It’s not widely known that the very 1st Godzilla movie was released in 1954 in Japan. Collecting Godzilla memorabilia however did not start until around 10 years after. As the toys began appearing, they began to be released in huge numbers and interestingly enough, although the Japanese produced a wide range of beautiful monster toys it was actually the Americans who started into the game. That’s something a lot of people do not now. The first official licensed toy was actually a gun as well as a game for target that came out in 1955. It was released around the same time as the movie Godzilla is back in the raids as well as Gigantis the Fire Monster which is the American dub version. This would be the only licensed toy and no other toy would launch for eight years. It wasn’t until 1963 that the company Ideal began to develop games based on Godzilla and their famous beast King Kong. We now have 2 separate games that are based off Godzilla along with King Kong and this would begin what we know would be the movie that would come out in 1962. King Kong versus Godzilla.
The original King Kong that came out in 1933 was released again in 1956. This was the year that the very 1st Godzilla hit the American shores , in. The film was so fueled by the 2 movies that suddenly the monster boom began. Then we’ll move to the 2nd item that was actually made available in 1964 by Aurora Models they released a Godzilla kit in 1964. It is possibly one of the most famous of all released kits and was the most recognized as well. Aurora Models had already leased a line of “Human -sized” monster kits. They decided to re-release kits of two of the most well-known “Giant sized” monsters one being King Kong and yes the other being Godzilla.
Both of these models performed extremely well, even at the higher price of a dollar 29 since the majority of Aurora kits were priced at USD.98 apiece. It is funny how the prices are back then today I’m certain that they’re at least 10 times the price. If not more. It is not widely known that the popularity and success of Godzilla was not a secret even in Japan. The Murasan Company Hua the makers of many different children’s toys in Japan considered that if the Godzilla model did so well in it’s home in the United States and that they could do even better with one overseas. They took the actual Aurora concept and reduced it. They gave the appearance of cartoons that was very reminiscent of that of Japanese comics that were popular with children at that time.
In the first two years of Murasan Company releasing that Godzilla it did in fact have moderate success during the first 2 years of its release. It is not until 1966 1 that the genre of science fiction monsters in general began to boom in popularity that The Murasan Company decided that perhaps they should consider creating a line of monster toys and models specifically for children. At this point in 1966 that they launched the Ultra-Q Series which had spawned several different kinds of monsters and this particular series would start the Ultraman series, as we are aware that Ultraman has to face a number of monsters.
At or around the time I’d say it was around 1965, which is the year they launched Gamera for the very 1st time. He is now a huge flying Terrapin that is widely acknowledged today. Godzilla would become more firmly embedded as a hero than a protagonist as this throughout the Showa Series. It is not up until 1984 before Godzilla would return to his evil origins and will remain so until 2014. The Murasan Company did in fact respond by releasing new products for the first time in a vinyl form instead of the plastic version. The target audience is the children’s market, as we know that children tend to put things in their mouths, or they could scratch their eyes with it this is why they instated their vinyl toys. For the Godzilla line of toys , this could include Godzilla, Mothra, and Ebirah from the newly released movie it was released in Godzilla versus the sea monster or tentative title was Ebirah: Horror of the Deep. Many monsters were also released on vinyl from the Ultra-Q Series.
There is also Gamera The flying Terrapin was also released on vinyl along with Daimajin from the movie of the same title. They were also the first to release Baragon from the film Frankenstein Conquers the World they were released in 1965. Other releases of the high-end plastic toys such as a wired control set used by Baragon and Ebirah as well as these in the toys of Baragon and Godzilla now these particular items I bet they are very rare because no one produces such things in metal tin. I think it would be a great thing to get my hands on some of these. These are the items I mentioned that are made out of metal or tin they cost nearly four times in comparison to the vinyl toys. They were sold moderately well as they were put away for many years.
It would be the year that followed, that I believe to be 1966. Minya, Gorosaurus, Mechani-Kong and King Kong (although titled giant gorilla on the box) it also had a King Kong that was a model kit with a wired control. Plamodel had a Godzilla kit that was also introduced in this would be the final Godzilla toys that Murasan Company would produce. And the reason for this is that the company was experiencing difficult times financially. Remember that another reason is that this particular product was expensive to make and at the end would be the most limited release in the Marusan range of toys.
