Takara announced greater than expected losses and Sato falls on his sword. Or was he pushed? The Japan Times reports he was pressured into resigning by Konami. (Yoshiaki Murakami’s recent stock acquisitions can’t have helped matters either.)

The new head honcho is Nobuyuki Okude, a guy who’s been at Takara for over 30 years working on Henshin Cyborg, Microman, Diaclone and Transformers among other lines.

Hirofumi Ichikawa explains the Transformers toy design process.
“Since the priority for TF play value goes Transformation > Gimmick > Posability, there are even times when posability, with its low preference level, gets deleted in the Planning phase. Hasbro’s cost range, weight restrictions and package size regulations are extremely strict compared to Takara’s, and there are times when these place limitations on the design itself.”

Big Bad Toy Store pushed about 2,400 units of Takara’s Masterpiece Convoy.

Takara toy commercials from the 70s and 80s. [via]
Must … resist … urge … to … visit …. Yahoo Japan …

The toy market in Japan is estimated to be about 0.7 trillion yen.

BJ Johnson’s Xevoz designs. [via]