Why Speedy & Guido never take off their helmets
#1) Bad Guys: Bad Bird and the Ninja Crows are always up to something, so Speedy & Guido need to be ready for an attack.
#2) Polly: Will react violently to any transgressions.
#3) Francine: Fires them into walls, the ground, through windows, etc.
#4) Lucille: When emotions run high, she releases a volley of explosive rockets.
#5) The Writers: Will often write in things dropping out of the sky, which almost always land on a head.
#6) Their Barber: Under their helmets, the male Pizza Cats have hair cuts much like Guru Lou's!

Ages of the Pizza Cats
Aside for Princess Vi saying "I'm tired of being an 18 year old burn out!" none of the character's ages are ever mentioned in the show. It was hoped that maybe we could find out some of their ages if they had ever been mentioned in KNT, but it looks like we will never know for sure. The official KNT data book never mentions ages, nor are they ever mentioned in KNT. A Japanese fan took a poll asking other Japanese fans what they thought the ages might be, and most of them agree the cats are about 17-18, but guesses ranged from 15 to 22. It's generally agreed that Francine/Otama is the youngest of the cats, about a year younger than the others. However, please keep in mind that these are all guesses.
Personally, I tend to think the cats are around 20-22 simply because the seem to have a well established business and their fighting skills must have taken a few years to learn, but this is a cartoon, so anything is possible.

Pizza Cats Action figures
I found out a little more about the Pizza Cats figures that were made in the early 1990s. As you may know, these were sold in Europe & Japan. The ones in Europe were sold as toys, ready to play without of the box. But the original ones from Japan were sold as a kit. Much like a model kit, but it snaps together easily, and requires no painting. When you are done, you end up with the same figure you'd get pre-assembled in the European released toys. Since putting these together would have required extra work for toy company Bandai, this may explain why the toys are so rare outside of Japan (even in Japan they are hard to find now).

Anime Poll
OK. As many of you know, their is an Anime Poll going on at http://www.freevote.com/booth/starchick .
We already came in first as the show to first reach 500 votes. So we all should have something to cheer for. As of now, we're ahead of the second place show, "NG Knight Lamune & 40", by 476 points. Anyhow! ::sweatdrop:: Even though this won't be sent to big TV producers.. like Saban.. it's still a great chance for SPC to get some publicity and who knows.. if SPC ever comes back on.. we may just end up having even a bigger fan audience. So keep those votes coming in. (Poll ends Feb. 28!) Maybe Sailor Moon and Pokemon are more well known, but only the SPC fans are more dedicated^^

Links
Little Tokyo Times Online v1.0
http://ltt.cjb.net/

Jance's Pizza Cats Page
http://www2.crosswinds.net/rochester/~jancemace/

Expresso Café (Re opened, but still under reconstruction)
http://www.edoropolis.org/expresso/

Featured Character
Empress Fredia

(Spelling subject to debate, it's sometimes spelled "Freda", "Frieda", or "Freida"
Japanese Name: Usa no Tsubone (Usa=Bunny + Tsubone=Noble Lady)
In Cat Ninden Teyande, Usa no Tsubone sometimes speaks in English, (She addresses Usa Hime as "My pretty girl Princess Usa!") so she may in fact be American (which would explain her causal dress).

Fredia appears in "Princess Vi's Hippy Dippy Mom", making a rare visit to her family in-between traveling the world at her husband, Fred's, expense. Her daughter, Violet, obviously gets her looks from her mother, and a lot of her attitude too. As Fredia told her, "Say 'Please' and 'Thank you', and kick the other guy before he kicks you!" Fredia greets Violet with a barrage of missiles.

Her special abitities include a strong throwing arm, swift feet, and a gale force sneeze. She also has a backpack which can hold anything, from magic crystals to telephone poles. This is also a jet pack which allows her to fly.

Fredia returns for a cameo appearance in the final episode, "The Great Comet Caper, part 2". She appears to be popular with Japanese fan artists, as she also appears in the "Pizza Cats manga" by T. Souma, and in many dojin.

There is a Fredia Shrine at http://members.aol.com/PrncssVi/momma.html

Pizza Cats Facts
From Tigriss

Emperor Fred's Japanese name, Iei-Iei Tokagawa, is a parody of Ieyasu Tokagawa, Shogun from 1603 to 1616. The Tokagawa dynasty ruled until 1868. The period from 1603-1868 is known as the Edo period. Edo is the name of the Tokagawa capitol (now Tokyo), and in Cat Ninden Teyande, Little Tokyo is called "Edoropolis".

Cats love to nap. They average 16-18 hours of sleep per day. Maybe
that's why Speedy & Guido usually seem slow at the parlor; they don't
get enough sleep.

This Month's Picture
Mom stopped by!

That's All!
Bye-bye!
Hope you liked this issue, February was too short, but I think we managed OK. Issue #15 will be out on April 1st, no foolin'!
-Violet

Adios Amigos^^
Hope ya liked this issue. (BTW.. be sure to check out Little Tokyo Times.. it's extremely hilarious ^^)
~~PollyEster