It was only after I had made my purchase that the realization hit me:

How am I going to get this thing home?

This is another find from the 2006 Tokyo trip with Nekrodave. We were hitting all the stores in Akihabara and one of our last stops was Toys GoldenAge.

It was there that I found this Raideen Kite. With my Raideen obsession in full swing, I couldn’t pass it up. Sure the box was a little beat, but it was only 1,500 yen! It was only after I had made my purchase that the realization hit me:

How am I going to get this thing home?

Turns out I had to hand-carry it onto the airplane and store it in the overhead compartment. Customs even put a sticker on it. It was such a pain to carry around, but now I consider it well worth it.

First off, the box art is simply gorgeous. The pink background with the sunburst just screams 70s. There is a small die-cut window at the top that allows you to see the attached figure.

The kite itself is similar in design to a Tahara fighting kite. The rectangular kite is supported by 2 tubes on the top and bottom and one running down the center. A metal frame is attached to which you hang the small Raideen toy who then acts as if he is “Hang Gliding”.

I could never get my sofubi Raideen to attach to the kite, and just this year I found out why – the toy included with my kite was the wrong one! No wonder it was only $15 bucks. The following images are from a Yahoo Japan auction and show the proper toy.

I’ve never actually flown the kite, but maybe next summer I will…