In 1999 I purchased a book that chronicled the history of Takara Toys through a period between the early '70s and the early '80s. The Official Guide of Takara SF Land is a fantastic treasure that's full of amazing photos, but given the fact that I don't read Japanese, I've had to be content with just the pictures as a means of showing the timeline between Henshin Cyborg and, eventually, the American Transformers line.
Just the same, the thing is so well designed that the images alone tell the story of a company that obviously knew exactly what made kids happy.
And when I said that I had to rely on the photos alone to tell me about Takara's great toy lines, well, I wasn't exactly being truthful. One of the most amazing things about the book is that it comes with a CD-ROM that includes around sixty vintage television commercials.
The commercials are all absolutely brilliant, and a few years ago I decided to upload them to my YouTube account with the assumption that not everyone was lucky enough to find this book, and that there would probably be a few other interested Takara fans out there.
Just recently my account crossed the one million mark for upload views, and I'm not surprised, but I've got to admit... I'm more than a little pleased. It makes me very happy to know that these fantastic pieces of toy history have been enjoyed so many times, by so many people.
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BAT - BLOG : BATMAN TOYS and COLLECTIBLES
5 minutes ago
3 comments:
Hello,
that book may be the answer to a question i have.
Long ago (early 90s) a got two puppets from my parents. A few days ago my parents gave me these two puppets, they kept them save for (from) me. The puppets represent (don't laugh) Pinocchio and a fox.
Both from a cartoon series called: The adventures of Pinocchio.
Made in Japan, showed only in Europe. Takara made these puppets, unfortunate i cant find any reference to the puppets anywhere. Maybe there is a picture of theme in the book. If you want i send you a picture.
Many a thanks,
Tom, The Netherlands
There is a small chapter in the book about magnemo (magnetic ball jointed) toys, and there are a few pictures of a Pinocchio figure in there, but the toys are from (I think) the late '70s.
That is really interesting.
The figures are even older then I thought ( even older than myself).
That means only one thing, keep them save in a box.
Thank you for you're help and time.
Tom The Netherlands
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