Ultra Hand
The Ultra Hand is a mechanical toy featuring an accordion-like extendable arm made of interlocking plastic segments, which extends and grasps objects when its handles are squeezed together, allowing users to pick up items from a distance.[1][2] Invented by engineer Gunpei Yokoi while he was employed as a maintenance technician at Nintendo's hanafuda playing card factory in the mid-1960s, the toy was inspired by a simple wooden prototype Yokoi had built earlier.[3][1] Released by Nintendo in 1966 and priced at approximately ¥600 (around $1.70 USD at the time), it was packaged with accessories like ping-pong balls and stacking cups to encourage play activities such as games of catch or tower-building.[4][3] The Ultra Hand marked Nintendo's pivotal transition from traditional playing cards to the toy and entertainment industry, becoming the company's first major commercial hit outside its card business and selling between 1.2 and 1.4 million units over its initial run through 1970.[1][2][3] This success, which exceeded contemporary benchmarks for toy sales (where 100,000 units was considered exceptional), prompted Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi to promote Yokoi and establish the company's first dedicated research and development division in 1968, focused on innovative games and toys.[1][3] Yokoi's design philosophy—emphasizing lateral thinking and "withered technology" (using mature, cost-effective components creatively)—debuted with the Ultra Hand and influenced subsequent Nintendo products, including the Ultra Machine baseball bat (1967)[5] and the Game & Watch handheld series (1980).[1][2] The toy's enduring legacy is evident in its cultural references and modern revivals; it has appeared as an in-game item in titles like Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) and is featured in interactive exhibits at the Nintendo Museum in Uji, Kyoto, where visitors use an updated "Ultra Hand SP" version to engage in skill-based challenges.[6][3] Overall, the Ultra Hand not only rescued Nintendo from financial stagnation in the post-World War II era but also laid the foundational creativity that propelled the company toward video game dominance.[1][2]Development
Invention by Gunpei Yokoi
Gunpei Yokoi joined Nintendo in 1965 shortly after graduating from Doshisha University with a degree in electronics engineering. Initially hired as a maintenance technician to service the company's hanafuda playing card production machines, Yokoi found himself with considerable downtime in his role, allowing him to experiment with mechanical inventions in Nintendo's machine shop.[1][3] In 1965, drawing from an earlier wooden prototype he had constructed during his school years, Yokoi conceptualized a simple mechanical grabber toy during his off-hours at work. He developed the idea into a functional prototype using plastic linkages and the shop's lathe, creating an extendable arm mechanism that could grasp objects at a distance. This spare-time project marked Yokoi's first foray into toy design, conceptualized amid Nintendo's broader efforts to diversify beyond playing cards amid financial pressures in the early 1960s. By late 1965, he had finalized the handmade prototype, refining its structure for practical use.[3] Yokoi's breakthrough came when Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi unexpectedly observed him tinkering with the device in the machine shop. Intrigued by the prototype's potential, Yamauchi instructed Yokoi to transform it into a viable commercial toy rather than reprimanding him for using company resources on personal projects. In his pitch, Yokoi demonstrated the handmade prototype directly to Yamauchi, showcasing its ability to extend and retrieve small items, which convinced the president to greenlight production and elevate Yokoi to a design role. This pivotal encounter in late 1965 propelled the invention toward its release the following year.[3][1]Context at Nintendo
Nintendo was founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi in Kyoto, Japan, as a small business specializing in the production of hanafuda, traditional Japanese flower-themed playing cards.[7] The company initially thrived on these handcrafted cards, which gained popularity amid Japan's restrictions on other forms of gambling, but its core business remained tied to this niche market for decades.[8] Following World War II, Nintendo faced declining sales of hanafuda cards as Japanese society shifted toward Western-style playing cards and other leisure activities, exacerbating the company's post-war economic challenges.[9] Under the leadership of Hiroshi Yamauchi, who became the third president in 1949 after the death of his father-in-law Sekiryo Yamauchi, Nintendo sought diversification to survive, entering the burgeoning post-war toy market amid Japan's economic recovery and rising demand for affordable children's entertainment.[10][11] By the early 1960s, however, the company encountered severe financial difficulties, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy due to a series of unsuccessful ventures outside its traditional scope.[12] These setbacks included failed experiments with instant rice production, which collapsed quickly due to market rejection, and a short-lived taxi service plagued by labor disputes and operational costs.[13] Prompted by these losses, Yamauchi refocused on innovation within the toy sector, establishing Nintendo's first dedicated research and development unit—initially called the "Games" department—in the mid-1960s to capitalize on the Japanese toy boom and develop original products for children.[14][15] This move positioned the company to enter the competitive plastic toy market, with eventual oversight falling to engineer Gunpei Yokoi after his early contributions gained prominence. Yamauchi's endorsement of in-house innovation aligned with his broader push to leverage the toy department's creativity amid the company's precarious position, viewing the Ultra Hand as a strategic opportunity to stabilize finances through a high-potential holiday release the following year.[3]Design
Mechanism
The Ultra Hand operates using an accordion-style extension mechanism composed of interlocking plastic segments that form a lazy tongs pantograph structure. Squeezing the scissor-like handles at the base causes these segments to expand, extending the arm to reach distant objects.[16][17] At the distal end, scissor-like clamps provide the grasping function. The handles operate a pantograph linkage system that simultaneously extends the arm and closes the clamps when squeezed.[18][19] The step-by-step operation is straightforward:- Position the arm near the target object by partially squeezing the handles to adjust reach.
- Fully squeeze the handles to extend the segments and close the clamps to secure the object. The clamps feature bowl-shaped grips designed to hold small objects like ping-pong balls.
- Transport the gripped item by maneuvering the toy.
- Release the handles to retract the arm and open the clamps, dropping the object.