SHONEN CYBORG & KING WALDER Jr.

Takara decided to bring back the Cyborgs in 2000 on a much smaller scale...literally.  They are called Shonen Cyborgs (Kid or Boy Cyborgs) and King Walder Jr. which were originally released in 1972.  The 8" variations originated in the UK by the Denys Fisher company called Muton.  These were never released in Japan which make them a very hot item.

The first release in 2000 was a Silver Shonen Cyborg and Blue King Walder Jr. sold as a "Versus" set on Takara's e-Shop online for ¥10,000 in June 2000.

BLUE SHONEN CYBORG

On the 8th of September 2000, Takara released the second Shonen Cyborg.  This Cyborg has metallic blue internal machinery and head.  His head is molded in the form of a child's head.  This figure stands at 8" tall with much articulation as its' big brother.

The packaging has some resemblance to the original release with some minor variations such as the shape of the box and the information/photos on the back.

Shonen Cyborg has one set of attachments which are an extra set of hands that are molded into fists besides the relaxed "open" hands.   Various parts are removable such as his hands, feet, head, and mid-arm (biceps) which is probably for other weapon attachments.  Takara has yet to release any attachments this year but if the Shonen and KW Jr. figures prove to be popular maybe Takara will "re-issue" some attachments.

YELLOW KING WALDER Jr.

I picked up King Walder Jr. (a.k.a. Waruda) on the same day as Shonen Cyborg (blue).  This is the second KW figure released this year with the Blue version being the first.

The KW Jr. figures have human-like internal organs and head made up of various colors.  They have the same extra attachments and articulation as Shonen.   The head is similar to the KW2 General figure (Cyborg99) with an "afro-like" hair style.  It took me almost ten minutes to get his human head over the alien head that is attached to his body.  It's just an awkward shaped head with bugged eyes which made it difficult to slide on.  I had to use needle-nose pliers to pull it over his eyes.  It was a job and a half and I don't plan on taking it off anytime soon.  These 8" variations of Cyborg are a "must have" for any NHC collector.

SILVER SHONEN CYBORG & BLUE KING WALDER Jr. SET

I finally got my hands on the first release (September 2000) of the 8" Cyborgs which was made available at Takara's online store in June 2000.  It's outer packaging was a cardboard box and within this box was the set above.  It is packaged in a plastic container with silver printing.  

One thing you'll notice between this first release and the second is the way the figures are displayed within their box.  This release has their humanoid heads already covering (attached) their alien & cyborg heads whereas the second release has them removed.  Now can we expect to see a third release with attachments?

Anyhow, this is an a set that all Cyborg collectors should have in their collection!  A special thanks to Clay Enniss for hooking me up once again!
 

KING WALDER Jr. KAIJIN SET - SKELETON (Dokro) KING

In December 2000, I asked Masato Shono to find any of the Kaijin Set figures and he came through with two of the three, Skeleton & Satan King.  These figures are 8" tall and are packaged with a removable humanoid head (smaller version of General's head), hands (fists & "karate-chop"), feet, and retailed for ¥5,800.  These figures also have removable gloves, boots, chest plate and helmet.  Skeleton King is a Blue KWJr. and Satan King is a Yellow KWJr. figure.  The only figure I need now is Plant Man.

KING WALDER Jr. KAIJIN SET - SATAN KING