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Yeah, I figured after all the great work Crazysteve's been doing, this was the least I could do to contribute. Fumihiko-san actually sent me rough drafts of his speech, which I edited and then revised according to his responses to the first edits. I asked Fumihiko-san about posting the final version of speech, and he said that was okay, but he asked if I could post the Q&A too. Unfortunately, as I didn't have a tape recorder during the actual presentation, I don't have any notes on the Powerpoint images he showed and comments he made on them, so this isn't exactly a transcript. Instead, it's just the scripted speech itself. There wasn't much in the way of Q&A anyway, as the speech and Powerpoint comments took up almost the whole panel time. On the bright side, because it was a scripted speech, that means I already typed it all up, so I don't have to transcribe anything. Anyways, here's part one... ----------------------------------------------
An overview of the pre-TF history of robotic toys in Japan
Fumihiko Akiyama
BotCon 2004 Before I begin, I'd like to thank Jon and Karl Hartman and the rest of the BotCon 2004 staff for giving me the opportunity to make this presentation. I feel honored, if a little unworthy, to make this speech before such prominent guests. Ever since the first BotCon in 1994, I've dreamed of hosting my own fan panel at BotCon, but owing to my busy schedule and uneven skill with English, I've always put it off. Last year, though, I compiled a book on the history of BotCon, and this year looks to be the last time there will be a convention by that name. These factors made this both a good occasion and perhaps my last chance to make a presentation at this famous TF convention, so I asked Jon to help me arrange it. I'd also like to warn you that this is my first time making a presentation on the toy genre in America, and I apologize for any awkardness in my English. I'm a professional dentist in Japan, and my only other English presentation was a speech on the dental field that I made in Belgium on the day after BotCon 2000. My longtime friend, Douglas Dlin, helped me research what an American audience would want to hear about. Several people were kind enough to offer feedback on possible topics. Most said they'd prefer to hear detailed information on things like the variations of Japanese TF toys. However, for now, I feel more confident and comfortable talking about my favorite theme: an overview of the history of robotic toys in Japan and the transition into the Transformers era there. What I want to do here is present this from the viewpoint of one Japanese toy fan. I also want to comment on some differences between the American and Japanese toy markets. I feel that knowing this history of early Japanese robot toys and their transition to Transformers will really provide good perspective on where TFs are now and where they're going. One final note before I begin: Whenever I refer to "toys" or the "toy market," I'll be talking mainly about modern boys' character toys unless I specify otherwise. Even before World War II, toys were one of Japan's major export items. By the early 1920s, it had become the number one toy-exporting country in the world. After the war, most Japanese industries were destroyed, but gradually, toy industry regained its former energy and started making motorized tin robots with gimmicks that were amazing, even from a current perspective. The first domestic character toy in Japan was a tin motorized Tetsujin 28, or Gigantor, released in 1960. This character was the ancestor of all Japanese large robots including Transformers, so the history of Japanese character toys began with a giant robot. After these, in the late '60s, low-cost toys like plastic kits and vinyl dolls of Godzilla and Ultraman monsters became populer. The modern wave of robotic toys started in the mid-'70s. The first toy of note in this period was 1972's "Mazinger Z," known as "Tranzor Z" in America. This was the first piloted mechanical giant robot. When its manga series and TV cartoon started, its concept, story and action fascinated children tremendously. The show was produced by Toei Animation, who would later produce all the G1 TF series, including Japanese-original series like "Master Force." The first toys for the show were large items called "Jumbo Machinders." These were released by Popy, a part of the Bandai company group that was later absorbed into Bandai proper in mid '80s. The Popy division actually released toys separately until 1983, but since it was still tied in with Bandai all along, I'll just call it "Bandai" from here on to simplify things. "Jumbo Machinders" were made of polypropylene and stood about two feet tall. They sold well. Being that big, they really made kids feel like they were playing with giant robots. However, the toys were still a bit light for their size. That problem was solved with the next big development, diecast toys, known in Japan as "Chogokin," which literally means "super alloy." The Chogokin toys were a big hit because they conveyed the massiveness of giant robots. They were also better for making mechanisms like shooting fists, and they appealed to the Japanese taste for small, elaborate objects. Both lines were