beforemario

After their early days producing mainly Hanafuda and other playing cards, and temporarily side-stepping into various other markets in the 1960s, at the end of that decade Nintendo had transformed into a toy manufacturer with a broad range of products...

In today's post we will take a look at a very special item in my collection: a sign used to promote the Nintendo Love Tester (ラブテスター) from 1969.
I do not know if this was an official item produced by Nintendo, but given the build quality and the unique feature it has (more on that below), I am assuming it is. It must be very rare, as this is the only one I have ever seen. If there were more,...

Earlier this week, an online sale on Yahoo Auctions Japan made some heads turn in Nintendo collector circles.
Firstly, because the final bid was for a whopping ¥256,555 (around US$2300 or €2000). Secondly, because the sale involved a Nintendo toy that was virtually unknown until a week ago....

In Nintendo's early playing card manufacturing days, they carried a number of different brand names or trade marks. It's a familiar marketing tactic used to gain market share.
A key brand was Napoleon, named after the French 19th century emperor Napoléon Bonaparte....