Bagged with a header card, this figure set doesn’t have an official name, but it’s essentially the ‘Y-MSF Godzilla 67’ with infant Minya, clear spine Guranma store exclusive.’ A perfectly jumbled name for figures of the, hands-down, most repugnant Godzilla suits ever made.

Y-MSF came onto the Godzilla vinyl scene in 2004, becoming notable for releasing relatively unpopular characters such as Varan, Minya and Gabara. Most notable of their initial releases was a 6-inch scale Hedorah, released right at the beginning of the still strong Hedorah vinyl craze. While Y-MSF themselves only released unpainted figures, the Japanese toy store Guranma, through an exclusive deal, released painted versions that were also sold exclusively by the U.S. web-site Temptingtoys.net. Before closing in 2007, Guranma released a lot of variants: Glow-in-the-dark and clear vinyl, metallic paintjobs (Which proved unpopular) and standard figures with clear components, the latter of which I’m reviewing today.

Bagged with a header card, this figure set doesn’t have an official name, but it’s essentially the ‘Y-MSF Godzilla 67’ with infant Minya, clear spine Guranma store exclusive.’ A perfectly jumbled name for figures of the, hands-down, most repugnant Godzilla suits ever made.

Godzilla and Minya both hail from the 1967 feature film, ‘Son of Godzilla’ If you hadn’t already guessed, Minya is Godzilla’s bratty, pug-ugly son, who’s regularly showered with malice by fans. It’s a fairly solid entry in the series and, despite the child-friendly tone, has some rather eerie moments, especially the ending, which is uncharacteristically melancholy. Minya has 2 forms in the film as an infant; a bulbous wire-controlled puppet, and as a toddler; portrayed by a suitmation actor.

Visually, these figures look pretty great. The infant Minya, 3” tall and 2.5” long, looks just as roly-poly and bizarre as he did in the film and is perfectly in scale with his dad. The texture of the skin, the vacant expression and the, obviously supported by wire, arms are dead-on. The open mouth is a nice touch as well and makes it look like Minya’s in the midst of making one of his bizarre, “Wah-waaahn” sounds. It features no articulation, but doesn’t need any as it can stand solidly on its legs, arms reaching out in front, or crawling on all fours. Also, Minya can steadily rest ‘gripping’ onto Godzilla’s tail, as well as on Godzilla’s shoulders, like a piggyback ride. The interaction between the figures was definitely thought out and works well.

The main drawbacks are the paintjob and the trademarks. Infant Minya’s cast in dark, forest-green, hard vinyl with gray eyes. The green seems to consume the sculpting detail as well as the paint of the eyes, and makes it look muddy. I have to mention that the standard releases features Minya in a more movie-accurate lighter gray and tan, which probably benefits the sculpt. The trademarks are typical and sculpted into the figure, but there’s a lot of text and it covers the entire belly.

Though Minya’s an enjoyable figure to have, Godzilla’s the obvious star of the show. The costume design is very rare in toy form and looks completely movie-accurate here, down to the last hilariously ugly detail. What’s distinctive about the design is the huge head, high angled brow line, heavy eyelids and almost pig-like nostrils. The strange thing is that the face really does look parental to me…

…Don’t know what kind of Freudian land mine I just stepped on, but moving on!

Standing just under 7” tall and 6” long, its cast in soft green vinyl with gray highlights, with painted details for the mouth and eyes. The inside of the mouth is a little too rose colored for my tastes, but works fine. The eyes catch light well, which adds a sense of life. The exclusive aspect of the figure is the translucent blue spines. This is actually a separately cast piece which fits flush into Godzilla’s back and creates a look as if Godzilla’s charging up for a blast of atomic fire. The section won’t come loose but it can be easily removed. The curves at the edges of the spines lack the rocky detail of their centers, which makes them look soft and jelly-like, which is strange and due to the translucent blue vinyl. All in all though, it’s a very nice effect and immediately adds a distinctive quality to the figure. Godzilla’s articulated at the tail, arms and le-

Uh…

Hmm…

Fail.

