(item number) 1001
(title) Mr.SIGNAL
(maker) Tokyo Plaything Shokai / Made in Japan
(the date of issue) 1956-1957 years
(size) 270mm
(side note) Tin, polystyrene, rubber, single battery two
(condition) good
(detailed) box included
(starting bid price) 15,000,000 yen
(comment) Mr. SIGNAL In the world of tin toy robot and collection, Mr. Signal's origin has been wrapped with mystery.So far Mandarake have elucidated the mystery, such as the world's first tin robot "Lilliput", "Machine Man,", "Flame Foot Tetsujin", etc., and this time we will elucidate the last great mystery of tin toy robot and collection history.
The origin of Masudaya's "Machine Man" from the 5 Gang Series was not known for a long time, but in our investigation done on catalog No.59, it was used as a free sample (for large toy shops and wholesellers) of the other 4 types from the Gang Series. 80 sample units were made, and all were sent overseas (mainly USA).Please refer to the Mandarake No. ZENBU No.59 for details.In fact, this Mr. Signal has a similar origin. Tokyo Plaything Shokai at that time made this Mr. Signal as a "free sample" of sales strategy for overseas.
In the history of Tokyo Plaything Shokai (TPS), they do not make many robot (perhaps only this Mr. Signal alone, after the 70's is different).
In 1956, Yoshio Udagawa who is a former employee from a toy company called Koukyu Shokai, formed TPS, well known with it's clown unicycle and skater, comical tin toy of small animals, etc, which has been popular in the toy industry, but in fact, all these products were produced after the company is formed after some time.
Udagawa is a very ambitious person. When the company is formed, he challenges many things while searching for sellable commodity.However, while finding the correct product was not easy, Masudaya's 5 Gang Series was a huge hit in the USA. Knowing that, Udagawa began to develope a robot with totally different concept.He uses plastic (which is still a minor raw material where Japan just started the industries) for his prototype robot with innovative face design of a signal (traffic light).Not many Masudaya's "Machine Man" (1954) were made, and this goes the same with Mr. Signal, only 70 units were produced (made in a rush, due to the lacking of confidence, and also due using minor materials which is hard to come by).
All has been distributed to toy stores and dealers in the USA as a free sample. (Since this Mr. Signal was made 2 - 3 years after "Machine Man", the approximate manufacturing year is around 1956 - 1957) But it was not being valued at all.Not exactly being made a fool of, but just seems to looked a little lame to them.
Udagawa is shocked because he put much effort into the project.After much thinking, he called over Yasuo Kushida (designer/engineer) from Shinnichi Kogyo, and changed his plan.It went very well, and many tin toys that remained today were produced by Kushida when he's in TPS.(According to Kushida, he formed TPS with Udagawa in 1950, but most probably he misunderstood. Udagawa first formed TPS, then Kushida was called over. At that time Kushida wanted to join the management, where he invested and which in a way became a business partner.)
Mr. Signal was a free sample, but it has a full color original box in the same
way as Machine Man, and other than the base of the body, everything else is composed with polystyrene which is still rare at that time.Sometimes, we see units with missing and broken parts, and some not in working condition, but there is only 5 complete units in good condition with original box left in the world (Mandarake research).We can say that this Mr. Signal is probably the finest collector item among them.The robot is a very fragile item, we had a piece that was almost half broken (without box), the inner structure is close to handmade, consists of paper taping, nylon taping, thin gears, etc.So we assumed that even for the remaining 5 complete units, working units should be fewer.It should be noted that this robot was created in the '50s, so the battery box is made according to the battery size at the time.Since it has been made very tight, current "D size" battery will not fit in.We will include a battery size adapter to use with "AA size" battery.But since this is a very valueable item, we suggest only not playing with it after testing.
(Although Mr.Kusida is alive, titles of honor are omitted from names.)
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