This is the only footage I could find online, but I own the DVD, which I need to finish watching (add that to the list), so I know something more about it. Like Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and Harmony Gold, Beast King GoLion didn’t have enough episodes for a weekday TV series, which is why World Events Productions picked up three series to create The Voltron Trilogy. More on that in a couple of weeks, because we never got a trilogy. Like Robotech an attempt was made to create a mythos that would combine the various series created into Voltron. So when they ran out of adventures of the team now called the Lion Force, they created the Vehicle Team Voltron Force, although I remember them being called the Vehicle TEAM when I was a kid.
Armored Fleet DaiRugger XV was the tale of a group of space explorers from multiple planets who used the titular robot to protect their fleet from a competing planet who didn’t want to share a planet, even blowing up planets they couldn’t have all to themselves. They’re kind of jerks that way. The “Galaxy Garrison” footage came from this show, and it would be established that Chip, a member of the Vehicle Team, was the twin brother of Pidge from the Lion Force, since their character models look so similar. (It also established they have a sister, so the “Pidge” of Legendary Defender could claim that was an homage…although the real reason is the voice actress wanted to play a girl character.)
The robot consists of 15 vehicles (which is where the “Fleet” comes in) that combined into a super robot, but it was also made up of three teams–air, land, and sea–that could combine into larger vehicles when necessary. This allowed for multi-terrain exploration but if separated could defend themselves long enough to get together and form their version of Voltron. Tonight we’ll be looking at five episodes of the Vehicle Voltron team, since the official YouTube channel already has them in a separate playlist. Oddly it’s not the first five (I’m betting you have to pay for those) but episodes six through ten. And then we’ll try to figure out why this version is barely remembered by WEP and all but the classic fans. I think the last time they show up anywhere besides this is the Devil’s Due comics I’m reviewing, so I’m doing this one to get everyone up to speed.
