Robotman reborn.

Though Microman birthed the transforming robot explosion of the eighties, it was also a casualty of that explosion. After a decade of innovation, Microman died a quiet death in 1984, never achieving the sort of international devotion enjoyed by the bowdlerized Transformers, Micronauts notwithstanding.

After lying fallow for another fifteen years, Takara resurrected and re-booted the property for the new millennium. Takara meant business, introducing three different toy lines (Replica, LED, and Magne Powers), a Manga series, an anime, and generous amounts of ancillary product. Takara typically excels at reinterpreting its older toys for a new audience. Would this massive gamble work? Ehhhhh.

Reaction to the re-boot was tepid. A new generation of kids with no recollection of the original collectively shrugged. Adult collectors were turned off by the dramatic deviations from classic Microman. The ambitious multi-media blitz limped along without generating any real enthusiasm. The millennial Microman quietly expired.

What about the toys? Exquisite, if sometimes flawed.

Robotman Dean was introduced at the tail end of the Magne Powers series. Magne Powers toys incorporated magnetic gimmicks, including magnets in the limbs of the figures as well as interchangeable parts for larger robot and monster building. These toys were like the older magnemo Micronauts on steroids, the magnetic ball construction technique was taken to wild heights.

Dean is packaged in one of my favorite boxes of all time, die-cut with an inner metallic gold sleeve. You can tell that Takara was going all out here.

On the inside: not so much. Dean’s components are twist-tied to cheap corrugated cardboard. There’s no way to store him after you’ve removed the pieces other than to just shove him in an empty box. The later Korean releases of the combiners use a white plastic tray.

The limbs and torso go together intuitively. Dean in his combined form:

In the tradition of the first Robotman, Dean has a cockpit in his chest.

You can see the pilot’s head through a clear window. Also notice that Dean’s chrome face is covered with a clear shield.

Circular metal plates provide connection points for microman figures.

In keeping with the interchangeable ethos of Microman, each limb can be reconfigured (not transformed), into a vehicle or weapon.

Further, each of these can be further broken down and reconfigured into anything you can imagine. The sheer quantity of parts is impressive. Everything breaks down into tiny, detailed pieces. Even parts which could be duplicated, like the feet, are different.

Many parts have metal balls and magnets. Furthermore, these parts are compatible with the rest of the Magne Powers toys, providing nearly endless possibilities.

As a building toy, Dean is very successful. As a figure, he’s a mixed bag. While the magnetic connections are detailed with detented sockets, the whole bot feels ramshackle.

There’s an awful lot going on. Pieces frequently fall off. But Dean is so ambitious, and so nearly great, that I forgive his short-comings and just appreciate the work that went into him.

Many of the Magne Powers combiners were later released by Sonokong and are easily obtained. Dean, for whatever reason, was not, which is a shame because he’s the coolest one.

496123

This design is why we are here today. Why my childhood was what it was. Why this website exists. This is Ground Zero, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

Before you get all excited, this is just a reproduction of the original GA-01 that was offered as a prize item from Banpresto. While it is not the original item, it is a great opportunity to talk about some of the history behind this legendary gokin, the one that started it all.

Back in 1972, Japanese toy maker Popy was having a bit of success with merchandise from its live action shows like Kamen Rider when it decided to first use Zinc Alloy (aka Diecast) in making small vehicles seen in the shows. The resulting toy line was known as Popynica (a combination of Popy and Mini-Car) and was the first Popy product to use the now legendary numbering system. It was during this time that Popy got the license to manufacture merchandise from a new cartoon called Mazinger Z. Developed from a manga, Mazinger Z had been capturing the minds of children everywhere. In order to replicate the feeling of the giant robot, Popy created the Jumbo Machinder line of 24" polyethylene robots.

The Jumbo was a huge success, and Popy was about to hit on another. Lead designer Katsuhisa Murakami was brought in to create another toy concept. If the Jumbo represented size, what would represent weight?

In the anime, Mazinger Z is made out of a fictitious metal called Cho-gokin (literally, "Super Alloy"). Murakami decided that creating these new toys out of the diecast used in Popynica toys and branding them "Chogokin" would be a hit with kids, thinking their toys were made out of the same metal as Mazinger Z.

