Check out this unlicensed Pac-Man toy. The yellow logo even calls him "pakkuman." I particularly like the cute like Pac-Man icon embedded right in the logo.

There's just one catch. This toy is from 1976, and Namco's Pac-Man debuted in 1980.
Check out this unlicensed Pac-Man toy. The yellow logo even calls him "pakkuman." I particularly like the cute like Pac-Man icon embedded right in the logo.There's just one catch. This toy is from 1976, and Namco's Pac-Man debuted in 1980.
Check out this unlicensed Pac-Man toy. The yellow logo even calls him "pakkuman." I particularly like the cute like Pac-Man icon embedded right in the logo.There's just one catch. This toy is from 1976, and Namco's Pac-Man debuted in 1980.
Check out this unlicensed Pac-Man toy. The yellow logo even calls him "pakkuman." I particularly like the cute like Pac-Man icon embedded right in the logo.There's just one catch. This toy is from 1976, and Namco's Pac-Man debuted in 1980.
Tomy's pakkuman first appeared in 1974, as a coin bank.

What if Pac-Man's pellets are actually coins? We already know the fruit was inspired by slot machines, which would continue the coin theme.
Tomy's pakkuman first appeared in 1974, as a coin bank.What if Pac-Man's pellets are actually coins? We already know the fruit was inspired by slot machines, which would continue the coin theme.
Tomy's pakkuman first appeared in 1974, as a coin bank.What if Pac-Man's pellets are actually coins? We already know the fruit was inspired by slot machines, which would continue the coin theme.
Although the banks came in multiple colors, the water toy and board game in 1976 solidified yellow as pakkuman's default color.

In the U.S. pakkuman became Mr. Mouth. The game was kind of a reverse Hungry Hippos, where everyone tries to feed the character in the center.
Although the banks came in multiple colors, the water toy and board game in 1976 solidified yellow as pakkuman's default color.In the U.S. pakkuman became Mr. Mouth. The game was kind of a reverse Hungry Hippos, where everyone tries to feed the character in the center.
Although the banks came in multiple colors, the water toy and board game in 1976 solidified yellow as pakkuman's default color.In the U.S. pakkuman became Mr. Mouth. The game was kind of a reverse Hungry Hippos, where everyone tries to feed the character in the center.
Although the banks came in multiple colors, the water toy and board game in 1976 solidified yellow as pakkuman's default color.In the U.S. pakkuman became Mr. Mouth. The game was kind of a reverse Hungry Hippos, where everyone tries to feed the character in the center.
If you grew up in the late '80s or early '90s you might remember Tomy's Mr. Money, a more advanced version of Mr. Mouth. I remember thinking this was inspired by Pac-Man, but maybe they were both inspired by Mr. Mouth?
But *was* Pac-Man aka pakkuman inspired by Mr. Mouth aka pakkuman?

When you have the color, the shape, and even the name, it seems so clear cut. But what if he saw it and then forgot he saw it? That does legit happen.

This is very similar to the mysterious case of Spider-Man.
But *was* Pac-Man aka pakkuman inspired by Mr. Mouth aka pakkuman?When you have the color, the shape, and even the name, it seems so clear cut. But what if he saw it and then forgot he saw it? That does legit happen.This is very similar to the mysterious case of Spider-Man.
But *was* Pac-Man aka pakkuman inspired by Mr. Mouth aka pakkuman?When you have the color, the shape, and even the name, it seems so clear cut. But what if he saw it and then forgot he saw it? That does legit happen.This is very similar to the mysterious case of Spider-Man.
Spider-Man didn't debut in a comic book in 1961; he was created as a Halloween costume in 1954, by popular costume manufacturer Ben Cooper Inc.

But the full story is more complicated.
Spider-Man didn't debut in a comic book in 1961; he was created as a Halloween costume in 1954, by popular costume manufacturer Ben Cooper Inc.But the full story is more complicated.
Spider-Man didn't debut in a comic book in 1961; he was created as a Halloween costume in 1954, by popular costume manufacturer Ben Cooper Inc.But the full story is more complicated.
Captain America's creators Simon & Kirby were toying with a Spiderman concept. Whether or not Stan Lee independently had a Spider idea, apparently Kirby initially reused his old concept. Lee didn't like the look and had Ditko redesign and redraw it. Lee also added a hyphen.
Ditko's costume was pretty similar to Ben Cooper's costume, but Ditko was too about originality to knock off a Halloween costume.

And yet...he even envisioned his design being orange and purple, close to Cooper's yellow and vinyl-black. Did Ditko see it and forget about it?
Either way, Ben Cooper did see Marvel's Spider-Man and the two companies did come to some sort of agreement in 1963, the exact details of which we'll never know.

What we do know is that Ben Cooper got the rights to make Marvel costumes, starting with Spider-Man.
Tomy and Namco also apparently came to some agreement, which I'd love to know the details of. Tomy got the rights to do Puckman toys, and went about turning their old pakkun items into Puckman versions (as well as creating new ones).
Tomy and Namco also apparently came to some agreement, which I'd love to know the details of. Tomy got the rights to do Puckman toys, and went about turning their old pakkun items into Puckman versions (as well as creating new ones).
Tomy and Namco also apparently came to some agreement, which I'd love to know the details of. Tomy got the rights to do Puckman toys, and went about turning their old pakkun items into Puckman versions (as well as creating new ones).
I overlooked an important symbol, the マ that transforms Pakkun into Pakkuman. The water game was "Pakkun Wanage" (aka ring toss). But the original bank was "Pakkuman," and the board game was "Pakkumangēmu."

https://twitter.com/zurashu/status/1341488659577618439
In the U.S. they rebranded Mr. Mouth as PacMan (complete with their own original logo), and ran into trouble with Midway who thought they had the complete U.S. rights. But they, too, came to some sort of agreement.
But was Iwatani influenced consciously or only subsconsiouly? In a 1984 deposition he denied being inspired by Tomy's bank (but wasn't asked about the game or water toy).

However, he also denied being inspired by Q-Taro, only to admit it in a 2010 interview. So who knows?
But was Iwatani influenced consciously or only subsconsiouly? In a 1984 deposition he denied being inspired by Tomy's bank (but wasn't asked about the game or water toy). However, he also denied being inspired by Q-Taro, only to admit it in a 2010 interview. So who knows?
But was Iwatani influenced consciously or only subsconsiouly? In a 1984 deposition he denied being inspired by Tomy's bank (but wasn't asked about the game or water toy). However, he also denied being inspired by Q-Taro, only to admit it in a 2010 interview. So who knows?
BTW, many interesting video game documents can be found on Archive thanks to @GameResearch_E

https://archive.org/details/19840127MemorandumForSummaryJudgement/page/n21/mode/2up
When Steve Ditko was asked about the Ben Cooper connection, this was his response.

Some mysterious will always remain mysteries. We can speculate, but we'll never have a definitive answer.
You can follow @katewillaert.
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