For some reason I was really chuffed to discover that Japan not only likes cheap-o rack toys but that they even get the exact same kind. This little set has little stamps of the phoenix, Mark and Zoltar, it would have so easy to put this on an english card and market this to us […]
(click on any photo for an enlargement) Like a lot of 70s kids, I cut my nerdy teeth on Starlog magazine. It was basically my window into a world of wonder that wasn’t available where I grew up. As a struggling student in the 90s, I used to visit the Starlog store in New Jersey […]
There is nothing I love more than Halloween Costumes based on obscure properties and brother does this fit the bill. Space Giants was a 60’s Japanese TV series that ran in syndication until the late 70s. This outfit was actually produced towards in the tail end most likely due to a renewed interest in science […]
Episode 19 sees Jason and Brian explain their deep affection for toys from the land of the rising sun. Even though we both grew up in North America, our childhoods were made happier by the imports that did manage to hop across the Pacific leaving us with a thirst for more. Japanese Toys tries to […]
Episode 17 is a benchmark for us, as it’s our first guest and that guest is comics legend Alex Ross. Alex joins us to talk about a favourite subject of both Jason and Brian, the animated series Battle of the Planets. We discuss our earliest memories of the show, it’s origins, merchandise, further iterations, how […]
Oh my goodness, where to begin? One, this is not only a mall appearance of one of my favourite characters but it’s in a 70s toy store setting. On top of that it’s in a 70s JAPANESE toy store. Adding to this frenzy is one of my holy grails just sitting on a shelf, the […]
Oh Japan, how i love thee. The Popy Toy Corporation is not terribly well known to North Americans but their influence definitely had an impact on us. In 1978, they had a tremendouse amount of cool licenses such as Gatchaman (Known to us as Battle of the Planets), Starzinger (which we called Spaceketeers) and your […]
As much as I’ve tried to convince folks in the toy industry that action figures based on Mystery Science Theater 3000 would be a good thing, I’m pretty sure it ain’t happening. That’s why I was pretty elated to discover this toy ship in an old catalog recently, it’s the Bacchus 3 from a Japanese tv […]
In North America, we get clowns and Fred Flinstone. In Japan, they get kick ass TV Superheroes like Ultra-Man and Mirror Man. Advantage Japan….
Leave it to the Japanese to improve upon a standard north American toy, the bop bag. Unlike our defenseless versions which teach children nothing, Japanese children threw punches with the knowledge that Ultra-Man might give them five across the eyes for doing so. Well done land of the rising sun!
@brickmantooth
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