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.
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.
The 1967 Nintendo baseball pitching toy Ultra Machine came with a large instruction sheet. This sheet was a fraction smaller than the box, and placed on top of the plastic tray that holds the various parts of the Ultra Machine.
There are (at least) two different versions of this sheet. The oldest one has a nice full-color picture of the Ultra Machine on the front.
Nintendo Ultra Machine instruction sheet - first release (front)
The Japanese katakana name for Ultra Machine is ウルトラ マシン. On the packaging this is writing in a stylized way: somewhat slanted to give the impression of speed and the three short strokes in last two characters (シン) are made to look like flying balls.
The Ultra Machine runs on a single D (UM-1) cell, and the instructions claims that one battery is good for 3200 pitches (「乾電池１本で３２００投球」).
In the early 1980s, Nintendo decided to focus completely on video games, only keeping a small side-business in playing cards. The production and sales of all other toys and games, which already had winded down a lot since the late 70s, was stopped completely.
All of Nintendo's creative minds who previously had designed toys were set to focus solely on video game hardware and software, with many of them creating their best work after this switch to the digital world, building on the experience and expertise gained as more traditional toy makers.
From a commercial point of view this made perfect sense. Video games were clearly the area where to find future growth and profit; a place where Nintendo had the opportunity to dominate the market. Keeping a toys line alive next to this was more trouble than it was worth.
So, all of Nintendo's toys disappeared from the toy stores' shelves, never to return.
Original Nintendo Ultra Machine DX (left) and Nichiten remake (right)
However, in recent times there has been a small number of toys from Nintendo's past that have made a comeback, when Nintendo licensed or sold their designs to other companies. An example of this is the Ultra Machine shown here.
Ultra Machine remake by Nichiten (version #1)
This Ultra Machine remake was based on Nintendo's Ultra Machine DX from 1977.
In 1967 Nintendo released the Ultra Machine, one of their successful entries in the toy market in Japan.
At the time Nintendo was still focusing for the most part on their home turf. However, they were trying to get a foot in the door in foreign markets as well. Nintendo first started exporting playing cards, and soon also experimented with the export of some of their toys (see for example the Australian version of the Ultra Hand).
The Ultra Machine was a logical candidate for export, given the huge sales success in Japan and its internationally appealing game theme. The "Ultra" moniker was big in Japan, but not much so outside of it, so a different name was given for the foreign release: Slugger Mate.
The Nintendo Slugger Mate (re-branded Ultra Machine)
For most people outside of japan who came across this toy, it would have been their introduction to the Nintendo name.
1967 - first small steps by Nintendo in becoming a global household name
The box lists "copyright 1967 by Nintendo". This reflects the year of introduction of the Ultra Machine in Japan, however it is unclear if the Slugger Mate was released in the same year or some time thereafter.
Not much is known at this time regarding the geographical spread of this release. They have popped up in Australia and in the US as well, so it is currently believed those were the main areas of sales. The instructions provided with the Slugger Mate are also English only.
The packaging is identical to the home release, except for the name change.
A "made in japan" message was added to the box, possibly to set it apart from (cheaper quality) toys from Hong Kong. At the time, Hong Kong had become of one Japans biggest export rivals for toys and electronics.
The toy itself is identical to the home release, except for the sticker on the front.
Nintendo Slugger Mate (re-branded Ultra Machine)
Judging by the small numbers of Slugger Mate's that have surfaced in collectors' circles, we can safely assume that this international release only generated modest success, at best. It would be until 1980, and a little game called Game & Watch, that the foreign adventures of Nintendo would finally pay off in a big way.
In 1967 Nintendo released the Ultra Machine. This baseball ball pitching toy would remain a good seller for many years.
After a period of ten years, in which the original Ultra Machine continued to sell, Nintendo decided it was time for a redesign of this Gunpei Yokoi classic.
In 1977, a new version called Ultra Machine DX was introduced, which was short for Ultra Machine Deluxe (ウルトラ マシン デラックス). "Ultra" as well as "Deluxe" - pretty strong accolades for a plastic toy.
Nintendo Ultra Machine DX (1977)
The game was sold with the slogan "Take the challenge to become a home-run king" (ホームラン王にチャレンジしょう), and the box featured pictures famous sluggers from Tokyo (Yomiuri) Giants and Osaka (Hanshin) Tigers.
This will help you to become a Homerun King (ホームラン王)
The retail price was set at ¥2,800.
Nintendo Ultra Machine DX (1977)
Opening the box, one may wonder why this version of the Ultra Machine is called "Deluxe", as the packaging is a lot simplified compared to the original version, ditching the plastic inner support structure.
Instruction can be found on the inside of the box
The package contains the Ultra Machine DX itself, the familiar retractable plastic bat and ten plastic balls. Instructions can be found on the inside of the box lid. The bat is the same (color and size) as the 1974 version of the original Ultra Machine.
Nintendo Ultra Machine DX (1977)
The new version had a more contemporary rounded look, taking the somewhat clunky 60s version well and good into the 70s and early 80s.
