So Crazy Japanese Toys!: Live-Action TV Show Toys from the 1950s to Now

By Jimbo Matison

Book Overview

When huge alien spiders or ocean-dwelling mutant dinosaurs hell-bent on destruction decide to pay a visit to humankind, they always seem to stop in Japan first. So Crazy Japanese Toys showcases a cast of totally cool, totally sugoi creatures culled from the most popular Japanese children's TV shows. From early and obscure Japanese shows to programs that have gained mass popularity around the worldincluding Ultraman, Space Giants, and Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot So Crazy Japanese Toys will delight both casual fans and hardcore aficionados. Readers will encounter rubber-clad superheroes galore, kawaii 'n' cuddly characters, high-revving motor heroes, and of course rockin' chicks of both the friend and foe varieties. This book is a must-have for anyone attracted to anime and manga. This isn't mere eye candyit's a gobstopper.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811835294
• ISBN13: 9780811835299
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.1" x 10.5"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

These Toys Rock !

Just got this book and it Rocks ! The photos are richly reproduced, most in full page format. The innovative use of textured backgrounds paired with some of the craziest looking toys ever made, make this book a must for your coffee table.This book is pure , 100% eye candy to feed your imagination..it's no wonder many if not all the current hot designers and artists have been influenced by Japanese toys, old and new.

so crazy, so good!

I must admit that I am no expert in the japanese toy field, but I LOVED this book as though I have know these toys for years! I came across it in a bookstore while I was looking for a gift to give to a friend that actually knows about this stuff. I had no idea there was such a comprehensive and specific book out there, I figured some book about rock and roll was what I would find, BUT NO! I found the PERFECT thing! SO CRAZY! I thought at first the layout of just pictures was a little odd, but the friend I gave it to said that is the old school way they put these things together. He absolutely loves it! (so do i, i got one for me too...)THANK YOU MISTER MATISON FOR GIVING US SOMETHING TO GIVE TO OTHERS THAT IS SO FUN, SO COOL, SO CRAZY AND SO GOOD!!!!

So Cool

I'm not a collector or anything but I just thought these characters were so cool, most of them i've never seen before, all in close up details and really great color. I completely recommend it for the money.

A MUST FOR TOY FANS

This book is an amazing collection of killer photos and really hard to find information about the Japanese Toy characters that dominated all those tv shows for decades. As a designer and a toy enthusiast, I own it and love it. Hey it's 13 f'in dollars. you cant go wrong. Just to have all the photos alone is worth way more than that.

A great book for collectors of Japanese toys.

As a long time collector of Japanese vinyl monster toys, I'm so glad that we finally have a domestically published book for stateside collectors (until this great book was published, we collector-types had to rely on expensive and hard to find Japanese import books as reference tools). This book is beautifully put together by Jimbo Matison and follows the format of many of the Japanese toy collector books, i.e. each page consists of a single photograph of a toy placed in a fantasy setting (similar in format to the book on vinyl toys available from the Marusan USA website) with a "key" at the back of the book that gives the name of the toy, date of production, manufacturer information, etc. Rather than a comprehensive collector's guide that tries to list every vinyl toy ever made (like Sean Linkenbach's Godzilla collectibles book), this book takes a selective approach to showing these toys. There are "chapters" organized according to genre of toys (heroes, monsters, female characters, vehicles, etc.) with a sampling of both vintage and new toys in each category. This is not a price guide, rather, the toys are photographed and presented for their design and artistic appeal. There's a nice combination of toys from vintage manufacturers such as Bullmark and Marusan as well as modern companies like M-1 and Marmit.The only criticism I have is that I wish the book showed more toys! On balance, this is a beautiful, large format book with page after page of beautifully photgraphed japanese vinyl toys. You'll love this book whether you collect these toys or are just interested in their aesthetic appeal.Nice work Jimbo!