big successes and became brand names used on Bandai toys for other TV shows. Some of them were also released in America in the '70s as part of Mattel's Shogun Warrior line. But the Jumbo Machinder line ended in the early '80s, as the toys were too big for small Japanese houses. The Chogokin line, though, has only become more popular, and continues to this day as the number-one toy line in Japan. As a testament to this, many of the Megazords in Bandai's Power Rangers line are descendants of the Chogokin toys. The second major impact on the toy market came in 1975 with "Yuusha Raideen," or "Raideen the Brave," the first noteworthy transformable robotic toy. The toy transformed from robot to mechanical bird, just like in the cartoon. This was made possible by the use of diecast, as plastics of the time weren't that sturdy. The transformation design seems simple from a current perspective, but kids my age were shocked it was even possible. Being able to reproduce that change with our own hands was a real incentive to get the toy. This innovation of toys that could transform was perfect for expressing the mechanical nature of robots, so it became a huge hit as well as a perennial theme of Japanese toys. From then on, Bandai became the trend-setter for Japanese toys and created many top-selling items up through the early '80s, before the birth of Transformers. Raideen represented another major turning point: For the first time, toy companies were involved and consulted from the very beginning of the plans for a TV show, allowing them to make more precise and attractive toys. This tie-in method of animation and toy companies working together to develop new TV shows succeeded greatly, so it became the main method for promoting new character toys in Japan from the early '70s onward. In contrast, the first such successful TV tie-in toy lines in America were Masters of the Universe and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero in the early '80s. The next remarkable innovation from Bandai was the first combinable robotic toy, "Combattler V," in 1976. This consisted of five diecast vehicles that could become one gigantic robot, almost step-for-step as shown on TV. Since it consisted of five toys, Combattler V cost five times more than regular diecast robot toys of the time, so it was very expensive, but it still sold very well. Thanks to its great success, combinable toys became more popular than single-unit transforming toys. It's because combiner toys have had such a stable position on the toy market that Japanese TFs have tended to include so many combiner releases, such as most of the TF: Victory toys and the Autobots in TF: Energon. One reason combination surpassed transformation might be because it encouraged bigger, more expensive toys, and thus larger profits. Another reason was that, in the early days, the individual components comprising large robots were simple vehicles, rather than ones that individually became small robots like we have today. That meant they didn't require much technology to produce. ---------------------------------------------- End Part One
Doug Dlin Part 2 of the speech... ---------------------------------------------- So what was Takara doing all this time? Takara started its history from one small vinyl factory in 1955. They started selling toys made from vinyl, and had their first major success with Dakko-chan, a balloon doll which clung to one's arm, whose face was used for Takara's trademark emblem until the mid-'80s. After that they they released a Barbie-like girls' doll called "Rika-chan" and dollhouses, also made from vinyl. This doll has been the top seller in Japan's girl's toy market ever since, and remains Takara's most generally famous product even now. In 1970, Takara began a cooperative arrangement with Hasbro and released 12" G.I. Joes called "New G.I. Joes." They developed a new Joe body on their own and made some improvements to its play value. Toward the end of this "New G.I. Joe" line, they released a generic figure with costumes of various TV show heroes. Expanding on the idea, in 1972 they updated the figure, giving it a transparent body with visible machinery inside. They named it "Henshin Cyborg," or "Changing Cyborg," and it became the star of their new boys' toy line. Takara produced many costumes of existing and original heroes for Henshin Cyborg. Though it didn't have its own TV show, it had its own original story, making it the first original character toy in Takara's history. One of the figures in the Cyborg line was "King Waruder," the enemy of Cyborg. While this is a common practice with American figures, after those early days, it became very unpopular in Japan to release enemy figures, except for cheap vinyl monsters and some Gundam model kits. For example, Bandai's Chogokin line-up, huge as it is, includes almost no enemy toys. However, Takara has continually released enemy toys in many series to this very day, one of the things that makes them unique in the Japanese market. Being accustomed to releasing enemy figures was probably a point in Takara's favor when it came to working with Hasbro to develop TFs. Even there, in respect to Hasbro's idea that strong enemies liven up a series, Takara tried to develop toys with avant-garde gimmicks for the enemy