Do You Remember that ol' Lullaby?

I discovered some of the Imai assets during a visit to a dusty warehouse where part of my friend’s collection was being stored, when I literally tripped over a filing box with the Imai logo on it. Curious, I flipped the lid and discovered envelopes marked “MOSPEADA” and “Southern Cross”...

So begins the "Raiders of the Lost Ark"-esqe opening to Roger Harkavy's Imai Files, a treasure trove of never-before-seen line art from the shows Southern Cross and Mospeda, better known to Americans as the latter two-thirds of the Robotech trilogy of shows. 

If you are a Japanese robot freak -- and really, if you're reading this blog, there's no need to pretend otherwise -- this is the find to end all finds. Harkavy's stalker-ish intro, and I mean that with love, not only features a bibliography but even a photo of the former Artmic studio building in scenic Kichijoji, birthplace of some of the Eighties best anime concepts. That's worth price of admission alone -- which is free, by the way.

Comments

[tissuekins]

holy fuck pat, that is an awesome find, I hope you can post some screen caps or something.

[D]

That is astounding... thanks for sharing.

[Andres]

just incredible. Many thans for this material!!!

[Luis Alis]

Awesome. My first robot plastic model kits from Japan were Macross and Mospeada Imai kits which ended up somehow at a hobby store in Spain in the late eighties. I still have them. This brings back a lot of memories.

[thomas]

Imai, Arii, and Bandai released "localized" (in fact: Japanese box + instructions + Engrish black and white instructions) versions of some of their kits in Europe in the 1980s.

[Luis Alis]

Thomas, thanks for the info! So that's how it happened. :)

[Andy Wong]

Wow! This is really fantastic!
The X-files of one of 80's great mecha anime!

[Mr.Dandy]

WOW!!! I hadn't been here in awhile, this reminds me why I need to read you more regularly. Thanks for posting!!!