It’s a bit of a secret that the first Godzilla film came out during 1954, in Japan. The collection of Godzilla souvenirs however did not start until about 10 years after. The first time the toys began to pop up in large numbers and interestingly enough, when the Japanese had produced a great collection of gorgeous monster toys, it was the Americans who got into the game. This is something that a lot of people don’t know. The first toy that was licensed is actually a firearm and game for target that came out in 1955. It was released at the same time as the film Godzilla raids again as well as Gigantis the Fire Monster which is the American dub version. This was the sole licensed product and no other toy would come out for at least another 8 years. It was only in 1963 that Ideal began to develop the game based upon Godzilla along with the famous Monster King Kong. Today, we have two games that are based on Godzilla along with King Kong and this would be the beginning of what as the movie that would come out in 1962 King Kong versus Godzilla.
The original King Kong that came out in 1933 was revived in 1956. That was the year that the very 1st Godzilla would hit the American shores in 1956. It was due to these two films that the monster boom was on. Now we move on to the second item which 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 most well recognized. Aurora Models had already leased an extremely popular line of “Human -sized” monster kits. They then made the decision to re-release kits from the two most well-known “Giant Sized” monsters. One was King Kong and yes the other being Godzilla.
Both of these models performed extremely well, even at a higher price of a dollar 29 since the majority of Aurora kits were price and USD.98 for each. It’s hilarious how prices have risen since then. I’m sure they are at more than 10 times the cost. If there isn’t more. It’s a fact that isn’t widely known that the success and fame of Godzilla did not go unnoticed even in Japan. It was then that the Murasan Company Hua the makers of many different children’s toys in Japan, reasoned that if Godzilla was a success in Japan, then a Godzilla model was so successful within the United States and that they might be able to do better with one that was made in other countries. They took the Aurora style and improved it, giving it a cartoon-like appearance that was very reminiscent of the Japanese comics that were popular with young children of the time.
Within the first 2 years of Murasan Company releasing that Godzilla it was actually a moderate success within the first 2 years after its release. It wasn’t until the year one monsters in science fiction general started to increase in popularity and that The Murasan Company decided that perhaps they should think about making a line that included monster toys and models specifically designed for kids. It was at this time in 1966 that they launched the Ultra-Q Series which had spawned several different kinds of monsters. This particular series would later create the Ultraman series, as we know that Ultraman does battle a lot of monsters.
At the time and in the period I’d say it was around 1965, which is the year they introduced Gamera for the first time. He is now a huge flying Terrapin who is now recognized even today. Godzilla would become more firmly entrenched as a hero rather than a character and this would continue to be it all the way through the Showa Series. It wasn’t up until 1984 before Godzilla would return to his evil roots and will remain so until 2014. It was in 2014 that the Murasan Company did in fact respond by releasing new items for the very 1st time ever that they were released in a vinyl version rather than the plastic version. It was targeted at the market for children, since it is well known that children tend to put items in their mouths or they could scratch their eyes with it and that’s the reason why they launched these toys in vinyl. For the Godzilla line of toys this would include Godzilla, Mothra, and Ebirah from the recently released film it was released in Godzilla versus the sea monster. The tentative title is Ebirah: Horror of the Deep. A variety of monsters were made available in vinyl editions of the Ultra-Q Series.
There are also Gamera the flying Terrapin was released on vinyl along with Daimajin from the movie of the same name and they are also releasing Baragon from the popular movie Frankenstein Conquers the World they were released in the year 1965. There were additional releases of the top-quality plastic toys, such as an electric wired control kit for Baragon and Ebirah as well as this feature in toys from Baragon and Godzilla These particular toys will be uncommon as nobody makes things like this at a Tin. I would be a great thing to own something similar to this. The items that I just mentioned that are made out of tin or iron the prices have nearly quadrupled over the cost of vinyl toys and they were sold fairly well considering they were kept for years.
It was soon to be the year following, which I think was 1966. Minya, Gorosaurus, Mechani-Kong and King Kong (although titled giant gorilla on the box) it also had a King Kong that was a wired control model kit. Plamodel included a Godzilla kit that was also presented in this would be the final Godzilla toy that the Murasan Company would produce. The reason this happened is because the company began to suffer through difficult times financially. Also, keep in mind that one of the reasons is that this particular model was very costly to create and ultimately was the most limited release of the Marusan collection of toys.