side, like Trypticon and Sixshot. In 1974, Takara started another new, original action figure line called "Microman." This 3 3/4" action figure line was born from the idea of downsizing "Cyborg" so that the line could be enriched with vehicles and playsets. In the mid-'70s, some of these Microman figures were sold by Mego in America as Micronauts. These preceded Mego's own small figures and Kenner's famous Star Wars line, so I feel it wouldn't be too much to say that Takara pioneered this popular action figure size. Takara released many original vehicles and playsets for Microman, as well as some robots in which the figures could ride. They also had some toys that involved the idea of transformation. The interesting point of this line was that the figures were meant to be small people, so all the toys were supposed to be life-size. This unique aspect made the toys feel more "realistic" to children, increasing the line's success. The first generation of Microman ran eleven years, and the line's been revived twice since then. So Microman is Takara's longest-running character line next to TFs. Like Cyborg, Microman didn't have a TV show, so instead, Takara emphasized a tie-in with a Japanese children's magazine called TV MAGAZINE. The substantial storyline developed in the magazine helped to promote the line's longevity. This began a long-standing, vigorous collaboration between Takara and TV MAGAZINE, and the publication has since promoted many characters and provided much help in introducing TFs to Japan. Following the success of Bandai at that time, many companies invested in new TV shows to sell their toys, but Takara bucked the trend. Instead, they invested only small amounts in TV shows and kept non-TV toys as the mainstay of their boys' toy lines. The policy of Takara's president was that TV-related toys were a double-edged sword; they could mean big business and big profits if they succeeded, but they were very risky and required high budgets. The main point, he claimed, was that most TV-related toy lines only lasted 1-2 years, but he wanted to make their lines more enduring. So before TFs, it was characteristic of Takara to have long-lived, non-TV character lines. They were also well known as the company which was good at action figures. Unlike in America, action figures aren't a major boys' toy genre in Japan compared to robot toys. So unlike Takara, Bandai and Tomy haven't had any really major domestic action figure lines in their history. For example, most of the Power Rangers action figures are specially developed for the American market and are not sold in Japan. Takara's first major TV tie-in line was Kotetsu Jieg, or Steel Jieg, in 1975. What made this toy unique was that its removable arms and legs were held onto the body by magnets, so children could easily change itto flying or submarine modes by switching out various parts. The limbs had steel balls at the ends that connected to the body, which allowed a wide range of articulation, far beyond that of other diecast robot toys of the time. These unique points appealed to children, so the line was a big hit, even though it was Takara's first attempt at a full-scale TV tie-in. The toy's success continued in America, where it was remolded and sold as the Micronaut figures Force Commander and Baron Karza. Takara had one other major media tie-in, as they were the first Japanese company to release Star Wars toys for the first movie. Some of the toys were from Kenner's line-up, but Takara also released many original diecast toys of their own. The Star Wars property license moved to Bandai for "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," and Tomy releases the current figures in Japan, so Star Wars has been licensed to all of the top three Japanese toy companies. Only Takara developed original toys for the line, though. Two years after Star Wars came the third major impact in the history of Japanese toys, the rise of Gundam in 1979. Though Bandai releases almost all toys for Gundam now, the line was first planned for another small toy company, and the original product wasn't like the smart plastic model kits and figures we have today, but a traditional, diecast, combinable robot toy. Though this diecast Gundam toy was planned by a new, independent company called Clover, the toy itself was manufactured at Takara's factory. Their plant was well-known for its technology at the time, so Takara frequently did manufacturing contract work for other toy companies. This diecast Gundam toy had a unique multiple-combination gimmick, allowing it to assume many different modes. But it didn't sell so well compared to the later success of the plastic model kits, so the TV show closed in the later part of its storyline. After the show ended, though, Bandai began to pay attention to it and to release plastic model kits. The realistic Gundam kits were an even huger hit, on the scale of a social phenomenon. What made Gundam stand out at the time was that the show was consciously targeted at a higher age group than usual. With several years having passed since Mazinger Z, traditional robot shows for younger children were now wearing thin on older viewers. In the show, all the robots were treated as weapons rather than mighty heroes and evil mechanical monsters. This made