This rare promotional metal Slinky toy was produced by Epson Electronics in Japan back in the 1980s. It features the iconic design of a classic Slinky, with a sleek metal finish that adds an elegant touch to any collection. This item is perfect for fans of vintage toys, Japanese electronics, or both!

The Slinky toy is in great shape, with no significant signs of wear and tear. It is a must-have for any collector of classic toys or vintage electronics.

All items are sold used and is. Feel free to message me with any questions, and also check out the other stuff in my store! I am always willing to make a good deal on multiple items & will combine shipping!

Seiko Epson Corporation, commonly known as Epson,[3] is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan,[4] the company has numerous subsidiaries worldwide and manufactures inkjet, dot matrix, thermal and laser printers for consumer, business and industrial use, scanners, laptop and desktop computers, video projectors, watches, point of sale systems, robots and industrial automation equipment, semiconductor devices, crystal oscillators, sensing systems and other associated electronic components.

The company has developed as one of manufacturing and research and development (formerly known as Seikosha) of the former Seiko Group, a name traditionally known for manufacturing Seiko timepieces. Seiko Epson was one of the major companies in the Seiko Group, but is neither a subsidiary nor an affiliate of Seiko Group Corporation.

The roots of Seiko Epson Corporation go back to a company called Daiwa Kogyo, Ltd. which was founded in May 1942[5] by Hisao Yamazaki, a local clock shop owner and former employee of K. Hattori, in Suwa, Nagano. Daiwa Kogyo was supported by an investment from the Hattori family (founder of the Seiko Group) and began as a manufacturer of watch parts for Daini Seikosha (currently Seiko Instruments). The company started operation in a 230-square-metre (2,500 sq ft) renovated miso storehouse with 22 employees.

In 1943, Daini Seikosha established a factory in Suwa for manufacturing Seiko watches with Daiwa Kogyo. In 1959, the Suwa Factory was split up and merged into Daiwa Kogyo to form Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd: the forerunner of the Seiko Epson Corporation. The company has developed many timepiece technologies, such as the world's first portable quartz timer (Seiko QC-951) in 1963, the world's first quartz watch (Seiko Quartz Astron 35SQ) in 1969, the first automatic power-generating quartz watch (Seiko Auto-Quartz) in 1988, and the Spring Drive watch movement in 1999.

The watch business is the root of the company's ultra-precision machining and micromechatronics technologies and still a major business for Seiko Epson, although it accounts for a low percentage of total revenues.[6][7] Watches made by the company are sold through the Seiko Watch Corporation, a subsidiary of Seiko Group. The watch brand Orient Watch, also known as Orient Star, has been owned by Epson since 2009 and was fully integrated into the company in 2017.

Printers

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Epson LQ 850 dot matrix printer

In 1961, Suwa Seikosha established a company called Shinshu Seiki Co. as a subsidiary to supply precision parts for Seiko watches. When Seiko was selected to be the official time keeper for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a printing timer was required to time events, and Shinshu Seiki started developing an electronic printer.[8]

In September 1968, Shinshu Seiki launched the world's first mini-printer, the EP-101 ("EP" for Electronic Printer,) which was soon incorporated into many calculators. In June 1975, the name Epson was coined for the next generation of printers based on the EP-101, which was released to the public. The Epson name was coined by joining the initials EP (Electronic Printer) and the word son, making "Epson" mean "Electronic Printer's Son".[9] In April of the same year, Epson America Inc. was established to sell printers for Shinshu Seiki Co.

Epson HX-20

In June 1978, the TX-80 (TP-80), an eighty-column dot matrix printer, was released to the market and was mainly used as a system printer for the Commodore PET computer. After two years of further development, an improved model, the MX-80 (MP-80), was launched in October 1980.[8] It was soon advertised as the best selling printer in the United States.[10]

In July 1982, Shinshu Seiki officially named itself the Epson Corporation and launched the world's first handheld computer, the HX-20 (HC-20), and in May 1983, the world's first portable colour LCD TV was developed and launched by the company.[11]

In November 1985, Suwa Seikosha Co., Ltd. and the Epson Corporation merged to form Seiko Epson Corporation.[12]

The company developed the Micro Piezo inkjet technology, which used a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle and did not heat the ink at the print head while spraying it onto the page, and released the Epson MJ-500 inkjet cartridge for the Epson Stylus 800 printer in March 1993. Shortly after in 1994, Epson released the first 720 dpi colour inkjet printer, the Epson Stylus Color (P860A) utilizing the Micro Piezo head technology. Newer models of the Stylus series employed Epson's special DURABrite ink and used two hard drives (an HD 850 and an HD 860).[13]

Epson R2000 printer

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This section does not cite any sources. (March 2023)

