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Saito2

Alternate Tamiya vehicle names

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I've read that certain Tamiya vehicles had different names in Japan. The Frog was referred to as the Mighty Frog for instance. In one of their adverts for the re-re Super Champ/Fighting Buggy, it was stated that the original Super Champ's name was "Fighting Buggy" all along in Japan. Out of curiosity, why are there no Japanese domestic market Tamiya boxes with these alternate names?

A separate question in the similar vein, why do all the boxes feature English names to begin with? I've seen other toys like old Transformers with both English and Japanese wording depending on the market.

 

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Another cracker @Saito2

Is the answer banal but sadly simple - expense ?

Small, paper packaging - like Transformer inserts underneath std plastic packaging / similar for Star Wars figures etc - is easily + cheaply swapped out with language variations 

Tamiya even did it for the paper tags of some vintage parts / ancillaries - with a few having purely Japanese titles 

The packaging for larger kits + accessories is harder + more expensive to switch - esp when Tamiya always did it properly back in the day re multi coloured / quality printing, thick / protective card and superbly fine detail 

Add the fact that home market sales loved US / EU styles back then - making English attractive to local consumers - and they arguably had a win / win ?

Thats not to say Tamiya gaslighted Japanese customers with overseas branding - as even early kits had Japanese only quirks / limited editions, both making core markets feel special, and are now highly sought after by collectors 

If anything, Tamiya getting naming right for so long is a marvel - when every other manufacturer has occasional gaffs in translation ?

My favourite is Toyota’s 80s mid- engined marvel - the MR2

Which sounded like m r deux in French - or merde 😂

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1 hour ago, SuperChamp82 said:

My favourite is Toyota’s 80s mid- engined marvel - the MR2

Which sounded like m r deux in French - or merde 😂

That's your favorite? What about the (in)famous Mitsubishi SUV, the "Pajero". Go ahead and look what that means in Spanish... :D No wonder, it was marketed under a different name in Spain (and apparently for some reason under yet another name in the UK...)

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At least they spelled the names correctly?   I’ve seen some very odd Engrish used on many Japanese packaging which was pretty embarrassing and awful and funny all at the same time!

Nice thread, @Saito2!

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12 hours ago, Willy iine said:

I’ve seen some very odd Engrish used on many Japanese packaging which was pretty embarrassing and awful and funny all at the same time!

Engrish can be hilarious. I once saw an old gas buggy called the Tornado spelled "the Tomato" and the Clod Buster spelled the "Cloud Buster" Busting clouds doesn't sound quite as menacing.

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1 hour ago, Saito2 said:

Engrish can be hilarious. I once saw an old gas buggy called the Tornado spelled "the Tomato" and the Clod Buster spelled the "Cloud Buster" Busting clouds doesn't sound quite as menacing.

:lol: Hahaha.  

 

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On 10/18/2021 at 5:54 PM, Saito2 said:

Engrish can be hilarious. I once saw an old gas buggy called the Tornado spelled "the Tomato" and the Clod Buster spelled the "Cloud Buster" Busting clouds doesn't sound quite as menacing.

If you’ve ever seen The Fisher King with Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges you will Chuckle a little to yourself every time someone mentions “cloud busting “ 

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On 10/22/2021 at 11:33 AM, Dakratfink said:

The Fisher King with Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges

I liked that movie.  I can't believe it's been 30 years. 

 

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On 10/18/2021 at 5:10 AM, Willy iine said:

At least they spelled the names correctly?   I’ve seen some very odd Engrish used on many Japanese packaging which was pretty embarrassing and awful and funny all at the same time!

Nice thread, @Saito2!

Aybabtu.png

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This reminds me of the Opel/Vauxhall Astra replacing the Kadett. It was supposed to be called Nova until they realised it means "wont go" in Spanish :lol:

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1 hour ago, Tamiyastef said:

This reminds me of the Opel/Vauxhall Astra replacing the Kadett. It was supposed to be called Nova until they realised it means "wont go" in Spanish :lol:

“No” = “no”

”Va” = “go”

thus, “no va” = “no go”

 

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32 minutes ago, Frog Jumper said:
2 hours ago, Tamiyastef said:

This reminds me of the Opel/Vauxhall Astra replacing the Kadett. It was supposed to be called Nova until they realised it means "wont go" in Spanish :lol:

“No” = “no”

”Va” = “go”

thus, “no va” = “no go”

Sorry, as a lifelong Chevy Nova enthusiast,  I have to poke a hole in this often-told, old tale. Its a myth. No does = no and va does = go, but "no go" would sound as awkward in Spanish as it does in English. Beside being one word and the accents being on different portions a phrase like "no funciona" would be more appropriate. 

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2 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Sorry, as a lifelong Chevy Nova enthusiast,  I have to poke a hole in this often-told, old tale. Its a myth. No does = no and va does = go, but "no go" would sound as awkward in Spanish as it does in English. Beside being one word and the accents being on different portions a phrase like "no funciona" would be more appropriate. 

