Hail Raideen!

The original badass robot was Raideen, which I saw through a weekly cartoon show locally in Honolulu (KIKU) in the 1970s. All the other descendants like Transformers can discover their lineage and Raideen is right there at the heart of their roots.

The name was Americanized to Raydeen in the 1980s with a comic book to boot. Matt Mason's site is a wonderful trip to the gloried past of the great Raideen. The photos (below) speak for themselves.

The '70s were a stupendous time to be a kid who loved cartoon and comic-book action heroes. There was Raideen, operated by a boy would would "fade in" with a chant and an Olympian-level leap to the entrance of Raideen (his face). There was Kikaida and Kikaida 01, Kamenrider, Denjin Zaboga, Inazuman and many more, including comedic, sometimes pathetic Robocon.