First Generation Products

Picture yourself as one of the lucky Japanese fans who got to see the very first TV broadcast of Space Battleship Yamato in October 1974. Right away, you're grabbed by the art design, the drama, the atmosphere, the music, and the promise of greater things to come. It's exactly the sort of nuanced, sophisticated anime you've been waiting for.

Chances are, most of the merchandising wasn't meant for you.

Pictured here: The very first Yamato article ever published, from Shonen Sunday manga magazine, October 1974. This minimalist approach was typical of early anime TV coverage.

Despite all the artistic strides that had been made in the 1960s, TV Manga (the word 'anime' didn't exist yet) was still considered a children's medium. The arrival of Lupin III, Mazinger Z and Gatchaman in the early 1970s were the first indicators of the change that was ahead, and Yamato would later provide the tipping point. But until that point was reached with the Yamato movie in 1977, when licensors could actually SEE who the audience was, almost all their efforts went toward the making of "kid stuff."

Once this fact is understood, Yamato begins to look like a bold (perhaps even foolhardy) attempt to entertain an audience that wasn't on the radar yet. Tremendous effort had gone into its design and animation, both of which were full of subtleties that only older viewers could truly appreciate. Most of this was lost when Yamato was stuffed through the merchandising mill, and what came out the other end was essentially "laundered" of authenticity.

That said, it's fascinating to look back (now that all the wrongs have been righted) and see the undeniable charm of this first generation of products. It vividly displays the standards and trends of the time and teases us with different take on Yamato that was all about fun. From a purely historical standpoint, it's also interesting to note that not one of them had an English title. That didn't exist until "Space Cruiser Yamato" went into common useage in 1977.

Bathtowel

The Athena Company made Yamato towel and washcloth sets. This large-size bathtowel used early character and mecha designs in a reversible pattern. Bombastic action poses of Kodai such as the one above left were a common motif in early products.

Card and Record Set

The Epoch Company had a long-running series called the 'Family Picture Story Show' which consisted of color story cards and a flexi-disc record with a radio-drama style recording. This Yamato set was volume 102 in the series, and was very likely the first official Yamato product of any kind. See (and hear) the entire thing here.

Apparel

The Iwai Company made children's clothing items. Their entire Yamato lineup is pictured here: swim trunks, suspenders, and a belt. Because that's really all you need sometimes...

Soft Vinyl "Analyzer Robot" Figure

Popy, the toy division of Bandai, made Analyzer available in three adorable colors, blue, grey, and red. They couldn't do much, but they were certainly not a choking hazard. Today an entire legion of soft vinyl toy collectors idolizes these sorts of products, the goofier the better. Read more about the Popy toy company here.

Fightercraft

Popy was best known for die cast toys like the solid-metal Cosmo Zero (above left), which could shoot discs from its nose--EXACTLY like in the show. Bandai's model kits of the Cosmo Zero and Black Tiger (above right) were much closer to the animation models, but compromised them with wheels and windup motors.

Yamato Model Kit

The first Yamato kit now lives in infamy as the 'Zenmai' model, named for its bulky windup motor, which drove modelers crazy and may have single-handedly spawned an entire generation of scratch-builders. Read about the entire history of Bandai's Yamato models here.

School Supplies

The Kutsuwa Company put Kodai through his action-hero paces with their line of school supplies including a pocket fileholder (front and back shown above left and center), a pocket wallet with mini-notebook (above right), an eraser set (below left) and a pair of pencil cases (below right). Note also that this Kodai chooses not to wear socks. This, too, is a bit of a theme...

Pencil Sets

Sockless Kodai reappears on these pencil sets manufactured by the Tombow Company (Tombow is the Japanese word for Dragonfly, hence the logo), which were probably drawn by the same artist who worked for Kutsuwa; exhibit A would be the matching off-model handguns. Tombow made both color and standard pencils, some of which remain unused in the hands of collectors.

