So here is a little toy gem I was able to purchase for $25. The crappy economy has some perks because years ago, this pint size robot would have cost much more.
He’s about six inches tall and his torso is chrome plated tin, the rest plastic. When you wind him up he walks and his chest sparks. He also shoots two missiles…and they go really, really far so this guy has a wicked spring action built in!

A few reasons why this is a really nice robot toy, for me anyway. Aside from purchasing it cheap and the great box art which in most cases can be better than the toy itself, this particular robot is made from one of my favorite Japanese tin toy manufacturers, T.P.S., which stands for Tokyo Plaything Shokai also known as “Toplay” pronounced “toe-play”. TPS also manufactured a lot of tin toys for US importers such as Linemar, Cragstan and other American toy companiies in the 50s and 60s.

In my research I also discovered that TPS happens to stand for “The Toyota Production System” which was developed by Toyota in 1948. This was a manufacturing philosophy that focused on “lean manufacturing” and  was embodied by a lot of Japanese companies.  I think Toplay embraced the TPS manufacturing  process and wanted that reflected in their logo, not only in the initals but also in the three fingers being held up. The whole Toyota Production System philosophy was initially based on eliminating three things;  overburden (muri),  inconsistency (mura) and waste (muda). Just my observation, I didn’t want to get sidetracked too much but I thought it was interesting enough info to share.

Anyway, TPS the toy company was a favorite of mine 15 years ago or so when I collected tin toys. They weren’t really known for making robots, this one in particular was probably made as the result of the success Horikawa was having at the time making their series of tin robots. TPS was better known for great tin lithography and making really clever, imaginative wind-up toys that involved funny animals skipping rope, golfing, playing billiards, bouncing balls and more. Below are a few examples of their more popular tin toys and my favorite wind-ups, “Comical Clara” and “Pop Eyed Pete.”

The show uses a great combination of special effects including animation, stop motion and of course rubber suits. The inspiration for the show’s main villains, Dr. Gori and Karras, was obviously “Planet of the Apes” released a few years earlier. But the mod design of Dr. Gori and Karras’s bling riddled outfit and dance/nodding mannerisms make for some good cheesy entertainment. Ironically it’s Dr. Gori that is shocked at the polluting abuse inflicted on the Earth by it’s own people and turns our pollution… you got it, into giant menacing monsters so he can rule the Earth and enslave humans. When the show was created in 1971, pollution was an important topic in Japan because Tokyo was considered the most polluted city in the world.

In usual Japanese fashion the show has a catchy theme song that sticks with you, well me anyway. I love how so many of the tokusatsu shows from Japan utilized kids in their chorus and theme songs. It’s easy to see how theses shows were endearing to children then and cornball adults like me now.

The Blue Terror, Part 1

The Blue Terror, Part 2

The Blue Terror, Part 3

Here’s a vintage “Alps” made in Japan tin & plastic hot rod my son Dante and I discovered at a local antique show we attended last week. We had lost all hope of finding any vintage toys there, but it wasn’t until the very last aisle we went up before leaving, that amongst all the antique furniture and endless booths of freakin glassware did we discover one guy in a booth with a treasure trove of toys. Our eyes bulged out of our heads and paying admission was worth it after all.

We stepped in the booth and began talking about some of toys he had and my interest in robots by Daiya, Horikawa and Nomura which lead to collecting toys that were MIB (mint in box), that’s when he said,
“Let me show you this toy I just found at an estate sale”. He reached under some other boxed toys from a corner of a table against a wall and pulled this beauty out. It was mib, it even included the instructions. I asked if he could throw some batteries in it to see if it worked and sure enough, the stop and go action kicked in and the radiator even began smoking (not a defect but a feature).

I made him an offer and it was ours.

What I’ve always admired about the Japanese tin toys is not just the overall quality and ingenuity, but the tin lithography they’re so famously known for.

The only kaiju (monster) figure (not included) I could get in the drivers seat was the Gargamel crouching mini Zagoran ( a modern vinyl toy made in Japan). He’s got the perfect expression to be driving a hot rod so he worked out just fine.

Here’s it is with some smaller tin friction cars.
The hot rod itself measures a whopping 11 inches long, 5.5inches wide and 5 inches tall.

There’s also a really  great “limo” version of this hot rod that Alps made.
It reminds of the Munsters hearse hot rod…one of these days I’ll track those versions down.

The Munsters on a family outing in the Munsters hearse hot-rod.

A Marilyn Munster pin-up!

Click on the photo to see more images

This the Giant Madalla figure from Shikaruna Koubo, made in Japan. He’s larger than a standard size kaiju figure which is normally 8-9 inches…he’s almost 12 inches tall. This is a small edition, beautifully painted on glow vinyl, and I love the baroque pose! I’m not a fan of all the Shikaruna Koubo sculpts, but this one I really gravitated towards because it reminded me of “S’pell Sejin” (see below), the famous alien from the 1960s Ultraseven, episode 12, “From Another Planet With Love” in which Ultraseven, in order to ultimately defeat the alien villain, zings his helmet blade and cuts him in half! My son and I were floored! That scene was so crazy and outrageous!

The episode was also never shown again after it’s initial broadcast in Japan because many survivors of the Atomic bombings during WWII in Japan were offended by the portrayal of the alien villain. The alien race was poisoned by nuclear or “S’pellium bombs” on their own planet and in order to continue living, they needed to feed on the blood of human children, so they invade Earth. This negative depiction of radiation victims turning into alien vampires caused the uproar and Tsuburaya Productions pulled the episode. More detail on it at  August Ragone’s excellent Japanese film, pop culture blog that’s also up for a “Rondo Hatton” award. Go vote (category 15)!

Spell Sejin

Ultraseven

Here’s a wonderful article I found on Ping-Mag about the origins of manga and a lost art in Japan known as Kamishibai. Kamishibai was live storytelling on the streets of Japan for children and adults. Kamishibai included the showing of fantastic illustrations as the narrator sometimes performed his stories. Sometimes those illustrations were even original pieces of art. It’s one of these wonderful lost arts that has diminished due to our modern age of entertainment thru tvs, computers etc… wonderful article but at the same time somewhat sad…Of course I would be in quite a state of bliss to be able to hear him tell/show an Ogon Bat story…live.

An inexpensive little model kit that put a huge smile on me and my son’s faces.
Based on the legendary, larger, plastic remote control Redking kit from the 60s, this little gem
was quick and easy to snap together. The figure itself has a dash of paint on him adding a little more of a nostalgic feel to him.
More info on the history of Marusan model kits here.

Box art is fantastic!

Even includes the battery operated remote control! Siiick!

Giant B-Club RedKing playing.

One of my favorite manga and anime, Cyborg 009. Created i 1963 by the prolific Shotaro Ishinomori also known for creating 8-Man, Kamen Rider, Ninja Arashi, Kikaider and many more Japanese characters/shows which are still popular today.

These vinyl toy figures made in the 70s in Japan by the Takatoku company are in my opinion the best renditions of the Cyborg 009 characters. Most Japanese clear vinyl for various reasons, tends to discolor and turn yellow, but the vinyl on these beauties is crystal clear.

More pics in my flickr.

Click on image to see more detailed pics.

I recently lucked out and scored one of Mark Nagata’s custom Gamerudons in his lottery last month.
Made by Target Earth (Marmit) and hand painted by Mark, this is not only one of my favorite
Japanese vinyl characters, this is now one of my favorite pieces in my entire collection!
Mark has really taken his toy painting skills to another level. I’ll let the pics do the talking.