Mazinger Z (1972)

Popy GA-01 Chogokin Mazinger Z, 1974 The one that started everything. A 4.5-inch robot with a zinc alloy die-cast body, button-fired fists and a plastic head, it turned a fictional metal into a whole toy category. Its engineering was far from perfect: problems led Popy to run a free replacement campaign, and collectors now count four original versions of the GA-01 alongside countless repaints and reissues. For anyone building a collection around the line's history, this is the reference point every later Mazinger gets measured against.