Nintendo Panda E-clock (パンダ電気時計, 1972)

I have been collecting vintage Nintendo items for about two decades, and although my collection isn't complete yet, I pretty much know what is out there and what I still need to look for.

Still, every now and then, I discover something new. Well, the item shown here cannot really be called 'new' as it is more than forty years old. But it was unknown in collector circles until now.

It is called Panda electric clock (パンダ電気時計).

It was released by Nintendo in 1972, one year after they had introduced the first of these clocks.

Up until now it was believed that these five clocks released in 1971 were all Nintendo ever made. That is, until this sixth clock popped up recently in an online auction. Time to update the history books

[Update 2024: a seventh has been discovered. Even more to update, details here!]

Nintendo Build a Panda Animal Block set (パンダをつくろう アニマルブロック, 1972)

In 1972 the whole of Japan went panda crazy. This was caused by the arrival of two pandas, received by the Ueno zoo in Tokyo from the People's Republic of China.

Not only were these the first pandas on display in post-war Japan, but the fact that China gifted these animals was a milestone step in the restoration of the relationship between the two Asian neighbors, destroyed by the violent and dramatic events of the Second Sino-Japanese War which ended in 1945.

China, the only country in the world where pandas live in the wild, has a long history of offering these as special gift to foreign countries. This is referred to as panda diplomacy. Japan received a first pair already in the 7th century.

With the arrival of a new pair in 1972, pandas became very popular for a while and Nintendo jumped to the occasion and created some panda themed games.

Nintendo Build a Panda Animal Block set (1972)

The two pandas that arrived in October of 1972 were a couple called Lan Lan and Kang Kang. It is the female panda Lan Lan who appears on the front of the Nintendo box.