In 1968, due to their financial problems, The Murasan Company neglected to add any new figures to the Godzilla line by doing this they miss out on a chance to release an King Ghidorah figure that was to be released with the film just released in the year 1968. The movie was called “Destroy all Monsters” that debuted in theaters in that year. Another little-known fact is due to the increase in the popularity of Gamera and yes the Ultraman collection Ultra Seven and its characters the Murasan Company would not even get the chance to present the final two figures of the Godzilla line that they’ve been working on and they comprised Gabara and Minya and this was prior to the declining sales force the company to close its doors in the year 1970. Another reason for these toy lines being very expensive is that the company has ceased to exist and if the reason you don’t have any of these lines, they are quite valuable to that very reason.
In this article, we will discuss another company that is entering the market. It’s called Bullmark and this company will effectively keep the Godzilla toy line if that seems reasonable. The company actually bought molds of the default company the Murasan Company and the Bullmark company was in the market so they got to work and added several new characters to the line, one of which was Ultraman. Bullmark was concentrating on the superheroes such as Ultraman at this point in that it was becoming the rage on TV and kids were eager to buy all of these figures as they could. Although the revenue for the new Godzilla films were in a decline by the time they hit the 70s and we’ve all heard about it in 1975 with the film Terror of Mechagodzilla would be the final film that 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 children’s features and releasing them as “Festivals” in order to draw the young audiences. Asahi Sonorama would start to offer children’s literature and record sets with each of these new films, as well as when the older films were repackaged at festivals. The books they released were very well and children were very delighted to hear the sound effects and songs from their favorite films. Remember when we had no soundtracks or VCRs however the technology of the day was primitive , now everything is accessible. In 1970, it was the time that Bullmark Company would rerelease several of the Murasan Company’s earlier figures , such as Baragon, Mothra, Gorosaurus, Mechani Kong and Ebirah Horror of the Deep. In 1970, the Bullmark company would also add three additional Kaiju’s to the lineup that were popular as Godzilla’s co-costars. These included Anguirus, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. By doing this the Bullmark company would quickly follow the success of these creatures with two other Toho monsters which had not been released before one being Varan the Unbievable, and Moguera.
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This is when the Bullmark company added an additional, but limited, release of large-scale versions of their three top sellers. They are Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and believe it or not Baragon. The release will be the Godzilla toy that you would find in the opening scenes of the Toho Company’s upcoming installment of the Godzilla series. The movie is called Godzilla and the smog creature which was released in 1971. Then they would include the smog monster into their range as well.
When the year 1971 dawned, the Christmas season, the Bullmark company decided to take advantage of the larger disposable income markets by releasing Murasan Company’s tin toy series again. Additionally, the company added Jiraasu to their lineup. Jiraasu is one of the monsters in the Ultraman series the original Ultraman series episode 10 this is the actual 1964 Godzilla suit that they had was in such bad shape that it had to cut off the head. They then put it back on with the 1966 Godzilla in contrast to the sea monster suit head. They also put an ornament around his neck and provided him with different colours.
By 1972 it would see the release of the movie Godzilla against Gigan and of course the vinyl figures would shortly be available, and yes, there were some modifications done to the tenant Godzilla mold to produce the latest Godzilla. Due to the problems with the castings for the zinc Gigan mold, it did not make it to market for very limited time in shops and did become one of the more difficult toys to find in the entire Godzilla toy collection. It was unfortunate that the huge monster boom was now on its last legs because children’s fascination in monsters was declining and they were shifting to other toys as they grew bored with their old toys and more are moving to newer toys that were more thrilling to them.
The two following Godzilla movies with C the worst attendance in the entire series and Bullmark still made the final toys for these brand new monsters and those monsters were Megalon and Mechagodzilla. At this point, American collectors were also able to see their patience paid off as 2 new Japanese monsters were released on toy stores in the form of kits for model models from the Aurora Company. One of them is called Rodan and the other was King Ghidorah these with the newest collection of toys from Aurora. The sale of these kits and the particular line in general didn’t meet Aurora’s expectations. The whole line was scrapped before the company proposed an already prepared prototype new Godzilla kit to be launched.