Welp. You can’t move the legs. You WOULD’VE been able to move the legs had there been the appropriate amount of vinyl to set it within the joint, but tragically and hilariously there isn’t. The legs will pop out when you move them more than 45 degrees. It really doesn’t ruin the toy for me, but maybe you’re part of the subculture that poses all of their figures delivering flying kicks and this is a deal breaker (I really hope that subculture exists.)

This is the first Y-MSF figure I’ve owned and I’m not disappointed. The infant Minya looks perfect, though I wish it was lighter colored, and the Godzilla 67’ is a wonderful representation, even better than the Bandai 50th Anniversary Memorial Box version in my opinion. Sure you can’t move Godzilla’s legs, but the main play value lies in the interaction between Godzilla and Minya, which is a definite success. I’m not sure how much this originally sold for but I was able to get it for $18 before shipping from Kaiju-Taro.com, which I think is a great if not perfect price. Temptingtoys.net still sells the standard version of the sculpts for $50 after shipping from both their site and eBay. Although Y-MSF’s figures are made in limited runs ranging from 30-500 pieces, unless you’re dying for Godzilla 67’ and Minya, I wouldn’t say they’re worth the retail price. The quality is about on par with 6-inch Bandai kaiju and I think the price should reflect that. That being said, this is a good set, especially sculpt-wise, and I’ve heard Y-MSF improves their figures with each subsequent release. Even though there are rumors of them quitting Godzilla toy production, they’ve announced on their site many new figures, including Gorosaurus and Biollante!

If you’re interested in getting the Y-MSF Godzilla 67’ with infant Minya, clear spine Guranma store exclusive, they may show up again at Kaiju-Taro.com, otherwise I would check eBay or Yahoo Japan. To check out the standard release, along with other Y-MSF Godzilla kaiju, go to Temptingtoys.net.

There’s a notion of unpredictability, but the eyes give it all away. The eyes are filled with rage…or craziness…or some kind of crazy-rage!

Seeing as how this is my first review, I’ll share a relevant story with everyone to help give some insight into my biases and collecting personality.

Before finding this site, I hardly knew what chogokin meant. I had seen SOC’s before in comic shops but never knew what it signified, nor the fervent fan base behind it. After reading so many reviews of awesome die-cast toys here, I was sold. I wanted to experience this unknown sense of toy collecting joy.

So I came across an Aoshima chogokin Getter 1, the weathered variant, for cheaper than retail. I really love that design of Getter 1 and I was eager to have some die cast, so I ordered it. When it arrived I was ecstatic. I slowly removed the Styrofoam tray, held the Getter in my hands, felt the cold weight of die cast weigh into my palms, heard the ‘click’ of detented joints --- and immediately repackaged it and flipped it on eBay for a small profit.

Haha…ha…aaah.

Point being: I’m not meant for chogokins. I didn’t grow up in the 70’s, so the nostalgia’s not there, and the figure felt fragile and foreign in my hands. It was at this moment that I realized how much I really loved vinyl. The texture, the smell (Yes, the smell); that's what brings about a feeling of toy satisfaction from me.

So after selling it off to someone who can truly appreciate it, I used the money towards something I’d been eyeing for a while, but could never grow comfortable with price-wise: The CCP Burning Godzilla! Only $120! (Brain explodes)

This is honestly the single most expensive toy I’ve ever purchased.

Burning Godzilla is featured in the 1995 feature film, and last of the Heisei series, ‘Godzilla Vs. Destroyah’. The figure emulates Godzilla in his final moments, when his nuclear heart is on the verge of meltdown. He never actually appears bright red in the film, this depiction is a Godzilla toy meme started by Bandai’s first theater exclusive figure, released in conjunction with the movie, the 8 inch Burning Godzilla. Nevertheless, this figure is a part of the ‘Artistic Monsters Collection’ by CCP, an amalgam of kaiju toy simplicity with designer vinyl aesthetics. This particular figure is actually a collaboration with the design house PLEX, making it technically PLEX x CCP. The figure comes bagged with a header card featuring wonderful engrish:

“Do you remember these Monsters? They were so cool & everybody loved there. You must miss them after they disappeared, but don’t worry, they are back now and they are never leave you.”

