lately..all the best toys I have been getting seem to be the MVP toys with the ugly light brown cardboard headers. Whats the Marmit story? those people are geniuses. what the hell does Marmit mean?
I've found that clubtokyo.org is one of the BEST sites for kaiju info.... http://www.clubtokyo.org/faq/index.php - under "modern vinyl" (cut and paste) "Marmit began issuing the Vinyl Paradise line of kaiju-related toys in 1996, and their first Godzilla-related release was, appropriately enough, Shodai-Goji (VP-011). Since then, Marmit has gone on to put out a plethora of Godzilla toys. The figures are all a hard vinyl and stand 10-12 inches in height, dominating the Bandai figures on any shelf. Marmit also has a habit of releasing their figures in multiple paint variations and limited editions. The limited versions of their figures tend to appear in solid colors, usually transparent and usually blue. There are opaque limited figures as well as some in other colors, white and green for instance. The exact numbers of many of these releases are unknown, but most were show exclusives. A ballpark figure for many of these would be between 50 and 100 per blue figure, and from 10 to 50 of the white Godzilla '62. The two Showcase exclusives were limited to 300 each. the Vinyl Paradise line ended with #101 (MechaGodzilla 2), the 100th figure in the line (due to Marmit's failure to release #4). it looks like the line could very well be continuing though, with their release of a Jiras figure with a Vinyl Paradise header card. The toy is, however, unnumbered. After the ending of the Vinyl Paradise line, Marmit introduced a series of Toho "ParaBaby" figures, scaled in at about 6 inches and somewhat more realisticly detailed than the VP series. Soon afterwards, Marmit introduced the Monster Heaven Series, a line roughly the same scale as the VP figures, but with a much higher level of attention to detail."
Marmit also released some great Star Wars 12" troopers if you are into that thing. Also they released Rainbowman, Spetreman and their villians too. My favourite Vinyl Paradise vinyl would be the Astroboy set which I posted in My Collection thread.
I LOVE all of the Toho/kaiju Vinyl Paradise line. The translucent and Great White G'62 exclusives are living in the KaijuZoo and playing quite nicely with one another !!
I didn't see this until now. I LOVE this line. a lot of people seem to hate it because the sculpts make the monsters look silly/goofy, but I think that's what makes it so great. this has to be one of my favorite toys ever
baikin could probably tell you more than I (where is that guy?) but Marmit is definitely genius. add to it that Globster and Skullbutthead are also Marmit under different guises and you start to grasp the scope of the genius
I love how they put out a clear blue version of each figure in the line, to bad I can't seem to find the ones I really like.
It is my understanding that the clear blue versions were produced as pre production test shots and only sent to dealers to encourage them to preorder the finished painted versions. Which is why they are much harder to find and do not show up in any of the Marmit V P line survey books or magazines. From 96 thru 99 alone, Marmit produced over 100 new figures in the VP line, of which I have been able to find about 70 of.
Bob: is that same true of these clear blue guys? Thanks! [this blue guy came paired with another one]
They might have started out as dealer specials but by and large, the clear blue Vinyl Paradise versions were limited production figures made as "Event Exclusives" for the various bi-annual Japan toy festivals which were open to dealers and collectors alike. They are also documented as such in the 2002 Quanto magazine No. 168 VP feature article and in the VP series article in 2001's Hyper Hobby Dash 6. Here are just a few blue exclusives in the KaijuZoo:
Unpainted beige (or "flesh") vinyl is what's typically used for pre-production pieces. I've never heard of clear blue being used as a test shot (doesn't seem too likely, as it wouldn't show off the details and possible imperfections as well as the flat beige vinyl does -- which is one of the reasons it's used for test shots). As KaijuZoo said the clear blue versions were often released as event exclusives.
Well, controversy always abounds with the history of all things Japanese. Japan has been an insular island culture for some 5000 or so years and its people have always protected their knowledge from intruders by shrouding. Which is why I always preface any statement I make with " It is my understanding..." The up side is everyone is free to choose to believe the story they personally find most credible or just most interesting. To VGA: unfortunately the bulk of my Marmit collection is packed away in storage due to lack of display space, so a photo is not possible at this time. To GEO: Your top photo appears to be a regular size Matango and if so could very well be a sample shot. The small blue figure is a regular issue figure from the Marmit "Vinyl Para baby" series and was in fact, with its partner, one of the ONLY two Marmit figures shown in Hyper Hobby Dash6 in clear blue. This not to say Marmit never released a clear blue figure for an event special, I am sure they did. But does anyone have a list of which ones they are ? I know I dont. What I do know is this, A) of all the Marmit figures in my collection, the only ones I do not have with header cards and bags are all clear blue ( I have never seen one with packaging) B) I have found the clear blue figures FAR more difficult to find than their painted counterparts. And Most important C) No matter what the original intent Test shots for dealers OR limited event special releases, They are both visually cool and scarce. The bottom line for me is to ENJOY.
The blue guy is Robot Keiji K and like Bob said, came in a 2 figure set (one with hat, one without). That damn set keeps alluding me. I've got another clear blue Vinyl Paradise set that's Ultraman and Ultraseven. Some of my favorite figs.
you might have to cut n paste that but its a pretty comprehensive fact sheet for Marmit Vinyl Paradise figures #'s 1-101 lots of clear blues
Just remembered... More info on Keiji-K in Super7 Issue 10. Clear blue guys shown at top of page 35...
Here is a pic from the eBay auction listing of the Keiji-K pair that I have. It shows the header - maybe someone can translate what is on the gold sticker. I believe that my Matango came with the regular brown Vinyl Paradise header (but I have the bag and header stored and not readily accessible).
Geo, the sticker says "Special Ltd Edition" I saw this on Ebay but without header and bag but forgot to bid.
