Imaginext Blind Bag Series 6 Mecha-Godzilla

I finally found the Imaginext Series 6 Mecha-Godzilla blind bagged figure the other day and I am loving him! He is seriously one of the funnest of all blind bagged Imaginext figures to date.

Upon bringing him home I immediately undertook the task of building a little LEGO city for him to roam around in.

This Imaginext figure is simply a guy in a robotic dinosaur suit, but is unmistakably inspired by the King of Kaiju, Godzilla, as well as his mechanical nemesis Mecha-Godzilla.

The detail is incredible, there's not a square millimeter on this guy that didn't get attention from the sculptor. Clearly a labor of love, this one is!.

Under the helmet, which I didn't bother to take a pic of thsi time, the guy is wearing a Robo-Cop-esque helmet and visor. The visor is red, and lines up perfectly with the open maw of Mecha-Godzilla helmet, giving a neat laser-ish effect when you look into his mouth.

If you look closely here you can kind of see some of the red in his mouth.

My Intern helped me build this city (on rock and roll), well actually she built minifigs and placed them all about the city while I tried to build a photogenic and passable LEGO city. She is going to be livid tomorrow when she sees that the minifigs she placed about the town aren't in the exact spot she left them! I tried to get them back to their proper places, but I know I failed.

I need to dig out my Imaginext Space Ape for my next photo shoot! He was out of reach during this photoshoot, but he'll make a pretty good Kaiju too methinks.

Blah blah blah, damn I took a lot of pics this time, didn't I. Oh well, I'll just yammer on to myself as you scroll past looking at the pretty pictures.

But seriously, I do LOVE this Imaginext Godzilla guy. I saw online somewhere that people have been using the helmet component and adding it to a Jungle camo G.I. Joe figure to amazing effect. Not sure which Joe figure it was they used though, perhaps someone will remind me in the comments.

After taking these pics, I remembered my original plan of adding flames and other destructive effects to the city. Maybe next time.

'History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man. GODZILLA!'

Great Horneytoads!

I've discovered that when it comes to my local swap meet finds, the old addage 'when it rains it pours' often describes my finds well.

Having not picked up a Godzilla toy in ages, my last trip yielded a Bandai Mechagodzilla, and today's trip yielded this big Dor Mei 'Godzilla' knockoff from 1986.

This guy is about a foot and a half tall. Nice and massive!

My daughter wanted me to take a pic of him holding someone, and handed me Star Sapphire. :)

You Mecha Me Crazy

I haven't picked up or blogged about a Godzilla toy in a long time, having pretty much gotten all of my must have characters some time ago, including the most iconic look in my mind (1968 Godzilla) and Godzilla's first appearance (1954 Godzilla)

But one important Godzilla that I have really wanted and have never gotten around to picking up is the classic 1974 version of MechaGodzilla. That is until now!

This is the 6.5" Bandai MechaGodzilla released in 2009, and is probably still available in stores.

What can I say about this guy other than he is so insanely cool looking. A super fun design and accurate to his original film appearance. No Godzilla collection is complete without him, and I am stoked I finally got him into mine.

"Shall we dahnce?"

History shows again and again...

I love Godzilla, and I grew up during the golden age of cheap plastic Imperial Dinosaurs, so when I spotted this bootlegy looking Godzilla toy at the Goodwill last week, I knew he had to be mine!

I'm pretty sure this is an Imperial Godzilla knock-off. I don't know if the company that produced this one is legit, if they bought old molds or sold this guy as "random atomic dinosaur beast," but he has no markings besides "Made in China" on the base of his right foot - a sure indicator that the manufacturer wishes to remain anonymous.

He looks nearly identical to the Godzilla toys manufactured by Imperial in the mid eighties, except that those Godzilla figures had hollow open mouths...

...and Fakezilla here has a solid mouth, complete with partially painted tongue! Now THAT'S quality!

The Imperial Godzilla was also green. This guy is an odd combination of beige plastic with orange paint covering most of his backside and a spritzing of green highlights.

It gives him the look of unripened citrus.

Not very Godzilla-like in the color department, unless you're color blind, which is an affliction I have a strong suspicion the designer of this toy suffered from.

Kooky coloration aside, there's no mistaking this Tokyo tromping beast. He's Godzilla on (Citric) Acid!

"Wassaaaaaaap!"

This guy may be a dime a dozen. He may be a decade old or a week old. He may be available at the dollar store or in the grocery store right now. He may be easy to come by. He may be as elusive as a Blue Snaggletooth.

