X-Bomber

When I cam across the above clip entitled Star Fleet 1980 from England I’d never heard of the show before, but after doing some research it seems that it’s a translated version of a marionette show created by famous manga artist Go Nagai who’s most famous for his titles like Devilman and Cutey Honey. Here’s a great description of the show from Wikipedia:

“X-Bomber (Xボンバー Ekkusu Bonbā) is a marionette tokusatsu TV series. Created by manga master Go Nagai, the show, aired on Fuji TV from October 4, 1980 to March 28, 1981, with a total of 26 episodes. This show was billed in Japan as being filmed in “Sūpāmariorama” (スーパーマリオラマ), a puppeteering process similar to Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation works. This show is basically a cross between Nagai’s Getter Robo and Star Wars. Just like Getter Robo, the show’s protagonists ride three vehicles that combine into a giant robot. Big Dai X, the show’s robot, is more similar to the kind seen in the popular Super Sentai series than your average Nagai robot.”