Murakami was right, and the rest is history. The Chogokin Mazinger Z was dubbed GA-01, and sold like crazy. So much so that they continued to refine and execute the design, resulting in four original versions of the GA-01 and countless repaints and reissues.

This design is why we are here today. Why my childhood was what it was. Why this website exists.

Of course, being the first Chogokin, finding a mint condition example can be a rare and costly affair, costing thousands of dollars.

In 1999, Banpresto decided to reissue the GA-01 and offer it as a prize item to be given away when customers sent in coupons from a select Super Robot Wars video game (Super Robot Wars F Final). Banpresto needed a GA-01 to reproduce, and since the molds had long since deteriorated, looked to collectors to find a mint specimen. They eventually got one from Koji Igarashi, author of Green Arrow Graffiti, and another from Kazunori Saito, legendary collector and publisher of several guide books. It is from these collectors that Banpresto got their template for their version of the GA-01.

According to this article on Toybox DX, the Banpresto version is pretty close to the original, aside from the markings on the feet and the firing mechanism on the back. A comparison of the original versus the reissue can be found here.

Like the original, this version features folding down chest plates with launching missiles.

Included are regular fists and iron cutter fists, both launch with the press of a button on the shoulders.

The toy comes in a reproduction box, complete with paperwork, foam padding, missiles, and two kinds of fists. The reproduction box came shipped in an outer Banpresto box. A black version was also offered, and is harder to find than this one.

This reproduction can be easily found for under $100 on various sites, and is a great stand in for the real thing.

As a bonus, here's a montage of vintage Popy commercials, starting out with Mazinger Z

In 2009 Bandai announced the GX-45 Mazinga Z, a complete retooling of the first Soul of Chogokin, and in the commercial it relates a modern day salaryman's yearning for his classic GA-01

You go inside the cage, cage goes in the water, you go in the water, Robocon’s in the water … our Robocon.

"You go inside the cage, cage goes in the water, you go in the water, Robocon’s in the water … our Robocon." - Rog

So maybe Robocon is a Massive F*ckup, but he is adorable. I had no real interest in Robocon until we watched some raw episodes at the summit one year. I instantly saw the charm of the little red robot with the best of intentions.

Shotaro Ishinomori created Robocon in 1974 as the central character in the live action TV series "Gambare!! Robocon". This children's show featured a cast of robots who have to go to school among humans.

When I say Robocon is a Massive F*ckup, i'm not kidding. Everything this little guy touches goes wrong, despite his best intentions. Cars crash, floors get broken, nothing is spared.

In 1999 the series got a "reboot" in the form of "Burn!! Robokon" This series featured updated versions of the classic Robocon characters.

In honor of the new series, Bandai reissued the classic GA-14 Chogokin Robocon. The GA-14R is actually an entirely new toy, made with new molds, but it is VERY close to the original.

Robocon is almost entirely diecast metal. It feels like a hand grenade in the palm of your hand. The arms are made out of a tightly wound metal not unlike conduit for electrical work. This enables the arms to bend in a variety of ways. One way to tell a reissue from the original is that the reissue has much tighter wound arms, making for smaller segments.

The main body is a solid chunk of metal with an opening chest plate. The detail inside feels like stamped tin.

The lower section of Robocon is again, the wound metal with jointed solid metal feet.

You can remove this lower section and place Robocon onto a wheeled cart to create the Robocon Car. The wheels on the car are rubber.

Other accessories included with Robocon include a chrome antennae that clamps to the back of his head, a propeller that plugs into the back, rubber cockroaches, heart stickers and number cards (for his grades, I think.)

This is a great entry-level piece to collecting vintage-style Chogokin. Getting this piece will give you an idea of what vintage gokin collecting is all about, and whether or not it is right for you.

Even though there are cockpit windscreens featured on each of the five jets, they operate together under the singular consciousness of the Phoenix Galactabeast, and are never seen being boarded by any Ranger or the Magna Defender.

The Earth-built colony vessel Terra Venture is humanity’s first attempt to reach the stars. But in the midst of this glorious adventure, on the distant planet of Mirinoi, its people are being terrorized by the evil Scorpious and his minions. Several humans from Terra Venture are pulled through a wormhole to the besieged planet, and there they, a museum mechanic, and one of the natives of Mirinoi successfully remove the five legendary Quasar Sabers from their stone thrones. In their attempt to escape on the famous but worn-out Astro Megaship, one of their own is lost, and Scorpious orders Mirinoi turned into stone as punishment, and then turns his wrath on the peaceful colony vessel. The four human owners of the Quasar Sabers and the younger brother of the fallen soldier manage to unlock the power of the bladed relics in order to become protectors of Terra Venture- the Galaxy Power Rangers!

