Artmic
From Transformers Wiki
Artmic (有限会社アートミック Yūgen-gaisha Ātomikku) was a Japanese animation design studio formed in 1978 and dissolved in 1997. The company's name was short for ART-Modern Ideologist for Creation. Their domestic anime work included contributing to and producing such series as Genesis Climber Mospeada, Megazone 23, Bubblegum Crisis, Hyper Combat Unit Dangaioh and Detonator Orgun.
They also provided design work for Western animated productions, primarily for DiC Enterprises, on series including Pole Position, Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, M.A.S.K., The Real Ghostbusters and StarCom.
Shinji Aramaki was a key staff-member of the company, providing multiple mechanical designs for and directing many of their productions. Masami Ōbari, Satoshi Urushihara and Shin Matsuo also worked on Artmic productions during the 1980s.
In 1984, Takatoku Toys produced figures based on Artmic's designs for the Armored Insect Corps Beetras toyline. Takatoku only released three figures, with a fourth at the prototype stage, before they went bankrupt.
Molds of the three released Beetras figures, plus the unreleased fourth figure, were purchased by Bandai and subsequently licensed to Hasbro in 1985, where they were released as the Deluxe Insecticons.
As a result of being based on toys designed by Artmic, the Hasbro boxed versions of the four Deluxe Insecticons include a small "AM" (Artmic) sticker on the packaging, in addition to an Artmic copyright marking on the figures themselves.
External links
- Artmic at Wikipedia
