Omake!

"Omake" (pronounced oh MAH kay) means "giveaway" or "freebie" in Japanese. It's also the generic name used for toys that were packaged with candy or and snacks -- basically, your Crackerjack or cereal prizes. In the Seventies and Eighties, candy manufacturers Glico and Lotte ruled the omake scene. Their products are the direct ancestors of modern gashapon (capsule toys) and shokugan (candy toys). A lot of vintage omake are just generic robot designs or random bric-a-brac, but this being Japan, there were a more than a few officially licensed character omake too. Like the ones above, a selection of Glico Mazinger Z toys on sale at Mandarake. These unassuming little trinkets represent one of the most active segments of the toy collecting hobby in Japan.

Foreign collectors (including myself, when I first started noticing omake) are often blown away by the huge amount of attention these toys get over here. They're tiny, for one thing. Some are barely larger than a fingernail; the Mazinger at right is a whopping inch high. And in spite of the fact that they were basically given away for free back in the day, now certain omake sell for insane sums of money. That inch-high Mazinger regularly goes for over $150 online. Mandarake's offering 25,000 yen ($250) for specimens of the Boss Borotts (upper right of top photo), meaning they sell for close to double that. Some guy's trying to sell a "Bluenoah" omake for nearly a thousand dollars on Yahoo Japan Auctions. The list goes on.

Personally, I prefer big stuff, but I understand the charm. For one thing, these toys represent "undiscovered country." In contrast to well documented series of higher quality toys (like the diecast metal Chogokin) it's still possible to stumble across stuff nobody's ever seen before; long-forgotten omake are still popping up. I also dig the fact that even totally obscure sub- and enemy characters were made in this scale. But I think most of it has to do with the availability. Big stuff like Jumbo Machinders or deluxe playsets were generally restricted to special occasions like birthdays or holidays. Omake represented the average sort of toy most Japanese kids were able to get their grubby little hands on with their allowances. Omake may be tiny, but they're surrounded by a almost palpable haze of childhood nostalgia -- even for me, who never actually saw them as a kid. There's also something fascinating about their simplicity and economy of design. Created purely as disposable trinkets, they have a primitive, utilitarian charm that swankier toys lack.

Comments

[Roger]

I always loved the simple aesthetic of these items.

Here are some shots from the Mandarake omake store that I took a couple of years ago:

http://flickr.com/photos/rogerharkavy/2201165276/
http://flickr.com/photos/rogerharkavy/2201165452/
http://flickr.com/photos/rogerharkavy/2201165702/

If you have a Flickr account, you can click on "all sizes" to enlarge the images, allowing you to see the hefty price tags. I'm sure those numbers have gone up since I was there as more people are discovering these.

[AcroRay]

I'm not surprised at their popularity. They're like the cereal prizes we loved as kids, although more numerous and varied.

(I'm still looking for the glow-in-the-dark Flintstones plastic dinosaur skeletons I had as a kid. I still have my dinosaur coins.)

[Matt Alt]

Those shots are of Lotte's "Joint Robo" series of omake toys. Great stuff. I'd love to pick up a few myself.

Here's an interesting connection I discovered online. The Joint Robo toys seem to have been designed by a company called Red Entertainment, who was also responsible for producing the '80s robot anime "Wataru" and the steampunk-y "Sakura Taisen."

http://red-entertainment.co.jp/eng/company/history.html

[Matt Alt]

More Joint Robo stuff. Love the bat-winged one!

http://www.mandarake.co.jp/information/2006/09/05/nkn05/index.html

[Paulkaiju]

Nice nod to Omake Matt.
Melissa and I went absolute bonks at Nakano over this stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/superjunk/646389185/in/set-72157600422134595/