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Tim Brisko

Matt Alt

Super #1 Robot: Japanese Robot Toys, 1972-1982 Paperback – July 7, 2005

by Tim Brisko (Author), Matt Alt (Author), Robert Duban (Author)

24 ratings

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Shogun Warriors. Godaikin. Micronauts. They came in their legions, leaping straight from Japanese TV sets onto toy shelves. Shiny, outrageously colorful, sporting spring-powered missiles and "rocket punches" they were unlike anything seen before. Super #1 Robot showcases these unique action figures created during the heyday of Japanese robot toys, 1972 to 1982. From Popy's classic "Chogokin" Mazinger Z to Takatoku's Valkyrie (the first seamlessly transforming toy), these are the pinnacle of modern Japanese robot toys, and transformed not only themselves, but also today's toy culture.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Chronicle Books
Publication date

July 7, 2005
Grade level

8 and up
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

5.7 x 0.8 x 7.1 inches
ISBN-10

0811846075
ISBN-13

978-0811846073
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Matt Alt's childhood obsession with the Japanese giant robot led him to major in Japanese and International Relations at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He lives near Tokyo, where he and his wife run a translation agency.

Tim Brisko's photography has appeared in Toyfare , Xbox Nation , and Super7 magazine. He lives in Houston, Texas.

Robert Duban met Matt Alt while working for ToyBoxDX, a popular toy collector website, for which they have cataloged the works of every Japanese toy company producing during the 1970s and early 1980s. He lives in Los Angeles.

Saburo Ishizuki founded Bullmark and Ark, the creators of some of the most influential toys of this period.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chronicle Books; F First Edition (July 7, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0811846075
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0811846073
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.21 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.7 x 0.8 x 7.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,209,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #588 in Antique & Collectible Toys (Books)
- #621 in Popular Culture Antiques & Collectibles (Books)
- #7,991 in Industrial Manufacturing Systems

Customer Reviews:
24 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		23%
3 star		19%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Coffeetime

Amazing photo collection of 70s diecast toys

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2018

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I love it. It brought back my teenage year (late 70’s) memory when I used to collect those diecast robots. I had to give them away after moving to U.S. from Hong Kong. 95% of the book are color photos. The rest are 20+ pages of article about the toys. I would also highly recommend reading “Japanese Animation Guide: The History of Robot Anime” by Matt Alt also. It’s a free PDF download and the book is fund by Japanese government. The book goes hand in hand with this “Super #1 Robot”.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Xeokym

It's About Time

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2007

Verified Purchase

It's about time an American book in english came out on this subject, authored by people who know what they're talking about and thankfully NOT including tin and wind-up robots from the 60s and earlier. This little paperback is what chogokin collectors would humorously refer to as "robot porn." It's a glossy, high-quality picture book that causes salivation and drooling with the turn of every page. Unfortunately it is by no means a complete encyclopedic manual for all toys diecast during the 70s and 80s, but that can't be expected, considering such an undertaking would produce a book (or morelike a series of books) far heftier than this little paperback. Since that expectation is unreasonable, it is entirely forgivable since this little tome covers quite a chunk of the chogokin, vinyl and plastic market, and a nice variety, as well.

First off the book construction is sweet - small and easily handled, it's like a mini coffeetable book with a glossy softcover. I wasn't expecting such a nicely made little book. There is minimal chitchat and all the talent is poured into the photography of the most mint-looking chogokin robots I have ever seen. I think the thing that I was most tickled about was there was a picture of a mint Tetsujin 28 in the front of the book, and a beat up, played-with, broken and paintchipped version of the same robot in the back of the book. The wear on the used robot shows more as a sign of how much that toy was loved, not abused, and anyone who loves collecting chogokin, I think, would get the same tingly warm feeling looking at that beat Tetsujin 28 as the shiny minty one.