I don't know.

And I don't care.

Because he's gaudy and cool and my house is so full of ridiculous toys that he just had to come home with me!

We Be Jamina

Godzilla style!
"CHOMP!"

This here is an unlicensed "Godzilla" toy from Jamina World Corp.

On his foot it says "Your lovely pet from Jamina" and he is dated 1987 and was made in China.


I found him at a local thrift shop.

He is supposed to walk, and his arms and jaw are supposed to move. His eyes are also supposed to light up. Mine does none of these things. But he still looks cute.

I discovered through some net research that there were two versions of this Jamina dinosaur. One had pointy felt scales on his back and there is then this one with the Godzilla like plates.

They also don't seem to be too hard to come by, nor is it too expensive to get a working one on places like eBay.

It would be cool to see him operate properly, and I may someday try to get into his inner workings and see what I can do. Until then he'll just have to look ominous on my Godzilla shelf!


UPDATE: This post inspired me to draw Godzilla for my art blog - if you haven't been over there lately check it out, I've been adding a lot of new stuff!

Godzilla Week vs. Mechagodzilla!

This is the biggest guy in my meager Godzilla/Kaiju collection. Standing about a foot tall, this is another Bandai vinyl figure that has recently began (re) appearing on toy store shelves. Also available at this scale is a Final Wars Godzilla which looks pretty awesome at a foot tall.


This is an updated Mechagodzilla from 2002's Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. The original Mechagodzilla appeared in 1974, and this one is much more detailed and robotic looking, while still holding true to the "guy in a suit" Godzilla/Kaiju standard.


His arms move at the shoulder, his waist turns, and his head turns at the base of the neck. Just enough articulation, and probably about the same range of motion as the actual suit!


The details are great at this scale, and since he's hollow vinyl he isn't heavy or bulky. He's just big!




Trypticon vs. Mechagodzilla - kinda like a gargantuan game of Rock Paper Scissors:

"I transform into a city."

"Oh yeah? Well I SMASH cities!"
Mechagodzilla FTW!

Godzilla Week Day 4: Godzilla '04

This is another Bandai Godzilla made for the Japanese market. I am pretty sure there's an American version available too. The primary difference is that the American versions seem just a tad larger.

This Godzilla is from Final Wars. The fiftieth anniversary Godzilla movie, released in 2004, was also the last Godzilla film to date and ended the most recent arc of films that began in 2000 I believe.


Final Wars is a fun movie that reminds you: no matter how big a Hollywood budget is, no matter how well written and intelligent a script is, and no matter how "important" an American actor may think he/she is, sometimes all you need for a good time is a guy in a rubber lizard suit.



"Wasaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap?"

Godzilla Week Smashes Into Day 3

Today we focus on two great tastes that taste great together.

No, not peanut butter and chocolate.

Imperial toy company and Godzilla!


As discussed in a previous post, I loved Imperial dinosaurs as a kid. Their flagrant disregard for scientific facts, their rock-hard plasticy goodness, their sloppy Chinese child labor paint applications, their hollow throats for Star Wars figure eating fun. And chances are this guy has more lead in his paint than Lex Luthor's penthouse. What's not to love?

In 1985 Imperial began producing Godzilla toys. Somehow I missed them back then, I was probably moving into another toy genre by '85. Dinosaurs were so 1984!

I only recently acquired this 6" guy, and he's kitschy cool - a must for any Godzilla collection.

In true Imperial form, he doesn't represent a specific Godzilla as much as he captures Godzilla's essence. His arms, legs and tail move, giving him thousands of times the articulation of general Imperial dinosaur figures past and present.


And ironically, without any modification whatsoever, this Godzilla already looks Jokerized:


"Why so whatnow? I don't get it."

Godzilla Week Lumbers On...

Today's entry is Bandai's 1954 Godzilla, representing his first appearance on screen. If you haven't seen the original Japanese version of Godzilla, you should. It is much more of a commentary on nuclear weapons (from the only people in history to have a nuclear weapon used against them) and is much more than just a "monster movie." I decided to do black and white images because the '54 film is in black and white.


He's 6" tall and made of vinyl, like the '68 I posted yesterday. He's dated 1998.




He looks just like his movie counterpart, especially when photographed in black and white.




Stupid lizard. Forget about "Yawn-zilla Weak" and bounce on over to Eclectorama for "Joker Week."