Matchbox Vehicle Voltron I Review

U.S. Name: VOLTRON I aka Vehicle Voltron (Matchbox Version)

Cartoon First Appearance: Episode #1: In Search Of New Worlds, Season 1, Sept. 19, 1984

Modern Comic First Appearance: N/A

Image/ Devil Due Comic First Appearance: Voltron #2, Vol. #2, Feb. 04, $2.95

A quick comment: Back to VV-I Voltron Homepage

This is my first Vehicle Voltron I. I got him on May. Xi, Mmvi and it cost me $CXXVII.L ($CXII.L) from Ebay. Voltron had always been parted of me...I'm glad to own him. As a kid, I had always want to own the Voltron Vehicle but just couldn't afford it back then especially when we just moved into the U.S.

VOLTRON - DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE:

-VOLTRON I: Voltron Of The Near Universe-

Opening Intro:

"From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend. The legend of Voltron: Defender of the Universe! A mighty robot. Loved by good, feared by evil. As Voltron's legend grew, peace settled across the galaxy. On planet Earth, a galaxy alliance was formed. Together with the good planets of the solar system, they maintained peace throughout the universe. Until a new horrible menace threatened the galaxy. Voltron was needed once more. This is the story of the super force of space explorers. And trusted by the Alliance with the ancient secret of how to assemble Voltron: Defender of the Universe."

- Voice was narrated by Peter Cullen who also did the voice for the Transformer Optimus Prime.

NOTE: In the Lion Voltron intro, the yellow sentence was replaced by "Specially trained and sent by the Alliance to bring back"

NOTE-1: This review page is meant to give you some ideas about the figure and for nostalgic or sentimental purposes. I hold no responsibility for your action. These images were mostly photographed and scanned by me. If there's a section or image that owned by you and I didn't give you credit, please Email Me and I'll make the correction. Have fun.

- Click on the Thumbnails to view them at a Larger Scale -

[Thumbnail Size = 100xHeight & 120xWidth]

R-1 Voltron I in its Original condition:

R-1A: This is the Deluxe Edition of the Vehicle Voltron aka Voltron I in its original condition. The front of the box shows Vehicle Voltron art with the actual sub-components figures. On the back, there are ads of Voltron I, Voltron II, and Voltron III in their regular size and in the miniature version. The top flap has the small Voltron art and the new Voltron logo. The bottom flap only has the new Voltron logo.

NOTE-2: Both the Matchbox Vehicle and Lion Voltron were released with two boxes variation, the Regular Edition and the latter Deluxe Edition. The Regular Edition has the box in "Bookstyle" format meaning you can open a flap (cover) and the figures can be seen through a window. The Deluxe Edition (above) has none, you would have to open the box to see the figures. Other than the box itself, both figures are identical.

R-1B: Vehicle Voltron is packaged on a Styrofoam container (left image).

These are all the contents that were included in the box/ package/ card: "1" command jet explorer, "1" fighter plane, "2" advanced recon helicopter, "1" strato weapons module, "1" communication module "2"multi-wheeled explorer, "2" space prober, "1" jet radar station, "1"rotating personnel carrier, "2" all terrain space vehicle, "1" armored equipment carrier, and "1" instruction sheet.

NOTE-3: Only the Regular Edition box has the name of these 15 vehicle labeled on the box. The Deluxe Edition box has none.

NOTE-4: To see the Vehicle Voltron art from this box at a larger scale click the image on PIC-1.

R-2 Background:

This particular Voltron I is made up of 15 members and has the largest crew of the 3 Voltrons. Since Voltron I is all consisted of vehicles and no animal as in Voltron III or smaller robots as in Voltron II, its nick name and familiar name which fans go by is Vehicle Voltron. The 15 members are subdivided into three teams, Air Team (R-3), Sea Team (R-4), and Land Team (R-5). When all 15 vehicles are presented together, they can be merged into one large robot called Voltron: Defender of the Universe (R-6). Vehicle Voltron was dubbed or imported from Japan and the original toyline/ TV series was called Dairrugger XV.

