Toei Celebrates Metal Hero Series’ 40th Anniversary

The official Metal Hero Twitter account has opened in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Metal Hero series.

Forty years ago, the Metal Hero franchise began with Space Sheriff Gavan, released in 1982. Since then, the Metal Hero franchise has been an integral part of tokusatsu, with some of its entries such as Juukou B-Fighter being adapted for English audiences. On November 16, Toei opened an official Metal Hero Twitter account for series’ 40th anniversary. With it, they announced they will be releasing a soundtrack album, a Space Sheriff Gavan Blu-ray box set, and a commemorative medal and keyring.

The SPARKLY SONGS CD box is a 3-disc set of best-of albums, including all remastered OPs and EDs from “Space Sheriff Gavan” (1982) to “Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack” (1998) plus bonus tracks. The CD box costs 5,500 yen.

Space Sheriff Gavan has been re-released on Blu-Ray as two box sets costing 17,380 yen each. From the Toei Video store:

Space Sheriff Gavan, created as a never-seen-before hero, was popular as the first installment of the Metal Hero series and Space Sheriff Series and returned after 30 years in the movie Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger VS Space Sheriff Gavan the Movie in January 2012 which was a huge hit. In October of the same year, Space Sheriff GAVAN THE MOVIE was released as a completely new stand-alone movie. Space Sheriff Gavan is a hero that transcends generations and has been accepted not only by the ardent fans from the time of its broadcast but also by children all over Japan who are currently obsessed with Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.

Finally, a commemorative Space Sheriff Gavan medal and key chain are available on the Toei online store. The medal costs 1,320 yen while the keychain costs 990 yen.

Fans of the Metal Hero series can purchase Blu-ray sets of both Megabeast Investigator Juspion and Space Sheriff Gavan with English subtitles thanks to Discotek Media. As of this writing, Juspion is also available to stream via Crunchyroll (regional restrictions may apply).

Source: Metal Hero Official Twitter