By 1968 due to their budget problems, due to their financial woes, the Murasan Company neglected to add any new figures to the Godzilla line by doing this they missed out on the possibility of releasing the King Ghidorah figure in conjunction with the film that had just released in 1968 . The film was titled “Destroy all Monsters” that was released in theaters in that year. Another unnoticed fact is due to the increasing popularity of Gamera and, yes, that includes the Ultraman collection Ultra Seven and its characters the Murasan Company would not even get the chance to release the two figures that were left in the Godzilla line they had been working on . They included Gabara and Minya and this was prior to the declining sales force the company to close its doors in the year 1970. Another reason why these are expensive is that the company is no longer in existence and this is wife If you have one of these lines, they are extremely valuable for the very same reason.
In this article, we will discuss another company who enters the market. It’s called Bullmark and this particular firm will actually save this Godzilla toy line, if this does make sense. The company actually picked up the molds from the default firm known as the Murasan Company and the Bullmark company was a possibility, so they went to work and added new characters to the line, one being Ultraman. Bullmark was focused on heroes like Ultraman at the point at which time , when it was the most talked about TV show as kids were anxious to purchase as many of these things as possible. Even though the earnings from the new Godzilla films were at a decline in the 1970s, and we’ve all heard about it in 1975 with the film Terror of Mechagodzilla would be the last film was made by the Toho Company would make until 1984.
In the meantime, the Toho Company was even starting to package their earlier films with cartoons and other kids’ features, and then release the films in special “Festivals” in order to draw the younger audience. Asahi Sonorama would start to publish children’s books and record sets with these new movies , and when older films were released in festivals, they were repackaged. The particular titles they offered very well and children were thrilled to hear the sound effects as well as songs from their favorite movies. Remember when we had no soundtracks or VCRs and yet technology of the time was primitive were today everything is accessible. By the year 1970, The Bullmark Company would rerelease several of the Murasan’s more popular figures such as Baragon, Mothra, Gorosaurus as well as Mechani-Kong and Ebirah Horror of the Deep. In 1970, the Bullmark company would then add 3 additional Kaiju’s that were popular as Godzilla’s costars , which included Anguirus, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. This allowed the Bullmark company would quickly follow the success of these creatures by releasing a couple of additional Toho monsters which had not been released before one being Varan the Unbievable and Moguera.
The Bullmark company added an additional release, though limited of the larger versions of their 3 top-selling products, which are Godzilla and King Ghidorah and, believe it or there is no Baragon. The release will be the Godzilla toy that you find in the opening scenes of the Toho Company’s upcoming installment of the Godzilla series. The film is called Godzilla against the smog monster which came out in 1971. In the future, they’ll add the smog monster into their range as well.
In 1971, during the season of the holidays, the Bullmark company chose to capture a portion of the higher disposable income markets by releasing Murasan’s tin toys again. The company also introduced Jiraasu to their lineup. Jiraasu is an animal in the Ultraman series. The first Ultraman series episode 10 is the actual 1964 Godzilla suit. It was in such bad shape it was necessary to take out the head and they changed it to the 1966 Godzilla against the sea monster head and they placed an ornament around his neck and gave him alter color shades.
By 1972 it would see that the film Godzilla was released. movie Godzilla versus Gigan and of course the vinyl figures would soon be released and there were some adjustments made to the original tenant Godzilla mold to produce the most modern Godzilla. Because of some of the issues with the castings for the tin Gigan mold it was only available for very short time in stores. It did end up being one of the more difficult toys to find within the entire Godzilla toy line. It was unfortunate that the huge monster boom was already on its last legs because children’s fascination in monsters was declining and they moved on to something else as they became bored of their old toys , and are moving to newer toys that seemed more appealing to them.
The 2 following Godzilla movies with C the lowest level of attendance in the entire series and Bullmark did not stop making the final toys for these brand new monsters. Those monsters are Megalon and Mechagodzilla. At this point, American collectors also had their patience paid off as 2 new Japanese monster toys hit the shelves of toys in the form of model kits from The Aurora Company. One of them is named Rodan in the first and another one was King Ghidorah and they were the latest collection of toys from Aurora. The sale of these toys and the specific line as a whole didn’t meet Aurora’s expectations as the entire line was canceled before it was announced that an already-designed prototype to be released. Godzilla kit would be released.
