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"Tiger Captain" (タイガーキャプテン) was a plastic sci-fi tank model released in 1968 by Aoshima Bunka Kyouzai.
The front half was an armored car, and the back half was a box-shaped tank with caterpillar tracks and a gun turret. The entire unit resembled a sort of half-track. It could be separated at the middle and the front half could operate independently.
There were several variations of the toy having different sizes and costs with additional spring action or remote controlled motors and such. Almost all the models were equipped with a spring-loaded missile launch function.
This toy, along with "Thunder Captain" also released by Aoshima, was one of the most successful "original" sci-fi mecha models in Japan, and was re-released time and again with only minor changes.
The two models, however, called attention to copyright issues at the time. Tiger Captain's front half was almost identical to the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Thunder Captain's mimicked that of the Spectrum Patrol Car from the same show.
Furthermore, the gun turrets are the spitting image of the British Chieftain tank.
See also
- Tiger Captain's photo (from Okada Toshio's site): http://www.netcity.or.jp/OTAKU/okada/collection/2418.html
- Aoshima Bunka Kyouzai
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