them feel more "realistic" to us viewers. Gundam thus hatched the new trend of "realistic robots." Actually, the Gundam itself was a combinable robot of sorts, but most of the other robots were not, and they also looked more realistic, making them more popular. Gradually, kids in higher age groups began to reject the "combination" and "transformation" concepts as childish. Bandai still continued to release many diecast robots that were progressively more combinable, with the large robots being formed from three, six, or even up to fifteen components! They also invented various combination designs. Some of these newer combiners were later released in America as part of the GoDaiKin and Voltron lines. Younger children still bought these deluxe toys, but the older audience had become dissatisfied with them and started to want something different. Then, in 1980, Takara began their new toy line, Diaclone. Like its predecessors, Diaclone had no TV tie-in. The successor to Henshin Cyborg and Microman, Diaclone had even smaller figures, barely an inch tall. In fact, it's said that a working title for this line was "Inchman." Despite being so small, these figures, known as "Diacron Commanders" in America, had diecast parts, movable arms and legs, and magnets on their feet so children could attach these tiny figures to metal plates put in various places on the playsets. For instance, the original Battle Convoy, the toy that became Optimus Prime, had metal plates on the inner walls of its trailer. Takara decided on this further downsizing of the figures to enhance their transformable and combinable robots with figures that could ride in them. So they released numerous transformable and combinable machines, along with vehicles and playsets that didn't turn into robots. Since these figures were pilots for nearly all the robots in the line, the series actually had a consistent scale of about 1/60. The most impressive toys of the early series were large robots nearly 16" tall that could transform into base playsets. The first one, Robot Base, had a command center and an elevator for figures inside its body. The second, Robot Fortress X, had a capsule slider within its body, so children could use lever controls to shuttle figures around inside its body between the vehicles in both legs, the command center in its chest, and the gun platforms in both hands. These base robots were the precursors of TFs like Metroplex and Fortress Maximus. Microman was still going at this time, but since it had been around for seven years, Takara reset the story's time period to 1981 and shifted the concept of the toys to transforming vehicles and robots. They also released transformable or combinable robots that served as sidekicks for the figures. The major innovation of these robots was their size. At a time when robot toys were becoming larger and more expensive, Takara created smaller ones. Some were less than 4" tall, nearly the size of the Microman figures themselves. Many of them could combine to form large robots by themselves. In order to keep the Microman figures in children's minds for the play pattern, Takara designed many of the robots to turn into weapons for the Micromen. ----------------------------------------------
Doug Dlin The final part of the speech... ---------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, the next big impact on mainstream of Japanese robot toys hit in 1982 with the advent of Macross, later introduced in America as part of Robotech. Macross' major marketing aspect was combining realistic story with transformable robots. The show featured robots called Valkyries that could turn into fighter jets similar to F-14 Tomcats. The well-made toys, released by Takatoku, were a smash hit. American TF fans would later see the Valkyrie toy introduced as the Autobot Jetfire. The Valkyrie was designed to be able to assume a halfway transformation mode, a sort of "walking plane." This mode was designed specially by the designer and used to an impressive extent in the TV show, so unlike Jetfire, the Valkyrie was considered to be a triple changer in Japan. The success of Macross renewed older viewers' interest in robots which transformed into realistic objects, and they started buying the toys. It also brought back the idea of single-unit transforming robots, which had previously been overcome by combining robots. Gradually, transformable toys regained popularity and status within the boys' toys market. Reflecting the shift back to single-unit transforming toys, Bandai started the "Machine Robo" line in 1982. These toys, which would be imported to America by Tonka as GoBots, were 3 3/4" transformable robot toys similar to those of the Microman line. Machine Robo was practically the first major Bandai toy line with no TV tie-in. A unique point of this line was that most of the toys were the same size, so they could treat robots like action figures. Bandai thus had playsets for the robots themselves, like base stations and power suits which combined into larger robots. In return Takara, watched these trends and also increased the number and variety of transforming and combining toys in Diaclone and Microman line. As part of this move, Takara created a sub-line called "Car Robots" for Diaclone. In this line, robots could turn into