Merry-Go-Round Truck
Maker: Nomura
Materials: Tin
Construction: Tinplated
Labels/Tags: "T.N."
Age: 1960
Description: This red pickup truck is made of tin with rubber tires. On the bed is a merry-go-round on which children ride horses in a circle. It is red, white, blue, and yellow, with green on the bed.
Size: H. 4.5x W. 8.25x D. 3.75"
Provenance: NJ Estate
Weight: 9.3oz
Condition: Excellent condition with minor scratching on the paint and some chipping at the rear corners.
History: Apparently willing to bet it all on the starting gun, Nomura’s entire toy line thundered into Japanese stores within the first two months of Yamato‘s October, 1978 premiere. Supported by an imaginative and eye-catching TV commercial (excerpted above), they had every reason to believe Yamato 2 would be a worthy successor to the insanely popular Farewell to Yamato movie. Actual sales figures are probably buried in a vault forever, but the fact that Yamato 2‘s average TV rating topped 22%, there is every reason to believe Nomura caught many more customers than they were dreaming for.