Apparently,Thunderbirds (Classic Thunderbirds) is still very big in Japan. This comes as no surprise to any serious collector, as we have all been rampantly consuming the incredible Konami vehicles over the past year. The following information is from Carlton and shows the level of activity currently in Japan. CLASSIC THUNDERBIRDS is huge in Japan, with the show and its characters achieving cult status in recent years, widening from appealing to the core market of 25-40 year old, male-biased collectors to the more mainstream fans, with young children enjoying the show and the merchandise.

Recent significant activity includes the signing of a new publishing deal by Tohokushinsha and Carlton with Media Works. The Japanese edition of the Supermarionation Cross Sections book originally published by Carlton Books in the UK, will be released in March 2004. Media Works has also successfully published the Japanese edition of the Thunderbirds FAB Cross Sections book. This complements a range of publishing deals recently signed by Tohokushinsha including Takarajimasha's Our Favourite Thunderbirds, the Japanese version of The Complete Book of Thunderbirds, Asahi Sonorama's Thunderbirds Photo Book, Futabasha's All About Thunderbirds and All About UFO and PHP's Japanese edition of the Thunderbirds FAB Annual 2003.

Takara are enjoying strong toy sales since the Japanese localised version of Vivid Imagination's CLASSIC THUNDERBIRDS range launched in November 2003, along with Takara's own range of radio and remote controlled vehicles. Sales are being driven by demand from fathers and their sons, and also collectors. Bandai have also launched new toy lines, die-cast vehicles and Mega Bloks sets.

Fuji Shoji's pachinko arcade machines and pachinko slot machines launched to great success in Summer 2003 on the back of a heavyweight trade and consumer marketing campaign which included TV advertising. Pachinko is a hugely popular pastime in Japan, and there are already an astonishing 50,000 THUNDERBIRDS machines to be found in Japan's pachinko parlours and other leisure outlets. Daiichikosho Company is also launching a ring tone transmission service for cellular phones in February 2004.

The THUNDERBIRDS Modern exhibition continues to thrill new fans and old across Japan. Touring since spring 2003, the exhibition was in Osaka's Umeda Hep Five department store in January this year and is due to visit Shizuoka's Granship convention centre in spring. The exhibition is set to visit ten venues for up to two years.