be at roughly the same level as the bottom of the lake.
This implies that Black Lion and Green Lion’s shuttle tunnels descend below the bottom of the lake, since Black Lion’s den is at the far edge of the lake, and Green Lion’s den is in the forest beyond the lake.
Since Red Lion’s den is at the bottom of the canyon, Red Lion’s shuttle tunnel would need to descend below the bottom of the canyon. Either the tunnel has a downward slope to rival the tallest roller coaster, or it descends more gradually in a spiral or a similar shape.
Yellow Lion’s den is on the other side of the canyon, so its shuttle tunnel must descend like Red’s does. Once Yellow’s shuttle tunnel passes beyond the canyon, it might ascend to shorten the length of the vertical chute from the tunnel to the den on the surface.
In “Raid of the Alien Mice,” a solar generator outage prevents the shuttles in the launch area from exiting. Keith, Lance, and Hunk are forced to race to their Lions on foot. They are seen to exit the launch area, and then to exit the Castle of Lions itself from the ground-level front entrance. They attempt to cross the bridge from the Castle’s island, but they are fired upon, forcing them to dive into the lake.
Black Lion’s Vertical Chute
The tower on which Black Lion rests has legs which span the bridge. How does the vertical chute from the shuttle tunnel reach the main body of the tower? Presumably, during the launch sequence, a short segment of vertical chute from either below ground or in the tower extends to connect the below-ground chute segment with the in-tower chute segment.
Conclusion
The path from the control room of the Castle of Lions to each Lion den is interesting. And I thought about this stuff waaaaaaaaaaay too much.
In the Voltron: Defender of the Universe episode “The Lion Has New Claws” — the episode immediately following the one in which Blue Lion pilot Sven is seriously injured — Princess Allura secretly takes Blue Lion for a ride in the middle of the night. Despite the princess’ attempt to be stealthy, an alarm sounds in the Castle of Lions. Keith, Lance, and Pidge race to Castle Control and check the monitor for the cause of the alarm.
The monitor shows a simple wireframe of a lion flying erratically. The lion wireframe is accompanied by seem tiny, barely legible English text. I point out that it’s English because this episode was animated in Japan for a Japanese audience as part of Beast King Golion. Even if the monitor text is fully legible, it appears for about one second — hardly enough time for someone with little fluency in English to have read.
Anyway, here is the monitor, showing the text.
The most legible text is… MADE IN THE U.S.A.
Made in the USA? This is the planet Arus, not Earth!
A closer look reveals the source of the text — it’s the back of a package of… Push-Pins!
I wasn’t able to read all of the text, but here’s what I was able to decipher:
…Push-Pins instead of thumbtacks to put up…
…calendars, pennants and light wall decorations.
…tie-backs, shelf paper…and
…other household uses.
…Push-Pin between thumb and forefinger and insert
…of the…. They are easily removed…the
…The…-tempered steel…the
…possible…. Millions of Push-Pins are used…
…decorations, the…, the…and…
…as a superior pin-… device.. Push-Pin…the
In both aluminum and plastic, the plastic available in
red, yellow, green, white, and blue.
…and…up to 100…
…
In schools, apartments, or office buildings where nails
are not allowed – use the new 2-in-1 “…-…”
…picture hanger. Will support up to… pounds
while eliminating the use of nails,…
and picture…
MADE IN U.S.A.
I’m not sure why the Castle of Lions’ monitor would display text about Push-Pins while displaying an animated wireframe of Blue Lion. Maybe Coran had left the interstellar feed of the Home Shopping Club on overnight.
The Shake Ups, a band that specializes in pop culture-themed “power pop” music, is releasing a Voltron-inspired album on June 1, 2018. Entitled The Shake Ups – Legendary Defenders, the album features 15 tracks that cover Voltron Legendary Defender and Voltron: Defender of the Universe. The tracks cover a variety of topics in Voltron lore, from Shiro, Haggar, and even the Space Mice from Voltron Legendary Defender to the Voltron Vehicle Team from Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
In a Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast episode scheduled to be released on June 1, Marc Morrell and I spoke with band members Patrick O’Connor and Savannah O’Connor about the upcoming album. The Shake Ups were kind enough to allow Marc and I an early listen to the album, and… well… it’s a lot of fun! There’s something to like in each of the tracks. My personal favorites are “Space Mice”, “Quiznak!”, and “Team Punk.”
