Godzilla (44/54) - Shinji NIshikawa 60th Anniversary Bullmark Button (2014)

Yes, we just celebrated the 70th anniversary of Godzilla last weekend, but today we're showcasing an item going back 10 years. 

It's a pinback button celebrating 60 years of Godzilla from 2014, with art by Shinji Nishikawa.

As a bonus, here's a Godzilla pin I've had even longer!

Be sure to check back next week for another item from my Godzilla collection!

I Am Legend (44/54) - I Am Legend Film Cast and Crew Hats (2006)

I got my first I Am Legend crew hat, with a cool IAL logo, from the same crew member from whom I purchased all of my screenplay revisions. I subsequently picked up a second that still had the original tag.

Years later, I came across a Panavision New York hat with the embroidered title, and couldn't pass it up. 

 Check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive. 

Happy 70th Birthday Godzilla (43/54) - Clear Card Collection (2024)

In honor of Godzilla's 70th Birthday, I thought I'd focus on a very cool new trading card set from Japan that I recently added to my collection.

Technically, the packs and packaging all refer to Clear Card Collection Gum — and sure enough, you'll find a stick of gum in every pack of two cards. Each 16 card box also contains a bonus Box card (I don't know how many Box cards there are, as the one I opened was #1).

While I knew each box contained 16 packs of 2 cards, and that there were 32 cards in the set, I didn't want to take it for granted that each box contained a complete set, so I purchased a few, just to be safe. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I did in fact receive a complete set in the first box I opened (plus the bonus Box card). Best of all, the cards exceeded my expectation. I didn't realize they were clear cards, printed on transparent plastic. In the photos below, I purposefully held the cards so you could see my fingers behind the card, and get a clear sense of how the transparency was handled.

It's a great set of cards, with both classic and cool images spanning the length of the Big G's career.

The only question that remains is whether I open the extra boxes I procured in order to assemble a set of the Box cards, or if I should be satisfied with the complete set and one Box card that I've opened.

Check back on Wednesday for another item from my Godzilla collection!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (43/54) - Super7 Visible Creature Model Kit (2022)

Our clever friends at Super7 came up with another interesting idea in 2022. They re-issued the classic Aurora Creature model kit in clear plastic, and added interior 'guts' a la the classic Visible Man kit of years past.

To be fair, it's not exactly the same as the Visible Man, which had an internal skeleton and separate organs you built and populated within his accessible body cavity, but they do earn points for effort. 

And who's going to argue their claim of the kit including REAL MONSTER GUTS anyway?

Here's a look at said guts!

 Be sure to check back next week for another item from my Creature collection!

Godzilla (42/454) - Godzilla vs Biollante Japanese B2 poster (1989)

I am a huge fan of artist Noriyoshi Ohrai's advance poster art for the Heisei era films. While I don't yet have any of those originals in my collection, I do have the Japanese release poster for Godzilla vs Biollante (measuring 20 1/4" x 28 5/8").

Is it any wonder why Biollante is one of my favorite kaiju?

Check back on Sunday for our special Godzilla Birthday post!

I Am Legend (43/54) - 1975: Occhi Bianchi Sul Planeta Terra Italian Photobusta Set (1971)

The Italian title for The Omega Man was 1975: Occhi Bianchi Sul Planeta Terra (1975: White Eyes on Planet Earth) — obviously taking a cue from the contacts worn by the actors portraying 'The Family' in the film. 

In Italy, the 'photobusta' is similar to the American lobby card, only much larger (~18x26). Released in sets of 8 (and occasionally more) images, and often, despite the films being advertised being shot in color, using colorized black and white photos. 

Of course an inadvertent result of this colorization is the suggestion that Matthias is wearing a bright red cloak, like the bedspread above!

Photobustas often contain multiple images — in the case of some films (including The Omega Man), multiple images are spliced together in such a way that is not obvious to someone who hasn't seen the original stills.

Check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (42/54) - Leonardo as Creature from the Black Lagoon (2023)

Way back in 1994, Playmates, the action figure license holder for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles released as series of Turtles as Universal Monsters, including Leonardo as the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

In 2023, NECA did their version of Leonardo as the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and they did a pretty amazing job with it. 

Not only is it a highly articulated figure, but he has multiple hands, and character appropriate accessories, including Creature-inspired Ninja weapons!

As with their actual Creature figures, NECA did a fine job on the packaging as well. It was a no-brainer to add this crossover character to our Creature collection!

Be here next week for another item from my Creature collection!

Godzilla (41/54) - Kenpachiro Satsuma Autographed Photo (2014)

As I mentioned previously, in 2014 I had the pleasure of meeting two Godzilla actors at Monsterpalooza in Burbank, including the man inside my favorite Godzilla suit from 1984-1995, Kenpachiro Satsuma.

As with the original Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima, I was pleased to be able to get a photo signed in which he was featured outside of the suit.

Satsuma starred opposite the original Godzilla suit actor in the following Showa era Godzilla films: 

• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) as Hedorah
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) as Gigan
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) as Gigan

He would then assume the role as the King of the Monsters throughout the Heisei era in:

• The Return of Godzilla (1984)
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) 
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) 

Though the baton was passed to Tsutomu Kitagawa for the Millennium era, Satsuma will always be the actor who portrayed the role in my favorite era of Godzilla films. 

Kenpachiro Satsuma passed away last December at the age of 76.

Check back next week for another item from my Godzilla collection!

I Am Legend (42/54) - Chikyu Saigo No Otoko (Last Man On Earth), Hayakawa (1971)

In 1971, coinciding with the release of The Omega Man, Japanese publisher of I Am Legend, Hayakawa, released Chikyu Saigo No Otoko (Last Man On Earth) with a photo cover featuring Charlton Heston. It's interesting to note that the cover photo is credited to Warner Brothers Pictures from "The Last Man On Earth" and "Humanity SOS."

The cover and title page actually reference "Humanity SOS" in addition to The Last Man On Earth and (Old title Vampire). The book is a revision of the 1958 Hayakawa edition, once again translated by Tanaka Koji (the last line of the novel being, "I am now a legendary monster."). 

This edition also contains an original afterword by the translator discussing the history of vampires, referencing both Bram Stoker's Dracula and the penny-dreadful Varney the Vampire, as well as Universal's film starring Bela Lugosi, Hammer's Dracula with Christopher Lee, and Roger Vadim's Blood and Roses (which is described as a bizarre vampire movie, and an enjoyable film with beautiful colors). He goes on to describe the novel as, "compilation of all that vampire knowledge, and by reading it you will be able to master most of the vampire science." He also adds, "...it's not just a culmination, there's a cynical irony, with a comical and terrifying end implied by the title, I Am Legend." 

Check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (41/54) - Pop (2024)

I don't collect Funko Pops. I see them as a collecting fad whose bubble will eventually burst, leaving tens of thousands of big-headed plastic bodies at the bottom of landfills around the globe. But, I will give them credit — they've managed to negotiate just about every license imaginable, and for every 1000 Pop characters that I have no interest in, they'll drop one that I am compelled to provide a home to (even if only temporarily). 

Funko did their first Creature quite a few years ago, and have released a handful of glow or color variants since then. Just in time for Halloween 2024 comes this latest colorful rendition that I decided was worthy of becoming part of the Creature collection. 

He'll have plenty of company with the other Creatures around, but he won't be joined by his Universal Monster Pop Brethren. As far as I'm concerned, they're all 'next stop — landfill!'

Check back next week for another item from my Creature collection.