Because of the lack of interest, it was forced Bullmark to quit producing vinyl monsters by the year 1975. But they tried to briefly light the fire with 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 are extremely loved in Japan as most realize these robotic versions were the hottest trend at the time. This was when Bullmark decided to launch their own versions the Toho monsters in rubber and metal diecasts. of the monsters released as diecast versions. They included Godzilla, Baragon, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Gigan they were all released in rubber and metal diecast models, each with missiles as well as various other weapons. However the sales on these particular products aren’t so strong as they had hoped they will be. For the next release in the series , they made and Anguirus figure , which was designed more like a simple robot than a monster, very similar to the line of competition.
Although they announced Mothra and Moguera, they never came out. Mothra and Moguera but they weren’t made or released. This was the last toy that they would ever Bullmark Company would manufacture before they declared bankruptcy. By 1978 Popy would eventually buy up all the licenses of the bankrupt business and eventually began to release an own brand of Godzilla toys. However to avoid the same mistakes that Bullmark might have made, have made, they decided to launch more of a serious look at monsters. One is called “Jumbo Source” it is a big Godzilla toy with the most realistic Godzilla roar. This toy is an extremely sought-after and sought after toys. The appeal of this company is not limited to children but to the growing adult collector market.
Unfortunately without any new movies to support them or continue playing on TV, the collection of collectors was not enough to sustain a whole toy line. The company discontinued making Godzilla toys to focus on more profitable line. It is then that Mattel would try to duplicate the success of Popy in other countries by launching”show gun warriors” here in America and even though they had the rights to a few of their designs on vinyl were granted to make use of the newly released Godzilla cartoon, which airs on Saturdays, and this show is known as “The Godzilla Power Hour” which features a 1970s type Godzilla It’s not like any other Godzilla we now but it is rather famous to this day to most Godzilla fanatics.
Mattel released what’s known as “Godzilla’s Gang” figurine, but it was halfhearted and a fail, however, since the cartoon had no other Toho monsters in it. Mattel was unable to purchase rights to any other characters or monsters from the series. Instead Mattel utilizes the molds from some of the figures from the “Ultra” series, which was way more well-known in Japan at that time. This line of show guns suffered similarly, since the toys weren’t well made and they did not have any play value here like they did in Japan. This particular line actually ended up being discontinued after a few years however not without adding two additional figures to the pile of salt Godzilla toys. They issued Godzilla figures. Godzilla model that was closely resembled the Jumbosaurus figure however there was a difference with this particular figure. It did lack back fence replace with some sloppy lumps, some roars and even an open flame. This particular figure was unique and would be the last figure Mattel released in this particular style. The very last figure that Mattel will release was a gorgeous Rodan piece that had an wing span of more than 3 feet. It’s a beautiful piece.
Mattel wisely chose to leave the name of the show gun warriors off the box . Instead, they simply called it Rodan under the banner of “the world’s greatest monsters” this particular series set the bar high even though it contained just “world’s greatest monsters” that was ever made available. Toys within the next few years could see a dramatic lapse from the spotlight in the next few years’ one particular company was called Beetland as the sole active license that was able to release new products. Their most popular releases during the time included books of all sorts. With the publication of “Asahi Sonorama Fantastic Collection Number 5-Godzilla” in addition to “Kodansha’s Complete Collection of Godzilla” This was the time when fans were finally get access to hidden information and images and also based on films.
It was around 1982 when we started to notice conventions that were held in the early days of Japan were also providing evidence for the collectible value of their earlier toys and merchandise. It was that these particular shows were the first time that the company’s Bullmark vinyl figures first began to be seen in it was then that they were released with shocking prices in the range of USD100 and more. In 1983, the release of the very first Godzilla movie in nearly the entire decade of death was made public. By this time Godzilla merchandise was a huge leap forward and not only products produced, but also death an array of great details and variety. By 1983 Yamakatsu would go ahead and develop an absolutely amazing Godzilla series of seven highly collectible figures . The series also includes the brand-new company called Bandai would go ahead and issue Brandon figures.