Due to the lack of interest it caused Bullmark to stop producing vinyl monsters as of 1975. They did however attempt to spark the fire under their license for Toho monsters one last time in 1977. The newest competitor Popy’s Line created diecast robotic versions of the show gun warriors have become extremely loved in Japan as people are aware that robotic versions were the hottest thing at that time. That was the time when Bullmark decided to try and release their own versions of the Toho monsters made of rubber and metal diecasts. of the monsters that were released the diecast versions were Godzilla, Baragon, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Gigan they were all released with rubber and diecast metal figures , all sporting firing missiles and various weapons. However , the sales for these specific items aren’t the same as they would like they would be. Consequently for the next release in the series they produced and Anguirus model that is designed more like a pure robot than a beast, much like the line that the competition has.
Although they had announced the release of Mothra and Moguera but they were not produced or released this was the last toy that the Bullmark Company would manufacture before they went bankrupt. In 1978, Popy eventually bought all licenses issued by the bankrupt company and eventually started to offer its own range that consisted of Godzilla toys. However to avoid the same mistakes that Bullmark might have made, they decided to offer a more realistic look at monsters, one of which is known as “Jumbo Source” It is a massive Godzilla toy that actually had an extremely real Godzilla roar. It is still among the top sought-after and sought-after toys. The appeal of this brand is not just to children but to the growing adult collector market.
Unfortunately without any new movies to support them or continue airing on TV, the base of collectors were not large enough to sustain an entire line of toys. In the meantime, Mattel ended production of Godzilla toys to focus on more profitable products. Then Mattel would try to duplicate Popy’s overseas success by creating”show gun warriors” here in America and even though they had the rights to some of their vinyl designs to attempt to capitalize on the recently released Godzilla cartoon, which airs on Saturdays, and this show is dubbed “The Godzilla Power Hour” featuring a 1970s style Godzilla It’s not like the Godzilla that we are seeing today, however it is rather famous today to the majority of Godzilla fans.
Mattel was set to release what’s called “Godzilla’s Gang” figurine, but it was not a complete and fail, however, since there were no other Toho monsters to be seen in it. Mattel chose not to purchase the rights to any of the additional characters and monsters from this series. Instead, Mattel uses the molds of these characters of”Ultra,” the “Ultra” series, which was significantly more well-known in Japan in the era of. The show gun warrior line suffered similar fate, as the toys were not properly made and they did not have any play value here than they did in Japan. The line was actually discontinued within a short time, but not without adding 2 more figures to the ranks of salt after Godzilla toys. They issued the Godzilla figure that was loosely based on the Jumbosaurus figurine, but there was something different about this new model that had no back fence and was replaced with a few clumps of dirt and the roar. It also had an open flame, which means this particular item was very different and it would be the last figure that Mattel would issue in this specific style. The last figure Mattel issued would be a beautiful Rodan piece that had three feet. It is an amazing piece.
Mattel wisely decided to take the name of the show gun warriors off the box instead they simply referred to it as Rodan under the tagline of “the world’s greatest monsters” the particular series, even though the series was only “world’s greatest monsters” that was ever made available. The toys that would be released in the coming years will experience a notable drop from the spotlight over the coming years. There was a company was called Beetland this company being the only legitimate license that released new products. Their most popular releases during this time period were books of all things. With the release of “Asahi Sonorama Fantastic Collection No. 5 Godzilla” in addition to “Kodansha’s complete collection of Godzilla” this is where the fans finally had access to insider information and photos as well as based on films.
Around 1982 when we started to notice early conventions in Japan were also providing evidence for the collectible value of their older toys and merchandise produced. It was that these particular exhibits that the company’s Bullmark vinyl figurines first started to be viewed with which then followed the outrageous price tags that were USD100 plus. By 1983 the release of the first new Godzilla film in an entire decade was officially declared. At this point, Godzilla merchandise began what was a huge leap forward . It was not just merchandise produced, but of a myriad of characters and amazing detail. By 1983 Yamakatsu would proceed to create a truly amazing Godzilla series of 7 highly collectible figures and that includes the brand-new company that they called Bandai was set to make Brandon figures.
