Tetsujin 28 vs Monster: The Story Behind the Time Slip Glico Black-and-White Diorama Figure by Kaiyodo
A Miniature Battle Scene from the Dawn of Giant Robot Anime
This hard plastic diorama captures a confrontation between Tetsujin 28 — the pioneering giant robot known in North America as Gigantor — and a monster character from the same classic series. The figure is rendered entirely in black and white, a deliberate choice that echoes the original 1963–1966 monochrome television broadcast. Tetsujin 28 is posed in an attack stance, suspended on a support rod above a textured, organic-style base featuring a central spike — a dynamic composition that goes well beyond what a simple stand-alone figure can convey.
The piece belongs to the Time Slip Glico line, a food-toy series produced by Ezaki Glico — the confectionery company behind Pocky and Pretz — with sculpting handled by Kaiyodo. Figures in this series were sold packaged with candy, in the tradition of Japanese shokugan (food toys), a category that also includes well-known lines from Bandai and Furuta. What distinguished Time Slip Glico was its explicit nostalgia focus: the series revisited Showa-era manga, animation, and toy culture from roughly the 1950s through 1960s, targeting adult collectors who grew up with that material. The black-and-white palette here is not a design limitation — it is the concept made visible, a direct callback to the era when Japanese households watched Tetsujin 28 on black-and-white television sets.
Tetsujin 28 and Its Place in Robot Animation History
Tetsujin 28 began as a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, serialized in the magazine Shonen (Kobunsha) from 1956 to 1966. The premise was unusual for its time: the robot was originally a weapon developed by the wartime Japanese military, later controlled by a boy detective named Shotaro Kaneda using a handheld remote. That remote-control mechanic — with the pilot standing outside the machine rather than inside it — is central to the story’s drama. Control of the robot is a prize that heroes and villains contest throughout the series. This sets Tetsujin 28 apart from the “cockpit pilot” convention that would later define works like Mazinger Z, making it a structurally distinct chapter in the history of the genre.
The 1963 animated adaptation by TCJ (now Eiken) aired on Fuji TV and is recognized as one of the foundational texts of giant robot animation. Internationally, the series reached American audiences from 1964 onward under the title Gigantor, distributed by Trans-Lux. That broadcast history means the character carries genuine name recognition among older animation fans in North America — an unusual degree of cross-Pacific reach for a series from that period.
Kaiyodo and the Collector Appeal of Shokugan
Kaiyodo, founded in 1964 and based in Kadoma, Osaka, is among the most respected sculptors in the Japanese figure industry. When Kaiyodo and similar studios began collaborating with confectionery companies in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the shokugan category shifted significantly. What had been seen as inexpensive promotional extras became detailed, display-worthy objects that adult collectors actively sought out. The Time Slip Glico series was a product of that moment. A monochrome diorama from this line — with its compound structure of base, rod, and figure — represents the kind of sculptural complexity that distinguishes it from single-piece candy premiums. For collectors interested in robot anime history, Showa pop culture, or Kaiyodo’s catalog, the piece sits at a specific and well-defined intersection.
Price: $14.99 | View on eBay
