Spiral Zone

Name of Toy Line: Spiral Zone
Production Company: Bandai
Distributor: Bandai
Years of Production: 1988
Countries/Regions Available: Japan
Size/Scale: 1"
Figure Trade Markings: (C) BANDAI 1988 / JAPAN
Approximate # of Figures: Dozens

Details: In 1987 a futuristic cartoon about elite soldiers battling a mad scientist was on the TV screens in Japan. The scientist had created a bacteria capable of overtaking peoples' minds, giving him control of a large, spiral-shaped portion of the world -- the Spiral Zone! Mwuhaha! Mwuhaha!

Er, anyhow, in typical fashion the cartoon spawned several toy lines. Two six-inch scale lines, one in Japan and one in the U.S.; and the subject of this Toypedia entry, a 1" scale keshi line!

Unfortunately, because this line was only available in Japan like most keshi lines, we know little about it. However, because the pieces in this line are so unique and neat, we felt it deserved the spotlight no matter how little we know about it. Let's take a look!

The line seems to have been released in at least 10 tiny sets composed of a few figures and some type of machine(s). The first five sets were released in "part one" and the second 5 in "part two." The sets come in at least four colors (each with a shade variant as well as a slight difference in glossiness): a very unique light blue, yellow, red, and green.

The first set is composed of three soldiers and a large turret.





Below you can see a comparison of the two shades of yellow. The set on the left is the same shade as the set pictured above.


Yellow Variants

You can see cool drawings of all 10 sets on the following pamphlets that accompanied the toys.

Part One


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Click to enlarge

Part Two


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Click to enlarge

Here's a closer look at set four, in red, still attached to the injection molding tree.







And a closer look at set five in blue.







As with the other colors, blue can be found in two shades.


Blue Variants

Finally, the greens. Each of the following two pictures features a shade variant.


Green Variant One


Green Variant Two

And to get an idea of the true scale of these pieces, here they are with a special visitor.



We hope you've enjoyed! We'll leave you with close-ups of the set two art from the pamphlet and two stickers, one of which came with each set.







Related Web sites:

Spiral Zone Keshigomu Archive

Spiral Zone @ Wikipedia

Spiral-Zone.com

Spiral Zone @ Virtual Toy Chest