actual existing vehicles which included driver's seats for figures. There was a little confusion for us kids, as Diaclone's storyline was supposed to take place in the future, so we wondered why these new robots turned into present-day vehicles. Regardless, this new line made Diaclone sell even better before, so Diaclone started transforming into a pure robot line. Meanwhile, Microman retained its original concept of "life-size" toyswith the Micro Change subline. In this line, robots turned into items children could find around their own rooms. Even the Gun Robo Walther P-38, which later became Megatron, was consider as transforming into a toy gun within the storyline. Another big appeal of these robot toys was that many of them included real working gimmicks, like a working radio receiver, or actual magnifying lenses for the microscope or binoculars. This sharp division of characteristics between these two lines made it easy to see the division between Autobots and Decepticons when the toys later became TFs. The Car Robots sold well, so Takara added robots that became other machines, like the Jet-ki, or Jet Fighter, Robos, which later became the Decepticon planes, and the Kyoryu, or Dinosaur, Robos, which later became the Dinobots. Thus the line gained a rich variety. These Diaclone robots were considered to be piloted machines, so all the toys were designed to hold or carry figures in seats or cockpits. Later, however, Takarastarted developing some toys without figures. The Kentsetsusha, or Construction, Robos, later issued as the Constructicons, and the Jizai Gattai, or Free Combination, Teams, which weren't actually released for Diaclone but later became the Aerialbots and Stunticons, didn't have space for figures. By the time the Construction Robos came out, both the size and presence of action figures in Takara's history was down to almost zero. As the robots became action figures themselves, the toys were coming ever closer to the style of TFs. Despite this trend, the last major toy of the Diaclone line, Road Vulcan, was a giant Car Robot that transformed into a base station for the action figures, so it seems Takara still viewed those figures as an important part of the line. Back in the toy market mainstream, in the early '80s, Takatoku Toys released many excellent transformable toys in connection with new series like Dorvack, which contributed the toys for Roadbuster and Whirl, and Beetlus, which later became the Deluxe Insecticons. Despite all these fine products, Takatoku went bankrupt in 1984. As this toy company had such a long history, their bankruptcy caused quite a sensation at the time. It was said that Takatoku went bankrupt because they were excessively devoted to producing TV tie-in lines. Bandai bought up many of Takatoku's molds, but initially they didn't find them worth much, so they used the molds for Original Equipment Manufacturer items sent overseas, like the TFs for Hasbro, and Robotech and Voltron for Matchbox. Macross later regained popularity, so Bandai wanted to reproduce the Valkyrie themselves, but modifications made to the molds in order to produce Jetfires, such as the rounded nose cone, caused them some problems. At the time, toy fans in general felt that Takatoku's transformation technology was number one. Bandai's toys of high quality, too, but they were good at combination and not so innovative in single-unit transformation. Most fans didn't pay so much attention to Takara then, because of the low popularity of Takara's lines compared to those of TV-related toys. During that time, I also bought Bandai's toys but mostly just looked at Takara's. The first Takara robot toy that impressed me was the Train Robo set, later marketed as Raiden. I needed more than 15 minutes--without looking at the instructions--to figure out how to combine it. This told me I could no longer ignore Takara, and I started paying their robot toys more serious attention from then on. In 1984, though, Diaclone and Microman were still relatively minor lines. They didn't have TV shows, and the new Microman story that began in '81 didn't have a very good reputation, especially among older fans who'd played with the earlier Microman toys. These fans believed that Microman's main feature was being an action figure line, so robots diminished this aspect. Release information on new toys for both lines stopped beginning in mid-1984, and there was a blank period of almost a year before TFs landed in Japan in the summer of 1985. This made me anxious over whether these two lines had been abruptly cancelled. However, with its mind on the future, Takara had noted the great success of TFs in America in 1984. During this year, they'd decided to re-import TFs to the Japanese market, and they groped around on how to approach the idea. There was a question of how to sell out all their remaining stock, and reluctance toward selling former heroic Microman toys as villains. So in late 1984, they came up with a plan to sell just the robot toys of Diaclone and Microman line under one combined storyline. This plan was never realized, but information on the story remains. In it, both sides were still heroes and still had their Diaclone and Microman color schemes. Powered Convoy, later Ultra Magnus, led the Diaclone robots, and Radi-Casse