There are a few vinyl robots included in the line-up, and I could think of quite a few chogokin that were left out that could've taken up the pages of the vinyls, as I'm not much of a vinyl collector myself; vinyls are a whole other collector market and I can see why they were included in the book, but then again, I would've preferred that they weren't. Vinyls were usually monsters, but the ones that depict robots were the ones focussed on. All in all they don't take up a lot of space. Also the book is an almost even mix between the comical/humorous chogokin like Robocon and Robodachi and the more serious robot gladiators and team robots like the Godaikins; again these are (more or less) two different collector markets and not everyone collects both. As well, there are some Giant Machinders included, which is not even a scratch on the surface for them since there are quite literally hundreds if not more to collect in that category, but this book is really not meant to be a catalogued record of every robot ever made. Even though one will be able to think of some robots that were left out, all the major ones were included. The only complaint I have is that a lot of them are shown not holding a weapon, when many of them are known for their specific or characteristic weapon(s). Some are shown with a weapon, like Garbin, but too many are just robots standing weaponless. Again, though, this book isn't meant to be an official catalogue, so don't expect accessories to be featured.

If you want lists and cataloging of every robot ever made during the 70s and 80s, there are plenty of online sites that attempt to accomplish such a massive undertaking. But if you want to flip through a nice hefty little book just to get the tingly warm feeling of joy gazing upon the robots of your childhood, this book is totally worth it. It's a little window peephole into the past, but man is it worth peeping.

5 people found this helpful

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TK

Lots of fun

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2009

Verified Purchase

I actually don't have much to add to the excellent reviews
already here. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars for two
reasons:

The first has more to do with the publisher,
Chronicle Books - its been years since I handled one of
their books, but once I picked this one up it all came back
to me: lousy cheap glue bindings typify their books. Once
you crack open the book, you literally do 'crack' it open.
Or, in my case, the cover popped off before my first browsing.
At least the pages have (so far) not fallen out. Anyway, a
little properly applied glue may get it back on.

Secondly, though I do love the pictures (I wish a book like
this would be made for all the Popy, Bullmark, Bandai and
Banpresto etc. editions of Ultraman figures), all the text
pertaining to company histories is condensed into the first
few pages. Some reviewers find the emphasis on pictures over
text in this book appealing (and after all, the authors did
this on purpose), but I think I would have prefered more text
(on the history and creators, etc). I'm only going to look
at the pictures so many times before I retire this to the
book shelf.

All in all, this book IS a worthwhile purchase
if you'd enjoy a picture book dedicated to Meka and
old tin & vinyl robots/monsters.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

D. Hakola

Fantastic world of J-bots!

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2006

Verified Purchase

Hi, this is hubby James writing this review...

I just got SUPER #1 ROBOT and it totally rocks. As much as I thought I knew about J-bots, this really showed how much I didn't know. Even if you are well-versed in "super robots" and anime mecha, expect to be surprised by some really far-out machines you've never seen, from shows you've never heard of (but wish you had)!

The photos are wonderful, shot from a proper low perspective, giving these tiny giants their respect. They look like huge works of art here, which in some ways, they truly are. Great work! I am looking forward to Alt's next book very eagerly.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

MarkusG

Incredible overview of classic chogokin

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2008

Verified Purchase

This book contains stunningly beautiful pictures of japanese chogokin (=die cast metal) toys from the 1970's and 80's. Many of the toys are quite rare and hard to find pictures of (like toys made by Takatoku, Nomura, Marushin and Nakajima), even in Internet times. Highly recommended!

Helpful

R. Fletcher

Interesting but bad binding

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

Great reference to 70's toy robots. Too bad it started to fall apart upon opening it. Bad binding.

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2009

Verified Purchase

I finally know some of the names of the die cast (chogokin) and plastic robots that I drooled over as a kid. Thanks to this little book, I've spent a lot of money on very neat unusual Japanese toys.

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2007

Verified Purchase

I bought this book for my husband because he's obsessed with transforming robots. He squealed when he read it. The photography is wonderful and it is like a history book for the ultimate transforming robot fan.

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Top reviews from other countries

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redone cln

lots of good pictures in it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2014

Verified Purchase

this is a book with a lot of quality pictures of robots from popy, takatoku, bandai... from the 70s to the early 80s. not a lot of words in it, i miss a little robot history in it, but a good book.

Amazon Customer

He loved it. The pictures are great and the book ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

I bought this for my son, who's big into his robots. He loved it.
The pictures are great and the book also took me back to the animation series that produced some of these toys as well as to the toys as well, some of which i owned as a child.