Godzilla (17/54) - Bandai Chogokin GD-98 Mechagodzilla 1975 (2006)

I always thought the concept of a mechanical Godzilla was cool, even if I didn't buy that this design could fit inside a skin that for all sakes and purposes looked like the Godzilla we know and love from the outside. This particular example of the character is in fact Mechagodzilla 2, from the 1975 film Terror of Mechagodzilla.

The Showa-era (1954-1975) version of Mechagodzilla is my second favorite design for the character. The Heisei era Mechagodzilla became too rounded for my tastes, but the Millennium-era Mechagodzilla returned to his roots, and in my opinion, enhanced the original design to make it look even cooler. You'll see some examples of that one in the weeks ahead! (And we won't even discuss the Legendary Films poor attempt at Mechagodzilla.) 

I don't remember when exactly I picked this figure up, but it was a throwback to the Japanese Godzilla toys that I saw here and there, but never owned. And as with a lot of things in the collection, the price of these has shot up considerably in the years since their original release, so I'm glad I grabbed it when I did!

As you can see from the box art, there's a lot going on with this figure, from swappable parts (such as post-fired rocket-finger hands, a flight-mode head, and a block-knocked-off laser-emitting brain/stump!). On top of all that, he's very nicely articulated.

Proudly displaying his MG2 designation right on his sleeve!

Watch out — he's locked and loaded, including this high-voltage electromagnetic beam emitting port that opens up in his chest!

In addition to the head being removable, clicking a spine on his back spins his head around (if this makes no sense to you, it might be time for you to revisit Terror of Mechagodzilla!). Check out that crazy head-spinning action below!

Be here next week for another item from the Godzilla collection!

I Am Legend (17/54) - Mundo de Vampiros (1958)

1958 saw the first Portuguese translation of I Am Legend — Mundo de Vampiros (World of Vampires) which was published in Brazil.

What makes this particularly copy unique is that it's one of a handful of editions in the Archive that came from the collection of the author (one of the complimentary copies received upon publication). These books were sold through a bookstore in Burbank in the late '90s, and were hand-signed by Richard Matheson. For me, the autograph is a welcome but unnecessary bonus, as I was thrilled to fill a number of key foreign language edition holes in my collection from the author's personal stash!

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

Creature from the Black Lagoon (17/54) - AHI 'Jiggler' (1973)

We're back with another classic AHI offering — this one pre-dating the 1974 bendy figure. 

Jigglers (or rubber jigglers, or oily jigglers) were unarticulated rubber figures with no wire armature, which allows them to jiggle when shaken, or when hanging from your rear-view mirror in the car. 

Unlike my AHI Bendy Creature, I wasn't the original owner of this jiggler, but he's a Flea Market find I've probably had in the collection for at least 30 years. And for a 51-year-old, he's still looking pretty good. (The doll stand was a real necessity, since he was never capable of standing on his own two feet!)

AHI exploited various opportunities when it came to their rack toys, and licensed Universal Monster jigglers were no exception! They do turn up on eBay from time to time, although they are quite expensive, with the standard premium pricing when it comes to Creature merchandise!

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

 

Godzilla (16/54) - Original Biollante Chibi artwork by Christine Chapin (2016)

© Christine Chapin

Prior to acquiring these pieces, I hadn't been a collector of Chibi-style artwork (according to Wikipedia: a style of caricature originating in Japan, and common in anime and manga where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby with stubby limbs). Once I saw them, I couldn't pass up these two renditions of one of my favorite kaiju — Biollante. 

I acquired these from Christine Chapin (the artist), who was assisting the Godzilla suit actors at their appearance at Alien Con in Santa Clara in 2016. The Godzilla presence at the show, and the acquisition of a few unpublished Night of the Living Dead photos, were the highlights of working an otherwise disappointing con.

© Christine Chapin

Of course I couldn't pick just one — I had to get both. Chapin had successfully to capture Godzilla with Biollante in both her rose (above) and kale (below — that's my interpretation and I'm sticking to it!) forms. 

© Christine Chapin

You can follow Christine on Instagram (@gojiragirl13) and encourage her to create more Godzilla art! 

And be sure to check back next week for more from my Godzilla collection!

Tell me I'm wrong?

