Toys from the East come to the shores of the West, as Gashapons are introduced to the American audience in the form of characters from the classic anime Battle of the Planets, and they are available form Diamond!

Battle of the Planets, a classic and popular anime also referred to as Gatchaman, is making its comeback. From its first campaign back in 1978, Battle of the Planets proved to be a hit, with its combination of drama, comedy, and transmuting battle suits, and the popularity has passed the test of time. It has been a consistently hot property, satisfying fans and collectors with toys, shirts, posters, wall scrolls, DVDs, videos, and more. Now "Gatchamaniacs" can add to their collection with the Battle of the Planets Gashapons.

Gashapons are capsule toys that were previously only available through Japanese vending machines. Unlike normal Gashapons, however, the figures in this collection all come pre-assembled, and feature new matte paint decorations, as well as detail touches such as slight airbrushed shading on some of the capes. This package contains all five G-Force team members (Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop, and Tiny) grouped together in a collector's window box in a formation reminiscent of the "Tornado Fighter" technique that the Science Ninja Team employed on the classic anime! Scheduled to ship in April 2002, these will be figures that no serious collector will want to miss!

Fans can find this and other great products based on today's most popular anime at their local comics shop, or by contacting the Comic Shop Locator Service toll free at 1-888-COMICBOOK (1-888-266- 4226) or online at http://csls.diamondcomics.com.