Probably the most famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Star Wars toy to emerge from the Land of the Rising Sun is the little Takara wind-up R2-D2 from 1978. Old-school fans will remember the little plastic wind-up craze of the '70s -- you know, cutsie-fied animals, people, smiley faces and such were all given a pair of feet and a simple spring-wound mechanism to walk across a table top. Good old Artoo seemed a natural fit, and the Japanese were quick to accommodate.
Sadly, as the story goes, Kenner was concerned about it potentially competing with its own action figure version of Artoo, and disallowed its importation to the states. The little wind-up, which was also available in Canada, rates pretty high on collectors "must-have" lists these days.