If you like Voltron and music, you’ll like Voltron music — and you’ll like this album, so check it out!
In the first-season Voltron Legendary Defender episode “Taking Flight,” the Castle of Lions tears itself from the surface of the planet Arus, and assumes what became its ongoing new form: a spacecraft. Its crew informally called it the “Castle-ship.”
Voltron Legendary Defender wasn’t the Voltron-related program with a Castle-turned-spaceship.
In Beast King Golion, one of the anime programs that were adapted into Voltron: Defender of the Universe, the Golion Team calls Castle Gradam its home. In the 50th episode, “The Great Storming of Galra,” Raible reveals that the Castle can convert to a spaceship. The Golion Team uses the ship as part of a final assault on the planet Galra.
The Castle’s transformation initiates when Raible inserts a special key into the Castle’s main console.
The Castle does not launch from Altea until Golion‘s 52nd and final episode, “Burn Galra Castle.”
Because Golion‘s 52 episodes were adapted into episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Castle Gradam and its ship mode appear in Voltron, although in the latter program the Castle is called the Castle of Lions. In Voltron, the Castle’s ship mode is revealed in “Zarkon Becomes a Robeast,” which was adapted from Golion‘s “The Great Storming of Galra.”
The Castle of Lions’ ship mode makes a notable reappearance in “Fleet of Doom,” the two-part final story that was animated entirely new for Voltron. In that story, the Castle of Lions transports the Lions to the Galaxy Alliance’s Power Base, to rendezvous with the Voltron Vehicle Team and remove the Drule/Doom forces that threatened the base.
Although Voltron: The Third Dimension featured a Castle of Lions, no ship mode is seen or referenced in the program’s 26 episodes. Perhaps a ship mode would have been revealed had more episodes been produced.
In the 26th and final episode of Voltron Force, the spirit of King Alfor activates the Castle of Lions’ transformation to its spaceship mode. The Castle’s ship mode is a surprise even to Princess Allura. The Castle helps Voltron win a decisive victory over Maahox.
Castles-turned-spacecraft are seemingly as much a part of Voltron lore as the Defenders of the Universe themselves.
As a longtime Voltron fan, and as co-host of Let’s Voltron: The Official Voltron Podcast, I am sometimes asked which episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe is my favorite. My response has probably varied over the years, but the episode that I find myself watching most frequently is “Space Explorers Captured,” the first episode in original air date order, and the first episode to feature the Lion Force characters.
During my most recent re-watch of the episode, as well as “Escape from Slave Castle,” the Beast King Golion episode from which it was adapted, I realized why I’m so fascinated with “Space Explorers Captured”: unlike nearly every other episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, “Space Explorers Captured” isn’t a straight adaptation, with violent shots removed for an audience of largely American youths – the Voltron episode has its own distinct narrative, and it sets up a surprisingly different premise from that of Beast King Golion – and all of this is accomplished with clever editing and new writing.
Golion #1 Story
Voltron #1 Story
On the planet Galra, five earthlings are in a cell in Slave Castle. The earthlings had been captured shortly after returning from a space mission and their discovery that, in their absence, Earth had been devastated during World War III.
The earthlings escape Galra in a Galra slave ship. Emperor Daibazaal orders Sadak to pursue. Sadak’s ship shoots down the escape ship as it approaches the planet Altea.
The escape ship’s descent is watched from an ancient castle by a beautiful princess. Before the ship crashes, a strange beam of light emanates from a statue in front of an ancient castle. The ship’s descent slows, and the earthlings’ leader, Kogane, takes the controls and flies the ship past the castle.
Five Space Explorers from Earth’s Galaxy Garrison reach the planet Arus, which is under attack by the forces of King Zarkon. The Explorers’ ship is captured, and the Space Explorers are taken to the planet Doom.
The Space Explorers escape Doom in a slave ship. Zarkon orders Commander Yurak to pursue. Yurak’s ship shoots down the escape ship as it approaches the planet Arus.
