I'm watching this franchise from Gavan forward on the Toku channel. I saw the 1st Rider and Ultra episode each so it's a 3 way run.

What you are interpreting as the "Space Sheriff" franchise is ACTUALLY the "Metal Heroes" franchise, which is a very loose association of shows in which the protagonist is either a robot or someone wearing armor. It started with Gavan, but didn't end with Gavan.

To top it off, I already made a thread previously regarding Metal Heroes and its potential discussion points.

https://www.tokunation.com/showthrea...t=Metal+Heroes

I suppose this thread still has value, but only the Mods can adjust the title.

The Toku Channel sort of started that by calling it Space Cop actually.

They use that translation to denote what we commonly identify as and translate as "Space Sheriff", which is largely just the accepted fandom translation for Gavan, Sharivan, and Shaider. It should be noted that neither "Space Sheriff" nor "Space Cop" is intended to denote the totality of Metal Heroes, which doesn't always have a single identifying moniker like "Sentai" or "Rider" or even "Ultra".

Metal Heroes was always, by definition, a loose association understood by the robot and/or armor themes the protagonists are known by. "Space Sheriff" started it, but by no means ended it or was intended to imply that everything that followed was part of the "Space Sheriff" series. Winspector is Metal Heroes, but also known as the start of the "Rescue Heroes" trilogy.