Chiller April ’03 Roundup
Just a quick overview of the show and the goods I brought home.
Club Daikaiju had their full product lineup on sale, including a gaggle of Gorgos. He was pretty tight-lipped about upcoming products, but what does this mean?
My friends Tadayuki and Masaru from Japan were there as well, with a nice selection of merchandise at the table, as well as great gifts for me:
From Masaru, these Macross gashapon figures. I was really impressed by these. In addition to the amazingly poseable battroids (articulation at the head, shoulders, biceps, wrists, waist, hips, knees [bend and twist], and feet), the fighter mode Valkyries have a nice suprise: styrene! Yep, no more “gashapon disease” resulting in droopy wings.
From Tadayuki, a set of Soul of Bullmark 4. Like the previous three sets, these SOBs are scaled-down ¥200 replicas of old Bullmark vinyls. Unlike the previous series, instead of being sold in gashapon machines, they are now available bagged, boarded, boxed, and pre-assembled where candy toys are sold. Three of the characters are reissues from previous sets: Namegon (now a glowie), Baltan (now blue), and Ultraman (same body with the second version head). The switch to candy toy format from gashapon was due to disappointing sales, but hopefully this change will breathe new life into the line. After all, I still have room in the egg for more.
So did I actually buy anything for myself? Yep. I finally snagged that set of glow mini vinyls of Godzilla and Mechagodzilla that was sold as an exclusive at HMV, along with the normal versions. The detailing on these little guys is really amazing, nearly as good as the full-size figures, and the glow on the exclusives is excellent.
The next Chiller Theatre show is in on Halloween Weekend (duh), and if you would like to attend, check out their web site here.
