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Hands down one of the coolest merchandising tributes to classic video games I’ve ever seen have been in a couple of series of “stage figures” released onto the Japanese toy market under the Dot Graphics banner. The extensive series of scenes from Super Mario Bros. depict almost every major event in that game, complete with moveable parts, while a similar (but sadly smaller) series of mini-dioramas depict events from classic 70s and 80s Namco arcade games. To say that both of these selections are merely cool is to not even come close to doing them justice. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

You may or may not have noticed that here in the summer of 2005, theLogBook.com has been featuring a lot of games and other items by Namco, the Japanese video game maker who gained worldwide fame with games like Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug and many more. Namco, formerly the Nakamura Manufacturing Company, celebrates its 50th year of operation in 2005, so it seems only fitting. Another one of the items released just in time for that anniversary is this nifty set of colorful figurines commemorating some of the company’s games. Released only in Japan, the figurines may not represent what western fans of classic games consider to be well-known, high-profile titles, but even with the small dioramas depicting scenes from lesser-known games, the design and craftsmanship of these toys are impressive. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

An amazing blast of Tron nostalgia from Japan, these “Kubrick” playsets - a popular variety of novelty toys that resemble nothing so much as Lego men on steroids - offer the first miniature models of any Tron vehicles other than the light cycles. And that said, the light cycles kick butt too.

Each playset comes in a massive box adorned with authentic Tron artwork (right down to attributing the figures to being actual ENCOM products), and a fold-up lid held in place by velcro. When opened, the lid offers a window view of the items in that individual set. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

19 years ago, a video game arrived in the arcades which was supposed to rewrite the history books for video gaming. And in some unexpected ways, Dragon’s Lair did just that. But at the time, all we knew was that it was an insanely cool game using a laserdisc to run specific sequences of gorgeous Don Bluth (The Secret Of NIMH, Xanadu) animation. Which sequences it ran depended on your actions - more often than not it turned out to be the death of your alter-ego, dim-witted knight Dirk The Daring.

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In late 2001, after years of it being a budget video title with a strong cult following, Tron was suddenly embraced by Disney as if it were the next big thing; a new special edition DVD was prepared, a long-overdue soundtrack CD was released, and quietly, behind the scenes, Japanese toy manufacturer Neca picked up the license to reproduce the cool toys that were originally produced by Tomy in 1982. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

As previously seen in ToyBox, Kenner hoped they were latching on the next big thing in the world of post-Star Wars toys when they landed the license for the Q*Bert video game characters. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

The year was 1983. The Star Wars franchise was winding down, and the Pac-Man craze had mostly subsided. What was a toy company like Kenner to do? The next best thing to Pac-Man at this point was to hop onto a multicolored flying disc with Q*Bert.

The D. Gottlieb Co. video game was an almost instant hit because of its unique game play and an extremely marketable cast of characters. CBS rushed a Q*Bert cartoon onto the air, and Q*Bert merchandise began to hit the store shelves. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

How do you merchandise a movie with such abstract imagery as Disney’s 1982 computerphile favorite Tron? It’s not easy, but Tomy figured it out. Rather than the traditional paint job, Tomy opted to mold the Tron figures in translucent plastic, painting on only the “circuitry” details of each character’s computer-world uniform. No characters from the movie’s real-world scenes were ever made. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

Whereas Coleco only had non-exclusive toy and electronic game licenses for Pac-Man, the company had grabbed almost all rights to Nintendo’s Donkey Kong. The primary reason for this was to ensure that the game would be the first game packed in with the ColecoVision game console. But Coleco also took advantage of the license to produce small PVC figures of three main characters from the Donkey Kong games in 1982. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

In 1982, at the peak of Pac-Man Fever, Coleco introduced a line of Pac-Man toys, including a half dozen bendable PVC figures based on the game. The characters included Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Blinky the ghost, Mr. Pac-Man, Mrs. Pac-Man, and - perhaps oddest of all - “Pac-Angel.” Other companies also cashed in, and Midway - Namco’s American licensee for the game - handed out the rights to produce Pac goods like a bunch of dots in a maze. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)