A new villain, Deviot, brings to Scorpious a plan to defeat the Rangers. All he needs is the sacrifice of two of them, so he captures Blue and Green, and forces them to fight each other- drawing power from their attacks to power up his remote controller. And then once it is at full capacity, he infuses that power into his dark Zenith Carrierzord and the two Megazords within- the Stratoforce and the Centaurus. But when the Rangers confront these new giants, the Galactabeasts which form the Galaxy Megazord and Defender Torozord unexpectedly refuse to fight! Forced to withdraw, the Rangers go back to the mysterious book that the GSA on-board Terra Venture is trying to translate. A breakthrough reveals the discovery that the Centaurus, Stratoforce, and Zenith Carrierzord are actually three more Galactabeasts from a war 3000 years ago, which Deviot found and then transformed into Megazords under his control. Armed with this new info, they beg with the converted Galactabeasts to remember who they really are and turn on their evil master. The three sentient Megazords remember and then align themselves with the Galaxy Rangers.

. . .

The Stratoforce Megazord is made up of five components. But even though there are cockpit windscreens featured on each jet, they operate together under the singular consciousness of the Phoenix Galactabeast, and are never seen being boarded by any Ranger or the Magna Defender. Therefore, it does not fight simply because it is ordered to, but because it chooses to fight; which is generally true of all the Galactabeasts.

S1 Zord

S2 Zord

S3 Zord

S4 Zord

S5 Zord

We never see the five separate S-Zords battle as individual components in the series even though they are stored & launched separately from inside the Zenith Carrierzord. Therefore, one can only guess as to what each component is capable of based solely on looks and how it transforms. (Ironically, this also stands for its original Japanese counterpart from the Super Sentai saga as well…) However, they all share a few features, such as non-poseable landing gear, rocket nozzles & wings of various sizes, and silver-painted windscreens.

The Stratoforce Megazord (back)- like the Deluxe Red Dragon Thunderzord long before it (from 1994’s “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” season 2)- is an unusually fit and trim-looking Megazord, which thus gives it a very agile fighting style in addition to extended flight capabilities. The head of the Megazord actually features a PVC mask which is removed to reveal its true unarmored head beneath for when it transforms. (Why this is, I have no idea. But it is never shown fighting without the mask on.) The arms have ratcheting joints at the shoulders which snap at every 45º. As an interesting note, the ABS fists can actually twist around at the wrists, allowing for more posing options later on. The legs, as I said earlier, are much thinner than anything before. The narrowing black feet actually look like string-less slippers as opposed to blocky boots! And the top of the front of both feet are covered with panels which fold over when transforming them back to vehicle mode. The knees snap-twist around at every 60º, but the legs aren’t far apart enough to do anything useful; additionally, twisting either leg easily upsets the Stratoforce Megazord’s balance and he’ll fall flat on his face. (Or rather, flat on his chest...) When changing it back into vehicle mode, the mask can be stored on the back of the S3 Zord; the Megazord’s sword, however, is simply put aside.

The Megazord has two weapon features. The first is a blue PVC sword which is gently pointed like a “V”, and has a handle on one side which can be gripped by either fist (though traditionally in the right). This is where those wrist joints come in handy because of the limited poseability of the arms otherwise. The other is a little more old-school, and is actually a key part of the transformation of the S-1 Zord! Behind the shoulder joint on both upper arms are recessed buttons which, when depressed, will spring-launch the entire lower arm/fist assemblies like missiles! Only when attached as arms will they fire; if the buttons are pressed in vehicle mode, they will not shoot out because the springs are actually inside the black ABS rocket nozzles. (All you need to watch for when converting them to Megazord Mode is the orientation of the fists, and that will clue you in to which way they point.)