Ultra Machine (1967) and Ultra Machine DX (1977)
Placing the original Ultra Machine and new Ultra Machine DX side-by-side shows the difference in size. The new version is significantly bigger and the balls have grown in size with it (from 3.8 cm to 4.5 cm in diameter). The pitching arm of the DX is also proportionally longer, allowing the bigger balls to be delivered with just as much oomph.
The design is accomplished and the curves portray a feeling of speed.
Operation of the toy is identical to the original Ultra Machine: insert a single D cell, set the spring to the desired angle, switch on the machine and start batting as the balls are lugged at you automatically one by one.
Although the Ultra Machine DX was only sold in Japan, an U.S. patent number (3511225) is shown next to the Nintendo copyright sign at the base of the toy. Japanese patent numbers (954238 and 954259) and design number (303513) are printed on the box.
The base of the game shows a copyright notice and U.S. patent number
Over the years, a number of different boxes have been released for the Ultra Machine DX.
Two of the multiple box variants of Ultra Machine DX
The Ultra Machine homage featured in the "Wario Ware, Inc" Gameboy Advance game is based on the Ultra Machine DX, though the sharp observer will notice the bat used is the blue-yellow one from the original Ultra Machine.
Following the creation of the Ultra Hand, Gunpei Yokoi was set to work on a follow-up that would equal its success. Baseball has long been popular in Japan - fostering a popularity not dissimilar to that which it has in the United States - and a toy related to the sport turned out to be a good idea.
Nintendo Ultra Machine (1967 version)
The toy Yokoi created was a ball pitching device. It would become Nintendo's second million seller.
Keeping with the tradition started with the Ultra Hand, the toy was called Ultra Machine (ウルトラ マシン).
"Ultra" was a popular phrase in Japan in the 60s and 70s, used amongst others in the names of popular television series like Ultra Q and Ultra Man (both from 1966).
The Ultra Machine was introduced in 1967 under the "Nintendo Game" label, for a retail price of ¥1,480.
The Ultra Machine set included a retractable plastic baseball bat and 12 ping pong like balls.
The Ultra Machine contains a small electro motor that drives a rotating arm, slinging the balls one at a time at the player.
The player returns the balls using the provided baseball bat.
The bat is around the size of a regular baseball bat and has nice embossed Nintendo branding.
Although the branding on the box and toy is in English, for the most part the Ultra Machine remained a Japan-only release. It did see some limited export to Australia, changing the name from Ultra Machine to Slugger Mate.
The battery compartment on the side houses a single D cell.
The Nintendo logo on the battery door is one of the many logos used by Nintendo in the second half of the 60s. The balls sport a "Nintendo Game" logo.
One of the balls used in the Ultra Machine, with "Nintendo Game" logo
To start the game, the balls are loaded in the blue chute which is attached to the side of the Ultra Machine. The metal spring, which will sling the arm and pitch the balls, has to be attached to the base.
The speed and angle at which the balls shoot towards the player can be adjusted by changing the location of the spring backwards or forwards.
There are two types of balls. The smooth balls will shoot in a straight line. The others are curve balls; the small indentations in the surface of these balls give them effect. This unpredictability of the trajectory of the balls makes hitting them quite challenging.
The pitching arm is about to hit the ball and sling it forwards
When the Ultra Machine is switched on, the motor starts turning the pitching arm. This pulls the spring upwards, until it reaches the top. At that point, the spring is suddenly released, slinging the ball forwards.
As soon as a ball has been fired, a new ball will roll down the chute and take position for the next shot. This continues automatically until all balls in the chute have been pitched.
Although ample balls are provided with the Ultra Machine, balls can obviously get lost or damaged. To ensure continued fun even when this happened, additional balls could be bought separately.
Ultra Machine Spare Ball sets
The extra balls where sold in packages of twelve, for a very reasonable ¥100. These were called Ultra Machine Spare Ball (ウルトラ マシン スペル ボール). Each spare ball set consisted of six straight balls and six curve balls.
The Ultra Machine proved another success for Nintendo, further cementing its ambition to make it as toy manufacturer. It remained a good seller for many years.
In 1974, the packaging of the Ultra Machine was changed, replacing the generic graphics with photos of players from the popular Tokyo (Yomiuri) Giants and Osaka (Hanshin) Tigers.
Nintendo Ultra Machine (1974 version)
The change only impacted the box. This version of the Ultra Machine was identical to the one introduced in 1967. The retail price was increased to ¥2,800.
The box lists the patents issued by the Japanese patent office for the Ultra Machine: numbers 954238, 954259 and 303513. The first two protect the concept, while the latter is a design patent.
The new 1974 box still contained the original Ultra Machine from 1967
The items were packaged more economically in the 1974 box, allowing it to be smaller than the 1967 version. The number of included balls was reduced to ten, and the bat color changed from blue and yellow to silver and black.
Nintendo Ultra Machine (1974 version)
A number of variants of the 1974 box exist, with small differences in the photos used. These versions are otherwise identical.
Spot the differences - two box versions of the 1974 Ultra Machine release
In 1977, the Ultra Machine was redesigned using a more contemporary rounded look. This release was called the Ultra Machine DX.
Nintendo Ultra Machine (right) and Ultra Machine DX (left)
To conclude this post, let's see the Ultra Machine in action!
