Retro Ads: SYLVANIAN FAMILIES & TRANSFORMERS

I'm gonna post a double shot of Japanese retro ads today to kinda make up for a lack of posting. The first ad is for the Sylvanian Families Big Light-up House set. For 25 years Epoch(Tomy) has been creating very elaborate print ads for the toy line. Even though I have been collecting for years, I have only a fraction of these ads. This house is a great addition to their line-up. Having working lights means you don't have to pay for the extra light sets, so that alone makes it a good buy. This is currently being sold in the Calico Critters line as the "Luxury Townhome" set.



The second ad is one of my favorites from the early G1 Transformers line. This highlighted the arrival of the Constructicons and Dinobots to the scene. Since Laserwave (Shockwave) had just recently been released, here is present here instead of Megatron. Convoy is still here commanding over the good guys. Now the really cool thing, and one that didn't happen often, they advertise a giftset! The VSY giftset with Grimlock vs. Soundwave gets tease. Also, part of the ad mentions a contest going on where you could win the Soundwave cassette deck. Very cool!

[Robotech Robolinks] LITTLE BUNDLES OF ROBOT JOY

Ever since I was 8 years old I loved this toy line. When I got a Force 2X for the first time, it was before I knew of Robotech and at a K-Mart. I mention the K-Mart thing cause in the time that I knew the line was around, that was the only store I ever found them. Had I been able to find them at Toys R Us or a Children's Palace maybe I could have gotten a Force 50 or 51 as a kid, but I didn't.

And when it comes to what I did get, it wasn't much. I had the Force 20, 21 and 22 sets. I was a poor kid, so getting the smaller sets was perfect. I had only one larger set, the Force 41. Those 4 sets were enough for me as a kid, they got plenty of love and affection from me. Of course as an adult, I was able to grab the sets that escaped me as a kid. Now I get to make much larger robots. The following shots are of the combined Force 40, 41 and 42 (or more accurately, C-10, C-11 and C-12).



The problem is now I want more, and I am looking to anybody who has some to trade or sell me. And I don't just want the Revell Roboteh Robolinks, I'll take anything related to these, from any country.

And with that little bit of begging, I'll with finish! :)



タカラ合体戦士ブロックマンを探しています。合体戦士ブロックマンが買い取り致します。項目がありましたら、私にE-メールしてください。

[Sylvanian Families] SYLVANIAN FAMILIES CARTOON SHORT

I am a huge fan and collector of Sylvanian Family (Calico Critters) toys. I've even made it to the Sylvanian Families restaurant in Tokyo.

I wanted to post more videos and I figured since this one was already rendered I would just put it up here. It used to be on an old site of mine before I closed it. The video is from a Japanese magazine promotion. It's about 5 minutes long, and in Japanese. Sorry, no English subtitles. But it's very cute, so I don't think you'll care if you are a fan of Sylvanians. Enjoy!

Retro Ads: TAKARA MICROMAN MICROBORG

This ad features the New Microman MicroBorg. Takara's MicroBorg series of figures would come out just a year before they moved onto to heavily promote the Micro-Change Series of toys. While not ground breaking, they were neat in a way due to their combining toy figures and model kit like parts.

Also featured in the ad are the Armored Suits. Released in two forms, the Double Cannon and GlacSniper feature robotic armor that change into vehicle like forms. These I feel I would have loved a kid. And barely making the cut, the Acroyear AcroSatan. AcroSatan must have been just an afterthought for inclusion the ad, you barely get a glimpse at the figure.

[Brave Series] BRAVE COMMAND DAGUON MANGA: DAGBASE

This is some translated manga I had done for my old website back in 2002. The manga had been translated 3 years earlier and never Photoshoped into the pages. I had colored the cover page in part around 2001. I never actually finished the project. I recall posting an unfinished reduced resolution version on the site but was never really satisfied. I was about to re-post the manga in a cleaned up finished format with a previous blog in 2008 but plans fell through. So in rummaging through old files I figured I would just post it here as I have little else to post on this blog right now that isn't a complete mess of unfinished work.

Please forgive the rough translations, I didn't re-translate it, and it's the same 2nd year Japanese student translation it was back in 1999. The story features the first look at what the Daguon team's DagBase could really do. Up to this point in the animated series and manga, it was a stationary, static construction.

Manga published 1996. Created by Hajime Yatate (story/concept) and Kazunori Aihara (art).

Pages read right panels to left.

[Star Wars] McQUARRIE CONCEPT SERIES

These are no longer as rare as they once were. I need to just get that statement out there before anything else. After Hasbro's typical "Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package!" form of marketing there's really nothing that rare at all about them. But, they were at a time, harder to find, and quite desirable for that reason. The reason I bought this wasn't for the scarcity or monetary value at all. I bought these for the art history they stand for.

I grew up a Star Wars fan, a fan of the movies, the toys and the art. I had a glimpse early on of an art portfolio from the original Star Wars film and fell in love with the work inside. When the "Art of Star Wars" book were released I bought it right away. I just absorbed the beautiful artwork and imagery of Ralph McQuarrie's work. To this day I just sit in amazement at the art when I look through the Star Wars art books. So when Hasbro decided to honor the man who helped shape the entire Star Wars universe I was extremely excited.



The first figure released in the McQuarrie style was the Stormtrooper. I didn't get him, I never even saw him in the stores. The next figures that were going to be for sale at retail outlets would be in stylized packaging, so I was hopeful. I managed to find the Stormtrooper and Darth Vader McQuarrie figures after a good amount of searching. I didn't even realize the Stormtrooper I had found had a rarer coin inserted, which to this day means almost nothing to me anyhow. I had quickly popped them out of their plastic prisons and fell in love with the McQuarrie designs all over again. These pictures were taken the day I got the toys. I only just recently found them again while searching old CD-Rs for old Transformers toy pics.





This pic below is just a digi-deco I did for fun. When I first saw a Gundam robot back in the 80's the first thing I though of was the McQuarrie Stormtooper. And yeah, I think that image came to mind for good reason.

Retro Ads: TAKARA ANDROID A SPACE ALIENS

A new ongoing feature for the blog. The Retro Ads posts will feature old toy ads from Japan. Anything I feel like posting may show up here, as long as it's a toy, and an ad.

First up is an ad for the Takara Android A Uchoujin Space Alien figure. Along with the main focus toy, you can see the UFO 7 toy, the Android A and Robot figures as well.