For those of you wondering what the differences are between the Deluxe Stratoforce Megazord from “Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy” (1999), and its Japanese counterpart, the Chogokin GD-14 DX Kouseijuu GingaPhoenix from “Seijuu Sentai Gingaman” (1998), it’s actually a rather pleasant surprise:

• On the Stratoforce Megazord, all of the windscreens on the separate flyers were painted silver; they were painted black on the GingaWing 1 (S1 Zord), GingaWing 2 (S2 Zord), and GingaWing 3 (S3 Zord). However, no paint was used on the cockpits for GingaWing 4 (S4 Zord) & GingaWing 5 (S5 Zord) since the plastic coloring was already black.

Amazingly, the Stratoforce Megazord’s single change highlighted something that the DX GingaPhoenix did not! And here’s the interesting part: on-screen in both series, all of the cockpit windows are a rust-brown in color. Otherwise all decals, the few paint applications on the mask & inner head, plastic coloring, functions, molds, and materials are identical!

. . .

I was really disappointed with the designs of the mecha seen in “PRLG”. While a few of the earliest mecha in Super Sentai did not merge with each other (mostly because the tokusatsu sub-genre was still finding its feet in the early 80s), since then only “Gingaman” has had five-part mecha that also do not merge together with accessory or secondary mecha. Being a relatively-big PR fan at that time (though I dislike “PRLG” in general), it was a big let-down, and since then this lack of transforming has not reoccurred. The only exception was this blue and dark gray Megazord which kinda ran off in its own direction:

• it was not commanded directly by any Ranger
• all five vehicles were designed to fly
• none of the vehicles has an identifying number, shape, or color
• all five vehicles were commanded by a single intelligence as opposed to five separate ones
• in Megazord Mode it had a very thin and agile appearance which was breakthrough

The proportions of the toy in Megazord Mode are also not wacky; I’d even go as far as to say only the shoulders are slightly farther apart than on a normal-sized human, and that’s it! There’s a bunch of little things to worry about when changing it rather than a couple of big things, which also is rather a bit of a precursor to a few later lines. And everything works together very well. The Seijuu [trnsltn: “Star-beast”] transformable toys in the “Gingaman” line were all notable for having very generous amounts of die-cast metal in them after several years-worth of all-plastic, but the GingaPhoenix and its cousin Chogokin #GD-13 DX Kouseijuu GingaRhino (aka Deluxe Centaurus Megazord) had far less. In fact, only the shoulder levers and hip joints- both only for transformation- here use die-cast metal… which was also imported over by Bandai America. (Yay!) The spring-powered lower arms also shoot a fair distance rather than just falling out of the launcher like they did on the Deluxe Mega Voyager from “Power Rangers in Space” (1998); the fact that the arms shoot out like that is a just plain nice throwback in my opinion, and is a feature that would be seen less-and-less as the years progressed. And the nice thing here is, BA actually did a good job by having it so closely match its Japanese counterpart. If it hadn’t, I would have gone with the DX GingaPhoenix. But I didn’t. My only complaints are that you can’t tell which leg part is which so you just have to remember it, and the gold metallic finish on the chest chips off kinda easily. And so, the Deluxe Stratoforce Megazord is a very good alternative since it was cheaper, but looks, works, and feels exactly the same. Highly recommended!

This set is known as the Astro Galactic Megazord to differentiate it from the original Deluxe Astro Megazord released the previous year from “Power Rangers in Space” (1997), but in-series during “PR Lost Galaxy”, it is still referred to as just the Astro Megaship.

The Earth-built colony vessel Terra Venture is humanity’s first attempt to reach the stars. But in the midst of this glorious adventure, on the distant planet of Mirinoi, its people are being terrorized by the evil Scorpious and his minions. Several humans from Terra Venture are pulled through a wormhole to the besieged planet, and there they, a museum mechanic, and one of the natives of Mirinoi successfully remove the five legendary Quasar Sabers from their stone thrones. In their attempt to escape on the famous but worn-out Astro Megaship, one of their own is lost, and Scorpious orders Mirinoi turned into stone as punishment, and then turns his wrath on the peaceful colony vessel. The four human owners of the Quasar Sabers and the younger brother of the fallen soldier manage to unlock the power of the bladed relics in order to become protectors of Terra Venture- the Galaxy Power Rangers!