Damn right.

Burning Godzilla’s cast in translucent yellow vinyl and painted with translucent red. The only color variation is the teeth, which are bright silver. On the bottom of the right foot there are sculpted copyrights and on the bottom of the left foot “CCP” is printed in white letters. It’s 9.5 inches tall, 6 inches wide, 8 inches long and articulated at the legs only. The toy also features a gimmick shared by some other CCP kaiju: Give it a good whack or shake and a series of white LEDs in the legs, abdomen and chest flicker brightly. They can actually be set off separately if you hit it correctly. The colors transition very well and have a subtle glowing appearance in normal light, but when lit up the changes between yellow and red are striking. There’s another version of this sculpt that’s cheaper, doesn’t light up and is cast in dark gray vinyl as ‘normal’ Godzilla 94’ but I would immediately recommend the burning version over it; The presence of this figure is fantastic.

In terms of sculpting, the detail of the scales is great but not necessarily better than most Godzillas. What immediately stands out is the posture. The tail looks to be in mid-swing, returning to Godzillas back, and the spines look to be shifting, carrying a sense of movement, as if they’re actual extensions of bone set in flesh (Or hard-rubber set in latex; whatever you fancy.) The figure simply roars with energy and motion, breaking away from the far more common stillness of Bandai Godzilla symmetrical spines and straight tail. But as good as those aspects are, the face may be its greatest sculpting effort.

The expression is so intense. It makes it look as if Godzilla’s poised to strike (Or more appropriately explode.) The closed mouth, another Godzilla sculpting rarity, sits somewhere between smiling and snarling, bearing bright metallic teeth. There’s a notion of unpredictability, but the eyes give it all away. The eyes are filled with rage…or craziness…or some kind of crazy-rage! They’re detailed simply with red pupils and red outlined irises (similar to Black Getter Robo) but they’re very effective.

Also, I’m a huge fan of any toy that encourages you to smack it; it’s so inviting and rewarding. You hit the toy and it lights up. Not only that, it can take the punishment with interest. Nothing to shed toy-collecting pretense like a good Italian-cop-movie slap to a $100+ figure. Maybe it’s because of a deeper pragmatic sense in me, but when I shell out money for a toy, I don’t want to have to tiptoe around it. I think it’s a great feature and helps to extinguish my qualms with the price. Even if I do end up feeling buyer’s remorse, I can yell out, “Stupid toy!” drop kick Godzilla in the face and watch him spastically flash in response.

I do have a few gripes though. First off, the teeth on the lower jaw on the right side of the mouth aren’t painted. I don’t know if this is a common mistake, and judging from the quality of the figure I can’t imagine it to be, but it takes away from the power behind the expression that can easily be seen from the front and left sides. The articulation is standard kaiju fare and isn’t debilitating, but one particular thing is that there’s a visible seam in the neck. I normally wouldn’t be bothered by it, except that it’s not articulated. As there are no LEDs stored in the head, I think it would’ve been easy to articulate it and harmoniously flow the use of the separate pieces into the design. Finally, there’s the price.

The figure originally retailed for about $85 and it can typically be had these days for about $120, which is what I ended up paying for it after shipping. The price point certainly has to do with it being of a limited production run and it being sold as designer vinyl, but even with the light-up feature it could’ve been more forgiving considering the materials used. That being said, I don’t regret the purchase at all. This has immediately become one of my favorite toys I own. It’s incredibly vibrant and animated in both color and sculpt, especially with the addition of the LEDs. The quality of construction and the use of vinyl ensures durability as well. While expenditures of such a dramatic nature are very rare for me, it’s a startlingly beautiful figure to be looked at, held, and given a good wallop.

They appear on eBay every now and then and will sometimes show up on Kaiju-Taro.com. If you have the money, or if you sell some lesser-loved toys to afford it (always recommended), get it. Like the CCP Burning Godzilla, you’ll explode with happiness!

