Joe from Hasbro, had its doll designers redesign the American toy soldier’s head and rebranded the figure as New G.I.
(It wouldn’t even have a boys’ toys division until after Henshin Cyborg became a hit.) The company licensed G.I. Takara didn’t enter the action figure market until late 1969. Licca-chan, a petite doll with a smaller dollhouse for smaller Japanese homes, made its debut in 1967 and quickly became the nation’s favourite. Takara’s first major success was a vinyl doll named Kinobori Winky (colloquially known as Dakko-chan), which was unfortunately based on a racist golliwog caricature and even more unfortunately, inspired the company logo from 1961 to 1990. The Japanese toy company may be renowned internationally for its clever action figure designs but it was initially famous for its dolls. Takara (“treasure” in Japanese) was founded as Satoh Vinyl Industries Ltd by Satoh Yasuta in 1955 and later named after the old Tokyo neighbourhood where it started, Takara-cho. (Click on the above image for a larger chart that’s more faithful to the source material.) History If you’ve ever wondered why some Microman Magne Powers figures seem more Magne Robo than Microman, wondered how Takara went from Combat Joe to Cybercop or wondered what exactly inspired Battle Beasts, the book is an essential purchase. The following chart and notes were largely adapted from the fantastic 2017 Futabasha book, Takara SF Land Evolution (ISBN978-2-3). The following timelines were compiled from the Omocha Johou Net site, Takara Tomy’s corporate brochure, Takara corporate history, Henshin Cyborg history and Tomy shashi. Joe turned into Mego’s 3¾-inch Micronauts.
Delve into one Japanese toy company’s history and you will see just how Hasbro’s 12-inch G.I. More broadly, it is to trace how an idea travels from one country to another, gets adapted for local needs, impacted by geopolitical events and return in a completely unrecognisable form. To study Takara SF Land is to see how toy designs evolve across multiple lines over the course of decades. The line, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2019, has sold over 500 million toys and other products in over 130 countries. Hasbro then combined toys from two major Takara SF Land lines, Diaclone and Microman, in 1984 to create Transformers and those rebranded toys returned to Japan the following year. Joe in 1964 and Takara transformed Joe into Henshin Cyborg, the founding figure of Takara SF Land, in 1972. Hasbro coined the term “action figure” for the original G.I. The most famous Takara SF Land toy line of them all would be Transformers, the result of a decades-old relationship between two storied toy companies from two different continents.
The Magne Robo Koutetsu Jeeg figure, for example, certainly got a boost from the Nagai Go manga and the Toei anime but the toy, competing as it was with Popy Chogokin based on other manga and anime, was arguably a huge hit in the Seventies because of its innovative magnetic joints. There were, of course, toy-first Takara designs that benefitted immensely from the exposure manga and anime tie-ins provided. If some of the resulting toys were stand out designs far ahead of their time, it’s simply because they needed to be - they couldn’t rely on brand recognition as a crutch. Takara SF Land toys are notable for being original designs as opposed to being inspired by popular manga, anime or tokusatsu series. The umbrella term used by fans to describe various toy lines with sci-fi elements sold by Takara (Takara Tomy after the 2006 merger with Tomy), Takara SF Land encompasses lines like Henshin Cyborg (a 30cm-tall figure that could transform into other characters and into a vehicle), the groundbreaking Microman (10cm-tall action figures with stunning articulation for 1974) and the Diaclone robots and vehicles piloted by 3cm-tall figures with magnetic feet. Takara SF Land celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2022. Updated on 7 November with Diaclone (2016) part 2
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