My translations are coming along nicely, today I've been working on the character design section! These little designs are what I've chosen to humorously call "Proto-pac". Toyama apparently drew them while PiCPAC was in it's early stages, and they were briefly a comedy show...🤔 #PiCPAC #NamcoHistory

Robot Band PicPac fanart. #namco #robotband #picpac #digitalart #myartwork #fyp

Back in 2022, I invited @voxy.space to art direct & create motion graphics for my first ever PiCPAC video. The new project section on his redesigned website (it's gorgeous btw!) goes into detail about his creative process, including some great BTS images like this! www.voxy.space/projects/the...

Have anwsered your call and did Maji. ;3

I really like these concept art sketches I've bumped into in the artbook as I've gone, they really reflect how much turmoil went into the design aspect. Apparently they initially wanted PiCPAC to be stylistically similar to Earth Wind and Fire (third image), what a timeline that would've been😭

Man what I wouldn't do to get my hands on any of their old merchandise 😭 I've honestly considered remaking some assets (like the stickers or badges) myself, just so I can have some form of physical PiCPAC media to sport on my bookbag... #PiCPAC #Namco

Went on a little bit of a side tangent today while translating. The artbook mentions a few of Namco's other robots, so I ended up doing some research on them to make sure I have all my facts straight, it was nice trip learning some about them! Might post more about them another time♥️ #Namcohistory

Working on a video containing some pretty exciting info for PiCPAC fans... Hopefully I can have it finished before the end of the month! 👀✨

I wanna normalize stylizing PiCPAC fan-art in the same way Toyama used to draw them, his drawings were very doodle-sketchy... Childlike, yet refined, they're super adorable and fun to draw that way ♥️ #PiCPAC #Namco

As much as I see love for Maria, with Strobo typically the second-most liked, I feel like I don't see nearly enough love out there for Tome🥲 I'm personally biased for him with his silly goggles and his sci-fi guitar, but I love his "Tries too hard and should really just be himself" trope the most ♥️

I've been translating this pamphlet (left) from Toyama's artbook! According to the caption (right), the pamphlet was distributed around PiCPAC's debut time to brief AMROF-goers on what the band's performance would include, all humorously delivered in character by Maji Mentaro! #Namcohistory #PiCPAC

I recently purchased myself a copy of Shigeki Toyama's Artworks Volume, and I'm currently in the process of translating the PiCPAC related pages for English reading! There's a bunch of stuff in there that I'd never seen before, and I'm excited to share it with everyone!! #Namco #Namcohistory #PiCPAC

LIKE-- JUST LOOK AT MARIA, SHE'S ADORABLE!! I love them all so much aughhh...🥹🥹🥹 #PiCPAC #Namco

Something i've been telling people forever, even before I knew of PiCPAC, was my belief that the best way to design an enduring animatronic should be to give it approachability, a cute factor. I honestly think PiCPAC is one of the greatest standing examples of that in practice, even 40 years later 🥹

strobo gonzales more like blorbo gonzales #art #doodle

Maria Socket is cute! #art #digitalart #namco

I should go ahead and introduce the band members! Strobo Gonzales is a cheerful, comical, and sometimes clumsy beetle. Maria Socket is a kindly butterfly and the band's refreshing mascot. Digital Tome III is a "dapper" grasshopper with guitar skills and charm that contrast his silly face. -cont-

good morning PiCPAC nation

Also, just wanted to say, big shoutout to Dom of @supergroovy.net for getting me hooked on PiCPAC with his video documenting their history and for doing all the legwork he's already put into his documentation. Without that video I would never have gotten as far as I have now, so thank you 🙏

For those unaware, PiCPAC is a group of 9 amusement animatronics that were designed by Namco in the 80s during the tail end of the robotics boom. They all had their own personalities, they had original songs, they even planned to have a record produced! They were modern pop idols before it was cool!

I've been on a huge hyperfixation with PiCPAC lately, so i pulled myself together and made some artwork, enjoy #ROBOTBANDPICPAC #PICPAC

A few months ago I learned of PiCPAC for the first time, and I quickly went head over heels for them. Now it's my new life's mission to bring these guys back into the limelight, they deserve it after all the love that went into them and their dynamic. Expect the occasional post soon! #PiCPAC #Namco

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Namco's Robot Band PiCPAC's debut performance at AMROF '84! Congratulations to this intergalactic trio! 2024年11月17日は、ナムコの『ロボットバンド・ピクパク』がAMROF '84でデビュー公演を果たしてから40周年でした！この銀河系トリオ、おめでとうございます！🎉✨

i haven't been in the drawing mood lately, but i couldn't ignore PiCPAC suddenly trending recently. my boy strobo gonzales deserves the world 🥺 also my good friend @supergroovy.net deserves more views on his PiCPAC documentary where he found the first known footage of the band (link in replies)

A good buddy of mine got their hands on a copy of the Shigeki Toyama artbook that contains a bunch of high-res references of the #PicPac band, and I got inspired to quickly sketch out Maria Socket to get back into the drawing mood! Namco bring back PicPac and make a picpacillion dollars #fanart

Fan art depicting members of Namco's Robot Band PiCPAC, illustrated by Terao Yukizumi of Nagasaki Prefecture. The image was included in quarterly issue 9 of NG Community Magazine from April 1985.

VideoDojo made a documentary about Robot Band PicPAC. Be sure to check it out on their YouTube channel.

Robot Band PiCPAC animatronic performance as seen on TBS Teleport 6 News in November 1984. Footage from the Super Groovy Net YouTube Channel, run by VideoDojo.

The Namco History blog is up with its first post about Namco’s animatronic band PiCPAC. blog.namcohistory.com/2026/05/31/r...

Robot Band PiCPAC can badges (1984)