Edition produced and marketed by "Giochi Preziosi" and released in 2001,
to take advantage of the merchandising linked to the broadcast by Italia1 of the animated series,
censored of the most violent scenes.
This edition proposes the models called "DIE-CAST",
that is those characters always published by "Giochi Preziosi" 12 years before,
with the exception of the God Warriors (the knights of Odin) and the generals of the abyss.
We therefore find the 12 gold knights "reprinted", the 5 bronze knights in first armor (v1)
and the bronze horsemen in second armor (v2).
The edition was released in collaboration with Yamato, who holds the rights to the DVDs of the anime.
Contrary to what can be expected, they are not real reprints
of the knights of the 90s,
but they are products made in China and disconnected from BANDAI,
we will see further in detail the clues that will lead to understand this detail.
The quality of the models is much lower than the editions that were previously released
than the following ones, but this too will be described later.
The box has a good layout where, despite the first Italian editions,
this time Giochi Preziosi used the original images of the knights
without having to "redesign" the protagonists on the packaging.
The box has a yellow edged front, the revisited logo at the top
which from here on will always be used to distinguish the classic series
(both in the anime, both in the comics and in the related gadgets).
Immediately below the logo there are two photographs that reproduce the hero in turn dressed in armor
and in Totem version, edged in yellow.
On the right there is the whole image drawing of the rider contained in the pack.
The Preziosi games logo dominates the bottom right.
Scattered a bit across the facade there are writings and slogans, from the advertising function, like:
"THE ORIGINALS OF THE TV SERIES!"
"TRANSFORMABLE CHARACTER"
The toy (because in Italy this is the conception dimension of these models)
it is designed for children over the age of 5, as the symbol on the top right says.
The right side is colored red, with the usual logo of "The Knights of the Zodiac" at the top,
just below a photo (the same on the facade) that reproduces the totem of the armor
and a small yellow box with instructions for mounting it
(then also present inside the package printed in black and white).
Between the two images we find the name of our hero
with the symbol that represents it and at the bottom the logo of "Giochi Preziosi".
The left side has the same layout as the right side,
where, however, the armor is worn by the character and, immediately under the instructions for his dressing.
Both the left and right sides are closed with adhesive tape,
its integrity guarantees the opening or otherwise of the box.
The upper side
presents on the left the cropped photo of the knight wearing the armor and his totem,
on the right the name of the protagonist with the symbol,
the Giochi Preziosi logo and the serial number of the lot (which we will discuss later),
all on a red background,
while in the center stands the logo "The Knights of the Zodiac" against a background of the starry sky.
The bottom side
presents all the data relating to marketing on a red background.
On the left we find the bar code, identifying the product;
above it a code that refers to the lot, where,
we will see that this can be indicative to understand the trend of the distribution.
Immediately next to it are the indications relating to the safety of the "Toy",
yet another indication that in Italy, these articles were designed for an audience of children.
In the center we find the logo of the European community and not that of China Export
as you might think given the product we are viewing and
on the right we find the country of origin where the article was produced.
Immediately below we find the data relating to the Italian distributor and importer, Giochi Preziosi: address, website and telephone number of the consumer service center and immediately next to the logo.
In barcodes you can notice a curious thing:
for the bronze horsemen v1 we find a figure ending with the number 53,
while for the Golden Knights, the same figure but with the final number 54.
For the bronze horsemen v2, the terminal number is instead 60 and not 55 as one would expect.
It can be assumed that Giochi Preziosi purchased and then distributed at first
a series of products (in this case the knights v1 and those of gold)
and only later, after some time,
also bought and distributed v2.
We will see later that there are also other clues to support this thesis.
image to clarify the difference
between the European Community brand and the China Export brand
The back of the box (rear)
it has a very functional Layout as a "vademecum" of the published characters.
On the left side is the photo of the hero in the pack, dressed in his own armor, topped with the name of the character.
On the bottom we find the writing
"FULLY ARTICULATED CHARACTER"
to advertise the invoice
and on the left the copyright holders of the title namely:
Masami Kurumada / Shueisha, Toei, licensed by Yamato in Italy.
There is no BANDAI.
On the right side we find the armor assembled in what is its totem, or zodiac sign ed
some advertising texts:
"TRANSFORM (CHARACTER NAME) INTO THE SYMBOL OF (NAME OF THE SIGN)"
just below
"METAL ARMOR"
In this position we also find the number that identifies the distribution lot.
Above another writing that reads:
"THE ORIGINALS OF THE TV SERIES"
and the Giochi Preziosi logo.
At the top center we find the Logo of the "Knights of the Zodiac",
below a writing that advertises the transformability (from knight to totem) and some writing
that encourage the purchase of the remaining published models.
In the middle are photos of all the characters distributed, probably until then
(bronzes v1 and gold knights), both in knight and totem versions.
