First theatrical flyer, late 1982
By the year 1983, a lot of evolution had taken place in the twin worlds of anime and anime merchandising. Thanks largely to Space Battleship Yamato, TV anime was exploding with more new programs than anyone could keep up with, and anime merchandising had more momentum than ever. By all accounts, it should have been Yamato‘s biggest year, but judging by the amount of merchandising this wasn’t actually the case.
Final Yamato was certainly on everyone’s must-see list (just like Return of the Jedi in America) and plenty of new products were readied, but the enormous amount of competition from other anime was consuming a lot of resources. This resulted in the campaign for Final Yamato actually being smaller than all the previous films with the sole exception of The New Voyage. On the other hand, it was evident after the experience of Yamato III that children were pretty much out of the picture by this time, so all the products were oriented toward older fans.
Bandai had been one of the greatest beneficiaries of Yamato licensing, having released dozens of popular model kits that positioned it to become the dominant force in anime merchandising for decades to come. One of its other products was this Final Yamato jigsaw puzzle.
This unique poster (which included a 1984 calendar) came from Japan’s National Steam Iron Company. Really.
The Yamato production years were peppered with many different kinds of events from concerts to film screenings. 1983 was the first year Yamato became the subject of larger consideration with an exhibition at Family Land, a theme park in Takarazuka (near Osaka). It was converted into Takarazuka Garden Fields in 2003, but twenty years earlier it featured the “Big Space Project,” an examination of science fact and fiction. It ran from March 19 through June 5 as indicated on the flyer shown above.
Attendees could probably buy all sorts of Yamato loot at the park, but those specific to Family Land were a calendar card and a plastic badge.
There was also a one-time-only item to be had, a full-size Kodai face mask with a half-face helmet version.
And last but not least we have the Space Cruiser Yamato Confidential File, released as a home video bonus item. It came in a folder containing a one-of-a-kind poster displaying various functions of the ship for new recruits. Such a folder might have served double-duty for carrying schoolwork around, but stands as a much better example of superfluous cool. Which pretty much sums up the entire world of the Fancy Goods. Who needed them? No one. Who wanted them? Everyone!
See more merchandising for Final Yamato that was available through the official fan club