Bandai Failed - That's Why We Have Gundam (History of Bandai)

Bandai is now quite the mega toy and hobby company and easily one of the most successful businesses you will see at the Shizuoka Hobby Show. There’s always a buzz around their new offerings and large crowds on both the business & public show days.

You probably know Bandai as the maker of Gundam models and toys. However, the story goes much deeper than that. Get up to speed on the history of Bandai and Gundam kits to impress your friends at your next model show. 

Bandai — The Early Days

Bandai was launched by Mr Yamashina san, a WWII veteran struggling to make a living in post-war Japan.

Yamashina san convinced his wife to leave Kanazawa, which is way over on the west coast of the main island, to move with him to Tokyo and start a toy distribution business. In 1950, he established Bandai Ya in Taito-Ku, which is close to the famous Ueno or Asakusa areas.

Yamashina’s idea for the name came from the Chinese Kanji characters that mean ‘things that are eternal’. For many of us, this holds true — we only have to consider our eternal love of toys!

Bandai quickly made quality control a priority and released what is considered their first property toy, the 1956 Toyopet Crown Car. The launch of this toy was considered a big deal in Japan, as this highly popular automobile was driven widely at the time by the police, taxis, and regular everyday people.  

Bandai’s Decision to Expand Overseas

Japan sales for toys were motoring along fine, but Bandai Ya wanted to expand their market to the USA. In the process of setting up their first overseas operation in New York City, they chose to simplify their name to Bandai in 1961. 

Bandai needed something, someone to take them to the next level. Someone from the future, born roughly on the 7th of April, 2003. Someone with 100K horsepower of physical strength and capable of flying. Laser eyes with weird spikey hair. You might have guessed who we’re talking about…

Astro Boy was a great success and a real “AHA!” moment for Bandai. They quickly pivoted from trying to make original toys to funding new television shows in which they filled the advertising spots with Bandai model kits based on the show. The Ultraman series came next, and it was another huge success for them in the Japanese market. Despite releasing both to the USA, there was little crossover — not yet anyway! 

Bandai vs. Tamiya — Arch Old Rivals

With two major successes, Bandai was emboldened to try and expand its operations with Tonka Japan in 1970 and then Bandai Models in 1971. Yes, this was the birth of the Bandai Hobby company that we know and love today — one that expanded its product range into sci-fi and beyond.

For a small Shizuoka-based business, a country town a few hours from Tokyo, Tamiya was doing gangbusters with plastic model tanks and aeroplanes. Clearly, Bandai wanted some of this action. Tamiya had established the default scale of 1/35 with their motorised Panther release back in 1962, and this size quickly caught on. Mr Tamiya has admitted that the main reason behind focusing on this scale was simply that it is large enough to house the internal gearbox and batteries! The success of this series cemented its place as the industry default despite its rather arbitrary beginning. 

With Tamiya’s dominating this scale, Bandai and other new kit makers worked to establish and popularise other sizes. Bandai achieved reasonable success with their ‘Yonpachi’ or 1/48 scale series, which they dominated for quite a few years. Ironically, Tamiya has come back to ‘claim’ this scale as well, with a series that was launched in 2004.

However, it was still not the level of success that Bandai was after and they lagged behind in sales. One challenge the company faced was that the box art had not been refreshed in quite a few years, which made the products look quite outdated. While super fans might have enjoyed the original visuals, competitors were quickly outstripping Bandai when it came to brand image and recognition. 

The Birth of Gundam

Enter Gundam to the rescue! 

May 1980 saw big changes at Bandai. The founder, Naoharu Yamashina san moved up into the Chairman spot, replacing himself with his son. Makoto Yamashina san took over as President and made significant changes to the company structure and focus. We could call this the re-birth of Bandai as the modern business we continue to enjoy now. 

By 1980 Gundam Plastic Model was launched, a move that changed everything and brought to life a number of other key toy licences. Ultraman, Kinnikuman, Super Robot, Kamen Rider and Power Rangers all propelled Bandai to become the leading toy company in Japan. 

From the 1980s to now, Bandai has continued with this successful strategy of licensing well-known properties to make high-quality toys and plastic kits, including Mobile Suit Gundam, Star Wars, One Piece, Pokemon, Kirby, Hatsune Miku, Demon Slayer, Ultraman and Mr Hero Academia.

And so you have it: a concise history of Bandai. In no small part, the dominance of Tamiya in producing armour modelling kits in the now default 1/35 scale led to the very business that surpassed them in total sales — Gundam plastic model kits. 

For models, decals, and Gundam tool kits, shop today at Hobbyco.

Shop for Gundam at Hobbyco

Hobbyco is your ultimate destination for model kits from the world’s leading brands, including both Bandai and Tamiya. Our range includes some of the most popular Gundam model kits with accompanying Gundam decals to help you bring your favourite characters to life. 

Check out our comprehensive collection of products available online, and be sure to contact our team if you have any questions.