Irwin Dragon Ball Z 5" Figures, Vehicles, & Playsets"Irwin Toy released more than 72 figures consisting of 2-inch and 5 inch action figures, which became top-selling toys in a market dominated by the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Irwin Toys would release other unique Dragon Ball Z toys including a battery powered Flying Nimbus Cloud which hovered without touching the ground and a die-cast line of vehicles with collector capsules." (
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z#Merchandising)
Update: I discovered that I can use archive.org to look at DBT's old figure pages, so I was able to get the release dates from there for some of the sets. The release dates on DBT "should" be correct, but because they disagree with some of the release years we've had on DBF since we started in 2013, I'm going to put the DBT release dates in parenthesis until we can figure out a way to double-check them for accuracy. -Branjita
There's also some funny history involving these according to The Kappa who worked on DBT with Despotes. Note that (at the time) we were referring to Series 1 as Series 14 (because Irwin's Bandai and AB rereleases ended at Series 13):
5" Basic Figures:
Irwin released versions of the figures in special silver packaging to specialty outlets (comic stores, anime stores, etc.) for the first 4 series. After that, they discontinued the specialty packaging.
Series 01:
Saiyan/Frieza/Garlic Jr. Saga
Release Date: 2000 (according to DBT: June 2000, but Raving Toy Maniac claimed September 2000 ... according to News posts on DBT... they weren't showing up in the US even in early September... this page of DBT further supports August/September 2000)
-Master Roshi w/Turtle
-Bulma w/Ginyu Frog
-Garlic Jr. w/Orb
-Nappa
-Raditz
Series 02:
Saiyan/Ginyu/Frieza Saga
Release Date: 2000 (according to DBT: July 2000, but elsewhere on DBT it is claimed to be August 2000,
but only being found in Canada in August, then claimed to be September/October 2000 on
this page of DBT)
-Burter
-Jeice
-Frieza Form 2
-Yajirobe & Korin
-Chiaotzu
Series 03:
Saiyan/Frieza/Garlic Jr. Saga
Release Date: 2000 (according to DBT: September 2000, but
elsewhere on DBT claimed to be October/November 2000)
-Dende
-King Kai & Bubbles
-Chi Chi
-Future Trunks
-Krillin
Series 03 Bandai/AB reissues:
Release Date: supposedly around the same time as Series 03
Supposedly released during this time period (and series, according to Beckett Magazine's price guide) were some unusual two-packs. They were all small Super Battle Collection and AB Super Guerriers characters combined into one package. They came with accessories and dragonballs that were typically yellow with red stars, but sometimes red with yellow stars. These balls were larger than the orange balls with red stars that came with a lot of (mostly) later Irwin figures. There are a lot of theories about these figures. One is that these smaller characters sold poorly because they were smaller and the same price as larger characters, so Irwin decided to get rid of remaining stock by offering the figures in two-packs. Now, I don't recall Gohan selling poorly, but I do remember Gotenks and SS Gotenks selling very poorly when they were released. American kids had no idea who Gotenks was, and the Gotenks figure is arguably one of the worst likenesses to a character that Bandai made in the SBC line (that Irwin reissued). He has the proportions of a Krillin figure almost and is very confusing to look at.
-Gohan and Gotenks
-Gohan and Trunks
-Goten and Trunks (this one oddly came with two weapons shoved inside the top portion, and is obviously the most logical, and cool of the 2 packs)
-Krillin and Gohan
-Krillin and Trunks
-Gotenks and Trunks
-Gotenks and Krillin
-SS Gotenks and Trunks
-Minoshiya and Gotenks
-Minoshiya and SS Gotenks
Series 04:
Androids Saga
Release Date: 2000 (according to DBT: May 2001)
-Goku
-Vegeta
-Piccolo
-Android 17
-Android 18
Series 05:
Androids/Cell Saga
Release Date: 2001 (according to DBT: September 2001)
-Dr. Gero
-Teen Trunks
-SS Vegeta
-SS Goku
-SS Gohan
Series 06:
Androids/Perfect Cell/Cell Games Saga
Release Date: 2001 (according to DBT: September 2001)
-Android 16
-Android 19
-Perfect Cell w/Cell Jr.
