A photo of a …
Wait, let me break it down for you:
- 1999 repro of a 1975 Microman M114 figure
- 14 Robolinks (a.k.a Takara Blockman) figures from 1985 Force 30 and Force 32 sets.
- Bruticus fists from a 1986 Transformers Combatron giftset
- Sword from a bootleg of a 1980 Takara Magneborg Death Cross figure.
It’s not a great fan-mode but I was attempting to showcase the coolness of 5mm peg/port connectivity using parts from different Takara toylines.
Takara had some geniuses for designers. The company was also terribly poor at marketing. There was no indication whatsoever that parts were interchangeable between different toy lines and I suspect most toy fans wouldn’t have realised this until years later.
(Bandai is guilty of the same thing as well. If it wasn’t for some fans, few would realise that Machine Robo Mugenbine, Machine Robo Rescue, various sentai robo and Ultraman Nexus vehicles all made use of the same connectors.)
If it had been advertised back then, this 5mm connectivity could have boosted sales for smaller lines like Blockman. If you were a kid in mid-80s and you knew that parts from one line could boost the cool factor of a figure you owned from another line, wouldn’t you pester your parents get it for you?
Yay for Robolinks/Blockman! I really wish I got the big Japanese sets back when I could get them locally…but as a young teen, it was hard enough getting the money for my Micromen and that Strike Valkyrie I wanted so desperately.
Going back to your earlier reply to one of my comments:
[It’s a pity we don’t see more interviews with the Takara Tomy designers about Takara’s toy history. I can understand why the company would want to extol current or future products rather than reminisce about past achievements but I’m still a little disappointed. I expect as time goes on, we’re going to get more replies along the lines of “I can’t remember” and “I’m not sure what the thinking was on that” to questions about toy history.]
There is a lot of good interview material in Japan and I’ve compiled a fair amount of it for my collection. Unfortunately, I’m not a fluent reader…yet. Maybe someday, though (or someone else)! As it is, the translation I’m working on of the 2005 manga for the Embassy is stretching my limits…but at least I’m learning as I go! (if you haven’t read it, email me at microbry at gmail dot com and I’ll send you the link for the first two finished chapters). The most stunning recent revelation was that Gundam designer Kunio Okawara designed a couple of Microman’s first vehicles, the Escargot and the Marine Copter as a young freelance designer!
[I keep getting the feeling there’s a lot left undiscovered about these toys. One thing I would like to know is whether those references to Microman/Diaclone were put in by the designers who worked on those lines or whether they were put in by other designers as nods to the company’s toy history.]
A little of both, I believe. The main person in charge of most of TF’s run formerly worked on both and last I checked he is still there, in a higher-up position supervising the entire development of boy’s toys or something like that, and he wasn’t the only one that overlapped. The Japanese book I have seems to make it clear that the design motifs of Microman, Diaclone and Takara SF were considered part of the line’s tradition and heritage, and that essentially TFs didn’t so much replace Microman and Diaclone, but were rather the next step in evolution for the two lines. TF, at its core, is pretty much the same concept as Microman, after all…cybernetic alien heroes hiding on our planet and defending it from their evil cousins. The unique look and feel of the line comes from that heritage and constantly draws back upon it whenever the designers can. Even on the US side of things, things have come a bit full circle as Don Figueroa has shown in his artwork a consciousness of the pre-TF lines that in turn informs his own style and design work. :)
That said, the movie will likely screw everything over. Ah well, at least we have the “Real Gear” line to look forward to.
[Say, any chance of seeing a photo of that modded Blaster on your site?]
Here he is before I cut him…I think I have some pics else where showing him after the “operation” but I can’t find them at the moment. I’ll see what I can do…
http://www.rockettubes.net/blaster.html
Re: Blockman
When I posted the above fanmode to the Ore Micro BBS a few years back, Japanese Microman fan pon mentioned the Blockman figures were uncommon even in Japan. If you happen to go to Japan again and happen to see Abiko Kazutami at a toy show (again), be sure to grab him by the lapels and demand Takara Tomy re-release or reproduce Blockman. If that doesn’t work, threaten to muss up his hair. I will admit there might not be that large a demand for it but if Takara Tomy tried some clever marketing, who knows …
Re: designers
Okude Nobuyuki (once described as the man who created Transformers) once replaced Sato Keita as Takara CEO before the merger with Tomy. I’m not sure what he’s doing now and he doesn’t appear to be part of the company’s senior management. I’ve seen exactly two interviews with Okude online and they’re both a little bland.
One of the best things about the upcoming movie is the franchise will get a lot of media attention. (Wired is apparently doing something.) I’m hoping someone will produce the definitive article on Transformers history with interviews on the movers and shakers who had a say in its development.
Re: Japanese interviews.
Yeah, translations are hard to come by. I’m still looking for a translation of the text about Kawamori Shouji on Hybrid Style Convoy’s box.
Re: Microman 2005 manga translation.
I’m definitely taking you up on your offer. I’ll e-mail you.