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A little rewind.
A lot of memories.
Revisit the worlds that made play unforgettable.
Pick a starting point
Three ways to rewind.
A castle becomes a robot
Follow Muteki Shogun from a castle-inspired design to five combining toys.
Find Mario’s secret autumn
Compare the familiar enemies and landscapes with the surprises waiting beyond Special World.
Draw some personality
See how Goofy’s shoulders, Pete’s stance and a dog called Poopsie became instructions for animators.
Fresh from the museum
The latest articles.
Sirender: The Police Car That Answers a Whistle
A whistle calls the lights and sounds to life. Follow Sirender from police car to giant officer, then lift the visor and inspect the equipment.
RV Robo: Five Cars That Keep Their Wheels
Five dream cars become one robot without losing their wheels. Follow RV Robo’s rolling assembly, split-car arms and stubbornly automotive details.
Mega Winger: Three Buttons to a Robot
A broad aircraft hides a tall robot. Follow Mega Winger’s spring-assisted transformation, then discover why its wing travels farther than the rest of it.
Mega Voyager: A Rocket Through the Middle
A rocket passes through a flying saucer, a small robot folds into a waist, and a tank becomes two feet. Follow five space machines into Mega Voyager—and meet the walking tank left on the drawing board.
Delta Mega: The Monster Inside the Shuttle
An angular space monster became a shuttle, a robot and armor for a larger partner. Follow Delta Mega’s early drawings into the original Japanese DX toy.
Galaxy Mega: The Ship That Carries Its Own Head
A broad spaceship stands up, its passenger becomes its face, and flight equipment turns into weapons. Follow the original Galaxy Mega design into the DX toy.
GigaPhoenix: When Engines Become Arms
Thrusters hide fists, a dark fin opens into a bright chest, and jet noses become feet. Follow five aircraft into GigaPhoenix.
GigaRhinos: The Parts That Became a Cannon
Five vehicles become a robot, but their equipment has somewhere else to go. A toy-size problem gave GigaRhinos its great combined cannon.
GigaBitus: The Shark That Opens into a Launch Base
A shark-shaped carrier stands up and opens into a two-level launch base. Follow its ramps, hidden flight decks and ten miniature passengers.
BullTaurus: Where Did the Rider Go?
A knight rides a bull, then disappears inside it. Follow the original DX toy through its hidden combination and twisting transformation.
GingaiOh: Five as One
Five beasts become one metal warrior.
Walk Lines and Float Lines: Drawing Pac-Man’s Television Cast
Hanna-Barbera's Pac-Man model sheets give the family a walk line, the ghosts a float line, and a growing cast a shared sense of scale. Five drawings show how the ensemble fits together.
Revised 6/24/86: The Change Log on a Pound Puppies Model Sheet
The first sheet in a scanned set of Hanna-Barbera's 1986 Pound Puppies model sheets carries a handwritten log of revisions and additions dated June to August 1986. Read alongside the sheets it lists, it shows a cast of toy-line dogs gaining houses, props and rough poses over one summer of production.
Wack! Hungarian Margin Notes on a Felix the Cat: The Movie Model Sheet
Production drawings from Felix the Cat: The Movie carry two languages. Presentation boards dated '85 are lettered in English and credited to a German and an American company, while a model sheet signed 'Belay '87' is annotated in Hungarian, the language of the studio credited with the animation.
New Titles, Familiar Pictures: The Dynamagic Films on VHS
A leaping ninja survives a new title, and a robot adventure becomes a $29.95 offer. Two pieces of sales paper reveal how Japanese animated films were repackaged for American video shelves.
Cleared in 110 Markets: ThunderCats in the Pages of Broadcasting, 1984–85
Four issues of the trade weekly Broadcasting follow ThunderCats from a Telepictures ad promising a September 1985 debut to a column of early Nielsen averages. Together they show the barter deal that brought a Rankin/Bass strip to local stations.
Poopsie, A.K.A. Chainsaw: Reading the 1991 Goof Troop Model Sheets
An 88-page scan of Goof Troop model sheets carries Walt Disney Television Animation archive stamps from March 1991, a year and a half before the series reached syndication. The notes show how the studio rebuilt Goofy and Pete for television, and one rough sheet gives Pete's dog the names Poopsie and Chainsaw.
Painting the Dark Knight: Three Batman Color Models
A blue strip gives Batman’s black cowl its shape; a green streak cuts through the Joker’s hair; red and black trade places across Harley Quinn’s suit. Three painted models turn those choices into a reference an animator can follow.
W Over 2: Reading the 1985 GeGeGe no Kitaro Color Design Sheets
A fraction beside Kitaro’s eye leads to a shadow table. Other notes switch shadows off, add a second stage or change an eye for a close-up—small instructions that keep an animated cast consistent.
The Edges of Snake: Looking Closely at Metal Gear Solid Art
Broken outlines let Snake disappear into white paper or a green jungle. An annotated equipment drawing brings every strap back into focus. Four plates show how much a picture can reveal—and how much it can leave for us to complete.
Three Prices for Gamera: Bandai’s 1999 Monster Shelf
A ¥600 figure, a missile-firing action toy and a half-metre display piece offer three ways to own the same monster. Bandai’s 1999 catalog makes their different attractions visible.
Hot Wheels, UNO and a Mattel Desk in Bandai’s Catalog
K.A.R.R. meets a Japanese space sheriff, Doraemon meets UNO, and collector Barbie shares a catalog with ¥300 cars. A small customer-service line ties Bandai’s 2003 assortment together.
Thirty Questions About Lunar: The Scenario Answers, 1995
A 1995 official setting book for Game Arts' two Lunar games closes out its making-of section with thirty questions answered by Kei Shigema: what Shigema said about Hiro’s unknown parentage, why so many heroes have one parent or none, how much money Lemina saved, and whether Lunar would come back.
