Most fans and collectors of Transforming Robots know that Japan is the birthplace and continual creative flow of some of the greatest concepts and engineering of this coolest of all genres. The Japanese toy culture has been, and continues to be, a virtual Mecca of cool toy culture.  What a lot of us here in the states can't do is explore and research the nuances and happenings, past and present, of this culture.  What are some of the vintage toy concepts that are the inspiration for what we see today?  What kind of cultural phenomena in the media of Japan have reflected and steered the growth of the toys and shows we have here in the states?  What's going on NOW over there?

The guys at Super7 have created the first magazine that so closely studies some of these facets of Japanese culture.  While we at Botcollector have seen and enjoyed several publications that bring the Japanese culture to the states, this is the first that is almost entirely dedicated to the toys and their history.

One thing that's a true delight about reading Super7 is the in-depth coverage of the items being written about.  There was plenty of material that we as Transformers freaks would typically have had no interest in (ie. particular Godzilla figures), but we read the entire articles and studied the pictures because of the interesting coverage of not just the toys, but their history in terms of inspiration, appeal to the public, and even an exhaustive coverage of their variations as figures produced by various toy companies.  When Super7 puts focus on something, it is COVERED.

The other noteworthy quality of this magazine is the approach to design.  This is the first publication with this focus that has had the effort put into making it not just fun to read, but very cool to look at.  The layout and graphics work is almost divine in several areas, and one can lose oneself in a feeling of being in the future, reading of the past.  The teched-out layout of articles about toys that got their start in the 70's is a unique experience.

Super7 is a young endeavor; scheduled as quarterly releases; it is only 2 issues old at the time of writing this.  It therefore suffers from some of the pitfalls of a concept on the move.  For those of you with ultra-demanding tastes in your reading, there are a lot of spelling/grammatical errors.  For those with the tunnel vision mentioned above, you may feel overwhelmed and put off by the in-depth coverage of things outside your particular interests.  There is also an inconsistency of design and layout, with one article titillating the eye with superb graphics and background noise, and the next laid out like a newsletter with a different font.  These appear only as growing pains of a publication coming rapidly out of the birth phase, however.

If all you want is to see column-formatted news about upcoming releases or past recolors of big-wig toy companies' products, stick with Lee's or Toyfare.  If you want to immerse yourself in the rich cultural history of obscure toys that were, unbeknownst to many of us, the shoulders upon which the coolest toys of today stand, or if you want to broaden your horizons of toy knowledge and the land that produced the best of them, all the while being treated to a pleasurable high-tech garden of eye candy, then Super7 is a must for your magrack.

We've only seen one issue, and we were all frankly blown away and extremely excited.  We expect to see great things from Super7, and will be purchasing every issue from here on in.  We heartily encourage our surfers to buy the magazine, as well as drop by the website at www.super7magazine.com.  These seem like cool guys who don't mind some feedback and activity at their online home.