Derek Martin is a God!
Well maybe not God, but certainly the patron saint of Jumbo Machinders. I was surprised and delighted to find a small package from Derek in my mailbox, of course I had known that he was working on reproduction Shogun Warrior/Jumbo Machinder missiles along with other reproduction Machinder parts, but I didn’t think he would have a finished product so soon. I can’t say enough about these, but I’ll try.


How good are they?
Let’s start up front by saying that they are reproductions, and a jumbo collector would on close inspection be able to tell that they were reproductions. So anyone worried that Derek might be helping someone get ripped off, put your fears aside. Having said that they are distinguishable from the originals, they are however better then any reproduction part I have ever seen for any toy. At a good Jumbo viewing distance of say 12 to 24 inches away you cannot tell that they are reproductions. This means that all your half-naked Machinders could be fixed up with reproduction missiles and look perfect on your shelf. Check out the pic on the left. From left to right: original red/white short vane missile, Derek’s reproduction red/black short vane missile, and semi-rare original white /red short vane missile.


On A Jumbo?
As you can see Derek’s missiles are really close to the originals. To the left is a pic of a third version Mazinga tricked out with half white/red missiles and half red/black missiles that Derek made.
Proofs in the pudding!
I guess the real question is, “Do they fire?” Of the five that Derek sent me one has been drilled out to fit into a launching fist. I was supprised to find that not only did it fit and fire, but that it went farther then the original missiles! To the left is a pic of it in a Mazinga missile fist.
What does all this mean?
I am sure there are still folks out there saying “ Well, that’s great, but I like to have real missiles, the repros are cool and all, but I’ll wait and get original ones.” I can think of several reasons why Derek’s missiles would be a welcome substitute. As Derek can make them in pretty much any color they are ideal for making “custom jumbos”. They are also ideal for replacing hard to find missiles that are not the standard red/white Mazinga ones. Many of the Japanese Jumbos had different colored missiles based on the same design, so Derek could replace even the rarest of Jumbo missiles. Bottom line this is just the tip of the iceberg for Derek’s reproductions. He is currently working on Goldorak Sickles, and Daimos missiles. If these Mazinga missiles are any indication of the craftsmanship that his reproductions will have, then I can assure you that Derek will be busy filling orders for a long, long time.

For anyone interested in Derek's reproductions. You can send e-mail here to me and I will collect them for Derek. When he gets his shop up and running he can send you pricing and time frame information. E-mail Here

Brad