I never claimed it made sense, nor did I ever claim to be fluent in Spanish. Truthfully, I can order at Taco Bell and that about it…

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34 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Beside being one word and the accents being on different portions

This is the key. One word in Chevy and two words in Spanish.

Plus a major difference in pronunciation. You typically accent the "NO" when saying the car name, but you'd put more emphasis on the "VA" when speaking Spanish.

Not something a typical Spanish-speaker would get confused, IMHO.

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Then you have the Nissan Tsuru (B13) in Mexico which was the Sentra in the USA or Sunny in Japan.   

Tsuru means crane (bird), but is also a condescending Japanese slang for being bald.  :blink:

 

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9 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

I never claimed it made sense, nor did I ever claim to be fluent in Spanish. Truthfully, I can order at Taco Bell and that about it…

I apologize. It wasn't my intention to come across as condescending which is a peril of forum discourse vs face-to-face. I've just owned a lot of Novas in my time (one sitting in my garage now) and I've heard this "no go" story/joke about them many many times despite its inaccuracy. I fell victim to my own emotions and offered a correction when I should of just let it go. I'm sorry again. My correction probably served little purpose to further the discussion. 

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For me personally, I wasn't offended by you reply/correction. We are here to take care for and learn from each other. If I  read something that I know is incorrect I would feel the need to reply also. Owning a Chevy Nova (awesome car btw) I can easily see the irresistibility to react 😄 

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On 10/23/2021 at 2:33 AM, Dakratfink said:

If you’ve ever seen The Fisher King with Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges you will Chuckle a little to yourself every time someone mentions “cloud busting “ 

I think of the song by Kate Bush. Showing my age there...

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2 hours ago, c64orinoco said:

I think of the song by Kate Bush. Showing my age there...

Yeah, I think both are kind of the same generation 

 

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I once read that the film Smokey And The Bandit was released in Taiwan with a name that translated to English as Racing Cars In Disorderly Fashion, which I think is a far better name and a film I would unequivocally watch.

On a slightly different note, when I used to race back in the late 80s one of the regulars proudly turned up with one week with a 1/8 nitro off roader, which he'd bought second hand to show off and have a bash around with in the car park. We were all rather awed by the size, speed and heft of it. Although I have no idea what model it was now, back then we referred to it as 'The Swan', as if you tried to marshall something that big and vicious in a race it would probably break your arm.

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On 10/26/2021 at 3:53 PM, Saito2 said:

Sorry, as a lifelong Chevy Nova enthusiast,  I have to poke a hole in this often-told, old tale. Its a myth. No does = no and va does = go, but "no go" would sound as awkward in Spanish as it does in English. Beside being one word and the accents being on different portions a phrase like "no funciona" would be more appropriate. 

No va does work. It means not going, at least in the Spanish I speak. I wouldn't buy a car called the "not going".  Sorry, getting pedantic. :D My favorite Japanese name though is the Nissan Moco.  :D 

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Hemmings

Snopes

That story about the Chevy Nova

Deseret News

Wiki

Va is a conjugation of the word ir, mean "to go" and no still means "no" so No va does mean "no go" literally. I'm not contesting that fact @RichieRich. I'm just contesting the whole myth story about the Chevrolet Nova being a poor seller due to its name in Spanish speaking countries. My Spanish teacher in high school, who hailed from Mexico originally, was the first to debunk this story decades ago. Since then, the advent of the internet, such as the links above, further debunked the myth. Now I'm being pedantic and really wishing I hadn't started another one of my pointless stupid threads and that I hadn't gotten so weary of hearing every other guy at a car show telling me my Novas mean "no go" in Spanish. Its a personal hang up and sore spot for me, so again, I apologize offending anyone, but unless the Nova truly did sell poorly in Spanish speaking countries because those populations mistook the meaning of the single word "Nova" I have to stand my ground on this one.

 

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1 hour ago, Saito2 said:
1 hour ago, Saito2 said:

Va is a conjugation of the word ir, mean "to go" and no still means "no" so No va does mean "no go" literally. I'm not contesting that fact @RichieRich. I'm just contesting the whole myth story about the Chevrolet Nova being a poor seller due to its name in Spanish speaking countries. My Spanish teacher in high school, who hailed from Mexico originally, was the first to debunk this story decades ago. Since then, the advent of the internet, such as the links above, further debunked the myth. Now I'm being pedantic and really wishing I hadn't started another one of my pointless stupid threads and that I hadn't gotten so weary of hearing every other guy at a car show telling me my Novas mean "no go" in Spanish. Its a personal hang up and sore spot for me, so again, I apologize offending anyone, but unless the Nova truly did sell poorly in Spanish speaking countries because those populations mistook the meaning of the single word "Nova" I have to stand my ground on this one.

 

 

Just don't get him started on the Ford Pinto...

"In 1971, Ford introduced its two-door subcompact car, the Pinto. The name is derived from the pinto horse, which is a horse with a coat consisting of patches of white and any other color. Folks in Brazil didn't see it that way, however, probably because pinto is Brazilian slang for male genitals."

 

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