Yep, it is Question about the ivory Neronga. Club Tokyo and the Sanford Mock section of the Nishimura Treasure Catalog call it a Bullmark, yet this has the Marusan stamp. Several images on the interwebs, mostly Mandarake listings, also show it as Marusan. Any story behind this?
I'm very happy because after losing more than six auctions finally I have the opportunity to score a vintage Ninja Arashi and my first Kamen Rider villain. Unfortunately the Flying Squirrel does not have his boots but still I'm very happy with it.
Thank you Aldo, yes the Flying Squirrel it's vintage too (have the Bandai logo in the foot). I think that maybe looks shiny because I had to giving it a shower. It was clean but smell like humid. Now I only need a pair of boots to have it complete. Best regards!
It has the Marusan stamp, but everyone seems to think it was made after Marusan went under as Bullmark was figuring out what vinyls to make. The older collectors I have talked to have always referred to it as made by Bullmark. Think of it as being similar to a transition foot. (removed san marking but no Bullmark markings yet.) -brian
Cool, thanks for adding that clarification Brian. I find all of this information just fascinating. So, for 'transition' figures, we can basically have 'wrong/old' stamps, no stamps, and double stamps. What was the story behind the Enterprise Gabora, was he another export variation?
Enterprise (or more properly, Tsuburaya Enterprise) acquired some of the molds when Bullmark went down and 'reissued' some of the Bullmark figures in the early 80s. These were limited mainly to Mirrorman kaiju, and a couple others like Gabora and Neronga. They're typically lumped together with Ark and Orange as the spin-off children of Bullmark, but the more I think about it, Enterprise was probably more of a separate company than the other two. It was/is probably related to the Tsuburaya studio (since the molds that it acquired were all from Tsuburaya properties). Eventually, Enterprise became Tsuburaya Communications, which became Yamanaya.
Ahhh, this is all coming together now. Thank you so much. I was always wondering about the connection with Tsuburaya Communications. Dammit, I am a nerd, but I love learning this history.
Thanks, Brian and Daniel, for the answers. One more question; Does anyone have a picture of the header/backing card for the Mirrorman or Ultraman kaiju by Enterprise? Don't think I have ever seen one.
Actually the "transition feet" have no markings at all. The san mark has been removed, but the bullmark logo has not been added. The double stamp only appears on the Marusan Godzilla as far as I know, and is just on the earlier versions. There are seven confirmed standard size Enterprise Ultra kaiju figures, and three more are questionable as to whether they are Bullmark or Enterprise. There are six standard size Mirrorman kaiju by Enterprise, and a almost all of the Mirorman minis were also released. I have only seen photos of the minis in Enterprise packaging, and have not seen the standards in Enterprise packaging.
Also, the Neo-Retro book says that the Enterprise figures are supposedly from 1978, but I have not heard anyone else confirm or deny that statement, so, for now, I use that as a place holder.
What markings do the Enterprise figures have on their feet? As to Marusan stamps on Bullmark issues, I have read that this is the case for all Gabaras. What other figures are mismarked?
The marking on the 1969 Bullmark Gabara of the baby chick is not a Marusan logo. It's the logo of Shimada Toys who manufacture for both Marusan and Bullmark then. In 1970 Bullmark reissue Gabara with it's Bullmark logo.
The Ultra series kaiju retain the original Bullmark stamp. The Mirrorman kaiju have this stamp: I have seen the E.P. translated as "Enya Professional." Not sure if that is an accurate translation or a Google Translate thing.
Great disscussion ! Here's a couple of the enterprise MM mini's with bullmark ver. (And the reissue GID's which are exactly the same but a shade larger) feet..
I had always heard of it called "Enterprise Productions" short for Tsuburaya Enterprise Productions. The Bullmark Gabara figures have Bullmark stamps. The more common "baby chick/penguin" is theoretically a late Marusan or early Bullmark, it is definitely from the transition era, but usually I hear people refer to it as a Bullmark.
My recollection is that the Enterprise Ultra kaiju sometimes have a paper sticker on their foot that obscures the original stamp. I'll see if I have a photo of one of these.
