Tuesday, May 28, 2013

New Ultra Machine, another remake by Nichiten

Some time ago I posted about the various remakes of the Nintendo Ultra Machine DX, which appeared in the last ten years or so. They seem to be officially approved by Nintendo, though no license or copyright information is included.

Ultra Machine remake by Nichiten

Up until now, I had found three variants: two by company Nichiten and one by Tenyo. These versions differ from the original in box design and branding on the toy (base and bat).


I recently discovered a fourth variant, shown here. It is another (third) version by Nichiten.


It is called New Ultra Machine (ニュー ウルトラマシン).


The art style on this box is very different from the other two by Nichiten. It is the most bright and toy-like version.


It is quite unusual to see the same product in this many very different packages. Nichiten may have experimented with the box art to see what attracted the most sales, or created a few variants to cater for different markets and demographics.


The contents are simliar for all versions: the pitcher, a retractable plastic bat and plastic balls. This version contains ten balls, while some of the others included fifteen.


As explained (well, speculated) in the previous post, the toy is made using the original plastic moulds from Nintendo, with only a slight modification to show the Nichiten company name.


The remaning question is still: in what year where these released? If you know, please respond in the comments below.


More information about the original Ultra Machine DX can be found here. For the other remakes check this post.

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