Panosh Place

Panosh Place was an American toy company that created toys for Voltron: Defender of the Universe after World Events Productions discontinued the Matchbox line. Due to high demand for the original die-cast toys, Bandai outsourced production of Voltron toys to Taiwan and traces of lead were found in the paint.

Combining toys

Voltron toy commercial- Panosh Place

Panosh Place toy commercial

Panosh Place intended to replace the die-cast toys Matchbox brought in that were modified Popy molds. Bandai, the parent company of Popy, outsourced production of Voltron toys to Taiwan where led was found in its paint which resulted in a callback of Matchbox toys.

To combat this, Panosh Place introduced a combining Lion Force Voltron made of only plastic and bigger size. Unlike the Matchbox version of the combining toys, the Panosh Place's toy came with weaponry for both the individual lions and combined robot. It was also the first Voltron toy to feature cockpits that can house figurines of the pilots which were sold separately.

The lions were sold individually or together in a large gift box.

Sets and figures

Panosh Place was the first to introduce toys of the pilots and villains themselves in the 3 3/4" size.

• Castle of Lions - A large playset based on the castle shown in the anime.
• Coffin of Doom - A coffin to store the robeasts
• Pilot action figures - Toys of the individual pilots that come with their own key and helmet. Each figure can be placed inside of the cockpits of the combining lions.
  • Keith with red key
  • Lance with red key
  • Pidge with green key
  • Hunk with yellow key
  • Allura with blue key
  • Allura with black key
• Villain action figures - Figures of villains from Planet Doom
  • King Zarkon
  • Haggar the Witch
  • Prince Lotor
  • Robeast Mutilor
  • Robeast Scorpius (blue and green variants)
  • Skull Scavenger
  • Doom Commander

Cancelled toys

1986 catalog of Panosh Place's upcoming toys before its closure

Before its closure, a catalog revealed that Panosh intended to add more figures into its toyline including a new playset. The unreleased toys shown were the following:

• Castle of Doom Playset - A playset for the villains of the line which included firing throne mechanism
• Voltron Vehicle Force action figures - Like the present pilots they would come with their own helmets
  • Sven
  • Jeff
  • Cliff
  • Krik
• Villain action figures - The cancelled toys show characters from Voltron Vehicle Force and the third season of Defender of the Universe which is a season animated specifically for the American adaption
  • Hazar
  • Commander Cossack
  • Merla
  • Robeast Medusa
  • Robeast Cyclops
  • Robeast Rino

Legacy

Despite its short lifespan, Panosh Place has left a legacy that would influence future Voltron toys. After a decade, when Voltron: The Third Dimension had its own toyline released by Trendmasters, the line would include a larger combining toy that included cockpits to fit action figures of its iteration of the Voltron Force pilots.

Mattel would also release a higher end collectible combining lion line that also had cockpits that would house their respective pilots. Even the keys that can be used as a stand for each figure were a callback to the keys included with Panosh Place's pilot action figures.

Playmates Toys also plans to release larger versions of the Red and Blue Lion that would house Keith and Lance respectively, however the lions can not combine and are standalone toys.

External Links

• Figure Realm - list of Panosh Place's toys for its Voltron toyline