Robo, later Blaster, led all the Microman robots. As the production schedule progressed, Takara became really apprehensive. Some of the toys which would become TF had been available in Japanese stores for over some years by former version. Takara worried that if those toys ever got a TV show tie-in, would just changing the color schemes be enough to guarantee high sales? In late '84 to early '85, they started releasing some information on TFs to magazines, but rather than clearing things up, this information only confused us. We were familiar with the storyline of both series, so it felt odd to hear things like: They'd made a world inhabited only by transforming robots from both series. The machines had become thinking, talking robots from outer space. The Micro Change robots were now bad guys. And all the robots had their faction symbols on their chests. We were deeply immersed in the "realistic robots" atmosphere, so judging from this early information, we found the world of TFs to be strange and childish. People at Takara felt much the same before they watched the actual show, so this only helped to increase the confusion. Before the line's formal release in Japan, Takara conducted test sales in a few antenna shops, retail stores established to gauge consumer response. There they offered TF toys in American packaging but with Japanese instructions, under the temporary title of "Henshin Sentai Transformers," or "Change Force: Transformers." The line seemed to get a good response from children, so they made up their mind to sell the toys under the new, original TF style. That was where things stood just before we Japanese encountered TFs in the summer of 1985. Against all our expectations, TFs were a smash hit even in Japan. The toys themselves were very commonplace then, and the transformation technology was at the current standard in Japan, but what surprised us was style of promotion combined with the unique construction of the brand's line-up and the interesting story. There are many reasons for the success of TFs in Japan. One was the storyline for the TV show, which was simple and easy for children to understand. We also found the individual toys' color schemes to be exotic. For instance, the traditional Japanese toy market simply didn't have light green robot toys like the Constructicons. Also, their characteristics and roles of the individual were very interesting. Some were very heroic or evil, or more humane rather than actual humans. The simple but thrilling stories of the battle between good and evil also fascinate us. At the time, Gundam's influence had caused a tendency toward more realistic stories, even for children's shows, so it wasn't unusual for a show to end its story with all the characters dying. It's true that some Japanese viewers who love "Gundam"-type storylines don't accept TFs even now, but those of us who were tired of such bloody stories welcomed the simple but powerful plotline of TFs very much. We thought of them as being American. So it was that TFs became the trigger that revitalized the chaotic situation in boys' toys market in the mid-'80s. The TFs' success helped Takara to promote TV shows, both for TFs and other toys, constantly after the line's debut. It also allowed Takara to be the first Japanese toy company to offer shares of stock to the public. "TF shock" also influenced companies outside of Takara. Before TFs, Bandai had consistently held the number one spot in the field of boys' character toys, but in 1985, it seemed Takara had knocked Bandai out of that position. Bandai gave some serious thought as to how and why this could be. As a result, they decided to increase their output of transforming toys, including Gundams. Actually Gundam at the time gained some very good transforming toys, the very sort that its fandom had once rejected. Bandai also decided to make a TV show based on Machine Robo, which they'd originally firmly marketed with no such tie-in. Unlike Takara, they didn't import Hanna-Barbera's "Challenge of the GoBots." Although they showed a dubbed episode of it at a Tokyo Toy Fair, they later made two new series instead. However, one couldn't really say these shows succeeded. In fact, the toyline ended soon after the end of TV show. After this first big success of TFs in Japan, Takara took on many interesting challenges, leading to many noteworthy events. Unfortunately, while I'd love to talk about them, I see I'm almost out of time, so for now I'll finish my story here. I hope there will be other chances to talk about them in the future. I'd like to thank you all very much for listening to my long story. It is regrettable that BotCon is going on hiatus. As a fellow convention organizer, I can understand the Hartmans' need to give a rest to this brilliant name. It takes a lot of budget, time, and Energon to hold a convention, and they have their own lives to lead. But as an TF fan, I feel BotCon keeps pure the style of a fan convention and it still has a rich appeal and potential. I'd love to see it brought back once again in the future. I'll wind up by expressing my appreciation for ten years friendship from Jon, Karl, and all you American TF fans. Thank you all once again. ---------------------------------------------- It's over! Strong B--I mean,
Doug Dlin |