Another unique sculpt for the US market, MechaGodzilla is a bargain for the kaiju collector.

The second of Bandai Creation's 12" Classic Godzilla vinyls is MechaGodzilla and this time, he stands a legitimate 12" tall. At first glance, it's a more impressive looking toy than the Godzilla, but I think that after owning both for a few days I've come to like the Godzilla just a bit better. Most of that may have to do with the fact that I have about 10 other Bandai Godzillas of various sizes and styles and am now displaying them all as a group, which looks pretty cool. But it is also because MechaGodzilla is molded with his left foot placed out in front of his right. It looks sort of awkward to me and there is no joint at the hip you can use to correct it.

I think if it weren't for that, it would definitely be the better looking toy, especially if you happen to like this version of the character, which hails from the 2002 film "Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla".

This soft vinyl toy has 5 points of articulation, at the waist, neck, shoulders and tail. It looks like there is a second joint in the tail, but mine does not move at all.

I wish I had more to tell you about this one, but it's just a big, vinyl MechaGodzilla. The pictures tell the whole story really. Like the Final Wars Godzilla, this is on clearance at Toys R Us now for $15.99 and at that price, any kaiju fan should grab it.

Not as big as advertised, but this large size Godzilla figure from Bandai Creation is a real bargain.

Bandai Creation has released quite a few 6.5" figures from the Godzilla universe in the last couple of years, but 2008 marks their first foray in 12" kaiju. This Godzilla comes from "Godzilla: Final Wars", a film from 2004. I guess in the grand scheme of things it might be a bit weird that you should see merchandising four years after the fact for a movie that really didn't get a wide release in the first place, but you won't find me complaining.

Other than it's increased size, this toy is not really any different from the previous offerings by Bandai Creation. It's a unique sculpt for the US market and is made entirely of soft vinyl. Good old soft, squishy vinyl.

"Final Goji" here has 8 points of articulation, with 3 of those coming in the tail. The neck, hips and shoulders also turn. The paint job is simple but effective, with the best effect being the blending of the black and yellow on the claws.

Although advertised as a 12" figure, this toy actually only reaches about 10.5" in height. I don't wanna hear anyone complaining though. This is a substantial Godzilla figure that you can pick up for very cheap money. Although I tried to list as accurately as possible it's original release price (only thing I could find online was $26.95 from Amazon), I got mine on clearance at Toys R Us for just $15.99. I recommend that you hurry out and get one before they are all gone. Look for the 12" MechaGodzilla while you are there, too.

For my money, this is the best of the Max Toy Co. Alien Xam colorways and a worthy addition to any kaiju collector's shelf.

Alien Xam is an enemy of Captain Maxx and, like all vinyls, has been released in a variety of colors. I have to admit that when Xam and his partner in crime, Kaiju Eyezon were released, I wasn't blown away by the colors of either one. So I decided to hold off on buying them. Fortunately, last summer both were released in exclusive versions for the San Diego Comic Con in colors I liked MUCH more than before. One of the benefits of being a Max Toy Club member is that you often get first crack at exclusives like this so even though I was unable to attend SDCC, I had these bad boys pre-ordered and set aside for me even before the show started!

I really think these two vinyls go together beautifully, with the way the red of Xam contrasts with the yellow of Eyezon. Plus this was a good opportunity to get one that glows and one that doesn't. Unlike some collectors who shall remain nameless, I like to mix and match my vinyls. Some glow, some regular, some clear, etc.. I think it makes for a better display to have that variety.

Anyway, enough about my collecting habits, how is this Xam? Well, first off, it's bigger than you'd think at nearly 11" tall. It's articulated at the neck, hips, shoulders ankles and claws. Most of the joints are very tight, with the exception of the claws which have a tendency to flop open a bit. But that's only if they are not fully closed. Otherwise, they stay in position fine. And the claws are a really neat feature that I don't recall seeing on any other kaiju toy. Mark really knows how to design a toy that pays homage to the old school aesthetic while still offering something unique for the modern collector.

