 As in many other countries of Latin America, Mazinger was extremely popular in Argentina in the 1980s.Because of the demand for merchandising, in 1985 toy manufacturer Play Ful obtained a license from Toei Animation to produce a line, but unlike other franchises (more popular in the U.S.), there were no moulds available to produce the toys, and so Play Ful had to develop their own.The resulting dolls were made of PVC and very fragile, but held a decent level of resemblance to the original characters, sometimes modifying the colors.