presents

By Ray H.

DragonBall Toys from North America

When DragonBall Z started its first run in the U.S., Bandai originally had big plans for it, but when it didn't really take off like they had hope a lot of merchandise was never released, or only released in very small quantities.

Deluxe Energy Blasters

These were originally released when DBZ they are 5 inch action figures that shoot "energy blast" from their hands. You can see by the picture a Gohan and Krillen were originally planned for the line but were never released. Irwin later re-released this line last year, but did not produce Krillen or Gohan either.

Super Battle Collection

Bandai originally released the first 6 volumes of the SBC when DBZ premiered but it didn't get much further than that. When Irwin started re-releasing DragonBall merchandise they have pretty much released all the DBZ based SBC figures except for Vol. 00 Ultimate Gokou, Volume 25 Gokou, and Volume 26 Mystic Gohan.

8" Electronic Figures

These were a set of light and sound action figures that were never widely released. It's a shame cause they are kinda neat.

Battle Ready

These were 6" action figures that, if you operated the platform switches, would swing around and boogie down, sort of like Batman: Knight Force Ninja's Karate Fighters and many of those other "battle" toys. They could come off the base as well and you could play with them that way. These were never released.

16" Deluxe Figures

These giant DBZ are posed in dynamic battle stances and feature articulated arms and funky hair. These actually were released and were hardcore peg warmers for a few years, but now are "hot items". I'm kicking myself for not picking them up way back when they were on clearance for $5 each.

8" Blasting Gohan

A semi articulated figure of Gohan from the Buu' saga in his blue suit. It had a cloth costume and shot lights and sound. It was originally released in Japan but when Bandai made the first attempt at DBZ toys here they threw this guy into the mix.

Dragonball PVCs

When DragonBall hit airwaves they released small PVC sets of the original DragonBall cast, these were repaints of some of those pink toys in the Japanese DBZ page.

DragonBall Action Figures

Also released when the original DragonBall first aired, these are releases of the Japanese DB figures. All 3 toys, Gokou, Krillin and Yamucha, were released.
Irwin Toy is now handling DBZ in the U.S. Initially everything was just re-releases of old Bandai or AB merchandise, but that has now changed in a big way. Irwin is now producing some very excellent all new releases.

Basic Action Figures

The primary bulk of the Irwin collection is the majority of the Bandai DBZ SBC figures, and the AB Super Guerriers.

Deluxe Energy Blasters

See above, plus Irwin will release an all-new Energy Blaster Series.

16" Action Figures

Irwin has been releasing some of the AB 16-inch figures

Skate Board Figures

Irwin released the ultra ugly DBZ Skateboard Figures without the skate boards awhile back and added a SSJ Gokou to the mix

2" and 1" Collections

These are battle packs originally released by Bandai and AB

Burger King DBZ Toys

Fast Food pewter-colored premiums that happened to be about same scale as the SBC figures.

Capsule Corp. Capsules

This is a new from Irwin which consists of a capsule that contains a mini diecast vehicle and a 1" figure

Irwin Toy's All-New Action Figures

These are getting a lot of buzz and deserve bit of it. Irwin Toy has just released its very first all-new, all original, action figures and they are fantastic. As you can see by the picture they are to scale with some SBC favorites. These toys have very nice sculpts, and a good amount of articulation, which put them on top of the DBZ toy pile quality-wise.

Plus, the character selections great as well, cause Irwin's turning out favorites that have never been produced before. Big hats off to Irwin for this line, these have really surprised collectors with exactly how nice they are.

Irwin 12" Action Figures

Information's still coming in on this line, but Irwin will be doing all-new 12 action figures with cloth costumes, as well as their all new action figures. Look for more information on RTM about this line soon.

Irwin Full Action Kits

Irwin will also be doing their own FAK, which has fans happy because the FAK line is very beloved, and any addition to it is greatly welcomed.

So, there you have it! We hope you enjoyed this grand tour of the world of DragonBall Z merchandise. There's still plenty more out there, too, for you to discover. Enjoy!

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