There is a second version of the back, where instead of the 12 gold knights and the 5 bronze knights v1 we find only the Bronze knights v2, on this back the writing also changes:
the first version refers to the 12 gold knights and the 5 bronzes,
while on the second one refers only to the 5 bronzes v2,
this layout was designed for the back of the boxes only
of the five bronze knights who dress the second versions of the armor.
This is also a further clue in support of the thesis raised by the lot numbers,
for this reason we claim that Giochi Preziosi distributed the models in two different moments.
In Ultimo, we report an error on the printing of the first version of the box (the one with the v1 bronze and gold knights) if you look closely at the helmet of the knight of Andromeda (the pink one)
note that it is mounted upside down
and the coloring turns out to be silver instead of pink.
The characters appear inserted in a base
which allows to house all the pieces present in dedicated recesses.
As for the previous series, the material that constitutes this base is polystyrene.
On the left we always find the housing for the totem, on the right the character
and in the central area the various pieces of armor in the order of dressing on the character,
then at the bottom the leggings, the thigh covers (where present) just above the belt and bodice,
the backs can be housed above the bodice or above the totem, together with the helmet,
the bracelets are in the central area, cover biceps and various friezes can have a random position,
from central to above the totem.
Below the character is a rectangular housing,
which generally contains the wings to be placed on the character's heel
or various small size accessories.
At the height of the legs of the character there is a "bar" which prevents it from leaving the housing.
Everything is closed by a transparent plastic lid to fit the base,
often attached to it with masking tape
(checking the traces of the sticker on the base is one of the methods to realize if the character
has been opened and perhaps mounted or if it is a really new article).
For the bronze knights, second armor, there is a double version
for which the housing material changes:
the first is made of polystyrene, the second is made of thin cream-colored plastic
(typical of subsequent editions).
The difference is not just about the housing,
but all this will be deepened in the character sheets.
The polystyrenes have 2 marks on the back:
one that probably identifies a production lot (NO xxx, where x are numbers)
and one that contains the mandatory material identification code
used for the construction of the housing for the content.
The back of the plastic interior, on the other hand, does not have any distinctive mark,
as also happens for the models printed by BANDAI in the HK 2004 edition.
There is the negative molding of the various housings of the armor, the totem and the character.
The edges are often folded, due to the low thickness of the plastic, and unlike the HK 2004 edition there are no "Buttons" that allow the bottom to be attached to the transparent protective plastic.
Under the feet of the characters it is practice in every official edition,
find brands that identify their origin, production and manufacturer.
This Edition has some anomalies compared to any other official issue because
normally the codes are unique and different between one edition and another
(except in the case of the first two Italian editions, where the characters come from the same production)
in this case instead we find a great heterogeneity of brands,
Under the feet of the five bronzes v1 we find the right plant underneath
the writing made in china and the capital letter R (probably for Right),
accompanied by a number.
Under the left foot we find only the letter L (probably for Left) and the usual number
If so far everything seems to be homogeneous,
with the golden knights, however, the situation becomes more complicated.
Under the feet of these characters you can find two different brands
and one more, which has anomalies:
the first type of mark is identical and consistent with the bronzes v1
(this may suggest that they come from the same production batch).
The number next to the letters R and L is 6,
which in the bronze horsemen v1 belongs to the feet of Andromeda.
A particularity lies in the fact that they are inverted:
on the left foot there is the mark "R" and on the right foot the mark "L".
In addition, the word "made in china" is on the foot marked with the letter "L".
The second brand is similar to the previous one,
this time the orientation of the writing "L" and "R" seems to be the correct one
and in any case consistent with the bronze knights v1,
also the writing "made in china" returns under the foot marked with the "R",
however, here we no longer find the number accompanying the letter.
There is a third version, identical to the previous one if and
the orientation of the "R" and "L" is reversed,
therefore it becomes like in the first marking,
right foot letter "R" and left foot letter "L".
In the present case this version is found under the knight of the fish.
The latest version for the golden knights is what I had reported as an "anomaly".
It is present in the knight of capricorn and has 2 different markings under the feet:
on the right foot we find the brand "made in china" with the numbering "R2";
under the left foot only the letter "L"
and a number 1 positioned perpendicular to it and not to follow it as in the other versions.
The characters housed in the plastic, then the variants of the bronze knights v2,
have abbreviations that clearly differ from those just viewed:
we find, under the left foot the symbol "©" followed by "K / ST"
while under the right foot "BANDAI 2001 CHINA".
These are the classic acronyms that BANDAI uses
to distinguish their own production of Saint Seiya models.
In the version of the five bronze knights v2, housed in polystyrene,
we find under the right foot the writing:
"H" on the heel, "MADE IN CHINA" on the central part, arranged on two lines and "R"
at the tip;
while on the left foot only the letter "L" is printed
at the tip of the foot and the letter "H" on the heel.