In addition to the large Voltron robot, Vehicle Voltron has a unique mode which was not presented in Voltron II and Voltron III (Lions). Within Air Team, Sea Team, and Land Team,, their 5 vehicles can be merged into 3 separate secondary combiners called Strato Fighter, Aqua Fighter, and Turbo Terrain Fighter. So instead of having 15 vehicles scattering around, you now only have 3 large one. Secondly, the 3 large combiners give more fire power than the 15 individual components as mentioned by Jeff, left video.

NOTE-5: In order to differentiate the three Voltrons, Matchbox labeled the Vehicle Voltron as Voltron I, the 3 individual robots Voltron consisted of Red Robot, Black Robot, and Blue Robot were labeled as Voltron II (or Gladiator), and the Lion Voltron was labled as "Voltron III"

R-3 Air Team (aka Air Warrior, Strato Fighter): The Air Team vehicles include Command Jet Explorer, Strato Weapons Module, 2 Advanced Recon Helicopters, and a Fighter Plane. When these five units merge as one, they forms Strato Fighter and its measurement is approximately 8 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 4 3/16 (LxWxH in inch). Of the three team, Air Team has the longest width in term of dimension. In Voltron mode, the Air Team forms the upper part of the body and head. [Unlock the locking mechanism: Connecting the five members with one another is easy but detaching them without the proper procedure can be a problem especially for first time user or if you purchase loose figures without the instruction sheet. The reason is that there are locking mechanism tabs that need to be pressed in order to disengage certain members/ vehicles. Pressing the two small yellow pegs on the side of Statro Weapons Module will release the 2 Advanced Recon Helicopter. Pressing the red top button will release Command Jet Explorer and in Voltron mode pressing this button again will also release the Armored Equipment Carrier (Voltron mid-section). Now onto the real problem, releasing the Fighter Plane from the Strato Weapon Module is totally a hassle due to no detachable mechanism to separate the two members. Reckless act can easily damage the Fighter Plane white tab from connecting onto the Strato Weapon Module.] CREDITED: All Cartoon Pilots Images in R-3, R-4, and R-5 were taken with permission from Purssia's Voltron Central Website.
Sub Components:
	Command Jet Explorer: Voltron Head
	Dimension: 2 14/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 13/16 inch	Pilot: Jeff - Team Leader & Voltron Captain.
	Copyright: 1 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the jet.
	Note: All 4 wheels are plastic. The 2 rear wheels have motor mechanism which made sound.
	Strato Weapons Module: Voltron Torso
	Dimension: 4 1/4 x 2 x 2 3/4 inch	Pilot: Rocky
	Copyright: 2 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: 6 out of 8 wheels are plastic. The two rear rubber wheels have motor mechanism which made sound.
	Advanced Recon Helicopter: Voltron Right Arm
	Dimension: 3 1/2 X 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 inch	Pilot: Wolo
	Copyright: 3 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the helicopter.
	Note: The rotor blade is movable. All 4 wheels are plastic and contain no motor mechanism which made sound.
	Advanced Recon Helicopter: Voltron Left Arm
	Dimension: 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 inch	Pilot: Chip
	Copyright: 4 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the helicopter.
	Note: The rotor blade is movable. All 4 wheels are plastic and contain no motor mechanism which made sound.
	Fighter Plane: Voltron Chest Plate
	Dimension: 3 3/4 x 3 15/16 x 1 5/16 inch	Pilot: Ginger
	Copyright: 5 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the jet.
	Note: All 3 wheels are plastic. The 2 rear wheels have motor mechanism which made sound.

