October 2, 2000 CURRENT RUMBLE Gangu Jinsei: Garada Revealed Matt 10.2.00 Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Yep, five of 'em. But hey, Gangu Jinsei ("Toy Life") deserves it. I'm not normally one to obsess over toy-related books and magazines, but this is a special case. Not only does it contain the most comprehensive photo-essay on the Jumbo Machinder series I've ever seen, it's got ten juicy pages of pictures 'n prose detailing the history of the Diaclone series, a run-down of every Mirrorman vinyl ever made, and a full-color photographic field guide to the enemy robots from the first thirty episodes of "Red Baron." Pinch me, I'm dreaming! Before I get started, I need to set the record straight about something. If you're reading this in the expectation of seeing full-size reproductions of any of the photos featured in Gangu Jinsei, you might as well stop here -- you ain't getting 'em. Why? Because they're copyrighted, ya goofball, and printing them isn't just illegal, it's a total slap in the face to the people who spent months photographing and assembling the project. With a 1,200 yen cover price and numerous Japanese bookstores in the US who're more than happy to order it for you (read on for some specifics), you owe it to yourself to suck it up, drop the coin, and grab the damn book for yourself. It's that great. Sermon over and out. Gangu Jinsei's main claim to fame is the fact that it contains the first-ever official photos of that elusive holy grail of the Jumbo Machinder world, the Popy Garada K7 toy. Three shots, in fact, that are large enough to send even the most jaded Jumbo collector into fits of polyethylene-induced ecstasy. (True die-hards undoubtedly remember the blurry photograph of K7 that surfaced on a Japanese website several months ago; the toy featured in Gangu Jinsei seems to be exactly the same. It looks NOTHING like the Uni-Five version of the toy, as the editors gleefully point out.) But that's not the only reason to open your wallet. Not only does the article feature crispy-clear shots of every Popy Machinder and villian, but also every ACCESSORY -- I'm talking a comprehensive photo guide to the "cassette weapons," those silly spring-powered attachments that can be fitted to the Machinders' arms for "increased power." Read it and weep, suckers. Next up is a chillingly complete "Diaclone Story" -- chilling, that is, in the near-paranormal ability of Japanese toy photographers to make me want to buy pieces from a line I previously had zero interest in. Robot Base. Battle Buffalo. Big Powered. Robot Base X, Dia-Attacker, and about twenty more transforming robots, cars, and other vehicles that I don't really feel like translating right now. They're all here in all of their clunky, primary-colored glory. The REAL attraction, though, is an incredible Japanese-language interview with anime-mecha designer Shoji Kawamori. (Although Kawamori skyrocketed to fame as the creator of the insanely popular Macross Valkyrie, it turns out that he's actually the un-credited designer of many of the early pieces in the Diaclone series as well.) Finally, vinyl die-hards will thrill to the four pages of color Mirrorman figure photos -- and depending on how much they've already dropped on vintage pieces, will cry in joy or anguish at the news that Tsubaraya Communications is planning to re-issue the whole shebang. Well, not the WHOLE shebang -- just every single ST-sized monster. I repeat: read it and weep. At any rate, if you haven't gotten the point by now, Gangu Jinsei is a must-buy. So how do you get a copy? Simple. Call up a Japanese bookstore (such as Kinokuniya or Zakka (tel. 212-431-3961) and place an order. The publisher's name is "Ongaku Senkasha," the cover price is 1,200 yen, and the ISBN is 1104538111203. It's actually a "mook," one of those trade paperback magazine-book hybrids, so it might be classified as a periodical rather than an actual book. In any event, armed with the above info, you should be able to grab a copy without too much of a problem. (One final thing: as promised, Gangu Jinsei features an exclusive offer to purchase a ginchy black-and-silver Garada K7 "repro" Jumbo Machine directly from Uni-Five. At 9,800 yen, it's exactly the same price as the "normal" version. However, you've got to use the Japanese postal service to secure one, so US-based fans are advised to go through the Japanese toy-importer of their choosing to nab it. Good luck and happy hunting.)  RUMBLE INDEX  |  CURRENT RUMBLE