Lenneth’s Sprites Came First: The Yoshinari Brothers on Valkyrie Profile
Lenneth’s braid, Kashell’s retakes, Lezard’s heavy clothes and Meltina’s greenish hair: the Yoshinari brothers’ comments reveal the decisions behind Valkyrie Profile’s finished character art.
Out of Order on Purpose: Satoshi Urushihara's Notes on Five Langrisser Games
A 1998 Gakken art book runs the Langrisser games in story order, III first, and opens each chapter with a short first-person note on designing its characters: what anime had taught him, what he changed, and what he had wanted to try for years.
Cut $100: The Wish Book's Video-Game Aisle, 1983
Sixteen pages at the back of the 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book offered seven game systems, and nearly every one came with a markdown, a rebate or a keyboard. Here's the console aisle, price tag by price tag.
Sears’ Jedi Exclusives—and the Case Outside the License
In the 1983 Wish Book, a $4.99 case sits beside licensed Jedi figures with a revealing disclaimer. Compare it with the $19.99 C-3PO case, then follow the toys into a whole bedroom.
Wrapped Around the Drum Scanner
A 1995 Capcom art book shows Street Fighter II's key art in its makers' words: a Japanese poster begun over a Hokkaido New Year, an overseas promo painted in about three days and wrapped around a scanner drum, and a Super Turbo poster undone by Gouki.
Wily's Castle, Redrawn Every Time
Near the back of a 1997 Rockman collector's book, four pages of black-and-white setting art show Dr. Light's lab as a domed house behind a picket fence, and a villain's castle whose design, the book says, "changes every time."
Sailor Moon, Two Ways
In May 1994, Bandai's Japanese catalogue listed Sailor Moon S wands, compacts and a grail. In 1995, DiC sent American TV stations a pink binder that started the show over from episode one, with Usagi renamed Serena.
Secret Auto Supplies
A wax tin becomes a car wash, a motor-oil can becomes a garage, and a gas can conceals a mountain road. Galoob's 1990 Micro Machines catalogue makes the container part of the toy.
Dragon Ball in a Tiny Wrestling Ring
Bandai’s 1990 American catalogue paired painted collectibles with bare figures, a two-player wrestling ring and a video cassette: a cartoon world to watch and then set in motion.
Senpuujin: Three Animals and a Secret in Its Chest
A hawk, a dolphin and a lion become a ninja giant with a weapon hidden in its chest. Explore Senpuujin’s three machines, Karakuri Balls, Harrier form and original Japanese toys.
Gunmazin: The Giant Behind the Mask
A monumental blue face opens into a gold-crested warrior. Follow Gunmazin from the first smiling sketches to the two forms, golden key and spring-loaded surprise of Bandai's original DX toy.
Red Puncher: From Fists to Cannons
A star-faced fighter throws electric punches, then turns its arms into another robot's cannons. Follow Red Puncher from the finished design sheets to Bandai's motorized DX toy and its Buster Ohranger Robo combination.
The Secret Halloween Hiding in Super Mario World
Pumpkin-headed plants, Koopas wearing Mario masks, and an autumn-colored Dinosaur Land: one of Super Mario World's best rewards makes a familiar game feel wonderfully strange again.
The Megazord That Never Was
In a 2002 Japanese art book, a page of robots drawn for Power Rangers' 1994 rollout carries one blunt caption: they went unused, and Dairenoh arrived as Thunder Megazord instead.
Ohranger Robo: One Robot, Five Helmets
A lion-faced robot changes its helmet to suit its pilot. Follow Ohranger Robo from an early aircraft concept to five finished head designs and Bandai's Japanese DX toy.
Tech Romancer: An Entire Robot Anime Shelf in One Game
Capcom gave every giant robot its own kind of show. The paintings, pilots, and imaginary series logos in Capcom Design Works reveal the idea behind this exuberant arcade and Dreamcast fighter.
Daijinryu: From Warrior to Cosmic Dragon
A planned upgrade for Ryuseioh becomes a cosmic dragon. Follow Daijinryu's early concepts, two finished forms, and the original DX toy.
Daimugen: Three Jobs for a Turtle Shell
A shell can shelter a turtle, armor a warrior or support an entire assembly. Follow the same green surface through Daimugen’s three configurations.
Won Tiger: From Statue to Giant Warrior
A tiger statue becomes a transforming warrior—and the heart of Kiba Daioh. Follow the early sketches through the finished designs and Bandai’s original combining toys.
Dairenoh: The Warrior Inside Five Beasts
Five mythical beasts become an armored warrior. Follow Dairenoh’s Chinese warrior theme from its first sketch to the finished design and the original DX combining toy.
Ryuseioh
A winding dragon becomes a standing warrior. Follow Ryuseioh’s changing head and transformation from rough sketches to the finished design and its original DX toy.
Ninjaman: A Transformation with a Temper
A rounded blue ninja becomes an armored samurai when his temper breaks. Compare Ninjaman’s two character designs with Bandai’s DX transforming toy.
Kakure Daishogun: The Faces Inside Its Fists
Animal faces once formed Kakure Daishogun’s fists directly. A pair of covers changed the finished guardian’s identity without erasing the creatures inside it.
Tsubasamaru: One Bird, Two Guardians
An early cannon in a bird’s neck becomes eight glowing wingtip barrels. Follow Tsubasamaru from that sketch to the original DX bird and its two giant combinations.
Muteki Shogun
Five ninja guardians become a towering armored warrior. Follow Muteki Shogun from castle-shaped sketches to Bandai’s five-part combining toy.