R-4 Sea Team (aka Space Warrior, Aqua Fighter): The Sea Team vehicles includes Communication Module, 2 Multi-Wheeled Explorers, and 2 Space Probers. When these 5 members merge with one another, they forms Aqua Fighter and its measurement is approximately 7 1/2 x 5 6/16 x 3 1/8 (LxWxH in inch). Of the three team, Sea Team has the longest length in term of dimension. In Voltron mode, the Sea Team forms the lower part of the body and leg. [Unlock the locking mechanism: To disengage the whole unit back into 5 components, release the lock mechanism by pressing the two yellow pegs on either Space Prober and that will separate it from the 2 Multi-Wheeled Explorers. Press the white square button next to the yellow slab of the left leg Multi-Wheeled Explorer will separate it from the Communication Module. Last but not least, press the teeny tiny yellow tab next to the red slab of the right leg Multi-Wheeled Explorer will disengage from the Communication Module.] NOTE-6: According to the Instruction Sheet, the "Sea" Team is actually called "Space" Warrior. Air Team and Land Team stay true to their name and were labeled as Air Warrior and Land Warrior.
Sub Components:
	Communication Module: Voltron Mid Section
	Dimension: 3 1/16 x 2 1/2 x 2 10/16 inch	Pilot: Cric - Team Leader
	Copyright: 6 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: All 4 wheels are rubber. Wheels contain no motor mechanism which made sound.
	Space Prober: Voltron Right Thigh
	Dimension: 3 5/16 x 1 3/16 x 1 15/16 inch	Pilot: Lisa
	Copyright:7 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: 2 rubber rear wheels and 2 plastic front wheels. Wheels contain no motor mechanism which made sound.
	Space Prober: Voltron Left Thigh
	Dimension: 3 5/16 x 1 3/16 x 1 15/16 inch	Pilot: Zandee
	Copyright: 8 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: 2 rubber rear wheels and 2 plastic front wheels. Wheels contain no motor mechanism which made sound.
	Multi-Wheeled Explorer: Voltron Right Leg
	Dimension: 5 1/8 x 2 1/8 x 2 3/4 inch	Pilot: Shannon
	Copyright: 9 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: 8 out of 10 wheels are plastic. The 2 rear rubber wheels have motor mechanism which made sound.
	Multi-Wheeled Explorer: Voltron Left Leg
	Dimension: 5 1/8 x 2 1/8 x 2 3/4 inch	Pilot: Tangor
	Copyright: 10 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: 8 out of 10 wheels are plastic. The 2 rear rubber wheels have motor mechanism which made sound.

R-5 Land Team (aka Land Warrior, Turbo Terrain Fighter): Last but not least, Land Team is made up of Armored Equipment Carrier, Rotating Personnel Carrier, Jet Radar Station, and 2 All Terrain Space Vehicles. When these 5 members merge with one another, they forms Turbo Terrain Fighter and its measurement is approximately 5 1/2 X 4 3/4 X 4 1/2 (LxWxH in inch). Of the three team, Land Team has the tallest height in term of dimension. In Voltron mode, Land Team is scattered all over the place, that is, they form the feet, the hand, and waist which is unlike the Air Team and Sea Team who are more closed together. [Unlock the locking mechanism: To disengage the whole unit back into 5 components, release the lock mechanism by pressing the two yellow peg on Rotating Personnel Carrier (Voltron Right Hand) that will separate it from the Armored Equipment Carrier. Repeat the same step for the Jet Radar Station. Next, just slide the Armored Equipment Carrier backward from the two All Terrain Space Vehicle since there is no lock mechanism involve among these three vehicles.]
Sub Components:
	Armored Equipment Carrier: Voltron Waist
	Dimension: 3 13/16 x 1 3/4 x 3 1/4 inch	Pilot: Cliff - Team Leader
	Copyright: 11 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: All 4 wheels are plastic. Wheels contain no motor mechanism which made sound.
	Rotating Personnel Carrier: Voltron Right Hand
	Dimension: 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 2 1/4 inch	Pilot: Cinda
	Copyright: 12 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: All 4 wheels are rubber. The 2 rear wheels have motor mechanism which made sound
	Jet Radar Station: Voltron Left Hand
	Dimension: 2 9/16 x 1 11/16 x 1 3/4 inch	Pilot: Modock
	Copyright: 13 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: All 4 wheels are rubber. The 2 rear wheels have motor mechanism which made sound
	All Terrain Space Vehicle: Voltron Right Foot
	Dimension: 4 x 2 1/4 x 2 inch	Pilot: Marvin
	Copyright: 14 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: All 4 wheels are plastic. The 2 rear wheels have motor mechanism which made sound
	All Terrain Space Vehicle: Voltron Left Foot
	Dimension: 4 x 2 1/4 x 2 inch	Pilot: Hutch
	Copyright: 15 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982 - Locate underside of the vehicle.
	Note: All 4 wheels are plastic. The 2 rear wheels have motor mechanism which made sound

