Hail to the King!
Alen accidently [and stupidly – Ed.] wiped out the original thread that this appeared in. But, I thought it might make a good Rumble so here it is…
Often referred to as the most common “Gateway” toy into Japanese Toy collecting, the Bandai Ultra-Kaiju are a lot of things, but respected is not often one of them.
I, however, love the things. They are like crack to me. Easily gotten, cheap, and so much fun to handle. Plus they look colorful and great on any shelf. Especially with many of their fellow brethren on hand.
They also tend to come in 2 varieties…The Funk and The Legends.
This is most evident in my recent twin purchase of King Joe and Tyrant.
King Joe is of course the Legend…
Remembered as the powerful robot adversary from one of the rare 2-part episodes of Ultra 7, this character has captured the hearts of kaiju fans for many years. He first appeared in America by way of Popy and Mattel when he was brought over from Japan as part of Godzilla’s Gang in the 1970’s.
He has been made in Toyform in japan in every style and design imaginable. Of course he was famouse for having 2 versions in the Arklon line of diecast (once again appearing on American shores). He was one of the very few Kaiju to get the Chogokin popy treatment and he will be returning as a modern Soul of Chogokin figure in April.
But, what is his appeal?
I think its the fact that he is a Kaiju designed to look like a giant, toy, robot myself. He looks like a 50’s and 60’s tin wind-up or battery powered robot come to life and grown to giant size.
He was also a combining robot, which was a rarity to be sure in live action televison of the 1960’s. Though he didn’t really split into anything very recognizable, he did split.
The Bandai vinyl is molded in nice metallic gold and painted in silver, black, and has a cool metalic rainbow thing going on in his chest area. :D
He is a nice break from the usual organic Ultrakaiju.
Now here we have Tyrant…The Funkmeister!
One of the evil Yapool’s army of Cyborg Kaiju from Ultraman Ace, Tyrant is molded in green, sprayed in silver, and has the most lethal set of appendages I’ve ever seen on ANY Kaiju. His right hand is an axe, his left hand is a spiked mace. Plus he has horns and spikes everywhere.
Much like Gigan of the Godzilla series, this Kaiju was nothing created by nature. Every part of this cool design gives the impression that this is a conquering war-machine designed to kill and only kill. Add to that the Chrysler symbol that was festooned upon the belly of all the Yapool kaiju and the copious silver paint and Tyrant delivers the FUNK!
Also adding to the FUNK is the villainous Giant Yapool…
A regular thorn in the side of Ultraman Ace through the entire run of his series.
This version of Yapool is acually the most recent one that appeared in the series Ultraman Moebius.
Here is a video tribute to the Evil King Kaiju known as Yapool…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oq4dQcyZv8
This is my absolute favorite kind of the Kaiju, the REAL HEAD TRIPPERS. It was with great satisfaction that I opened him out of the mailer package and my roomate proclaimed…
“What head-tripping Shroom-Head designed that thing?!?”
This is how I guage when I have a real winner. :D
The only complaint I have is that I wanted him to come with his groovie septor like he is carrying around in those clips from Ultraman Ace.
The advantages of Bandai’s Ultra Kaiju are many. Besides the great price, the sheer variety of sculpts and attention to detail is unsurpassed in any other toyline. There are Kaiju designs in this line that have never and probably will NEVER see the light of day in any other form. Also there is something to be said about one of the longest running figure lines in the world.
These are a lot of fun and look great on display, I recomend the whole line.
— Ray