The escape ship’s descent is slowed by a strange beam of light emanating from a statue in front of the legendary Castle of Lions. Keith, captain of the Space Explorers, tells his team the legend of Voltron. With hope that the Space Explorers can locate and bring back Voltron, Keith guides the escape ship past the Castle of Lions.
Golion #1 Premise
Voltron #1 Premise
Several thousand years ago, the mysetrious robot Golion arrogantly challenged the Goddess of the Universe to a fight. The goddess punished Golion for its arrogance by splitting it into five parts, each a robot Lion.
In 1999, five earthling space explorers from the war-ravaged planet Earth rediscover the robot Lions and form Golion, to protect the planet Altea and its allies from Emperor Daibazaal and the Galra Empire.
Some years ago, King Zarkon’s witch Haggar placed a curse on the mighty robot Voltron, splitting it into five parts, each a robot Lion.
Now (the future – in an unspecified year), five Space Explorers from the Galaxy Garrison rediscover teh robot Lions and form Voltron, to protecdt the universe from Zarkon and the forces of Doom.
I also studied the Voltron premiere episode, and I discovered that — Ignoring the opening, closing, teaser for the next episode, and minor edits such as trimming violent Golion content, the first Voltron episode is comprised of:
Eight segments from the first Beast King Golion episode. (The overwhelming majority of the content is from this episode.) In the Voltron episode, these segments are re-sequenced and given a different context.
Three short segments from the third Beast King Golion episode. These segments support Voltron’s altered premise.
Two short segments and one longer segment from the first episode of Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, the anime program from which the Vehicle Team episodes of Voltron: Defender of the Universe were adapted. These segments also support Voltron’s altered premise.
Here is a breakdown of the segments in Voltron‘s first episode:
Voltron #1 Seg #
Duration (mm:ss)
Voltron Context
Source
Golion #1 Seg #
Source Context
1
00:19
Keith reports no problems approaching Arus, but Space Explorers notice problems as they reach planet
Golion #1
N/A
Part of Golion main title sequence
2
00:01
Keith reaction shot
Dairugger #1
N/A
Manabu Aki reaction shot
3
00:01
Hunk reaction shot
Dairugger #1
N/A
Shinobu Kai reaction shot
4
00:09
Forces of Doom attack Arus
Golion #3
N/A
Sadak’s forces attack Altea
5
00:16
Forces of Doom attack Arus
Golion #3
N/A
Sadak’s forces attack Altea
6
00:05
Forces of Doom attack Arus
Golion #3
N/A
Sadak’s forces attack Altea
7
01:51
Arus fights back against Forces of Doom, but Arus is devastated; Yurak captures the Space Explorers
Golion #1
5
Earth is devastated during World War III (Kogane imagines these events, which took place while he and his fellow space explorers were on space mission); Sadak captures five earthling space explorers who just returned to Earth from space mission (flashback)
8
01:48
Keith contacts Galaxy Garrison; Galaxy Garrison high command discuss Keith’s message
Dairugger #1
N/A
Galaxy Garrison meeting
9
05:16
Yurak brings slaves including Space Explorers to Doom; Zarkon believes he will be unopposed now that Space Explorers are captives; slaves sent to arena against Blue Robeast; Space Explorers talk of escaping before they can be sent to arena
Golion #1
4
Sadak brings slaves to Galra; Daibazaal seeks amusement; five earthlings are already captives on Galra; lively new slaves are slaughtered by Deathblack Beastman in arena to amuse Daibazaal; earthlings discuss having nearly died when they fought a Deathblack Beastman
10
10:45
Space Explorers escape cell, steal slave ship, escape Doom and approach Arus; Yurak shoots down escape ship; escape ship’s descent to Arus is slowed by Castle of Lions (Note: Princess Allura and Coran are not shown here, delaying their introduction until the next episode)
Golion #1
7
Earthlings escape cell, steal slaves ship, escape Galra and approach Altea; Sadak shoots down escape ship; escape ship’s descent to Altea is slowed by Castle Altea (Note: Princess Fala and Raible are shown watching escape ship from castle)
11
00:11
Reactions of Lance, Sven, Hunk, Pidge
Golion #1
9
Reactions of Kurogane, Shirogane, Seidou, Suzuishi
12
02:09
Keith tells legend of Voltron
Golion #1
2
Narrator tells legend of Golion
13
00:49
