As the Yamato saga matured, so did its audience. Fans who watched the first TV series as kids in 1974 were now preteens or teenagers, and the merchandising reflected this. Almost gone were products aimed at children. Nearly every collectible generated for Be Forever in 1980 was meant for the older set. This brought the quantity down a bit, but enhanced the quality since the standards of an older audience were a bit higher. Here is a look at what they had to choose from…

Mini card sets, Amada/Popy

The Amada Printing company came out full force for Be Forever. They had released mini-cards for the previous films, so this was their third time at bat. The red and white ‘P’ symbol on the box was for Popy, the toy division of Bandai, who co-produced several products with Amada.

The set was comparatively modest, 60 new cards and three new pocket books shown above in various front/back combinations.

The “Lucky Card” feature was continued; shown above at far right is one of the pre-marked samples. Once again, its purpose was probably to obtain a mail-order premium of some kind.

Menko cards, Amada

A fresh set of Menko cards also came from Amada, complete with unrelated graphics on the back of each card.

This time they were a jumble of real-life ground, air, and space vehicles in addition to a wide variety of card and number-based games.

Seal collection, Amada/Popy

One of the new additions this time was a Be Forever “Seal Collection,” a series of stickers and a display book to keep them in.

The booklet (at left) measured 4″ x 5.5″. The stickers came in envelopes (center) and measured 2.5″ x 1.75″.

Your job was to collect all 100 stickers to fill up all the slots in the 64 page book. See an almost-full book from cover to cover here.

P.P. cards, Amada/Popy

One more innovation was this set of “P.P. Cards.” The initials stood for “Pull Pack,” which just meant they came in packs like all the others.

Popy’s involvement probably resulted in the higher production values seen here, which included a line of picture wallets to store the set.

Bike flags, Amada/Popy

Popy and Amada also teamed up to make Yamato bicycle flags with spinning propellers.

Either would have made a perfect addition to the famous Yamato bicycle.

Komalet, Popy

Popy alone was responsible for this oddball, a Be Forever Yamato toy that combined a top [koma] with a roulette wheel.

Playing cards, Popy

One of the simplest products, yet also the classiest; a standard deck of playing cards with Be Forever on the back.

Board game, Popy

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum was Popy’s massive (and intimidating) “Space game,” which recreated the events of the movie with numerous mini-games built into a single huge board. “Turn the roulette to move out into space, and your trip begins! Breathtaking thrills are reproduced in this board game! Who will prevent the extinction of Earth?” So reads the blurb on the box, and it just barely hints at what awaits inside.

Get a detailed look at it here.

Movie stills, Toei

Toei Movie Company was responsible for animation and distribution of the film, which meant they also prepared black & white stills for media publicity. Animation magazines were all published in full color, so these probably went to newspapers.

Folders, Pepsi

The Pepsi Corporation rejoined the party with this trio of folders that were probably made before the film, since they only displayed images from earlier movies (and only one in the bunch actually tied into Be Forever).

Handbag, Glico

Another big food-related company in Japan was (and still is) Glico, mainly known for candy and confectionary. They signed on as a Yamato sponsor in 1980 and this vinyl bag was one of their earliest products. Many more were to come as Yamato III emerged as the next story of the saga. (Find them via the Yamato III link at the bottom of this page.)

Rubber stamp

The manufacturer of this item is unknown, but they gave fans a chance to make their mark.

Handkerchiefs, Margaret

The name on these handkerchiefs comes from Margaret, a magazine that covered pop culture for girls. Never forget, girls made up over half of Yamato‘s audience, and are still strongly represented in Yamato fandom to this day.

Other than Be Forever Yamato and the first flight of the American Space Shuttle, the most futuristic thing in the world back in 1980 was the digital watch. Thus, the Vega Company thought a Be Forever tie-in would be an ideal pairing. There was nothing on the watches themselves that acknowledged Yamato, but it wasn’t too much of a stretch back then to imagine Kodai consulting his trusty wrist-calculator in times of need.

Keychain, Animec

Animec was an anime magazine in the early 80s, and the name was probably derived from one of the first anime specialty shops. Animec (the store chain) was also in the business of making their own licensed merch, which led to the creation of these metal keychains.

Movie posters

For the serious collectors, posters could be found that reused artwork from theatrical one-sheets. See the actual one-sheets in our Be Forever gallery.

Calendar poster, Fuji

Even the Fuji Camera Company got in on the act, producing a two-sided “Fuji Color” calendar poster for 1981.

See more merchandising for Be Forever that was available through the official fan club

Continue to Yamato III