I Am Legend (16/54) - Kerry Gammill Hemocyte production art from the unmade Ridley Scott adaptation (Circa 1997)

 

When Ridley Scott took on directing I Am Legend for Warner Brothers in 1997, he was initially working from a Mark Protosevich screenplay (which itself was based on the Corrington's screenplay to The Omega Man). Steve Johnson's effects company had been hired to develop the look of Protosevich's Hemocytes — the creatures that replaced the vampires in Matheson's novel. On his team was comic artist Kerry Gammill.

When Johnson was selling off assets from his XFX company on eBay, I was able to acquire an original Kerry Gammill Hemocyte sketch. I also received a production illustration which appears to be colored and inked from this original drawing. Though not obvious from these illustrations, the Hemocytes were envisioned to be almost translucent, allowing you to see under their skin. Gammill's use of extra teeth did make it into the next stage of the design for the Hemocytes, as evidenced in these make-up tests that Johnson uploaded to YouTube. (I later acquired an original VHS copy of test footage on eBay.)

While I like Gammill's design, and am glad to have pre-production material from the unmade film in the archive, I can't help but believe it's a mistake for the filmmakers to change the vampires in Matheson's story from the familiar (his neighbors and family members) to completely unrecognizable creatures. 

That said, these designs are far superior to the CGI 'Darkseekers' that were ultimately used in the Francis Lawrence film. While it can't be confirmed, I believe the makers of the 2007 film turned to these 1970s rubber jigglers for 'Darkseeker' reference...

 Be sure to check back next week for more from the I Am Legend Archive!

Creature from the Black Lagoon (16/54) - May 1954 Mechanix Illustrated (1954)

Every Creature fan needs at least one copy of Mechanix Illustrated in their collection — the May 1954 issue with a cover story on the newly released film. 

What would Mechanix Illustrated cover about a 50's monster movie, you ask? The How-To-Do magazine features the article, "Science Creates a Monster," detailing the creation of the iconic $18,000 Creature suit.

The article does describe Milicent Patrick as the designer of the Creature (and then goes on to say that those designs were just the first step, and that Bud Westmore and Jack Kevan had the job of creating the Creature suit). 

 Come back next week for another interesting item from my Creature collection!

Godzilla (15/54) - Bandai Theater Exclusive Meltdown Godzilla (1995)

 

If you had asked me growing up if the thought of a Godzilla molded in orange/red was appealing, I think I would have told you that you were crazy. Thanks to this Theater Exclusive (limited to 5,000 copies during the theatrical distribution of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah), this design, and almost thirty years later, every other off-beat color variation of Godzilla, are now among my favorites.

The coloring represents the final stage of Godzilla's nuclear meltdown from the climax of the film.

It was early 1996 when I saw an ad offering this rarity in G-Fan magazine, and I decided I had to acquire one. At the time, this was the most expensive Godzilla I owned. What I could never had imagined is that I was buying it from someone who years later, I would come to know through our shared admiration of Night of the Living Dead!

If I had to pick a favorite Bandai Godzilla, in my collection, this would be the one. My only regret was not picking up a giant, two-foot tall similar color variation...

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

I Am Legend (15/54) - Original Eclipse comic adaptation art by Elman Brown (1991)

If memory serves, one day many years ago, I stumbled across an original page of the I Am Legend comic adaptation for sale on eBay. Before jumping on it, I wrote to the seller and asked if they had other pieces available, and it turned out it was the author of the adaptation selling pages, and he had most of them.

I poured through each issue of the comic to see which pieces resonated with me the most, and I identified four. One of which had the art that had originally attracted me to the adaptation, two made up a two-page spread of Neville bringing the dead vampires to the pit, and the fourth was the final page of the adaptation.

While all four pages were available, the first page didn't actually contain the original portrait of Neville that I was so fond of — it just contained a photostat of the image. As a result, I passed on that one (in retrospect I should have just bought it as well), but I did pick up the other three.

I liked the 'pit' scenes as they showcased Brown's cross-hatching work to great effect, and the dimensionality of the clouds of smoke rising up. The two pages are additionally signed by Brown, and dated '91.

I selected the final page for the obvious reason that it includes the book's title. Spoiler alert.

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