Keith talks of somehow finding and combining Lions to bring back Voltron to help Arus
Golion #1
N/A
Part of main title sequence
14
00:20
Keith takes controls and guides descending ship safely past Castle of Lions
Golion #1
10
Kogane takes controls and guides descending ship safely past Castle Altea
To contrast the first episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe with that of Beast King Golion, here are the segments of the Golion premiere:
Golion #1 Seg #
Golion Context
Voltron #1 Seg #
1
Narrator tells legend of Golion
N/A
2
Narrator tells legend of Golion
12
3
Episode title card
N/A
4
Sadak brings slaves to Galra; Daibazaal seeks amusement; five earthlings are already captives on Galra; lively new slaves are slaughtered by Deathblack Beastman in arena to amuse Daibazaal; earthlings discuss having nearly died when they fought a Deathblack Beastman
9
5
Earth is devastated during World War III (Kogane imagines these events, which took place while he and his fellow space explorers were on space mission); Sadak captures five earthling space explorers who just returned to Earth from space mission (flashback)
7
6
Kogane reaction shot
N/A
7
Earthlings escape cell, steal slaves ship, escape Galra and approach Altea; Sadak shoots down escape ship; escape ship’s descent to Altea is slowed by Castle Altea (Note: Princess Fala and Raible are shown watching escape ship from castle)
10
8
Medium and close-up shots of Princess Fala watching ship descend
N/A
9
Reactions of Kurogane, Shirogane, Seidou, Suzuishi
11
10
Kogane takes controls and guides descending ship safely past Castle Altea
14
“Space Explorers Captured,” the first Lion Force episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, is surprisingly different than its Beast King Golion counterpart, “Escape from Slave Castle.” The episodes are a testament to how important editing can be in telling a story — or two. IF you’ve not watched these in a while, or ever, then check them out.
In the 1980s, and still today, toy makers try to entice retailers to purchase current and possible future toy offerings at an annual trade show called New York Toy Fair. In the pre-Internet era of the 1980s, a toy maker would give printed catalogs to retailers, so that they would be aware of the toys that the company made, how to order them, and other information.
In the mid-1980s, Voltron: Defender of the Universe was a hot toy property, and Matchbox was Voltron’s first licensed toy maker. All of Matchbox’s Voltron toy offerings were modified re-releases of toys that had originally been produced by Popy, later Bandai, for the anime programs that were adapted to make Voltron.
Here are some photos of Matchbox’s 1985 and 1986 Toy Fair catalogs!
1985
Front Cover
What’s that on the cover? Is that Voltron? Yes — it’s Voltron I! There’s not a lion to be found… yet. Given Matchbox’s history with small toy cars, this Voltron does seem to be the most appropriate robot to feature on the cover of the catalog.
Pages 48-49
It’s Voltron I! This mighty robot had five toy offerings:
700211 Voltron I Air Warrior Set
700212 Voltron I Space Warrior Set
700213 Voltron I Land Warrior Set
700002 Voltron I Miniature Space Warrior Robot
700210 Voltron I The Deluxe Warrior Set.
If I were a nitpicker, I would point out that the forearm vehicles are swapped in the photo of The Deluxe Warrior Set — and in the photo of the Land Warrior Set. I’d also point out that the Air Warrior Set, Space Warrior Set, and Land Warrior Set did not have die-cast parts. It’s good that I’m not a nitpicker.
Note the “NEW! TV” markings on each page. Having a television program as a promotional outlet for toys was and still is hugely important to a retailer.
Pages 50-51
It’s Voltron II! This mighty robot had four toy offerings:
700100 Voltron II Miniature Red Gladiator Robot
700110 Voltron II Miniature Blue Gladiator Robot
700120 Voltron II Miniature Black Gladiator Robot
700220 Voltron II The Deluxe Gladiator Set.
These toys are also “NEW! TV” — but Voltron II never appeared on TV, at least not in the Voltron: Defender of the Universe program. To my knowledge, Matchbox never even televised ads for this poor guy, who incidentally is horribly mis-transformed on page 51. As shown in the catalog, the Blue Gladiator Robot’s head seems to be stuck in the ro-butt of the Black Gladiator Robot, whose head seems to be stuck in the ro-butt of the Red Gladiator Robot. It’s a good thing that robots don’t feel pain.