-SS Goku
-SS Trunks
Series 07:
Androids/Great Saiyaman/World Tournament/Babidi Saga
Release Date: 2001 (according to DBT: February 2002)
-Goku
-Great Saiyaman
-SS Teen Gohan
-Majin Vegeta (Black Hair Misprint)
-SS Majin Vegeta (released in July 2002, as did the Beckett Exclusive gold haired version)
-Spopovich
Series 08: Great Saiyaman/Babidi Saga
Release Date: 2001 (according to DBT: April 2002)
-Dabura
-Goku w/Halo
-SS Gohan
-SS Trunks & SS Goten
-Videl w/Baby Dino
Series 09
Great Saiyaman/World Tournament/Babidi/Majin Buu Saga
Release Date: 2002 (according to DBT: September 2002)
-Babidi w/Cocoon Egg
-Pui Pui
-Majin Buu w/Puppy Bee & Dabura Cookie
-Hercule
-Krillin
Series 10: Great Saiyaman/Babidi/Majin Buu Saga
Release Date: 2002 (according to DBT: November 2002,
according to the official fansite of Eric Vale, October 2002)
-Yamcha w/Puar
-SS Gohan (Misprint)
-Gotenks
-SS Vegeta w/Halo
-Yakon
Series 11:
Majin Buu Saga
Release Date: 2002 (according to the official fansite of Eric Vale, October 2002, according to DBT: December 2002... but people were finding them in early November... Branjita recalls the release being the same week as Series 10... Interestingly, if you look at
this archive of Irwin's website, Irwin said the figures were coming out in October)
-SS Gohan
-Supreme Kai w/Kibito
-Bulma
-Evil Buu
-SS3 Goku (he is rare to find in the old style packaging. He did not appear in most cases of Series 12 action figures for some reason)
The new packaging style (red, orange, and yellow with SS Goku in the background) started showing up
online November 26, 2002, but the actual date of release was February 2003. According to
DBT, the figures were still trickling into stores in March 2003.
As reported on
DBT on February 20, 2003:
Irwin's Bankruptcy was announced December 2, 2002:
DBT reported on December 24, 2002:
According to the
official fansite of Eric Vale, Irwin had November 2002 release dates for both Series 12 and 13 . This will need further research and investigation, but it may be possible that Irwin had finalized the designs for 12 and 13, or even started production before they went bankrupt. I can see many reasons why this could be true and why it couldn't be. Among those reasons are: The articulation on the series 12 figures is very different from the articulation on the series 11 figures. We do know that Irwin had shown prototypes of series 12, but the prototypes were quite a lot different from the production figures. Their SS Gotenks was a repainted series 10 Gotenks with a ghost similar to what Jakks released... their Mystic Gohan was a repaint of series 7 SS Gohan (he looks like he appeared in DBZ movie 10)... their Tien doesn't share many things in common with what Jakks released (and either coincidentally has a very similar expression (face) to Series 11 SS3 Goku, or his prototype head in this photo was based on SS3 Goku due to similar ears, lack of eyebrows, smirk, etc.)... their Vegito is a repainted series 5 SS Goku... and their Super Buu is the stretchy Super Buu that ended up being released in Irwin's Striking Z Fighters series 3 right before bankruptcy.
The sculpt of the series 12 figures by Jakks is overall pretty similar to Irwin's sculpting for series 11, but SS Gotenks has a face that doesn't really look like it was sculpted by the same person/people who did series 11. The paint work on series 12 has an airbrushed look to it, which Irwin never had before, and that airbrushed look was used on a large portion of Jakks' figures. To me, series 13 doesn't look like the work of the sculptor(s) for Irwin, except for Super Buu absorbed Gohan (Buuhan). Looking at series 14, the Uub looks like the sculpting of Irwin's sculptor(s), but the rest look like someone else.
I think it's possible that Irwin had began sculpting some of these figures, but someone at Jakks finished them.
Irwin did have a prototype of SS3 Gotenks (as a stand-in for Striking Z Fighters series 3) that did look quite a bit like what Jakks released in Series 13 though.
Series 12 was supposed to be Mystic Gohan, Super Buu, SS Gotenks with Kamikaze Ghost, Tien, and Vegito.
Series 13 was supposed to be Kibitoshin, Pikkon, Super Buu in Gotenks Vest, SS3 Gotenks, SS Vegito.
EB Games Exclusives:
These figures were sold exclusively through Electronics Boutique (EB Games) stores. The figures featured paint variants and a "EB Exclusive" sticker on the packaging.
