Nintendo Lefty RX English promotional leaflet

A few weeks ago, when scanning Yahoo Auctions Japan for vintage Nintendo toys, my eyes spotted a Lefty RX G.T. Sport set. The set was in decent condition, but nothing I did not already have in this collection. Or so I thought, on first glance.

I have always had a soft spot for these 1972 toy racing cars. Nintendo turned their obvious disadvantage (it cannot steer to the right), into a unique selling point. So I pay extra attention when an auction of one of these scrolls by, and gave it a second look.

Something looked off and unfamiliar.

I quickly realised that included in the box, besides the standard black and white manual, was a leaflet I had not seen before. Enough reason to bid. Luckily I won the item for a reasonable amount.

When the package arrived at my place a few weeks later, and I opened the box, I was glad I had acquired it.

The document turned out to be a full-colour promotional leaflet, in English. A document I had never seen before.

Around this time (late 1960s to early 1970s), Nintendo was trying to expand their market abroad, mostly through foreign distributors. English language versions have been found for many of their products from this era, including the Ultra Hand, Love Tester, Challenge Dice, Ultra Machine and Ultra Scope. However, this was the first time I saw that a similar attempt was made for Lefty RX as well.

Nintendo Lefty RX G.T. Sport and Proto-Type (レフティRX G.T. スポーツ, レフティRX プロトタイプ, 1972)

In a previous post on this blog, Nintendo's remote controlled racing car Lefty RX was introduced. These toy cars have the surprising feature that they can only steer to the left (hence the name). Unlikely as that may sound, it was actually a good tradeoff between play fun and affordability - and still allowed for great races to be staged between multiple cars.

All four Lefty RX car types

The original Lefty RX series, introduced in 1972, featured a slick sports coupe car (in two slightly different body versions). When this became a commercial success, Nintendo quickly released a follow-up later that same year.

Lefty RX, Lefty RX G.T. Sport and Lefty RX Proto-Type

Two new Lefty RX models were introduced, which replaced the original series: Lefty RX G.T. Sport and Lefty RX Proto-Type.

Nintendo Lefty RX (レフティ ＲＸ, 1972)

An important attribute of the Nintendo design philosophy - established in large part by chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi and engineer Gunpei Yokoi - is to ride the waves of new technology in a way that creates new play opportunities that are affordable (for the customer) and profitable (for the company).

The orginal Gameboy and the Wii are prime examples of this: not the most advanced in their time in terms of technology, but great fun nonetheless. And because of their relatively friendly price point, well positioned to achieve mass success.

Nintendo's racing car series Lefty RX (レフティ ＲＸ) is an early example of this approach.

In the 70's, wireless remote controlled cars were still in the early stages of their development, very much cutting edge and highly desirable toys. And usually also very expensive, because of the advanced electronics and mechanical parts involved.

Coming soon... The Lefty RX Story

I am currently compiling an overview of the Nintendo Lefty RX (レフティRX) racing cars series.

Nintendo Lefty RX series (1972)

Read all about it in this post.