Pages 52-53
It’s Voltron III — or what most people today simply call Voltron. This mighty robot had five toy offerings:
700201 Voltron III Giant Black Lion Robot
700202 Voltron III Yellow and Green Mighty Lion Robots Set
700203 Voltron III Blue and Red Mighty Lion Robots Set
700001 Voltron III Miniature Lion Space Robot
700200 Voltron III The Deluxe Lion Set
Again, it’s good that I’m not a nitpicker, because if I were, I’d point out that, in the photo of The Deluxe Lion Set:
The rear feet of Blue and Yellow Lions are pointed incorrectly.
The front legs of Blue and Yellow Lions are posed incorrectly.
Black Lion’s rear legs (Voltron’s thighs) are posed very strangely.
Black Lion’s shoulders (Voltron’s shoulders) are oriented incorrectly.
Black Lion has a yellow button on its left shoulder. This play feature was never present in the released Voltron toy.
Voltron III’s “NEW! TV” markings are the most apropos of the three robots, because after the first run of Voltron: Defender of the Universe, “Voltron I” all but disappeared from television, and as I already mentioned, “Voltron II” never made it to TV.
1986
Front Cover
What the heck are those toys? They aren’t Voltron toys, and more strangely, they aren’t the tiny, die-cast toy cars for which Matchbox was best known. Read on, fearless reader!
Table of Contents
Voltron scored two fewer pages in 1986 than it enjoyed in 1985. Then… there’s this thing called Robotech, which spanned 36 pages — whereas Matchbox’s traditional die-cast cars had only 22 pages. What gives?
Pages 30-31
If you’re thinking that these toys look like 1985’s “Voltron I” toys, then you’re thinking correctly. At some point, Matchbox must have gotten a memo from World Events Productions that the Roman numerals became passe sometime between when the TV program’s pilot episodes were made and when the “real” episodes were made. The renamed offerings were:
700211 Strato-Fighter
700212 Aqua-Fighter
700213 Turbo-Terrain-Fighter
700002 Miniature Vehicle Team Voltron
700210 Vehicle Team Voltron
Why was the “Aqua-Fighter” previously called the “Space Warrior?” I have no idea.
Pages 32-33
By 1986, poor “Voltron II” had disappeared even from Matchbox’s toy offerings. Fortunately “Voltron III” was still around, albeit renamed. The 1986 offerings for this Voltron robot were:
700201 Giant Black Lion
700202 Yellow and Green Lions
700203 Blue and Red Lions
700001 Miniature Lion Force Voltron
700200 Lion Force Voltron
700401 Blazing Sword Set
700402 Miniature Blazing Sword Set
The new-to-1986 items, 700401 and 700402, probably came along because someone at Matchbox realized that Voltron had become kind of well known for using a sword.
The Lion Force Voltron toy is once again mis-transformed:
The rear feet of Blue and Yellow Lions are pointed incorrectly.
The front legs of Blue Lion seem to be posed incorrectly.
Black Lion’s shoulders (Voltron’s shoulders) are oriented correctly; however, Black Lion’s lower front legs are sticking out as if whoever set up the toy didn’t know that the lower front legs could be folded inside the shoulders.
Pages 34-35
These pages have nothing to do with Voltron, but they have everything to do with the catalog’s cover, as well as the most prominently featured licensed property in the catalog: Robotech, another animated program made by adapting multiple anime programs. Matchbox put a huge investment into Robotech. The company launched an enormous product line targeted at boys and girls, and it was co-financing the production of a 65-episode sequel to Robotech, called Robotech II: The Sentinels. Unfortunately retailer interest at 1986 New York Toy Fair was well below expectations. This and other factors led to Matchbox abandoning Robotech II: The Sentinels mid-production. But that’s a story for a different website.
And there you have it — Voltron as it appeared in Matchbox’s 1985 and 1986 Toy Fair retailer catalogs.
