GIGANTOR THE SPACE-AGE ROBOT...

"Gigantor the space-age robot, he's at your command,

Gigantor the space-age robot, his power is in your hand..."

TETSUJIN 28-GO was his real name, but we Brit-kids never knew that back in the '60s.  The articulated (that means poseable, Melvin) toy pictured above is one that I acquired on the way back to my house after having my dog ZARA privately cremated in November of 1998.  I'd seen the robot and his human chum (JIMMY SPARKS) in a shop a week or two before, but I was undecided whether to buy them or not.  Now I was decided so I bought 'em!  Gigantor and Jimmy sat on the box containing my dog's still-warm ashes all the way home;  I scattered the ashes in my back garden in 2002 (no, it didn't take that long for them to cool down), Gigantor and Jimmy I still have, 20 years later.

And I'd like to thank Gigantor and Jimmy for posing out in the rain for these photographs.  Remember the show's theme song?  That's it below to refresh your memory.  Tetsujin 28-go?  Nah, he'll always be Gigantor to me.

In the '90s, an updated version of Gigantor appeared on US TV (don't know if it was shown in Britain), adapted from the 1980 Japanese show.  The opening credits are below.