Die Cast Darth Vader (Takara, 1978)

Once again, count on the Japanese to deliver an awesome, but weird, version of a Star Wars character. This time, they performed their magic on everyone's favorite baddie, Darth Vader.



With his overly long legs, Vader looks a lot like a late Seventies/early Eighties anime character (think Captain Harlock, for instance). Takara also took some liberties with the facial sculpt and a few smaller details, but all in all, I really like their interpretation of the toy.

Vader's limbs are plastic, his torso is metal, and his cape is vinyl. Yes, it's tied in a bow around his neck. Yes, that has to be incredibly embarrassing for the dark lord of the Sith. It's probably why so many people get force-choked.



Unlike many of Takara's die-cast Star Wars figures, Vader doesn't fire missiles. (I'll let you take a moment to process that. Amazing, I know!) Instead, he's armed with a cool glow-in-the-dark lightsaber, which fits in his hand via a small peg. Cool!



That's not his only weapon, though. Vader must have been shopping in Chewie's local Wal-Mart, because he's also armed with a mean looking bowcaster. (Yeah, I'll you take a moment to process that one, too.) The weapon comes loaded with two glow-in-the-dark crossbow bolts; it uses a rubber-band mechanism to fire them.

Very. Odd.




Vader also comes with a nifty display stand, and everything's packed inside an attractive box. As I've said before, the Japanese created some amazing packaging, and the combination of bright colors, an imposing photo of Darth Vader, and cleverly placed text makes this a great example.






This proved to be the hardest Takara die-cast toy for me to add to my collection. I'd been hunting for about a year, trying to find one that wasn't massively overpriced by delusional dealers. Finally, an example popped up on eBay -- where else? -- with an auction format (as opposed to a buy-it-now). When the auction ended, I was glad I'd waited -- I ended up snagging it for about 2/3 of what I'd expected to pay. Sweet. The force was strong in this one, I guess.

I'll admit, getting the toy was a little bittersweet. I was glad to have it, but I immediately missed the hunt. I suppose that's the double-edged sword of collecting... Nothing to do about it but set my sights on the next toy! Which, trust me, I've already done. Ha!

Wind Up R2-D2 (Takara, 1978)

According to legend, this is George Lucas' favorite R2 toy, and I can see why. By giving everyone's favorite droid an extra pair of legs, and then turning his standard legs into arms, the Japanese company Takara transformed R2 into one weird, weird little 'bot. Weird... but fun.



Apparently, Lucas was so enamored of the wind up R2s that he bought them for members of the cast and crew of Star Wars. He also suggested that Kenner produce the toy; Kenner declined, wanting to avoid creating competition for their own figure. However, Kenner Canada did release a carded version of the toy (in Japan, it was sold in a sealed baggie).

I've gotta say -- I agree with George on this one: the wind up R2 is a really cool toy. I love all the detail crammed into this little guy (and he is little -- smaller even than Kenner's R2-D2 action figure). The stickers, the chrome accents, the detailed sculpt... He sure is classy! 

My Star Wars collection started as specifically a collection of R2 figures, and I remember how thrilled I was to finally snag an example of the wind up in good condition and with both stickers. I was really getting into the Japanese R2s, and for some reason, I saw this as the ultimate symbol of that particular corner of the hobby. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it was the George Lucas thing, or just the strangeness of the figure (because few people can do strange like Japanese toy makers). Maybe I just like that it makes me smile every time I look at it.

...Probably all of the above...

Die-cast C-3PO (Takara, 1978)

If Star Wars had been created by the Japanese, it would have lasted only a few minutes. Because as soon as Darth Vader stepped onto the rebel blockade runner -- wham! -- he'd have gotten a face full of missile, compliments of everyone's favorite golden protocol droid, C-3PO.

At least, that's how it'd have played out if the 3PO in the movie matched Takara's amazing interpretation of the character.



Standing an imposing 6.5 inches tall, this heavy, plastic-and-metal figure features a bad-ass missile launcher smack in the center of his torso rings. 3PO is fully articulated at the shoulders, elbows, and knees, and there's a small handle at the back of his neck that turns the head from side to side.






When you think about it, that handle is kind of weird. I mean, it's right below the back of 3PO's head. If you're fingers are already there, why not just grab the head itself? Why add such an unnecessary bit of mechanics to the toy?

Because the Japanese toy makers were awesome, that's why, and they never missed an opportunity to give something just a bit more play value. This won't be the last time I point out that Japanese toys, whether they're vintage robots from the Fifties or die-cast toys from the Seventies, kick total ass.


Note the small handle just underneath the head. And below the screw in his back you can see the black button that fires the missile.


A red-eyed 3PO is not a happy 3PO. Duck!

C-3PO comes packaged in a wonderful box. Like most Japanese die-cast toys, he fits inside a styrofoam bed, along with his small, plastic base, two missiles, and the requisite Takara catalog of toys.

I love the box art, with its killer portrait of 3PO and small photos from the movie. I can't read Japanese, so the writing takes on a neat, graphical quality that helps the packaging stand out with a weirdly exotic quality. It really straddles both U.S. and Japanese cultures, which is a lot of fun.

Takara boxes were collector friendly. No staples, glue, or tape to keep them shut.

Cool. I can't read a word of it, but cool.

The catalog advertised Takara's line of Star Wars toys.

This 3PO is one of my favorite Star Wars toys. It's really detailed -- dig that shine! -- and full of play value. It's also compellingly tactile, thanks to the cool (as in temperature) and heavy (as in it's freakin' heavy) metal construction. This is one solid toy. Which means it'd nicely double as a weapon if any schoolyard bully tried to take it from you.

Just sayin'.

Post Numero Uno!

Hiya, kids! Welcome to Galactic Awesome!, a blog I've started to showcase and talk about my various collections of vintage science fiction toys.

I know, I know... some of you are grumbling that I already have a blog to showcase and talk about my various collections of vintage science fiction toys. And you're right, I do. It's called Doc Atomic's Attic of Astounding Artifacts, and it's located right here. But that blog is for the really vintage toys, the robots and ray guns from the 1930s through 1960s. 

Galactic Awesome!, on the other hand, is for all the other toys I collect. (And yep, the exclamation point is part of the name... at least until I get annoyed by it.) Here's where you'll find original Star Wars figures; old Ahi Star Trek and Lost In Space toys; Japanese die-cast figures (also known as chogokin) and vinyl kaiju; and whatever else ends up in my collection. Yeah, most of these toys are from the late Sixties through the Eighties, but I'll also be tossing in some new stuff now and again. Hey, a cool toy is a cool toy! 

On top of all that, I'll be writing about the culture surrounding these toys, from the movies, TV shows, books, and comics that inspired them to the marketing ploys that got us to buy them to the different ways we actually played with them back in the day. (And by "back in the day," I sometimes mean... ahem... last week.) In fact, I'll probably branch out even more -- perhaps beyond even toys. Who knows? I sure as hell don't.

While The Attic of Astounding Artifacts is more of an encyclopedic endeavor, Galactic Awesome! will be a little looser. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know as much about these toys as I do about the ones in that other blog, so this will be a bit heavier on the enthusiasm and a little lighter on the scholar-ism. But I hope this opens the door for discussion in the comments section. If you've got some intel on a toy that I've posted, by all means, school me. School me hard.

So with that, I'll say "Stay tuned." I've got some nifty posts coming up this week, and from there, we'll see where things take us. In the meantime, here's a Japanese wind up R2-D2 from Takara. More on this little guy later on...