First Nintendo product sold in Europe (probably)

In today's post, we'll delve into the first advertisement for a Nintendo product in Europe. At least, the earliest one discovered thus far.

Displayed here is an almanac from Italy for the year 1973.

This almanac, known as Barba-Nera, is a local institution and a synonymous term for almanac in Italy. Remarkably, Barba-Nera still continues its annual publication today, over 250 years since its inception in 1762.

At its essence, the almanac provides information on sunrise and sunset times throughout the year, religious calendars, weather forecasts, and horoscopes.

This is complemented by agricultural insights and diverse topics such as cooking.

A large part of the book is dedicated to advertisements aimed at the Italian agricultural community. So you will find adds for Lamborghini tractors, rather than racing cars.

The 1973 edition spans around 350 pages and includes a sweepstake for 1500 prizes. While the majority of these prizes consist of key chains, there are more substantial items up for grabs.

Nintendo Love Tester ad sign (ca 1969)

In today's post we will take a look at a very special item in my collection: a sign used to promote the Nintendo Love Tester (ラブテスター) from 1969.

I do not know if this was an official item produced by Nintendo, but given the build quality and the unique feature it has (more on that below), I am assuming it is. It must be very rare, as this is the only one I have ever seen. If there were more, and there probably were, they probably have disappeared in the sands of time by now.

The Love Tester was a novelty item conceived by Gunpei Yokoi for Nintendo. It used simple electronics to provide a 'love score' to a couple holding hands.

The Love Tester was a considerabel success, helped by marketing material like the flyer above and this particular sign, that was likely placed in a shop or departement store to attract sales.

The sign measures around 35 centimeters wide, 40 centimeters high and 12 centimeters deep. It is lighted from inside, using a 110 volt fluorescent light.

At the top it gives the product name in both English and Japanese.

Nintendo Love Tester sold in 1971 in USA

The Love Tester, created by Nintendo in 1969, was an electronic gadget intended to break the ice between dating couples, by giving them something to talk about and an innocent reason to touch each other.

Although based on relative simple technology, it was nevertheless a stepping stone for the company on its path towards more advanced electronic toys and games.

Nintendo Love Tester (1969)

The Love Tester proved quite a sales hit in Nintendo's home country Japan. However, at the time Nintendo had no sales organisation outside Japan. Perhaps they also had little desire to expand their buying audience that way, being busy enough conquering their local market. That certainly changed in the 1980s, when they started having increasing international successes with arcade games, handheld electronics and video games, and built their own worldwide marketing, sales and distribution network on the back of that commercial success.

That does not mean that no Nintendo products from the 1970s or earlier found their way into the hands of customers outside Japan. Toys like Challenge Dice, Ultra Machine (Slugger Mate) and Ultra Scope were sold abroad, through various Western sales companies, who bought stock and did some light localisation.

One of such deals involved the Lido Designs Inc company from New York, who offered the Love Tester through mail order to the American public in the early 1970s.

Instructions for one person and for couples

In the Lido Designs version of the Love Tester, an instruction leaflet in English replaces the original Japanese manual.

Nintendo toys in Animal Crossing New Leaf

As regular readers of this blog will know, Nintendo has a long and intriguing history that spans close to 125 years. Since the 1960s, the company has developed a culture that remains to this day: a strife for innovation mixed with an understanding and appreciation of its heritage. Nintendo as a company never forgets where it comes from and what went before, and this is passed on to new staff when they enter the company.

One of the ways that Nintendo honors and celebrates its past is by including references to it in new games. Most recently, this happened in the 3DS game Animal Crossing New Leaf (とびだせ どうぶつの森), released in Japan in November of last year and in the rest of the world in June of this year.

Animal Crossing New Leaf - Japanese box art

In this popular life simulation game, many items can be earned or won by performing certain activities at certain times. Included in the huge selection of items are five vintage Nintendo toys, that are great representatives of the entire "toys period" of Nintendo, from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s.

Some of the items that can be won in Animal Crossing New Leaf,
including the five vintage Nintendo toys (items D to H shown here)

The vintage Nintendo toys included in Animal Crossing New Leaf are:

• Ten Billion (テンビリオン) originally released in 1980,
• Love Tester (ラブテスタ) from 1969,
• Ultra Hand (ウルトラ ハンド) from 1966,
• Ultra Scope (ウルトラ コープ) from 1971, and
• Ultra Machine (ウルトラ マシン) from 1967

Although they may look a bit dated now, each of these was very innovative in their time.

Nintendo Love Tester (ラブテスター) remakes by Taito (2008) and Tenyo (2010)

In 1969 Nintendo released the Love Tester (ラブテスター). It was one of the earliest electronic toys, as well as the first step on the path of electronic entertainment by engineer and inventor Gunpei Yokoi. A path which would eventually include Game & Watch, Gameboy and WonderSwan, to name a few.

In recent years, two remakes of the the Love Tester have become available. Although this blog normally only features vintage toys, today we will take a small sidestep and look at these new versions of this toy from the late 60s. This will also give us an opportunity to take a closer look at the original toy.

The Love Tester remakes by Taito (left) and Tenyo (right)

Each of the two remakes takes a completely different approach. One has translated the concept of the original toy into a modern version, while the other tries to stay as close as possible to the original. Although not produced by Nintendo, they are both officially licensed.

The box of the Love Tester by Taito has a retro-ish feel to it

The Taito version of the Love Tester (2008) was a Ufo Catcher prize. The Ufo Catcher is the Japanese version of the Crane Game or Claw Crane you can see in arcades around the world. Taito is one of the big names in this area; they operate arcades and produce Ufo Catcher machines and prices.