The Astro Megaship was once a powerful space vessel. It could travel between stars in the blink of an eye, and it fought against many foes both above and on the surface of planets, so its metal was proven many times over. But after the end of the climactic battle against the Alliance of Evil which threatened to crush the entire Universe at one time, the Astro Megaship was finally worn out after its gallant duty was finished. The ship- and her onboard computer personality known as DECA- was retired with high honors on Earth, and delegated to become a planet-side museum so that future generations could marvel at her and learn the value of dedication, courage, and teamwork. But when a desperate GSA officer from Terra Venture tried to commandeer the ship in order to save his teammates on a distant planet, the Megaship’s sole mechanic begrudgingly stepped in to fly the rescue mission. After saving all but one of the stranded Galaxy Power Rangers from Mirinoi, the Astro Megaship docked with the colony vessel, and then became their secret private transport as Terra Venture crossed the stars. Unfortunately, the Megaship’s previous owners- the Space Power Rangers- had chosen to remove key components before she became a museum, so the vessel was no longer capable of transforming into the Astro Megazord until their return.

. . .

This set is known as the Astro Galactic Megazord to differentiate it from the original Deluxe Astro Megazord released the previous year from “Power Rangers in Space” (1997), but in-series during “PR Lost Galaxy”, it is still referred to as just the Astro Megaship. (I will do the same here. I’m not gonna type that whole repetitive name out every single frickin’ time unless there is a difference to be pointed out; no way!)

• Astro Mega Shuttle (back)- While it is not seen in “PRLG”, it still forms the head of the Astro Megazord.
• Astro Megaship (back)- The larger of the two halves, Megaship is a sturdy design that features several hangar & storage bays throughout its hull, and has a highly sophisticated computer system with a limited female-sounding artificial intelligence of its own, known as DECA. While it operates mostly in habitable regions of the universe, it can easily travel into deep space, or make landfall, with only a crew of five. The Astro Megaship forms the torso, arms, and legs of the Astro Megazord.

In flight mode, the Megaship is a compacted flying saucer shape, with two red diagonal stabilizers on top of the engine housing (though in both series, they’re really vertical), a set of cargo & access bays hanging beneath which also serve as landing pods, and a pair of twin energy cannons to either side of the bridge. The turrets can spin a full 360º, but the twin barrels cannot pitch up or down. When not in use, the Mega Shuttle is stored inside a large bay inside the split section of the nose; the only sign of its presence being the small V-tail stabilizer projecting above the hull. The hull detail is quite impressive and well executed. To simulate flight, you can either hold it in your hand, or roll it along a smooth flat surface using the four wheels on the bottom of the landing pods.

Unlike the original 1997 set, the Astro Galactic Megazord had the light-and-sound feature removed, which helped to reduce the cost of the toy by about $10. In order to remove the feature:

• The large transparent-red “M” on the chest is the same, but the two trigger buttons inside of it are replaced with non-moving parts to fill the gaps.
• While the battery compartment door remains the same along its back, the part immediately below it where the On/Off switch used to be has been replaced with another which eliminates & covers that switch, but otherwise they are identical.
• The hidden switch at the back of its neck- which would activate the F/X when attaching the Mega Shuttle to the torso- has obviously been removed as well.

Aside from coloring (which I’ll address later), these constitute all of the changes between the original Astro Megazord set and the Astro Galactic Megazord.

Very well proportioned compared with many of its own kind, the Astro Galactic Megazord (back) is well detailed and solid. The joints are nice and tight, and the decals don’t take away or distract from the overall look. The arms rotate 360º at the shoulders, and snap at every 30º. The legs, while not really designed for action poses, can be moved into some interesting if limited positions for a look of flying through space. The two small engines for the Mega Shuttle hang off the top of the shoulders and act as the main propulsion for the megazord. The only paint apps on the entire toy are the face of the megazord, and the cockpit of the Mega Shuttle. My only complaint might be that there was no joint at the elbows or shoulders; I can accept what they did with the legs.

. . .

For accessories, the toy has three: the Astro Megazord Saber, Astro Megazord Shield, and Astro Megazord Blaster. The Saber is a soft, very light gray PVC weapon about 5 inches long. The black plastic Astro Megazord Shield is actually the belly of the Megaship, but split down the middle horizontally, and rotated in half. There is a small PVC handle for the Shield that the megazord can hold in either hand, though it’s preferred in the left. The Blaster is actually the booster assembly for the Mega Shuttle, with a PVC handle and cannon barrel folded out. As an added bonus, the Blaster can separate into its three different components, and attach to the Megaship as extra armament. The two small turrets the Megaship uses are not used on the megazord, but are still capable of spinning all the way around. So, if you want to take a cheap shot at your enemy one day...

