SCIENCE NINJA TEAM GATCHAMAN

'Battle of the Planets'
Logo Button

A 1.25" pinback button with the logo of Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman, from the Japanese anime series 'Gatchaman' which was released in the US as 'Battle of the Planets.' Also called Science Commando Gatchaman.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman) is a Japanese animated franchise about a five-member superhero team who fight alien forces that want to strip the Earth of its natural resources.

The series centers around five young superhero ninja employed by the International Science Organization to oppose an international terrorist organization of technologically advanced villains (Galactor) who are trying to control Earth's natural resources.

The leader of Galactor is an androgynous, masked antagonist named Berg Katse (that purple big-eared fox headdress, those tall lovely boots!), who is later revealed to be a shape-shifting, mutant hermaphrodite acting on the orders of an alien superior (Leader X).

In the US, Galactor was Spectra, and Berg was Zoltar (and on one memorable occasion, Zoltar's sister Latroz (presumably so that parents wouldn't have to explain to their kids why that man just became a woman!)). Purple-cape-wearing animated Zoltar should not be confused with the fortune-telling animatronic figure called Zoltar, as seen in American arcades and the movie 'Big.'

The most-common plot involves the Gatchaman team opposing giant monsters dispatched by Galactor to steal (or control) natural resources such as water, oil, sugar and uranium. These mechas are often animal-based.

The main characters wear teen clothing with T-shirts numbered to show their rank in the team or caped, birdlike battle uniforms. The uniforms had the logo G on the belt buckle, and in the US dub they referred to themselves as G-Force. The team members also use signature weapons and mecha-style vehicles, each with a mundane, disguised form. Their vehicles are docked in the team's main vehicle: the God Phoenix, a supersonic plane capable of underwater travel and space flight.

The original Gatchaman series was followed by an animated film and two direct sequel series, Gatchaman II (1978) and Gatchaman Fighter (1979). During the 1990s, episodes from both series were dubbed into English by Saban as Eagle Riders. The American version 'Battle of the Planets' incorporated new animation of a robot who served as narrator, 7-Zark-7.

Wear this button while zipping along in your wingsuit, while trying on some thigh-high boots, or while birdwatching.

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Pin back on each button. US penny for scale. Penny NOT included in price of button.

Always five, acting as one! Dedicated, inseparable, invincible!