Continuing our look at collectibles that accompanied the Yamato movie in 1977/78, here are products from various companies that could also be found in theaters, events, and specialty stores…
Japan’s Amada Printing Co. was another early entrant into the licensing brotherhood, collaborating with the Nomura Toy company to make mini gum-rubber toys and rolling out collectible card sets of its own. Shown here is their first “Mini Card” set, dedicated to Yamato Part 1. This was actually a re-release of mini-cards that first appeared with the TV series in December 1974 and were reprinted in 1978. Those who bought a complete box got a new 20-page “Card Program” booklet (shown above right) measuring 6″ x 8.5″ that told the story of the first 11 TV episodes.
See it from cover to cover here.
Amada made Mini Card sets for many anime and live action TV programs, and they all followed the same format: 2″ x 2.5″ cards issued by the hundreds to drive collectors crazy and a variety of 3″ x 5.5″ pocket books to keep them in. Pictured above left are 5 of the 7 known pocket books (some shown front and back), along with a small number of the cards for ‘Yamato Part 1.’ There were a total of 60 cards in this set.
Amada also made these Menko Cards, part of a card-game tradition going back centuries in Japan. The rules are similar to marbles, only with cards being flipped against other cards. There were also some bootlegged Yamato Menko Cards, which can be seen here
Kids who collected mini cards and played Menko might also have liked these two 550-piece jigsaw puzzles from the Apollo Company.
Moving up the age ladder, we find Apollo’s Real Painting Set, which gave fans a chance to color in a set of eight Yamato images that were printed in either 2-color or black and white on cardboard. Click here to see a gallery of the entire set.
This cel was part of a different kit released in 1980 called the Space Battleship Yamato Cel Painting Set, which included images from later films. See the entire set here. Such kits became increasingly common as the craft of making anime began to capture the popular imagination.
The Teinen Industrial Co. gave you another item to carry your personal stuff in, a wallet-size cloth bag.
Hauling stuff around was a lot easier with something on your feet, so the Maruchu company provided a pair of Yamato beach sandals. It must have been a great comfort to look down at your toes and see either Analyzer or Kodai (or a mix if you preferred) looking back.
Back in the paper world, there were two sets of animation stills that were shipped out to magazine and newspaper publishers everywhere. The set shown below was issued by Toei, the distributor of the Yamato movie.
By this time you might be wondering if Japan was hip to the fact that merchandising campaigns were nothing without apparel, and here’s your answer. This may have been the first Yamato shirt of any kind, but the nature of such a thing is that it can easily slip through the cracks of history. The maker of that shirt is as yet unknown…
…and the same goes for this one, released around the same time.
On the other hand, the labels on these shirts (child sizes only) indicates they came from a company named Nogi.
Here’s a sweater, made by a company called Crax.
Another option was to make your own Yamato apparel with this no-nonsense “iron print” applied to the clothing of your choice. (shown “normal” and “flopped” for your convenience.)
For the fans with a knack for tailoring, there was even a bolt of cloth from the JCC Company, preprinted with Yamato art that was ideal for the making of the coolest kimono on Mother Earth.
At left is a collection of lapel pins by a company called Cosmo. At right is a set of imitation non-functional lighters for children to practice life as a future smoker. All are shown at about actual size.
The winter of 1977 was undoubtedly easier to bear with these Kodai gloves for kids. Manufacturer unknown.
This one’s a real oddball, and not easily sourced due to nonexistent information. These miniature erasers called “polyheads” capture Okita, Kodai, and Yuki but the maker and exact year is unknown. They could be bootlegged merchandise, or could actually be derived from Farewell to Yamato, which had more products of this nature.
Until more data can be found, they’ll sit right here. Taunting us.
Here’s something only a truly hardcore collector would hold onto: bottle wrappers. These originally came with bottles of Mirinda orange soda as part of a “Mini Yamato” prize lottery campaign. You would peel back the label to find out your lot in life; lucky winner or hopeless loser. Then you’d either celebrate or console yourself with a delicious orange soda.
There was one other company that produced Yamato merch during the run of the first movie, and it was none other than the home office, Yoshinobu Nishizaki’s Office Academy. Of course, the best stuff came from them.
Click here to see it all in a separate collection