Release Date: 2001
-SS Goku (Cell Games Saga)
-Teen Trunks (Cell Saga)
-SS Vegeta (Cell Saga)
Beckett Exclusives:
These figures were mail-away exclusives for Beckett Magazine. Each figure featured a paint variant and "Beckett DBZ Exclusive" sticker on the packaging.
Release Date: 2001
-SS Majin Vegeta (Babidi Saga)
-Teen Trunks (Cell Saga)
-Perfect Cell w/Cell Jr. (Cell Games Saga)
Z Store Exclusives:
These figures were available exclusively through the official Dragon Ball Z "Z Store" website. The figures featured metallic paints jobs and a "Funimation Collector's Exclusive" sticker on the packaging.
Release Date:
-SS Trunks (Perfect Cell Saga)
-Android 16 (Androids Saga)
Collector's Packs:
According to
DBT: The Series 14 (Series 1) 3-pack was only available in Canada, particularly at volume stores like CostCo. It retailed through Canadian specialty stores for $24.99 to $34.99 (I assume in Canadian dollars). According to the news
here, it was in stores in October 2000.
According to
DBT: The Musicland-family stores (Suncoast, Media Play, Sam Goody, On Cue) exclusive 4 pack with the "Exclusive Master Roshi" sticker started showing up in stores in early November 2000. It retailed for $29.99. On a related note, DBT posted that reports were coming in that these Musicland stores were selling the individual figures starting in October 2000.
According to
DBT: The Musicland Exclusive 4-pack started coming with a Master Roshi in orange jacket in late December 2000.
Other Exclusives (Needs Description):
Worth noting, it was discussed in 2003 on DBT that the orange coat Roshi figures were (for some reason) often in slightly damaged packaging when new.
Striking Z Fighters:
Series 01:
Release Date: 2001
-SS Goku
-SS Vegeta
-Piccolo
-SS Trunks
Series 02:
Release Date: 2002
-Great Saiyaman
-Krillin
-Goku
-Perfect Cell
Series 03:
Release Date: November 2002
Note: This set was released during Irwin's bankruptcy and is available in two different packaging styles.
-Dabura
-Super Buu
-SS3 Goku
-SS3 Gotenks
Deluxe Blasting:
Release Date: September 2000 according to DBT
-Krillin
-Gohan
-SS Future Trunks
-Imperfect Cell
-Frieza (Form 3)
Energy Glow:
Series 01:
Release Date: 2002
-SS Vegeta
-SS Goku
-SS Gohan
Series 02:
Release Date: October 2002 (according to the official fansite of Eric Vale, November 2002)
Note: This set was released during Irwin's bankruptcy and is available in two different packaging styles.
-SS3 Goku
-SS Vegeta
-SS3 Gotenks
Energy Blasters:
Release Date: 2001
-SS Gohan
-SS Trunks
-SS Goku
-SS Vegeta
Secret Saiyan Warriors:
Series 01:
Release Date: 2001
-Goku
-Vegeta
-Gohan
-Trunks
Series 02:
Release Date: 2002
-Goku
-Vegeta
-Cell
-Buu
12" Figures:
Release Date:
-Piccolo
-Tien
-Vegeta
-Goku
-SS Goku
-Future Trunks
9" Collector Series:
Release Date:
-Goku
-SS Vegeta
-SS Gohan
Vehicles/Playsets:Needs Work, Individual Pics/Description
-Rejuvenation Chamber w/Gold SS Goku (released in late 2000)
The price is in Canadian dollars. Has anyone ever seen one of these that came with TWO Goku figures and not just the shiny gold one?!
-Time Capsule w/Metallic Future Trunks
-Sky Bike #341 w/SS Goku (Gold Hair)
-Jet Momonga w/SS Gohan (Gold Hair)
-One Wheel Bike w/SS Teen Gohan (Gold Hair)
-Red Ribbon Battle Suit w/Android 17
-Trunks' Hover Car w/Future Trunks (Released February 2003 according to
DBT)
-Vegeta's Saiyan Capsule (space pod) (Released February 2003 according to
DBT)
Die Cast Vehicles:
Release Date: August 2000
Series 1:
-Master Roshi w/Capsule Corp. Spaceship
-Vegeta w/Saiyan Pod
-Bulma w/Racing Pod
-Future Trunks w/Time Capsule
-Goku w/Namekian Ship
-Frieza w/Hover Pod
Release Date: 2000
Series 2:
-Goku w/Family Car
-Bulma w/Bulma's Anti-Gravity Car
-King Cold w/Spaceship