Tenth Birthday Special Guest Article: Cyborg, Walder, Invader, Kaijin, Muton and the Cybo-Invader - The Translucent Transformers from Takara and Denys Fisher by Tony K

Cyborg and Muton, by Denys Fisher, were toys from the mail order catalogue-culture of my childhood. It was a time when Cyborgs were popular and 'Bionic' was a buzzword worth six million dollars. 

Takara 12" Cyborg

These exciting translucent plastic action figures were new to the UK in the mid-seventies, but their story began a couple of years earlier, in Japan.

Takara Android-A Robot Set

Henshin (Transforming) Cyborg was produced in the early seventies, in 1/6 scale, by Japanese toy giant, Takara. Cyborg action figures had unorthodox design features; they were produced in translucent plastic, which clearly showed a chest full of gleaming nuclear technology. 

Cyborg's arms and legs could be removed and replaced with futuristic Cybonator weapon systems and accessories. A wide range of carded outfits and accessories were available to augment Cyborg's ability, or simply transform him into other heroes. Carded outfits included costumes from Japanese pop culture, such as Kamen Rider and Marzinger Z.

Cyborg's versatility was emphasized with the Cyborg Rider Full Set ....

This ingenious boxed combo set gave Cyborg the components to transform himself into a 1/6 scale futuristic transparent motorcycle; a ground-breaking achievement, even for Japan's formidable motorcycle industry. 

 There was also Cyborg Station CX-1, a 1/6 scale playset concealed within a secret agent attaché case. As Cyborg's popularity grew, so did his companions. His allies soon included an 8' inch tall Boy (Shonen) Cyborg and the translucent black Android-A. Jaguar Cyborg was an unusual four legged friend with multiple animal and robotic alter-egos.

Takara 12" Cyborg and Denys Fisher 8" Cyborg

Takara's 12' inch King Walder (or Waruda) was the colourful cosmic villain, who kept the kids defence budget flowing. He'd later reappear as the purple 8' inch 'Muton' under the Denys Fisher license in the UK. 

 Walder was produced in translucent purple, yellow, green and blue. His see-through torso revealed gruesome inner organs. In keeping with the product concept, Walder also had a variety of carded costumes to cater to the demands of his fickle, multiple personality, persona. 

These included, the Red Baron and the Fishman; re-sized and re-branded as X-Akron and the Amaluk, for the UK. Perhaps most exciting of all, was Walder's three sinister Kaijin outfits. 

These were carded sets that consisted of a monster head, chest piece and push-on limbs. With no fabric costume, the monster parts were simply attached to Walder's transparent tinted body, creating a visually appealing, characteristically evil, creature. These sinister augmentations transformed Walder into the 

Satan King .....

the bio-mechanical Plant Man 

and the Skull King, who later became Torg in Denys Fisher Muton sub-forms line up.

 The Kaijin formed an unholy trinity resembling a nightmare vision from a hypnagogic borderland.

As well as battling Walder and the Kaijin, Cyborg and friends also fought other dark forces... enter the Invaders! 

Takara produced three Invaders - 

Invader J ....

Invader O ....

and Invader Z; each with a different colour translucent body with reflective particles. Each Invader had a fiendish face sculpted into the design of its front torso. A simple push-button mechanism on the back of the figure would make hypnotically evil eyes appear to open. 

 Most of the Takara Cyborg cast stood 12' inches tall, for some reason the Invaders stood a diminutive 8' inches tall? 

 An odd translated line of English appeared on the product box of each Invader. It read - 'The Man of Cosmo's Invader'. 



 Were these 8' inch aliens originally destined for the British Denys Fisher Cyborg and Muton market? Their craft, UFO-7 certainly landed here! Denys Fisher re-branded it 'Cybo-Invader' ..

and added it to Cyborg's arsenal, to assist in his battle against galactic despot, destroyer and ne'er-do-well, Muton.

UFO-7/Cybo-Invader, was an archetypical toy flying saucer with a hollow plastic hull and a pleasing aesthetic. It featured two precariously placed, spring loaded missile launchers, which were easily broken off. Its brittle cherry red plastic missiles were easily damaged or lost. 



 The spring loaded, clear plastic canopy, was often cracked during play. The canopy gave access to the inner workings of the craft. The main attraction seated inside the Cybo-Invader was a hollow plastic, three-wheeled, plastic pursuit craft with fold down wings. It was called the Cybo-Interceptor and was armed with spring loaded missile launchers. 

Having collected these figures for a number of years, my knowledge, like my collection, is small, incomplete and ongoing. Takara's Cyborg range is particularly challenging to collect and understand. Original booklets and TV adverts were in Japanese, not English. 

By comparison, the smaller Denys Fisher range is easier to find and follow. Both Japanese and British products had short shelf lives. However, the legacy of these translucent transformers lived on, in-part, through Microman, Micronauts, and later Takara's Neo Cyborg. 

Cyborg, Walder and Muton may be just another zeitgeist for yesterdays kids, but they established a toy trend. 

Optimus Prime hadn't been discovered in the seventies, so it was really down to Cyborg and friends to protect the planet from galactic evil and secure the future for a new generation of plastic Transformer toys.

Tony K
UK

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LINKS -

King Walder Youtube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOXLnZgbF_8

Cyborg Station Youtube Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiSqjKmFzqA

Shonin Cyborg Youtube Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlxsOzcRNy4