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Furuta is a Japanese company which produced two different Star Trek "gashapon" lines between 2003 and 2006.
In 2003, Furuta delved into the Star Trek universe with the release of small-scale injection-molded plastic models of starships and space stations with the first volume of the "Federation and Alien Ships Collection". Volumes Two and Three followed in 2004 and 2006 respectively. What made these collections remarkable was, that aside from well-established ships, Furuta also produced ships that were rarely touched upon by other licensed companies including the Template:ShipClass, Template:ShipClass, Template:ShipClass and the Species 8472 bioship.
These models were pre-painted and surprisingly detailed for their size and required a marginal amount of assembly as they were "snap-fit" models, meaning that no glue was needed. Furuta's line was sized larger than its contemporary competitor Romando, which also released a gashapon Star Trek line at around the same time. Konami and F-Toys also released Star Trek gashapon lines in later years.
Furuta also released a gashapon line of enamel pins in 2006 which featured twenty different insignia from the Star Trek franchise. It was called the "Furuta Star Trek Pins Collection".
Gashapon
Bandai is the company which trademarked the term "Gashapon" for the combining of candy and toy models into a single package. The term "gashapon" has become very common in Japan as a generic term for all manufacturers of these "candy toys". More recently, the term "gashapon" has also come to signify "blind box" trading figures, referring to a line of small-scale toys, figurines or models that are sold in identical sealed boxes. This means that many gashapon packages must be purchased in order to complete a toy series.
The combining of candy and toy models is now common in Japan as many candy companies traditionally have included toys with their products as enticers, often packaged in such a way that they can be dispensed from vending machines. "Gashapon" gets its name from the sound the box makes when falling down as the vending machine dispenses it. In the case of some companies, the candy is included so that their toys can be sold on supermarket shelves.
Rarer "secret" or "chase" items are often included in a series to boost sales and are produced in smaller quantities than the regular items in the series. This method of collector-focused marketing has a strong resemblance to trading cards sales methods. Typically, a "gashapon" line is a singular unrepeated release which can cause the more sought-after releases to become highly valued collector's items.
Futura blind boxes | |||
---|---|---|---|
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3α | Volume 3β |
Furuta Federation And Alien Ships Collection
Federation and Alien Ships Collection, Volume 1, 2003 | ||
---|---|---|
Item | Scale | |
Deep Space 9 | 1:15700 | File:Furuta Model Vol.1 Species 8472 Bioship 2003.jpg |
Template:ShipClass | 1:4000 | |
Klingon Bird-of-Prey | 1:1325 | |
Species 8472 bioship | 1:437 | |
USS Defiant | 1:1250 | |
USS Enterprise-A | 1:2400 | |
USS Equinox | 1:1625 | |
USS Reliant | 1:2125 | |
USS Stargazer | 1:2800 | |
Template:ShipClass | 1:4200 | |
Template:ShipClass (Secret item) |
n/a |
Federation and Alien Ships Collection, Volume 2, 2004 | ||
---|---|---|
Template:ShipClass | 1:4425 | |
Jem'Hadar attack ship | 1:1250 | |
USS Enterprise (original series version) | 1:2175 | |
USS Enterprise-B | 1:3200 | |
USS Enterprise-C | 1:4875 | |
USS Enterprise-D | 1:6300 | |
USS Enterprise-D (with third nacelle) | 1:6300 | |
USS Farragut | 1:5775 | |
USS Prometheus | 1:2975 | |
USS Voyager | 1:2700 | |
USS Enterprise-E (Secret item) |
1:5125 |
Federation and Alien Ships Collection, Volume 3α, 2006 | ||
---|---|---|
Galileo | n/a | |
Phoenix | 1:263 | |
USS Excelsior | n/a | |
USS Grissom | 1:2000 | |
Spock | n/a |
Federation and Alien Ships Collection, Volume 3β, 2006 | ||
---|---|---|
Borg cube | n/a | |
Kazon raider | 1:2105 | |
USS Enterprise-refit | n/a | |
USS Pasteur | n/a | |
USS Rio Grande | 1:306 | |
Borg Cube & sphere Special item; Cube lighted; late addition after Vol.3 was already released |
n/a |
- Scale info courtesy of Starshipmodeler
Furuta Star Trek Pins Collection
Furuta released a set of twenty collectible enamel Star Trek insignia pins in 2006. Each insignia pin was packed individually and came with a display stand.
- TOS USS Enterprise Command division
- TOS USS Enterprise Sciences division
- TOS USS Enterprise Operations division
- Films II - VI with officer's patch
- DS9 & VOY
- TNG Future
- TNG
- TMP Cadet
- Mirror Universe Starfleet
- Bajoran Militia
- Borg
- Cardassian Union
- Vulcan IDIC
- Starfleet Medical
- Romulan Star Empire
- UFP
- Maquis
- Ferengi
- Klingon Empire
- TMP revised
See also
External link
- Furuta.co.jp - official site