In 1994, Epson started to outsource sales representatives to help sell their products in retail stores in the United States. The same year, they started the Epson Weekend Warrior sales program. The purpose of the program was to help improve sales, improve retail sales reps' knowledge of Epson products, and to address Epson customer service in a retail environment. Reps were assigned on weekend shifts, typically around 12–20 hours a week. Epson started the Weekend Warrior program with TMG Marketing (now Mosaic Sales Solutions), and later with Keystone Marketing Inc, then returned to Mosaic, and switched again to Campaigners Inc. on June 24, 2007 after the Mosaic contract expired. The sales reps of Campaigners, Inc. are not outsourced; Epson hired rack jobbers to ensure retailers displayed products properly, freeing up its regular sales force to concentrate on profitable sales solutions to value-added resellers and system integrators, leaving "retail" to reps who did not require sales skills.

Epson R-D1 digital rangefinder camera

Personal computers

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Epson entered the personal computer market in 1983 with the QX-10, a CP/M-compatible Z80 machine. By 1986, the company had shifted to the growing PC market with the Equity line. Epson withdrew from the international PC market in 1996.[citation needed] The company still produces and sells PCs in Japan as of 2022.[14]

21st century

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SureColor large format printer at Photokina, 2016

In June 2003, the company became public following their listing on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Since 2017, the company is a constituent of the Nikkei Stock Average index. Although Seiko Group Corporation (f/k/a K. Hattori, Hattori Seiko, and Seiko Holdings) and the key members of the Hattori family still hold approximately 10% of the outstanding shares of Seiko Epson, the company is managed and operated completely independently from Seiko Group.

Seiko Watch Corporation, a division of Seiko Group, produces Seiko timepieces in-house through its subsidiaries as well as delegates the manufacture of some of its high-end watches (Seiko Astron, Grand Seiko, Credor, etc) to Epson.[15] The company makes some of Seiko's highest-grade watches at the Micro Artist Studio inside its Shiojiri Plant in Shiojiri, Nagano.[16] Beside Seiko timepieces, Epson develops, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells watches under its own brands such as Trume, Orient,[17] and Orient Star.

In 2004, Epson introduced their R-D1 (the first digital rangefinder camera on the market), which supports the Leica M mount and Leica M39 mount lenses with an adapter ring. Because its sensor is smaller than that of the standard 35 mm film frame, lenses mounted on the R-D1 have a field of view 1.53 times as wide as that of the standard 35 mm camera. In 2006, the R-D1 was replaced by the R-D1s, a cheaper version with identical hardware. Epson has released a firmware patch to bring the R-D1 up to the full functionality of its successor, being the first digital camera manufacturer to make such an upgrade available for free.[citation needed]

In September 2012, Epson introduced a printer called the Expression Premium XP-800 Small-in-One, with the ability to print wirelessly.[18] The Expression brand name has since been used on various models of scanners. In the third quarter of 2012, Epson's global market share in the sale of printers, copiers and multifunction devices amounted to 15.20 percent.[19]

In September 2015, Epson debuted the ET-4550 printer, which enables the user to pour ink into separate inkwells from ink bottles instead of cartridges.[20]

Epson is also involved in the smartglasses market. Since 2016, the company has three different models: the Moverio BT-100, the Moverio BT-200, and the Moverio Pro BT-2000, the latter of which is an enterprise oriented, upgraded version of the BT-200 with stereoscopic cameras. The company also was the first to release consumer smartglasses with transparent optics, which were popular with drone pilots for providing a first-person view while still being able to see the drone in the sky.[citation needed]

Epson LX-300+ dot matrix printer with optional colour upgrade[21]

In 2016, Epson presented the large-format SureColor SC-P10000 ink printer; it prints with inks in ten colours on paper up to 44 inches (1.1 m) wide

The Slinky is a helical spring toy invented by Richard T. James in the early 1940s. It can perform a number of tricks, including travelling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum; and appearing to levitate for a period of time after it has been dropped. These interesting characteristics have contributed to its success in its home country of the United States, and it has inspired many popular toys with Slinky-like components, in a wide range of countries.

The Slinky was invented and developed by American naval engineer Richard T. James in 1943 and successfully demonstrated at Gimbels department store in Philadelphia in November 1945.

The Slinky was originally priced at $1, but many paid much more due to price increases of spring steel in Pennsylvania. It has, however, remained modestly priced throughout its history as a result of Betty James' concern about the toy's affordability for less affluent customers. In addition to its use as a toy, it has been used as a classroom teaching tool; as a portable and extendable radio antenna in wartime (particularly the Vietnam War).[1] It was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York in 2000. In 2003, it was named to the Toy Industry Association's Century of Toys List.[2] In its first 60 years, about 300 million Slinkys were sold.