The Deluxe Astro Galactic Megazord is a repaint of the Deluxe Astro Megazord; which in-turn is a re-release of the original Japanese toy, the DX Denji Gattai Galaxy Mega from “Denji Sentai MegaRanger” (1996). In general, aside from the differences addressed above physically between the Astro Megazord, the biggest difference here is the coloring used. Instead, for the Astro Galactic Megazord, all blue and silver plastic was swapped for black and gold respectively. All red, white, and light gray parts remain the same. The Megazord now features red eyes instead of yellow, and a gold-painted face instead of silver. The cockpit windows of the Mega Shuttle were also changed from brown to gold. The decals, also, have been updated. While retaining the same filling patterns and detail lines, again a simple color swap was made- silver for gold. The only exception on the decals is that the- shall I say- small rectangular belt-buckle decal was changed from bronze to black- the only modification made other than the gold swap. There are two decals on the outsides of the ankles that were originally blue that also swapped for black.

This also means that since the Deluxe Astro Galactic Megazord is the same as the Deluxe Astro Megazord, it is fully compatible with the Deluxe Delta Megazord also from "PRiS", which means you can make an alternate-colored version of the Astro-Delta Megazord.

Y’all remember that episode of the original “Star Trek” series from the late ‘60s, where some of the crew from the U.S.S. Enterprise were accidentally transported into a parallel universe in which their counterparts were the complete opposite of them in both appearance and personality? Well, this set represents what a mirror version of the Astro Megazord might look like- black for terror & death, gold for opulence, arrogance, & wealth, and red for blood. On the other hand, this set is rather unique to the PR franchise- it is a US-exclusive release! Many times in Japan, Bandai has released special black-and-gold repaints of certain DX sets from certain Super Sentai series, but almost none of them ever made over to American shores under the PR trademark. There were super-rare black-and-gold releases of the Deluxe Galaxy Megazord (minus all the metal parts of course).and the first Deluxe Megazord from 1993, in the US. However, this is the first US-exclusive repaint as well as the first US-exclusive black-and-gold Deluxe repaint (and so far the only of both). And usually with any of these black-and-gold repaints in Japan the price of the toy nearly doubles, but in this case it actually dropped about $10 due to the removal of the electronics. And so, with the exception of those missing F/X (which I really don’t think is a loss), the Deluxe Astro Galactic Megazord remains a winning toy, if you can find it anymore.

This is one of the most beautiful vinyls in my entire collection.

Since my last Matango review, I finally got around to actually watching the movie. I thought it looked beautiful, but tended to drag to much for me. For some reason, it just didn't really speak to me. Strangely, I went on a bit of a Matango buying binge anyway and picked up this amazing M1 limited release of Mami.

This is a somewhat difficult to categorize toy. It's not quite kaiju really, but I wouldn't consider it exactly a girly figure either. Whatever it is, it's exquisitely done. The soft vinyl figure is about 7" tall and the feet are molded to fit into the resin base. It is articulated in four places, the neck, waist and both shoulders.

The paint job is simply breathtaking. Every detail is meticulously attended to. Not only does the color perfectly match the clothing in the movie, but the eyeshadow, lipstick and nail polish is has been very delicately applied. Her right pinky finger is curled in to that you cannot even see the nail from the front, but if you tip the figure back and look, even that's been painted.

The base features a small patch of mushrooms around her feet with the name of the movie written on the front in red lettering. The toy comes packaged in a box with some nice imagery from the movie. The box measures approximately 8.5"x2.5"x4.75".

A figure of this quality is enough to get me on board, but if you are loathe to buy something that isn't out and out monstrous, well they've included a little mini Matango too. This guy is about 2" tall and molded in pink vinyl with blue, yellow and red paint sprays. And you can wear him wherever you go since he comes on a long gold, plastic necklace!

This figure was released as a limited mail-away exclusive in conjunction with the 1999 release of the Matango laser disc. Another figure of a transforming Matango was also released at that time.

