Ross Miller originally created the Transformer-like velour Snapazoo in the early 1980's, and it sold well in the US [Miller is from Massachusetts] and Europe for a while before it went out of production.
In 2005, the Japanese indie toy producer Laughtoys made a deal with Miller to put Snapazoo back into production. For the Japanese launch last fall, Laughtoys created a limited-edition, blue/yellow Swedish Style 2005 Version as the mascot for a Scandinavian design event. The idea, I gather, is to position Snapazoo as a cool design object and desk toy, not just a fun imagination-exerciser for little kids. And in the global design junkie's world, a Swedish version of a US toy reissued by a Japanese company makes perfect sense. If the kid ever figures out how to do snaps, I may let her play with mine.
Snapazoo, from Laughtoys [laughtoys.com]
Jean Snow is fronting Swedish Style Snapazoos from his blog for 1680 yen, plus 550 yen for N.A. shipping [jeansnow.net]
Hello,
I would like to buy the snapazoo but cannot find a place to buy (laughtoys website comes up yukky) anyway, I have emailed Japan, designers, inventors and no one will email me back so I can purchase this. Please help.
Thank you sincerly,
Page
[did you try jeansnow.net? It's the link above; he sells at least the blue/yellow ones and may have some info on the other colors. the sense I'm getting is the toy launched just a couple of months ago in one store in Tokyo. They may be a little swamped at the moment. -ed.]
Thanks. I did meet Jean and get a couple. Still trying to get the different colors and a complete set of instructions. Jean has a great partial list of instruction and he is awesome to deal with.
Page
i have some relatively original snapazoos. i met ross miller in '79 or '80 in boston. loved his snapazoo and bought a dozen. friends had kids and all received one. the ones i have are, unfortunately, unusable. they are from a slightly later order i made. still have the local address printed on the sheet. blue and yellow bears. gave away all the pink and dk blue.
i'd like to contact mr. miller. is he still associated w/ snapazoo?
and where may i get more?
sorry, not too computer savvy. what are initals for a site?
I had a teal and purple snapazoo as a child. It got washed and disintegrated. I was hoping to find one for my children, but have come up empty...any suggestions?