The company Bandai is set to unveil more figures and greater variety of size than other manufacturer. In 1989 we’d witness the release of the movie Godzilla versus Biollante 1989. This particular point in time, we’d again introduced to Bandai’s versions of Anguirus, Megalon, Rodan, Gigan, Mechagodzilla, King Ghidorah and the Mothra larva. There was also a new release of an original Godzilla character that was intended to be akin to his screen counterpart from 1964 . They also decided to re-released the large-size Godzilla that they launched in 1984, as part of their “Great Monster Series” however these versions are a bit smaller and also included a larger Mothra larva later in the year, and in the same fashion.
However, there was a lot of resistance based on what people would think of the new monster, Bandai chose not to make an Biollante at the time. They King Ghidorah figurine was part of the Great Monster Series would never be re-released and that probably is due to the poor created wings, which were nearly certain to fall off once assembled for the 1st time. In 1991, a brand new Godzilla movie would yet and once more be released. This one is called Godzilla against King Ghidorah 1991. Unknown facts at this time there would be an additional Godzilla film released every single season for five years. This has not been done ever since mid-1960. As a matter of fact, as clockwork, every winter the Bandai Company would release toys from the latest film along with a few other classic monsters as well. When the first release of this film, I chose to release a newly updated version of both Godzilla as well as King Ghidorah from the film. There is a larger version of the King Ghidorah and Godzilla to go along with him.
By 1992 with the release of the new film Godzilla against Mothra Bandai would issue vinyl figures of the original Mothra and a Biollante figure that would finally release. Also released by this time are Minya, Baragon, and Mechani Kong as we’ve already known. that Mechani-Kong is from the film King Kong escapes which came out in 1967. The release also included a recently updated version of Mothra as well as an all-new creature called Batra featuring its stage for larva as well as its adult stage. Given me this is also the year when Bandai will release a repainted set of 10 Bullmark figures that introduced a younger generation to the toys of their parents.
1993 was a fantastic year and had the greatest quantity of Bandai vinyl figures to date was released. In addition, figures were released to promote the film Godzilla against Mechagodzilla which came out in 1993. In addition to those releases, there was the brand new Kaiju which was dubbed Godzillasaurus, Gorosaurus, Hedorah the Smog Monster, Kamacuras, King Caesar, King Kong, and, finally, Jaguar. Within this very same year, they released the first of what could be the most impressive achievement of a Godzilla figure line and that is the debut of the 1st Tokyo Marui radio control Godzilla figure this thing is amazing work of art.
Within the next 2 years, he will slow down in the production and release schedule of his vinyl figures and also see an increase in the availability of hire and battery operated and figures like The Deluxe Series (Godzilla, Moguera, Space Godzilla, and Destroyah) by this point it seems that the creativity of Bandai seems to have been at its highest as of 1996. In addition, it brought the release of updated version of the “Godzilla Forever Series” and , yes, there was the “Godzilla Memorial Box” an unreported fact about Bandai in the 1990s they didn’t release any new figures in the Godzilla line in 1996 alone. Fortunately for most collectors would not have to go to for long without it, as America finally has an official Godzilla line that can be called their own and in the United States we have the launch of the Trendmaster Corporation.
It is an American manufacturer that will launch toy characters such as Varan the Unbievable, Mothra, Gigan, Anguirus, Biollante, and all of the new monsters who spelled have yet to be shown in the United States. The first example could be Destroyah, Space Godzilla, baby Godzilla, baby Godzilla and additional Heisei Monsters from the series. In May 1998, with the release of the original American-made Godzilla film, which the majority of people dislike for frivolous reasons, and never to be beaten with their American counterparts, there was a variety of smaller Japanese companies who decided to fill in the gap given by Bandai Marmit being one of the companies who would create an entire line of toys. Another company that has joined the trend is am-1 which is another manufacturer of excellent Godzilla vinyl kits and is run by a lifelong Godzilla fan who has revealed plans to create lines of Godzilla vinyl figures including many figures that are yet to be produced as toys. I’ll end with this, the future of Godzilla collectibles appears brighter as we entered 2015. There are numerous other companies making Godzilla toys as well as statues and statues made of resin. They have in return are absolutely stunning things I’ve observed. There is so much available for collectors who aren’t able to even imagine.