The company Bandai will go ahead and offer more figures and greater variety of dimensions than the other manufacturer to date. In 1989 we’d get the release of film Godzilla against Biollante 1989. By this particular point in time we would be returned to the Bandai version of Anguirus, Megalon, Rodan, Gigan, Mechagodzilla, King Ghidorah and the Mothra larva. Additionally, there was a reissue of an original Godzilla character that was intended to be akin to his screen incarnation from 1964 and they chose to release the original large-sized Godzilla they had released in 1984 as part of the “Great Monster Series” although these particular versions are a bit smaller in size. It also released a huge Mothra arachnid the following year, and in the same style.
With much reluctance based on what people would think of the new monster, Bandai decided not to create the Biollante at the time. They King Ghidorah statue in The Great Monster Series would never be released again and this is due to its poorly made wings that were almost likely to snap off after being assembled for the 1st time. In 1991, a fresh Godzilla movie was scheduled to again be released and this one is titled Godzilla versus King Ghidorah 1991. An unnoticed fact at this point, there will be a new Godzilla film released every single season for 5 years. This was not done ever since mid-1960. And yes of course like clockwork, every winter there was a time when the Bandai Company would release toys from the newest movie along with other classic monsters as well. At the time of the release of this film, I made the decision to release a new upgraded Version of Godzilla along with King Ghidorah from the film. There’s a larger version of the new mega-King Ghidorah and Godzilla to go with the King Ghidorah.
By 1992 with the release of the new film Godzilla against Mothra Bandai would release vinyl figures of the first Mothra and a Biollante figure which would eventually release. Also released by this time was a Minya, Baragon, and Mechani-Kong , which we have already seen. that Mechani-Kong is from the film King Kong escapes which came out in 1967. Additionally, there was an upgraded version of Mothra as well as an all-new Monster Batra with its larva stage and the adult stage. I believe this was the year when Bandai released a repainted 10-figure set Bullmark figures that introduce a young generation of kids to their childhood toys.
1993 was a wonderful year, and saw the largest amount of Bandai vinyl figures that were released . Additionally, figures were released for the upcoming film Godzilla versus Mechagodzilla that came out in 1993. Also released was the brand new Kaiju which they called Godzillasaurus, Gorosaurus, Hedorah the Smog Monster, Kamacuras, King Caesar, King Kong, and, finally, Jaguar. Within this very same year, it was the year of the release of the ultimate achievement in the Godzilla figure series and that is the first release of the first Tokyo Marui radio control Godzilla statue. This is an impressive feat of art.
In the next 2 years, he’ll slow the release of vinyl figures and there will be a slight upturn in the number of hire and battery operated and figures such as the Deluxe Series (Godzilla, Moguera, Space Godzilla, and Destroyah) at this point it seems that Bandai’s creativity Bandai seems to have been at its highest as of 1996. It also saw the issuance of a repainted figures in the “Godzilla Forever Series” and , yes, there was the “Godzilla Memorial Box” A little known fact about Bandai in the 1990s they were not able to release any new figures from the Godzilla line in 1996 alone. Fortunately , for the majority of collectors, they would not be able to live long without it since America finally has a Godzilla line that is their own and in America, we have the trendmaster Corporation. United States we have the trendmaster corporation’s release.
This can be described as an American manufacturer that will launch toy characters such as Varan the Unbievable, Mothra, Gigan, Anguirus, Biollante, and many more. The new monsters who spelled have not yet been released in the states. Prior example of that would be Destroyah, Space Godzilla, little Godzilla, baby Godzilla, as well as various other Heisei series monsters. By May 1998 with the release of the 1st American-made Godzilla film that most people do not like for frivolous motives and not to be outdone in the same way by American counterparts, there were many smaller Japanese businesses that decided to pick up the slack given by Bandai Marmit being one of the companies who would create the Godzilla line of toys. Another company that has joined the trend is am-1. These other companies are also makers of excellent Godzilla vinyl kits and is owned by a lifetime Godzilla fanatic having both made announcements about the creation of an entire line of Godzilla vinyl figurines, which includes many figures that have yet to be released as toys. Let me conclude with this, the future of Godzilla collectibles is looking brighter as we progressed into 2015 and there are many other companies making Godzilla toys UK as well as statues the resin statues they create are incredible things I’ve observed there is so much for those who are avid collectors that you can’t even begin to imagine.