Until further notice, this is my favorite Godzilla vinyl.

Despite the almost innumerable amount of kaiju characters released as vinyl toys over the years, I've been a bit disappointed with the Godzillas out there. There are more versions than I could care to count, but none ever really spoke to me. I always wanted one that had the vintage Bullmark style and represented the Godzilla I grew up with, the ones from the early 1970s. Well, it's not perfect, but so far this Marmit Vinyl Paradise release of Godzilla from "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" is my favorite.

The face sculpt on this one really seemed to capture the ferocious yet somewhat comic expression that endeared Godzilla to so many kids my age at that time. The mouth is shaped in such a way that you're not sure if he's smiling or scowling. And the eyes are focused straight ahead with determined ferocity.

I think this vinyl tends to look MUCH better from the side rather than straight on. The body looks a little too wide to me at the base, although not too bad.

Godzilla holds Hedorah's eyes in his hands. I really like this idea, but where Marmit drops the ball a bit, in my opinion, is that they basically use the same silver paint spray for both the eyes and Godzilla's claws and scales. I think a bit more detail would have been nice. Also, it would have been cool if the individual teeth were painted.

Godzilla stands 10" tall and comes packaged in a bag with a header card. It features 5 points of articulation (shoulders, hips and tail). Unfortunately, you cannot turn the head however. But overall, it's still the best Godzilla I've come across.

Rinoa Heartlilly comes from Final Fantasy VIII

Bandai America has been distributing Japanese toys in the US since the 80s, and we thank them for that. But they haven’t all been smash hits like the Power Rangers.

Back in 1999 Bandai America tried their hand at an anime theme line by putting out a series of fixed-pose final fantasy figures. These figures had ONE point of articulation, a weapon and a stand.

Rinoa Heartlilly is part of a line called Extra Soldier. These 4”-ish pvc figures are essentially trading figures re-packaged as action figures. Unfortunately, they do almost nothing. Rinoa can move her arm at the elbow, but that’s it. You can attach a weapon to her arm, which is oddly made of two parts. So you can’t point basic joint work on this figure but you can create a miniscule weapon with two parts?

It’s nice enough if you are a FF fan, otherwise, skip.

Personally, I never got the whole Beast Wars thing. Cars to robots I can understand. Frogs to robots - not so much.

Spittor was another one of those impulse buys at a lunch break from work. It was during that time that all of the Beast Wars toys went on clearance, and I picked this guy up because he was essentially the same as Car Robots Gushar (with paint differences).

It's a decent little toy but nothing to write home about. The plastic is very soft and it feels more like a playskool toy than a transformer. Spittor transforms from a cybernetic frog to a humanoid robot. Personally, I never got the whole Beast Wars thing. Cars to robots I can understand. Frogs to robots - not so much.

Spittor comes with a whip weapon that can double as a long tongue in frog mode.

Essentially what Spittor was to me was hand candy. I would fiddle with him when I was on the phone, occasionally change him around, but thats about it.

I really don’t know what the hell I was thinking with this one.

I really don’t know what the hell I was thinking with this one.

This is what happens when there is a toy store near your work, and you get desperate. It’s not that this is a bad figure; it is just so out of my collecting scope.

I bought this on clearance one day at a KB Toyworks store for a paltry $4.99. I was a big fan of the misfits, and thought what the hell; it will look good in my office. I figured I would pick up the rest of them on clearance as well. It turns out that only one other figure was released – Doyle. Maybe Glenn Danzig didn’t want to be associated with the Misfits after the band continued without him? Or perhaps nobody cared enough about the new Misfits to buy figures of the relatively unknown other members. Regardless, Jerry Only became my officemate for a few years until I switched offices and brought him home.

In all seriousness, the figure is not a bad figure. It is sort of goofy looking, but it is packed full of details. The guitar, for instance, has actual strings on it, and a rubber strap connected by metal rings. (note – the metal rings tend to break or get lost).

The figure body is your standard 1/6 scale body from BBI. Nothing to radical here – you can do most poses you want with it, but only so many while holding the guitar. The figure does not come with a stand, which is unfortunate.

The box is cool – it is coffin shaped and has a window on the front and the Misfits skull printed on the inside back.

These figures are kind of hard to track down now, so if you got one on clearance, consider yourself lucky.