

click to enlarge

I’ve been spending some time cleaning out my studio, and when I found these 70’s vintage Popy toy catalogs, I felt the need to scan-and-share. Aside from the obvious and gratuitous display of voluptuous toy pr0n, I’m digging the photography and graphic design, which, like pretty much everything from Japan, goes that extra mile to make even the most simple piece of promo/commercial ephemera look irresistible. Just look at that type treatment! Probably hand-drawn, too. The JM (standing for “Jumbo Machinder”) shield/stamp on the back is wonderful too.



click to enlarge

Look at that photo! What red-blooded little kid could possibly resist its siren song? Not me – I have collected a lot of the stuff depicted on this page.



click to enlarge

This catalog was included with a boxed Jumbo Machinder accessory fist attachment. Jumbo Machinders were two-foot-tall renditions of anime giant robots, made from the same blow-molded plastic used to make shampoo bottles. Due to the storage constraints of the typical Japanese family home, very few of them survived the seventies, and all but a few ended up as gomi.

Here in America, Mattel brought over a few hardy examples and sold them as Shogun Warriors.



click to enlarge

Accessory fists!



click to enlarge

I guess those little red missiles and spring-loaded fists weren’t enough of an injury-to-the-eye liability magnet for Popy, so they brought out a whole line of accessories to complete the job.

I have yet to find a complementary kid-sized eyepatch with a Popy logo, but I’m sure I’ll turn one up eventually.



click to enlarge

Clearly ZZ-6 is the money melon of the accessory fist series. It is a giant fist, made from a boulder, that SHOOTS MISSILES. I can think of no better example of the uniquely Japanese concept of AWESOME AND DESTROY.



click to enlarge

And then there’s ZZ-8, the Fortress Of Fists. For when you need a Guns Of Navarone-styled rocky emplacement to proudly display all this lethal weaponry.



click to enlarge

Each of the accessories came with a proof-of-purchase coupon, and when you had a complete set, you could send away to Popy for this little beauty, a suitcase/robot garage for your jumbo.



click to enlarge

This is another, smaller catalog from another box, with a nice selection of jumbos and diecast chogokin.



click to enlarge

The guys on the right are Jumbo Machinder villains, all from Mazinger Z. These are some of the rarest items in the jumbo pantheon. The guy in the middle of the bottom row, named Garada K-7? Only three are known to exist. The last time one was on the market, it sold for five figures.