"Prize Only": it could only be won in Ufo Catchers in Japanese arcades

This version of the Love Tester could only be won in arcades in Japan. Although it was never officially for sale, a thriving market exists for Ufo Catcher toys. It is not so hard to come by, even if you did not want to depend on luck and skill (and a good supply of 100 yen coins) to pry it from the machine.

Taito Love Tester remake (2008)

The Taito Love Tester is a modern recreation of the original toy in name and concept only. Regarding the design and looks, corners have been cut to keep the production cost low. The two external leads with the "knobs" you hold in your hands have been replaced by two sensors on the device, and the "love" meter is represented by five colored LEDs.

It is nice to see this kind of tribute appear in the arcade, but all in all it looks a bit cheap.

Tenyo (テンヨー), a Japanese company big in novelty items, took an entirely diffrent approach in 2010. They lovingly and painstakingly recreated the Love Tester in such a way that at first glance original and remake are hard to distinguish. Both the box and the actual toy are very good copies of the original.

Nintendo Love Tester (left, 1969) and Tenyo remake (right, 2010)

On the front of the box of the remake, only a small note on the top left corner gives it away.

Nintendo Love Tester (left) and Tenyo remake (right)

Flipping the boxes over, the difference between the two becomes more noticeable. The back of the remake box contains the kind of health and safety warnings people these days cannot survive without (do not eat this toy, do not feed it to your pet, etc). I am not sure how they managed to stay alive in the 60s.

On the back we also see the Tenyo company logo and the Nintendo copyright notice (1969-2010).

Nintendo Love Tester (left) and Tenyo remake (right)

Opening the old and new boxes side by side, it becomes even more clear what a nice job Tenyo has done with this remake.

Love Tester remake by Tenyo

This remake of the Love Tester looks very similar to its forty-year-old predecessor. The only difference we can immediately see is the use of rubber bands instead of the silver clips to keep the wires together.

Nintendo Love Tester (left) and Tenyo remake (right)

The back of the toys does not reveal any real differences until closer inspection.

The original Love Tester was "made in Japan"

The original Love Tester contains a "made in japan" note on the back. Japan in those days was still known for cheap electronics.

As most Japanese toys these days, the Tenyo remake is "made in China"

Forty years on, and Japanese companies have moved a large part of their production to China, as is also evident from this toy.

Nintendo Love Tester (left) and Tenyo remake (right)

Another sign of the time is the impact of changing safely regulations, which becomes clear when the back lid is removed to change the battery. In the old version the electronics are exposed, while in the new version they are neatly tucked away behind extra plastic shielding.

Nintendo Love Tester (left) and Tenyo remake (right)

When the additional shielding of the new version is removed and the electronics of old and new are placed side by side, another difference can be seen: although the electronic components used by both versions are virtually identical, the 1969 version did not yet use printed circuit board, which was not yet very common at the time.

The sensor "knobs" of Nintendo Love Tester (left) and Tenyo remake (right)

The wires leading to the sensor "knobs" in the new version also contain some additional protection at the spot where they enter the metal cups. The construction used by the original is probably considered a safety hazard these days.

Pouches of Nintendo Love Tester (left) and Tenyo remake (right)

Just like the original, the Tenyo remake contains a carry pouch to store the Love Tester when taking it on the road. Like the toy these are also very similar, except for the zipper (silver for the original, black for the remake).

All things considered, Tenyo has to be applauded for creating this quality replica. It is sold through their Japanese online shop, but can also be obtained through various Western sites selling Japanese items.

By the way, the Love Tester wasn't the only Nintendo re-release by Tenyo, as they also brought out a remake of the Ultra Machine.

Nintendo Love Tester (ラブテスター, 1969)

In 1969 a Nintendo toy aimed at a more mature market saw the light of day. Advertised to be 'for young ladies and men', the Electronic Love Tester (ラブテスター) was another brainchild of Gunpei Yokoi.

The Love Tester retailed for ¥1,800 and runs on a single AA battery. It came with a black plastic (leather-like) carry pouch.

Although the simple circuitry in the toy most likely only measured the level of conductivity of the couple, rather than love, this did not stop the toy from bringing Nintendo another hit. The Love Tester was the first Nintendo produced item to contain electronics, albeit quite rudimentary technology. [A few years earlier, Nintendo was already selling a walkie-talkie set, called Companion. However, these were manufactured by Sharp.]

To use the toy, a couple would hold hands with one another while holding one of the two metal cups each. The meter in the Love Tester would then indicate the 'level of love' that existed between the couple, using a scale of 0 to 100.

Trade flyer advertising the Love Tester

In the Sixties in Japan, dating etiquette was still pretty strict, and the excuse the toy brought to hold hands and break the ice was surely part of its success.

The Nintendo logo and copyright on the back of the Love Tester

Some years after the initial release, the Love Tester was sold as one of the toys in the Mini Game Series.

Mini Game Series version of Love Tester

At the end of the Sixties, Nintendo set its first steps in the world of export and international distribution. Although Nintendo did not sell any product in large quantities abroad until the Ten Billion puzzle and Game & Watch, international versions of some earlier products do exists.

"How good a lover are you?" Use the Love Tester to find out!

One of these is this American (?) release of the Love Tester. It came in a small box, without the carry pouch.

The international release of the Love Tester which surfaced in the USA

Not much is known about this release, except that they apparently were "great fun at parties" (as advertised on the box), and extremely rare today.

"Terminal Knob". I like that phrase.

A second American release was through a company called Lido Designs Inc. They sold the Love Tester in the original packaging, with an English language leaflet. 

More information about this Lido Designs version here. 

Love Tester remakes

In recent years, two different remakes of the Love Tester have been released in Japan, keeping this great toy alive.