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Did the Japanese culture of the samurai inspired some of these toys, cartoons or comics?

Some of the characters maybe but not the series as a whole.

Maybe... Yes, the Transformers Zone (the cartoon, that had only 1 episode) had a heavy influence. It has minimal gunfight in it, but a lot of swordfight. And the villains all wear capes...

The Samurai theme often perculates into the robot toys. Many of the masks and helmets of robots from the 1970s and 80s have styles that are similar to Samurai helmets and masks. This is not just a Takara/Transformers thing either. Many influences can be found in the Bandai line as well such as Soul of Chugokin. The swords and weapons are another influence.

Some good examples-

Cliffjumper's helmet
The crests on Silverstreak and Prowl's helmet
Prime's mask and crest
Mirage's helmet and face
Soundwave's helmet

Modern Transformers seemed to have less influence.

Stormrider wrote:The Samurai theme often perculates into the robot toys. Many of the masks and helmets of robots from the 1970s and 80s have styles that are similar to Samurai helmets and masks. This is not just a Takara/Transformers thing either. Many influences can be found in the Bandai line as well such as Soul of Chugokin. The swords and weapons are another influence.

Some good examples-

Cliffjumper's helmet
The crests on Silverstreak and Prowl's helmet
Prime's mask and crest
Mirage's helmet and face
Soundwave's helmet

Modern Transformers seemed to have less influence.

Out of all the threads and posts, I always find yours entertaining and enlightening!