Yamato

Almost everywhere you go in the world, people will recognize this anime icon, Space Battleship Yamato. Here in America, we know the anime as Star Blazers, and the ship as Argo. I just know it as my first experience watching a Leiji Matsumoto “space opera”. Today, I will be reviewing Space Battleship Yamato, from Taito’s Super Mechanics line of UFO catcher prize toys.

I know many people would think, that when you use the term “prize toy”, you would be referring to some lame piece of garbage. Well in this instance, many people would be wrong.

As soon as you remove the Yamato from its window box, you will be impressed with its detail and size. The Taito Yamato, has real shelf presence at a whopping 40cm, that’s almost 16 inches! The ship is constructed of quality plastic and ABS, making it very sturdy yet lightweight. Unlike Bandai’s expensive BPX-01 SOP Yamato, you don’t have to worry about playing with Taito’s version. It’s not very fragile and at 1500 yen, about $15.00 USD, you won’t be too upset if you drop and break it.

Despite its cheap price, you’ll be surprised at some of the features of this toy. Such as, extendable wings, swiveling turrets, and gun barrels that can be raised and lowered.

Another cool feature of Taito’s Yamato is the opening third-bridge hatch.

If the price and features listed above don’t impress you, the detail and classic original anime styling will.

In my opinion, a home run is the only way to describe Taito’s Yamato. With its sheer size, features, and detail at only $15.00 USD. How can you go wrong? Go ahead, pick one up, while you still can.