I tracked down that anime Ray brought in July, that we showed at midnight while waiting for Greg-chan. I MUST get a copy of this burned on DVD-R!!
It dates from 1985-1986, as a series of single episodes on VHS OAVs. It's also known as Yumi (or Yume) Jigen Hunter Fandora. It was NOT in Kim's 2nd (and last) edition of the Complete Anime Guide, co-written by former Animerica editor Trish Ledoux - too fan-service for release back then (see below).
There was a DVD re-release in Japan in 2001 with all 3 episodes - however, these OAVs are typically limited release, so it might be hard to find 
(would YOU want to let go of this?! Although maybe it COULD be burned 
...). Here is some more info, from Anime News Network:
"Fandora was also released by Hiromasa Shibazaki in an English dubbed version in hopes of starting a commercial anime video market in the United States. It could be bought by mail order direct from Japan but his attempt failed due to the high price, a lack of advertising and the small number of American fans established at the time." 
(LOL finding THIS...)
Supposedly, according to one source, "Anime Classic Reviews" - as a fansubber - is supposed to be working on the other 2 episodes. So far only episode 1 is available on the internet. It was also available in Italian 
A grainy whole episode 1 clip can be viewed at:http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-411042 ... ode-1.html
Some good anime forum chat, about 80's anime vs today's CG-assisted stuff, beginning in early July 2008, can be found at:macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?showtopic=26709
Did this Influence Sailor Moon? Well, it was conceived by Go Nagai, of Cutey Honey fame. He is credited (at least on Wikipedia) with inventing magical girls for anime with the same... although that is debatable, as the true honour belongs to Ozamu Tezuka with Princess Knight, even after his manga... but Wikipedia mentions the seminal "changing" aspect as well. 
Anyhow, it all depends on whether Toei watched Nagai's stuff... I would say probably. Rather than Sailor Moon female creator Naoko Takeuchi. Most anime is made by males, hence the frequent fan-service aspect.
I remember watching Astro Boy in first syndication in the 1960's (I was about 5 or 6 years old) as well as Kimba The White Lion. BTW: These are available in DVDs, but Astro Boy is dubbed only, except for the first episode. I am not sure about Kimba the White Lion (I am double-checking sometime soon). I am also looking for fan-subs of these shows. The one thing that I do remember is watching the show, but I can't remember much about what was on. I do remember Kimba The White Lion, as it was re-shown in the 1980's. The one thing that I remember is that those shows were very different then the North America animated shows.