I can still remember my first reaction to Voltron like it was yesterday. I grew up in the boonies with three staticy television channels. One year we all spent the Summer with my Dad on an army base. There we had an apartment with air-conditioning and cable (both were luxuries I didn't know existed). I remember eating cereal on one of the first mornings there and my Mom turned on the TV in the middle of an episode of Voltron. I was instantly intrigued. Multi-Colored heroes who rode gigantic robot cats?! A princess who is friends with a bunch of alien-looking mice?! Blue-skinned bad guys in space?! and.. wait.. what? The lions are assembling?! This can't be. My 7-year-old mind was blown. I became obsessed and was showered with Voltron toys that Christmas. I won't even mention my reaction when I discovered Vehicle Voltron either. Haggar was the typical cackling evil sorceress I had come to expect from my villainy. Truly a classic 80s baddie. Let's check her out below!
Haggar was always my least favorite figure in this line. Even as a kid I felt ripped of by the whopping TWO points of articulation. Plus I lost my staff basically right away so she was even more boring. As an adult though, I think this is a really cool figure. The addition of the feline familiar Coba is a great perk as well.
Haggar was the magical creator of all the Ro-Beasts that continually attacked Voltron throughout the series. In later backstory, it was revealed that she used to be beautiful (possibly even King Zarkon's concubine) but the more she delved into black magic, the more it transformed her physical appearance into the witch we know and love today.
Haggar came with a staff (The Staff of Doom?) and a coffin-shaped badge with a sticker on it. When the Ro-Beasts were sent to attack Voltron, they would arrive in a coffin-shaped vehicle which would then birth the ready-to-fight Ro-Beasts. All the bad guys came with coffin-shaped badges, and all the good guys came with Keys.
Here are some images of Haggar (and Coba) from the cartoon.
And here is a photo of 7-yo me trembling with excitement as I try to free my new Voltron from his plastic prison. I wish there were a video of this because I'll bet you anything I was geeking out like crazy. Christmas of 1985 was one of those years where there was one hot toy that is sold out everywhere and there is video on the news of parents waiting in line for hours. Everyone probably remembers the Cabbage Patch Doll fiascos, and more recently Zhu-Zhu Pets and the first Nintendo Wii, but in 1985 it was all about Voltron. I was disheartened and knew I would never get one (and my parents probably amped that up knowing they already had one for me). Seriously, to this very day, one of the best Christmas presents ever.
Time for a Comparison Pic!
Cheers!
Haggar was such an awesome villain! I was really hoping Mattel would make some of the bad guys with their subscription.
ReplyDeleteAre the vintage figures bigger than the Mattel versions?
Actually no, the vintage pilots are really small, less than 3" I believe. I'll take some comparison shots soon and add them to this review. At the same time, I think Haggar was really large in comparison to the vintage pilots, so she may very well be in scale with the new figures.
DeleteChristmas 1985 was a kind of let down for me because it the the year my parents decided that I was to old for toys.I was only 13 that years and still sat in my room and played out elaborate story lines with my toys. I put up such an huge fit about it that to this day my parents still get me toys for my birthdays and Christmas. My Haggar spent most of her time with my Charon Devil's Boatman from Clash of the Titans, in my world they were an evil brother and sister.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! As a girl of about 6 when I LOVED this show, I never got blessed with the toys from this show. I suppose I never asked for them, as I probably didn't even KNOW you could get the toys for it, but oh how I wish now that I had. I adore Voltron, and I have the 3 of the 5 DVD's that they released with the original show. Now whenever I see anything Voltron, I just get really nostalgic :)
ReplyDeleteDid you by any chance see the Saturday Night Live "Connectatron" Voltron spoof from a few weeks ago? It's pretty funny. You can watch it on hulu.
DeleteI only have one of the Voltron Boxsets... the blue lion one. I probably won't get the rest unless I find them cheap. But I do have the Fleet of Doom movie which includes the Vehicle Voltron team. Coincidentally i was just arranging one of my toy shelves last night and finally put this vintage Haggar next to her 1990's counterpart (a very underrated figure). http://www.shesfantastic.com/2013/10/voltron-third-dimension-haggar-witch.html