Current status
Other similar heroes, such as Nebula Mask Machine Man, Kyodai Ken Byclosser, Lady Battle Cop, and Choukou Senshi Changéríon, were also produced during the time that the Metal Hero Series were on the air, but are not included as part of the Metal Hero Series for various reasons. Machine Man and Bicrosser were created by Shotaro Ishinomori, while Changéríon's armor is not metallic and aired on TV Tokyo. It is unknown if Lady Battle Cop is part of Toei's shared universe.
The Metal Hero Series was discontinued in 1999, as the company rather favors the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider Series of shows, allegedly due to the passing of Shotaro Ishinomori. However, many of the traits of the series have been adopted into the newer installations of the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider shows. Today, the present versions of this type of heroes are also merged in with the Henshin Heroes description.
Some Metal Heroes have also made cameo appearances. In 2004, a special Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger stage show had a special appearance by Gavan, who assisted Hurricane Red from Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger and Aba Red from Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger in battling various Alienizer monsters from Deka Ranger.
In 2005, Toei released some Uchuu Keiji trilogy merchandise. Later that year, Bandai released a "Souchaku Henshin" figure of Gavan, followed by "Souchaku Henshin" figures of Sharivan and Shaider in early 2006. In May 2006, a PlayStation 2 video game titled The Space Sheriff Spirits was released. The game featured Gavan, Sharivan and Shaider all teaming up to battle past enemies from their series. In early 2008, the trading card company Cardass announced a new, Metal Heroes based expansion to their Rangers Strike card game, entitled Special Metal Edition, featuring characters and vehicles from the various Metal Hero Series for use within the game.
Space Sheriff Series re-emerged in the 2010s with feature films, including new actors portraying successors to Gavan, Sharivan, and Shaider. Some of them are stand alone entries, while others feature crossovers with other Super Sentai and Kamen Rider characters. As a part of Toei's Project R.E.D., the series will mark a return in 2026 with Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity, a new television series drawing heavy inspiration from the original Space Sheriff trilogy.