The paint job on Xam is really good, but not quite perfect. There's a bit of scuffing on the left claw of mine, but everything else is of very high quality. I probably just got a bit of a lemon. Something like this might add fuel to the argument that these toys should be made in Japan instead of China, but it doesn't bother me enough to overcome the fact that these toys are so affordable. You're still getting a great product for roughly half of what other companies charge. But you're mileage, as they say, may vary...

Alien Xam comes in a bag with header card and backing board, all featuring art by Mark Nagata himself. Mark's a great artist and his love for this subject matter always shines through on his projects.

Backing board front

Backing board back

One of my more recent glowie projects: the mechanized terror weapon, Mogera, from 1957's The Mysterians!

I dunno what it is about mechanized kaiju, but I just have a soft spot for 'em. I guess it's sort of a marrying of two concepts I absolutely loved growing up: giant robots and giant monsters. My favorite all-time kaiju is definitely showa Mechagodzilla...but Mogera from The Mysterians (1957) is definitely up there, too!

In my opinion, this movie is highly underrated. Sure, it's campy goodness with cheesey special effects, but that camp and those effects are done right! Toho created something special with this flick. It's a classic alien-invasion story, where the Earth needs to fight off a dying, but powerful, race called "the Mysterians". Can't get much better than that!

Well, it just so happens that among this race's super-weapons is a giant tunneling mechanized mole called the "Mogera". Now, it's not too clear in the movie how many Mogera's the Mysterians possess, but it's clear that they have at least two--after the first is destroyed, a second is seen burrowing through the ground during the desperate final battle.

The effects involving this kaiju and other battle scenes in the movie are pretty amazing for the time. Many of the scenes take place in broad daylight, as opposed to more common nocturnal fights in contemporary monster films, where shortcomings in special effects are often conveniently obscured by the darkness. Instead, the makers of The Mysterians opted for clear, well-lit, elaborate effects that involved some of the best miniature work Toho has ever produced.

My buddy, John Groff of KaijuZoo, was seven years old and living in Japan as a USAF brat at the time this film came out. He's got some great memories of this film! In fact, it was his own custom glow Parababy Mogera that inspired me to create mine! Anyway, this fun tokusatsu adventure is definitely worth checking out. [Click here for Amazon.com's page for Tokyo Shock's US dvd release of the film.]

Now, this particular toy started out as Marmit's unpainted glow Parababy Mogera that I picked up from Y!J for short money. Precious few vinyls exist of the final film version of this kaiju. The classic Bullmark sculpt of this character actually depicts the early concept/prototype version that was obviously modified quite a bit by the time the movie was filmed. Finally, earlier this year, Marusan released a standard-sized film version Mogera (including a glow version that you know I picked up!)...but for the longest time, the only non-deformed, standard-ish sized, glow-in-the-dark game in town for movie Mogera was this Parababy.

And I was not to be denied.

This was actually a really fun project for me! Obviously, my love for the subject is pretty clear. The smaller size of the figure (6" or so) made for simpler masking and quick spray sessions. My primary tools included my precious Parafilm M for precision masking, and glow hand- and spraypaints from Ready Set Glo.

I kinda dig the results! Essentially, I wanted to recreate the movie colors of the kaiju as closely as I could with the glow spraypaints--which was NOT easy! The upper portions of the limbs and the back carapace had a greenish hue in the movie, so I obviously hit them with green. The feet, hands, and head were primarily gold/bronze, so I used yellow. The antenna, main body, and circular saw blade on the back were silver....so I gave them a quick, uni-directional spray of blue up from the bottom. The last paint application was aqua hand-paint used on the eyes, surrounded by black acrylic paint (to simulate the look of the kaiju when firing its eye-beams in the movie). Finally, I sealed everything up with Minwax Polycrylic semi-gloss spray.