No numbers, therefore, as happened for the golden knights.
The rider of Andromeda v2, in its variant with polystyrene housing, presents significant differences with the other boxes and also with the other models.
In the version with internal polystyrene box, both on the front and on the back we find the writing
"Removable armor" instead of "metal armor",
this only applies to Andromeda, because in this version its Cloth is completely plastic,
with a more faded and less intense color than that of the "BANDAI" brand,
while for the other four bronze heroes, there are no variations on the packaging.
This made us ASSUME that initially, Giochi Preziosi,
may not have had a commercial agreement with Bandai,
and having turned to one or more producers or distributors, which unfortunately cannot be traced back to,
while later reaching an agreement
and then having distributed the models produced by a Chinese headquarters in Bandai.
Another clue that led us in this sense is the workmanship of the characters:
those housed in polystyrene, have pictorial details (eyes, hair, etc ..)
much coarser than those housed in plastic,
this also suggested that they were models produced in at least two different factories.
The same thing goes for coloring armor:
those in polystyrene have opaque colors (for golden knights)
and that in some cases they deviate from the colors of past editions
(Phoenix v1 has pink pieces instead of bronze / brown,
Andromeda v1 has a totally different color of the plastic parts compared to the metal ones).
Those in the plastic housing instead of plastic have more faithful colors,
but they suffer from the problem of paint loss, typical of the Bandai edition produced in Hong Kong and subsequently distributed in 2004
(this also suggests that the Giochi Preziosi 2001 edition
and the one called HK 2004 may come from similar lots).
Inside the package there is always a sheet with a size of 19X13.5 cm
where at the top we find the name of the knight,
on his left the logo of "The knights of the zodiac",
in the lower left a photo of the character in armor
and on the right, still below, a photo of the mounted totem.
At the center of the 2 photos we find the logo of the European community,
precious game data (as on the bottom of the box) and safety warnings.
In the center of the sheet, surrounded by a frame, we find the assembly instructions,
on the left how to assemble the armor on the character and on the right how to assemble it on the totem.
These sheets are ALWAYS in black and white print,
traces of color or a faded black, almost gray, can mean a counterfeit
(e.g. a computer print after scan or found on the network).
Furthermore, on the bottom of the leaflet there is a very interesting wording,
and this too is a further indication of what may have happened between the various subjects
in the distribution of this product:
Giochi Preziosi defines itself as producer and distributor of the 2001 edition.
After all these questions,
what REALLY happened in the background between
Precious Games and BANDAI,
who brought this exit so full of mysteries?
We can answer this question, at least partially
thanks to Ryuzu Noda, manager of the marketing / collector section of the BANDAI team
who kindly let us interview you.
Around the 2000s BANDAI moved its production to China,
as a bit all the big companies have done;
Mr. Noda told us that there is only one company in China that has the "know-how" to make these models, the details of each character / armor being extremely high.
BANDAI intended to revive the vintage brand,
adding new unpublished models until then also in Japan.
However, the first production batch went wrong,
did not comply with the quality standards required by the Japanese company,
BANDAI then refused the commission and left the production to the company,
leaving her, among other things, free to do what she wanted.
At this point it is very likely that Giochi Preziosi,
who still had distribution rights in those years,
has entered and contacted the Chinese company directly, purchasing the models,
that's why the lack of the word BANDAI under the characters' feet is explained
and the poor quality compared to the models of the other releases.
In spite of everything, therefore, it is an OFFICIAL issue,
even if not in collaboration with BANDAI, because also the Japanese company itself,
does not own the rights to the title,
but it holds ONLY those relating to the creation of the "SAINT SEIYA" brand merchandising.
The brand owners are:
TOEI and MASAMI KURUMADA / SHUEISHA,
respectively of images and copyrights
and none of them denied the official nature of the product itself.
So, the Italian version of 2001 is an OFFICIAL version,
as all the information relating to the rights is shown on the box.
Clearly, this is beyond the ORIGINAL word, which means another thing.
It is simply not a Bandai product but this does not make them Fake or Bootleg
which are non-original but also unofficial products, not even having the rights.
Ergo the 2001 Italian version (red box) CANNOT be called Fake but it is OFFICIAL.
We were given the opportunity to interview the marketing / collector of the BANDAI team by his friend Francesco Ristori, president of the Florence Toy Museum.
Scritto da: Marco Pollacchi
In collaborazione con :
Mauro Carnevale
Damiano Pellicano
Alessio Malaspina
Alessio (Replica)
Gabriele De Paola
Igor Venturini
Roberto Rumi
Vincenzo Coscia
Danilo Amore
Florence Toy Museum di Francesco Ristori
