When it comes to mecha toy design, few people have the credentials of Katsushi Murakami. The man's career spans decades and includes works ranging from Toei's Spider-Man to Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: The Movie. Murakami was greatly influenced by the likes of Osamu Tezuka and famed sci-fi illustrator Shigeru Komatsuzaki. He worked under various roles for Bandai, worked independently, and then joined Bandai's Poppy toy company which was in charge of many big name franchises.

Murakami then went on to become a hero designer for the long-running Super Sentai franchise ( Power Rangers ) and president of several Bandai Namco companies. While Murakami is still working, publisher PIE International ( YOSHITAKA AMANO: The World Beyond Your Imagination ) collected many of his draft materials and put them in All About Katsushi Murakami: Super Hero Industrial Design Art Collection , a 250-page full-color book.

The book will retail for 4,200 yen (US$37.50) and contains Murakami's work from Yuusha Raideen, Go Ranger, Spider-Man, Kamen Rider , Muteking, Ogon Senshi Gold Raitan, Rokushin Gattai God Mars, and Space Sheriff Gavan.

[Via Anime! Anime!]