R-6 Finally as Voltron I:

Vehicle Voltron is very huge and stands very close to 15 inch which is a lot taller than the Matchbox/ Trendmaster/ Toynami Masterpiece Lion Voltron. His body is very massive and bulky with all those 15 components merge as one unit. With the motorize wheel feet and if you winded him a couple of times, Vehicle Voltron can actually roll by himself. Now that I think about it, Vehicle Voltron looks like he's on a rolling skate as oppose to a regular feet. Appearance wise, he looks very much like his cartoon counterpart. My favorite part is opening and closing the grill to reveal Voltron face which is so much like the cartoon. Unfortunately, the two helicopter rotor blades are fixed to the shoulder and could not be removed like the cartoon. Most of the time, the rotor blades are used in the cartoon when Vehicle Voltron needs to form the Blazing Sword. When looking from behind, he is full of wheels on his back. The overall joints Voltron connections are very secured because it required pressing various pegs or buttons in order to separate into individual component. The only weakness to this connection is the Jet chest plate connecting onto the chest. Reckless act can easily damage the two white tabs from the jet that are used to connect onto the chest.

[Unlock the locking mechanism: To separate Voltron robot mode back to its subcomponents, read the unlocking mechanism in R-3, R-4, R-5, plus the two that I'm going to explain now. In order to release the Communication Module (mid-section) from Armored Equipment Carrier (waist), open the chrome latch from the Armored Equipment Carrier and pull the peg to release the Communication Module vehicle. Pull that peg again and it will separate the two space probers (thigh) from the Armored Equipment Carrier.]

R-7 Voltron I's in Battled Mode:

Of the three Matchbox Voltrons, Vehicle Voltron has the least articulation of them all. As you can see from the left image, Vehicle Voltron can only move the shoulder and the elbow while the rest is fixed. The middle image is to give you an idea as to what Vehicle Voltron looks like without his jet chest plate. I believed there was one episode where Vehicle Voltron took off his chest plate. Also, there's Dairrugger XV (Vehicle Voltron original root) made by Chogokin actually sold the figure without the jet chest plate and even the boxart reflected the figure too. And last but not least, just like the Matchbox and Trendmaster Lion Voltron, the Vehicle Voltron fist can also be fired out.

NOTE-7: Matchbox Vehicle Voltron does not come with sword or other accessories. The original Dairrugger XV comes with both sword and accessories. The Knockoff Voltron also comes with a sword too.

R-8 Rémy's Vehicle Voltron I action figure review:

Manufacturer: Matchbox

Line, Series/ Wave: Matchbox, 2nd Edition.

Year Issue: [1984]

Made: [Japan]

Scale: [N/A]

Box or Card Dimension In Inches: [LxWxD] - forgot to measure - 19 3/16 x 13 1/8 x 4 6/16

Box or Card Assortment Number: [700210]]

Packaging Method: Mint In Seal Box. Contents were packed with the following procedure:

Rest down on the Styrofoam containers: "1" command jet explorer, "1" fighter plane, "2" advanced recon helicopter, "1" strato weapons module, "1" communication module, "2" multi-wheeled explorer, "2" space prober, "1" jet radar station, "1"rotating personnel carrier, "2" all terrain space vehicle, "1" armored equipment carrier, and "1" instruction sheet.

Box Special Note: Front Box Appearance: Voltron art and the actual figures. Back Box Appearance: Ads of Voltron I (Vehicle), Voltron II (3 into 1 robots), Voltron III (Lions) in both the regular size and the miniature size.

Box Point or Robot Point: [N/A] - Not Applicable.

