File Notes - Astro Magnum, Shockwave, Patent, Design Registration

It's been almost a year since I last contributed to the blog. I'd only recently acquired an original Toyco Astro Magnum, and I felt the need to revisit its origins again.

I've been largely obsessed with finding the patent for the toy, but so far it has been a fruitless investigation. On the back of the packaging there is 意匠登録 58-037528 which is a 'design registration' number.

The Japan Platform for Patent Information allows a search of the design number. Punching in the details, we return that in Showa 58 (1983), a design application was made with the Japan Patent Office (JPO).

The JPO Design Gazette published November 1986, with a different design registration S59-002579 shows photographs of the Astro Magnum figure. The Design Gazette publishes design applications, which in the case of this figure began in January 1984 and was registered in July 1986. It credits Katsumi Suzuki as the inventor of this design, who was certainly an employee at Toyco and very likely the founder/CEO, as he has many designs owned by Toyco at the JPO. I'm a bit skeptical of the extent of his involvement in as much as the planning of the toy rests with Toyco however, I think most of the heavy lifting for the sculpt, transformation, circuitry and die creation was outsourced to a design firm and/or fabricator as with Takatoku's Valkyrie. Notably, Mr. Matsushiro has the inventor credit for the Valkyrie even though we understand that roles Kawamori and Watanabe had in the design and prototyping. Note that there are several categories that the JPO deals with - patents are concerned the invention/innovation, designs are concerned with the appearance and trademarks are obviously the logo/brand.

I'm still hoping to track down an actual patent/utility model with drawn schematics buried in the JPO or USPTO. Have to shake a LEG. The search continues...