"Turn your hero into your zodiac sign"
"Turn your hero into his winning symbol"
These were the two slogans that the children of that time came to know well
and that distinguished the characters of this edition.
Between 1989 and 1990 (November 89 - January 90)
, the first packages of "The Knights of the Zodiac" arrived in the major stores in the city,
the so-called blue boxes,
so called because of the color on the front of the box. ,
in distinction from that of the temple boxes.
In this edition the five protagonists and the twelve golden knights were released:
PEGASUS
DRAGON
CYGNUS
ANDROMEDA
PHOENIX
ARIES
TAURUS
GEMINI
CANCER
LEO
VIRGO
LIBRA
SCORPIO
SAGITTARIUS
CAPRICORN
AQUARIUS
PISCES
There are differences between the boxes of the five bronze horsemen and those of the golden horsemen;
This suggests that they were printed in at least two, if not three, different periods.
If we take the Crystal the Swan package, we immediately notice the detail that contrasts for example with the Aries box!
Front box
On this side we see on the left the drawing of the character on a starry background,
while on the right, in a small box on a white background, a real photo of the model of the character.
At the top center, the logo (the knights of the zodiac), on the left the importer (Giochi Preziosi)
and on the right the advertising advertisement, hence the first difference on the boxes,
in the five protagonists the sentence shown is
"Transform your hero in its winning symbol "
while in the characters representing the twelve golden knights it is
" Transform your hero into your zodiac sign " ,
another difference is that in the five protagonists the" real "photo is of the character,
while in the twelve golden knights the sign (object) is represented
Retro box
There are three types of "back box" that can be found;
the first:
from research done,
it is found in the boxes of the five protagonists and therefore seems to be typical of the type of character: the photos represent only the models in their entirety.
the second:
the most widespread,
is found in both types of characters:
the photos represent, in addition to the model, also the respective signs, as well as
some names of the golden knights are inserted in two ways:
Italian and Latin (names used in the anime / cartoon).
In this type of back box we also notice the error of the Andromeda totem
which is depicted with a version that will only come out with the next edition, that is,
the version of “Andromeda the night”.
the third:
the least widespread of all,
it seems to exist only in the twelve golden knights;
the box remains identical to the second type (even in the side parts)
but the difference is that the names of some of them
are no longer included with the given names of the anime (cartoon)
but remain only in Italian.
Side box:
There are two types,
one referred to the first type of back, the other to the next two.
On the lower side of the first type of back there is the bar code
and the warnings of the time in a safety manner are inserted inside a white box
On the lower side of the other two backs there is the usual barcode
while the safety warnings of the time are inserted in transparency.
while the other sides
see the zodiac or constellation symbol colored red
and the classic logo of the knights
The logo of the Knights and the description:
In the case of the first back of the box, the logo
was inserted at the top to include the entire width of the box:
in the case of the other two, however, the brand
remains concentrated on the right side to make room for more photos.
The description was obviously included in both versions:
"When the wicked threaten the earth, the Knights of the Zodiac, the most intrepid and courageous heroes in the galaxy, come to bring help and peace. All knights participate in the great tournament to win the most coveted prize: the Holy Armor, the symbol of command to defeat the enemies of the Earth "
It is easy to understand how this, together with some aesthetic errors of the packaging, suggest how little was known about the complete story at the time of its release.
The logo and the promotional slogan
Curiosity:
If we start from the box where there are Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus and Gemini,
we will notice that the succession of the golden knights,
up to the box where the other six are instead,
Cancer, Leo, Vergibe, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius ,
follow the line of the zodiac year ;
The month of January is in fact that of Capricorn and so on up to December with Sagittarius.
Even if the design recalls that of the Japanese boxes by Shingo Araki,
in the Italian edition this appears instead very coarse:
even Pegasus with blue eyes;
Virgo is not represented as in his original drawing
but follows that of Mur of the ram,
with the virgin's armor, of course.
Internal:
housed in a polystyrene box,
the character resides (usually on the right)
while his broken armor and the silhouette of the totem stand on the left and in the center.
All covered with a transparent plastic.
Also on the side of the box, further stickers from the importer;
accompanying instructions and advertising booklet
Still in the field of differences,
even the booklets follow some of the differences between the boxes:
there are two types, one with the Italian names and one with the Italian / Latin names.
_ita.jpg)
_ita%2Blat.jpg)
Igor Venturini & Mauro Carnevale