Approximately Toy Dimension In Inches: Height Up To The Head: 15 Maximum Height: 15 Width from shoulder to shoulder: 8 1/2 Maximum Width: 8 1/2 Dept: 4 1/2

Toy Stamp/ Fine Print: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, follow by (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982.

NOTE: The instruction sheet had the logo of Matchbox and a fine print of "POPY © TOEI". Strangely, none of these fine prints were transferred onto the figure themselves.

Toy Stamp/ Fine Print Location: Can be found on the underside of each vehicle. Each vehicle has it own number plus the copyright for example: Command Jet Explorer is "1 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982", Fighter Plane would be "5 (Japanese text) JAPAN 1982", etc.

Transformation Of Difficulty: [Easy]

Material Durability: [+B] - Pretty durable but don't drop Voltron when the 15 pieces are merged into one robot.

Toy Materials: Die Cast Metal: None. Chrome Parts: For Command Jet Explorer (wheel pins). 2 Advanced Recon Helicopters (rotor blades and wheel pins). Stato Weapon Module ( front and rear bumper, and also on the top). Fighter Plane ( rear rocket engine). Communication Module (side propellers). Armored Equipment Carrier (scanner). 2 Space Probers (Tip of the vehicle). 2 Multi-Wheeled Explorers (front bumper and knee cap). 2 All Terrain Space Vehicles (the anchoring rear wheel plus the front of the car). Rubber Wheels: Strato Weapons Module, Communication Module, 2 Space Probers, 2 Multi-Wheeled Explorer, Rotating Personnel Carrier, Jet Radar Station. Plastic: All of the 15 vehicles. Clear Plastic Window: Command Jet Explorer, Strato Weapon Module, Fighter Plane, Armored Equipment Carrier, 2 All Terrain Space Vehicles.

Stability: [-A] - Robot mode can stand on any surface.

Fun Toy: [A] - Definitely a fun toy.

Negative Drawback: No major negative drawback. The only minor negative drawback is detaching the chest plate (Fighter Plane) from the torso (Strato Weapon Module) is a hassle.

Articulations: Head: Cannot be rotated. Shoulder: Can be swung at a 360 degree and a 90 degree sideway. Arm: Can be bent at a 90 degree angle. Hand: Cannot be rotated. Hip/Waist: Cannot be bent or rotated. Leg: Cannot be bent. Knee: Cannot be bent. Feet/ Ankle: No movement.

Robot's Cartoon looks alike: [A] - Definitely looks like the cartoon.

Vehicle Mode's Cartoon looks alike: [A] - Same as previous statement.

Special Notes: Here are "6" special notes which I thought you should know:

1 - Be extremely cautious when detaching the chest plate (Fighter Plane) from the chest (Strato Weapons Module). The connection is very rigid and reckless act will easily break the white tab connection of the Fighter Plane.

2 - If the piece doesn't want to separate among one another, be sure to unlock the locking mechanism by pressing the pegs or tabs. Some piece involve pressing two pegs at a time. Don't use force to pull the piece unless you see no alternative.

3 - Vehicle Voltron fists can be fired out so make sure your is in working condition and have spring in the arm socket.

4 - Some vehicles that have motorized wheels capability to roll by itself if you winding them a couple of time. As you are winding the wheels, the sound will come out too. These vehicles are: Jet Explorer (head), Strato Weapons Module (torso), Fighter Plane (chest plate), 2Multi-Wheeled Explorers (legs), Rotating Personnel Carrier (right hand), Jet Radar Station (left hand), 2All Terrain Space Vehicles (left and right foot). So make sure your is in working condition.

5 - Vehicles that do not have the motorized wheels capability are the 2 Advanced Recon Helicopters (left and right arm), Communication Module (mid-section), 2 Space Prober (left and right thigh), Armored Equipment Carrier (waist).

6 - To give Voltron robot mode more stability and prevent it from leaning back, pull out the rear chrome wheels from the two All Terrain Space Vehicles (feets) for better footing.

Overall Grade: [+A] - Voltron is definitely beautiful!

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