Believe me when I tell you this: the figure glows bright as hell! And this is coming from a guy who owns well over a hundred glowies. It's pretty crazy--glow paint on glow vinyl is just deadly. The glow paint, itself, adds to the glow of the vinyl...and actually enhances it. Not only does this figure now glow much brighter than a regular glowie, but it actually glows much longer! Unfortunately, it's tough to capture the color difference among the different paints while glowing due to camera limitations, but they really do appear very distinct. The yellow and green paints glow different shades of green, but the blue glows a very vivid medium blue...and obviously, the aqua eyes look absolutely electric!

I actually had to tone down my exposure time for the glow shots! Normally, I use a 15-second exposure time for glowies...I tried that with this figure and the shots ended up looking like a ridiculous, bright-green blob. Cutting down the exposure time to 5 seconds did the trick!

Well, that's pretty much it for this figure. I finally got my movie-style glowie Mogera and all is right with the world! The Mysterians, The Mysterians, The Mysterians!!

Complementing the Purple Guts Edition of Eyezon, comes Mark Nagata's glowie version of the potato-kaiju!

More giant mutant potato action!

How awesome is this!?

After reading Josh's review of the translucent purple "guts" edition of Eyezon, I knew I had to throw down and rep for the glowies! And here it is!

Mark Nagata, owner of Max Toy Company and all-around helluva guy, is putting out some gorgeous original and exclusive/collaborative vinyls. Eyezon is an all-new evil kaiju creation based on the "Captain Maxx" universe, a home-grown cast of characters centered around the hero, Captain Maxx, a tokusatsu-style protagonist inspired by Mark's son, Max!

So is this an "urban" or "designer" vinyl? It is a non-character toy--an original creation, not based on any pre-existing media. Well, I'm not one for splitting hairs. It's pretty clear where the inspiration for this toy comes from. If you check Mark's collecting habits, you can tell that Eyezon, Captain Maxx, and the rest of the gang actually do have a pretty impressive pedigree.

In this reviewer's mind, it doesn't matter that this is an all-new toy envisioned in a contemporary artist's mind, as opposed to a representation of some long-standing character that has existed in numerous forms in numerous media for decades. This is pure toy, folks. Its roots--the very soul of such urban/designer vinyl kaiju--lie in Japan, as Mark tells us. They're sculpted with a sincere reverence to the Japanese kaiju character toys of yesteryear. This sincerity shows in Mark's work.

My very first commission with John Groff of KaijuZoo...and also one of my very first glowies. ...The start of a great friendship and a near-obsessive collection focus!

One obsession of mine that's no secret is my insatiable lust for glowies. The problem with many vintage-style (usually kaiju) glowies, though, is that their paint schemes are...well...either too dull for my tastes or the paint obscures too much of the glow power of the vinyl. I'm no stranger to customizing toys myself, but back in '05, I stumbled across a website advertising expertly-done custom/restoration work for vinyl kaiju figures at reasonable prices. I contacted the owner of the business, John Groff, and a great friendship was born...

His site, KaijuZoo Toys, offered something great for folks either lacking the gumption to take on customizing their own stuff or just not wanting to deal with the hassel of paint supplies, the mess, etc... Now, people can just relax and focus on the color scheme of whatever vinyl figure--glow or not--they want painted. John even offers services to remove old or damaged paint jobs prior to restoration or custom work. Whatever you want, just ask him! Jonee's a bit of a jack-of-all trades when it comes to customizing, and he'll work with you to create a masterpiece!

It's really a great service if you think about it. For example, lots of vinyl kaiju manufacturers these days release unpainted lucky bag versions or other exclusives of their figures--in glow or varying colors of opaque or translucent vinyl. The thing is that most folks may have no desire whatsoever to paint their own figures. I mean, I don't even own an airbrush--let alone have the space to set one up properly! This is where Jonee comes in! Besides being a great guy to chat about daikaiju eiga with, he'll work directly with you via phone or e-mail, and take as long as needed to come up with the perfect paint scheme for your figure. He's an experienced kaiju toy nut, himself, making his feedback in this process invaluable. He's a real fan, a true artist, and it clearly shows in his work.

