Rinkya Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Grendizer in Italy
Tempe, AZ and Tokyo, Japan – April 12, 2008. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of one of the most recognizable manga/anime creations in Europe, Goldorak –Goldrake, Grandizer, Grendizer, created by mangaka Gō Nagai as a much sought after collectible throughout Europe and so popular in Italy that products featuring the robot have been manufactured in Italy and even foreign companies such as Mattel have produced specialty collectibles especially for the Italian and European markets.
UFO Robo Grandizer debuted as a manga for Kodansha and an anime for Fuji Television in October of 1975. Animated movies UFO Robot Grendizer vs. Great Mazinger and Decisive Showdown! Great Sea Beast were released by Toei/Dynamic Planning in March and July of 1976. The manga continued until May, 1976 and the anime series ran for 74 episodes ending in February of 1977. Repeated showings of the anime series and animated movies as Goldorak and Atlas UFO Goldrake on European television, notably in Italy and France, made Grendizer one of the most recognizable and collectible of all anime/manga characters in Europe. As a result of this popularity, the Grendizer series was dubbed in Spanish, German, English and even Russian. Comic translations and toy production in the mid-1980's further broadened the fan base.
Original manga under the Grendizer name, and manga featuring the character as a part of the Manzinger series are highly sought after. The anime series is one of the most popular worldwide on tape and disk.
Toys have been produced in Japan by Popy ( a part of Bandai in the 1970's) and worldwide by Mattel as part of the Shogun Warriors line. Bandai produced vinyl toys as late as the late 1990s, an early 1980s version with a shooting fist, similar to Bandai's Godzilla is highly sought after. Mattel produced a Goldrake Shogun Warrior in the European market that was never distributed in America. The Goldrake name was also used for a Grendizer line made by the Italian toy company Atlantic, Fabianaplastica, and Italian toymaker New Toys made a Goldrake series in their popular “Fly by Wire” design.
“While almost an unknown in the United States,” says Heather Russell, CEO of the largest Japanese shopping service, Rinkya, “Grendizer collectibles are among the most popular and recognizable worldwide. We have seen that, in the European and especially the Italian marketplace, Grendizer/Grandizer, and his European pseudonyms Goldrake and Goldorak are among the most sought after toys.”
For Information in English visit : www.rinkya.com
For Information in Italian visit: http://it.rinkya.com/
UFO Robo Grandizer debuted as a manga for Kodansha and an anime for Fuji Television in October of 1975. Animated movies UFO Robot Grendizer vs. Great Mazinger and Decisive Showdown! Great Sea Beast were released by Toei/Dynamic Planning in March and July of 1976. The manga continued until May, 1976 and the anime series ran for 74 episodes ending in February of 1977. Repeated showings of the anime series and animated movies as Goldorak and Atlas UFO Goldrake on European television, notably in Italy and France, made Grendizer one of the most recognizable and collectible of all anime/manga characters in Europe. As a result of this popularity, the Grendizer series was dubbed in Spanish, German, English and even Russian. Comic translations and toy production in the mid-1980's further broadened the fan base.
Original manga under the Grendizer name, and manga featuring the character as a part of the Manzinger series are highly sought after. The anime series is one of the most popular worldwide on tape and disk.
Toys have been produced in Japan by Popy ( a part of Bandai in the 1970's) and worldwide by Mattel as part of the Shogun Warriors line. Bandai produced vinyl toys as late as the late 1990s, an early 1980s version with a shooting fist, similar to Bandai's Godzilla is highly sought after. Mattel produced a Goldrake Shogun Warrior in the European market that was never distributed in America. The Goldrake name was also used for a Grendizer line made by the Italian toy company Atlantic, Fabianaplastica, and Italian toymaker New Toys made a Goldrake series in their popular “Fly by Wire” design.
“While almost an unknown in the United States,” says Heather Russell, CEO of the largest Japanese shopping service, Rinkya, “Grendizer collectibles are among the most popular and recognizable worldwide. We have seen that, in the European and especially the Italian marketplace, Grendizer/Grandizer, and his European pseudonyms Goldrake and Goldorak are among the most sought after toys.”
For Information in English visit : www.rinkya.com
For Information in Italian visit: http://it.rinkya.com/
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