Bubblegum

The Lotte Candy Company (still in business today) pushed their package art to a higher standard, keying off Leiji Matsumoto's manga drawings and some more-developed spaceship designs. Sticks of gum came in the wrappers shown above and, in the great Bazooka Joe tradition, came with prizes inside. There were three types: an iron-on set (example below left) a character image (below center) or a secret message (below right). Click here to see more iron-ons and here to see the character images. The inclusion of Captain Harlock makes this a rare product indeed.

Lotte also made caramels, which came with their own sticker made to look like filmstrips (see a collection of them here). Another company, Showa Note, made the origami paper shown above right.

Showa Note Products

Their origami paper notwithstanding, Showa Note released the best-looking early Yamato products. They specialized in paper goods and had a much broader lineup than is shown here. This included coloring books, note pads (above), sketchbooks and puzzles (below).

Showa's personal best was the set shown below, a laminated protector that opened to reveal greeting cards, a note pad, and a sticker set.
Get a better look at the entire set here.

Canteens

Nothing says Yamato like a canteen or thermos, as represented by this three-product lineup from the Musashino Company. Action hero Kodai is back, this time throwing a gang sign from the back of the thermos while Analyzer nods approvingly.

Handkerchiefs and Sandals

The Nakanishi Company made the handkerchief set shown above left, which would have traveled well with the beach sandles (center) from the Maruchiu Company. Once again, Kodai and Analyzer take up a fighting stance on the sandals. Google that sentence all you want, you will only find it here. The boater shoes shown in the magazine ad probably document the only known meeting of Yamato and Woody Woodpecker.

Ceramic Dishware

If any children actually sat down to watch Yamato on Sunday evenings, the Sanko Toki Company made sure they had appropriate dishware for their TV trays. This included a plate and rice bowl (above) and three different mugs (below). The artwork chosen for this set was an odd mixture of character designs, some of which were from the TV series pitch book, some from the animation unit, and at least one manga drawing (Kodai with the oversized Cosmogun). All included an Office Academy copyright.

Sticker set

The Marusan Novelty Company released what has to be the strangest set of Yamato images on this lively sticker set. Action hero Kodai is joined here by action hero Yuki, both prepared to defeat the Gamilons with the fury of their kung fu. (You remember that episode...don't you?) Get a better look at this set here.

Asahi Sonorama Books

As a major sponsor of the first TV series, Sonorama had the early lock on the book rights, though several competitors would join the fray in later years. Their first was the Sonosheet Book (above left) which was published in October 1974 and named for the flexi-disc record it contained. It was just one of many ways a fan could buy a copy of the main title theme, in this case as something to listen to while browsing through the crudely-drawn storybook pages. Sonorama's second volume, the Space Battleship Yamato Big Illustration Book (above right), contained an identical flexi-disc and a vastly superior set of illustrations by the mechanical designers at Studio Nue. It was published in December 1974 and was the first accurate representation of the series.

See both of these books from cover to cover here.

Asahi Sonorama was also the publisher of the first Yamato manga, a three-volume series by scriptwriter Keisuke Fujikawa and artist Akira Hio, which later gained prominence as the only Yamato publication that preserved some of the deleted TV episodes. Read about them in detail here.

Sonorama's final product from this era was the 2-volume Yamato novelization by author Arashi Isuzu, which presented a very different version of the story. (Read all about it here.) Finally, the Leiji Matsumoto manga was collected in the paperback shown above right, published by Akita Shoten in 1975 immediately after the TV series went off the air. This was the beginning of a product hiatus that would last just over two years. Fortunately, a select group of dedicated fans were there to fill it in their own way.

Find out how they did it here.

Continue to Vintage Collectibles for the Yamato movie

Note: The products shown in this article are presented for archival purposes only, and are not available from Voyager Entertainment. Some of the photos were originally uploaded to Yahoo.jp by private collectors. We thank them for their generosity!