So as a client, I get to sit back and let my imagination take off. This figure is actually my very first KaijuZoo custom! Sorry it's taken so long to review it properly! ;) It started its life as an unpainted glow M1 Manda figure from Atragon, Destroy All Monsters, and the opening moments of Final Wars. Jonee's transformation of this toy still has me speechless!

This guy's so good, I've gotten into the habit of doing Yahoo!Japan searches for unpainted (glow) vinyls for anything that catches my eye as something that Jonee can transform into a one-of-a-kind work of art.

Now, I've always loved Manda...something about a majestic undersea serpent had me pretty much hooked when I was little. M1's gorgeous sculpt of this monster certainly helped, too! This KaijuZoo custom would actually end up being my 3rd or 4th glowie ever. Ah...the good old days...when my vinyl kaiju could fit on one shelf...or could be counted using just your fingers! (I think at the time of writing of this review, I have somewhere around 120 glowies!)

Anyway, the paint scheme Jonee and I came up with mirrored a previous one he had painted for another client, only this time, he used translucent paints and left more glow vinyl exposed. I was definitely clear about that part: the finished product had to SHINE!! And, oh my head, did Jonee deliver!

Just check out the glow effect on the teeth and eyes--that's all Jonee's handiwork! He came up with this method of hand painting those details to make for an incredible glow effect.

Not much more to say about this piece, really. The pictures speak rather clearly for themselves. Again, this was my first KaijuZoo custom ever. Since then, Jonee's painted three others for me, including this Marmit glow Getter 1--yes, he can do robots, too! Next up? I'm just waiting patiently in queue for him to do a fifth custom for me! Stay tuned!

As she was ready to leave, she pulled a tattered VHS tape out of her purse and handed it to me. It was a well-worn copy of the original black and white Rodan movie...

Rodan occupies a special place in my heart. This Rodan is not the Rodan of my childhood, but I guess I will talk about it here.

I haven't seen my Mother in years. She's around, somewhere, but we travel in very different circles. Every once in a blue moon we connect, but the occasions are few and far between. The circumstances of our situation I will keep to myself, but let’s just say it affects me to this day.

On one such meeting a few years ago, I had my mother over to see my new baby. It was the first time I had seen her in a while. It was an emotional time, but this wasn’t about us, it was about the baby. As she was ready to leave, she pulled a tattered VHS tape out of her purse and handed it to me. It was a well-worn copy of the original black and white Rodan movie. She said “I saw this at a flea market and thought you might like it. I remember you watched it on Creature Double Feature when you were little”.

And then she left. We’ve crossed paths at funerals and such over the years, but that was the last time we ever had a moment. That stupid Rodan tape. I don’t really even remember watching Rodan as a kid. Each time I see that tape, or anything with Rodan it in, I remember that moment.

For better or worse.

This Rodan, from Godzilla Final Wars, is my first Rodan toy. I like to think that buying this toy means that I have been able to let go, to move on, but I am not sure. It means SOMETHING, but what that something means I don’t know.

I gave this rodan toy to my kids, and they play with it often – it resides on the shelves that are OK to play with. My hope is that my kids will have a much different connection with Rodan than I did.

Attack of the Killer Potatoes!

Attack of the Killer Potatoes!

Eyezon is a mutant potato and enemy of Captain Maxx. He is the second enemy Kaiju rolled out by Max Toy Company.

Eyezon is cast in soft vinyl and is HUGE. He was originally cast in Yellow but what you see here is another edition – CLEAR PURPLE with GUTS. That’s right, inside of Eyezon are multiple pieces of kaiju innards. Each arm and leg also has a solid plastic insert inside it, giving Eyezon an X-Ray appearance.

Created by Mark Nagata, Eyezon is a fantastic Homage to Japanese monsters. Although it is manufactured in China, it feels like a Japanese toy. At 10.5 inches tall, it is a monster in every sense of the word.

Comes bagged with header card and backing card artwork by Mark Nagata.

Suprisingly, I found this toy at a local Newbury Comics store, no doubt due to Max Toy Company’s distribution deal with StrangeCo.

http://www.maxtoyco.com/Shop_item.php?id=147&cat=2&sub=0