@ultrakaiju - Steve, I really share your appreciation for these '54 Toygraph Gojis, and I'm pulling your excellent photo of the maquette version on green vinyl from page one of this thread! This specific toy has always caught my eye, and I agree with you that it really seems to be the colors that draw you in. After reading through this entire thread again, something finally clicked in my brain. As many of you might already know, Shuji Kajimoto-san of Toygraph is a collector and enthusiast of vintage Godzilla toys, and I'm convinced this specific toy is a tribute to the ultra-rare lime green '66 Marusan Godzilla with silver and blue sprays: The above photos on Club Tokyo were actually provided by Kajimoto-san from his own collection. Steve, I know this rare version is familiar to you, but did you ever connect it with the one you have? Kajimoto-san has also painted serveral of his gojis with vintage Bullmark and Marusan paint styles. I would love to find one of the '54 gojis with the Bullmark Hawaiian tribute sprays, but they seem to be incredibly rare. It's almost painful to look at the original retail and early aftermarket prices for some of these rare Toygraph figures now.
My word! I am right behind you in that line, David. What an excellent mail day indeed for you, congratulations. And major thumbs up on that incredible trio you have collected! Such a lovely bunch.
Been working on this lil baby collection for a couple years. It's seen many forms as I've bought, sold, and traded to get these little babies. Although I would love to someday track down the other Guirons, I'm super happy with this iteration of this crew! Super fun gang that just makes me feel happy!
Yay! So happy for you Patrick! That is a colorful and wonderful looking * "gaggle"! * def. "gaggle" http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_group_of_monsters_called
So, I haven't been collecting for too many years. Yet I'm still kind of surprised how common M1 Matangos are, but how rare Toygraph's version is. Well, maybe "surprised" is the wrong word, since Toygraph's looks 1000× better. In all my years of looking, these are the only 3 color variations that I am aware of. I've only seen one pop up for sale briefly, and it had a hurtful price tag attached. So, does anyone have one in their collection? Any theories of Toygraph might do another run someday? Wonder what the approximate quantity was that they even produced?
The prototype sculpts for the M1 Matango and both Toygraph Matango & Enoki version were sculpted by Masami Yamada. M1 has had over 20 years to release different versions vs Toygraph which introduced the above Matango sculpt in July 2010 and only had around 6 months before they closed. Toygraph released 4 color versions. The picture you are missing of the other is on yellow vinyl. I have 3 of the 4 colors, specifically the pictures above. Production runs are very small on the Toygraph Matango. I think around 30 or less, maybe smaller. Probably why you do not see them up for sale to often. Near the last half year of Toygraph all the runs were much smaller. Yellow vinyl version.
Interesting! I suppose I can appreciate the stylization on the stubbier M1 version. I just have a thing for the more "movie accurate" detail on the Toygraph release. Is the Enoki version the version made up of lots of little mushrooms? Love that one too, I just decided to prioritize the primary version since those guys aren't cheap either. Oh! Wow, does that mean Toygraph isn't active at all anymore? Sorry, I'm super uniformed. I guess I thought they were still active b/c I see Space Troopers pop up now and then. Wow! That color is incredible. Thank you so much for info and the image. I wonder if it would ever be in the realm of possibility another company could obtain the molds, or if they were lost/destroyed? From my understanding, that's what happened with the Pilot Ace Harryhausen figures when Marmit re-issued them recently.
Then I guess you are very lucky that Toygraph decided not to release the Matango with eyes. Picture of the prototype with eyes sculpted by Yamada-san. Prototype without eyes. Yes, the enoki version is the one with all the little mushrooms with eyes. Toygraph closed December 2010 because Shuuji Kaijmoto had health issues. The Space Troopers you are seeing are most likely old release. Dead stock of unpainted pieces were also being auctioned off after Toygraph closed. Pilot Ace Harrysausen series are being reissued by Medicom Toy, not Marmit. There is a chance the molds are sitting in some warehouse. But who knows?
I always had a soft spot for the eye version actually, though the enoki one is also fun and so unique. Toygraph has done such amazing work through the - relatively - short years of their output, and the originality and creativity of the line which Kajimoto is responsible for is up there, in my opinion, with the best of any vinyl maker, of any era.
Haha, well it could be the tropical island jungle maybe? Lovely toy, Anthony! The subtle metallic paints are a work of art on this, the perfect minimalist but expertly applied skill - new 'artists' should take note. I particularly like the purple spray added to this mushie, it is just the right touch which gives the character that extra bit of mystery monstrous something.
Ha! That's amazing man. I like them all. There is plenty of room in this world for any and all Matango collectables that are created. Off topic, but it's also way overdue for a decent blu-ray release. I see, That's very unfortunate. Hope his health improved, even if the company wasn't able to continue. They had some fantastic stuff, and I never had a chance to get any of it Sunovabitch. Yeah I swear I meant to say Medicom. I only even knew that because I got a Ymir in Japan. But, you're right- it was a silly question. Might as well have asked you to predict the weather.
That glow is amazing. Definitely my top pick of the 4. I'm with ultrakaiju, looks like you got a nice poison forest for him to hang out in
It really is such a beauty, and you've done it good justice with such wonderful photos. I really wish such a great toy line hadn't become so inaccessible for most fans. Did everyone catch the random batch of Gyaos' that hit recently?
Thanks so much! Definitely the pride and joy of my collection, and easily the hardest to track down. You're right, it's a shame this figure is so insanely rare. Wish the sculpt could find new life through another company somehow. I'd love to see it in exciting new colors! Neon blue, translucent purple... the possibilities!!!
I sold my flesh gamera here and it is still the only sale I have ever regretted these photos are so great