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Seven's Dwarf Diecasts

text: Robert Duban & Matt Alt, graphics: Robert Duban

September 2001

Updated: 11.01.04

Additional image contributions: Yutaka Ishida / Kaikodo, Erik Sjoen

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Seven was a spin-off of toy-giant Takara, founded with the aim of producing cheap toys for the low-end market. The practice of larger firms protecting their reputations by using a "middleman" to sell cheapie toys was a common one in the '70s and early '80s. Popy had their own cheapie toy offshoot company, Victora; Takatoku jointly produced "mini gokins" with the tiny company Mark; and Takara and Clover used tiny Seven to do their bidding.

Most of Takara's early licenses were replicated in a smaller and cheaper form by Seven. In fact, the only Takara license that doesn't seem to have a Seven toy counterpart is that of "Kotetsu Jeeg." Perhaps there simply wasn't any need, as a "cheapie" mini Jeeg had already been produced by the miniscule toy company Onda. Seven made a minor foray into the world of vinyls with a rendition of Ga-Keen, packaged in the "Ga-Keen Koma Set," several vinyls from Baratak, and no doubt others. Surprisingly, Seven produced at least one "Star Wars" toy as well, thanks to Takara having a limited Japanese license for the smash-hit film.

Seven also produced toys based on licenses from Clover. There are Seven versions of characters from each of Clover's licenses -- with one exception. There does not seem to be a Seven Srungle toy, and the world will forever bemoan that loss. The boxes for the Seven Gundam toys bear a great deal of similarity to some of Clover's own mini-Gundams. In fact, at a glance, the boxes look nearly identical. (This isn't particularly surprising, as Clover and Takara shared the same factories and much of the same design-staff.)

Often labeled "mini gokin," Seven's toys have a great deal in common with the later Victora pieces in terms of market, quality level and box-style. The majority of the Seven pieces were sold under the brand name "Orion." Most of the boxes bearing the eye-catching Orion logo feature the fine print "manufactured and sold by Seven." Some of the later Seven toys (most notably, those from Votoms and Dunbine) feature an actual logo for "Seven," rather than simple plain text. Muddying the waters even further, there are several box variations as well -- some boxes feature the "Seven" logo, while the same toy can also be found in an "Orion" logo box. (These are detailed in the list below.)

The quality level of Seven's toys varies a great deal from piece to piece. For example, the Dunbine toys, while made of rather cheap plastic, are rather decent renditions of the characters. In contrast, the Dougram "Core Brook" toy (a mis-romanization of the words "Core Block") is quite possibly the sleaziest, cheapest Japanese toy ever made. It can be said, however, that perhaps therein lies the charm of these "low end" toys.

Based on the dates of the shows Seven licensed, it would seem that the company was active between the years of 1977 to 1983. Nobody knows exactly what became of Seven, but presumably they fell victim to the great toy-meltdown of the mid-1980's. What follows is a list of some of the better-known Seven / Orion toys. This list is by no means complete. As always, please contact us for any errors or omissions.

						Dunbine
						Drumlo
						Baratak - Gokin Puzzle
						Black Baratak - Underground Type
						Blue Baratak - Sky Type
						Green Baratak - Underwater Type
						Trotter 3
						Mini Mini Gokin Trotter
						Arcadia
						Cosmo-Wing
						Jupiter Bit
						Daiojya Cross Gokin
						Cross Gattai Aioda
						Daitarn 3 Basic Set - Orion box version
						Daitarn 3 Basic Set - Seven box version
						Dai-Fighter
						Mach-Attacker
						Dai-Tank
						Daitarn 3 - Gold Gokin
						Daitarn 3 - 4 Item Set (Dai-Fighter, Mach-Attacker, Dai-Tank, Daitarn 3 Gold Gokin)
						Dougram "Core Brook" (Core Block)
						Gundam
						Gundam - Gold Gokin
						Gundam - Gold Gokin - color variation
						Guncannon
						Guntank
						Mini Gokin Set (Gundam & Guntank)
						Gundam 4 Item Set (Gundam, Guntank, Guncannon, Gundam - Gold Gokin)
						Core Fighter - wind up
						White Base - wind up
						Ride Armor VR-052F
						R2D2 ("MM Series")
						Tryder G7 - Gold Gokin
						Tryder G7 3 Set
						Tryder G7 Power Set
						No.1 - Scopedog -1/48 scale
						No. 2 - Brutishdog - 1/48 scale
						No. 3 - Snapping Turtle - 1/48 scale
						Battling Combination [co-produced with Poem]
						Xabungle mini gokin
						Henkei Gattai Xabungle
						Irongear
						Henkei Gattai Xabungle, mini Xabungle & Irongear set
						Walker Machine (Dugger Type) - wind up
						Zanbot 3 Basic Set
						Zanbot 3 - Gokin Puzzle
						Zanbot 3 First Base / Bial I
						Zanbot 3 Second Base / Bial II
						Zanbot 3 Third Base / Bial III