@ultrakaiju @Alebrije @Sanjeev - Thank you all for the kind words. Steve, I appreciate you digging into the discussion with me, as I seem to never tire of this topic of the endless vintage goji pantone. I wish Flynn still posted here to chime in, but if you follow his Instagram, he is still reeling in rare treasures as well. Check out this "teal"(?) Marusan paint-your-own variant he found recently (shown next to the standard blue): Yet another piece to add to the puzzle. There was also this mystery goji that hit YJA earlier this year where nobody really knows if it's just the lighting or what, but based on how high the price went, somebody thought it was another rare vinyl color: I do regret losing out on that one, but as for the pale blue beast I picked up (since you asked) - I was actually negotiating to purchase one of these green meanies instead: Described on Club Tokyo by Shuji Kajimoto-san as a "second edition after the J-tail" , this one is green with silver and metallic blue sprays. The owner did not want to sell, unfortunately, but being offered the pale blue with dark green sprays was just something I could not refuse. One reason being that I already knew this one existed, and so did some of you. It has hit me quite deep, and I have been selling off less-important possessions to help keep this hobby highly prioritized. I get so much joy out of all of this that I would be happy with just my favorite vintage Marusan and Bullmark gojiras, and could let almost everything else go. It will probably end up that way some day, and I see it as a happy future to look forward to. I will probably be a broke old man living in a tiny apartment with one small shelf of gojis, and it makes me smile to think about it. As it stands though, I have heard all of these toys are as rare as seeing Bigfoot in the wild... but we seem to have beat those odds!
Many thanks to you Mark for sharing your passion for these beautiful pieces with us, and your story of how you visualize your future made me smile. By the way your version of the image of the big foot looks very similar, only that that goji is better looking. Best regards!
I'm sorry for interrupting in this threat, but I did not know where to put this. I found this photo in a Japanese blogg, do you think it is possible that it is a real J tail?
@Alebrije - Roger, it does have a similar look to the vintage "mystery" j-tails out there, but I could not say for sure if it is a legitimate first issue Marusan or a sales sample. All the examples I have seen photos of do not have any engravings on the feet, but the other features seem to be of the correct time period, including the larger size from an older mold. I might actually have a few other photos of this specific toy if you are interested, along with a few other sample figures. The topic deserves it's own thread though, or perhaps the '66 Gojira variation thread idea we have been discussing could be used. Thoughts? For another update on the legendary Green Godzilla (for this excellent thread), here is a comparison shot of a light green (left) vs the light blue I posted previously (right): Some interesting similarities with the dark paint styles: Pantone check: They are very similar in height and proportion, as well as aging (other than wear from play). The other differences are that the light green is double-stamped, while the light blue is single stamped on the right foot. Also, this light green has a 7-segment tail, while the light blue has a 6-segment Marusan tail "B" (from the Super7 #1 reference). I have seen this 7-segment tail on another Standard blue/green Marusan, but it does not seem to be in the magazine reference. Yet another tail variation?
@deafmetal Thank you for sharing this photo Mark, side by side you can better appreciate all the differences, even the most subtle. It would be very difficult for me to choose one of these two gems. I think that the green Goji on the right it’s even more rare for the fact that it has the double stamp, never seen one in this vinyl color. All the double stamp that I have seen on the past are of a dark blue vinyl color. It seems to me that officially you are the right person to start the thread; just vintage standard 66’s Gojis Marusan and Bullmark.
I had posted the following theories back in 2017 on the previous page, and I now have more information to share: Very likely, indeed: I felt that my previous find on the left was very green until this jungle stompin' goji on the right recently arrived. I think this new one is a closer match to Brian's and Yuji's examples in overall colors, along with the orange eyes and vertical pupils. Here is where it gets even more interesting: The base vinyl really is a light blue/aqua/turquoise color, and this is a much lighter blue than the rakugaki paint-your-own blank that I have. The heavy green paints seem to be the common theme for these "green" variants, but the exact shade of paint colors seems to vary slightly across these three examples: My theory about environmental factors might also come into play here, as I would rate the exposure to the elements from left to right as heavy -> medium -> light: The toy on the left, other than being heavily worn, also feels like it was ground into the dirt for years. I wonder if the bottom of the feet originally looked like the interior vinyl, or if exposure have turned them the light green color like the rest of the doll. Lastly, just to keep you all on your toes, all of these have a different tail version: The more that I discover and learn, the more endless the hunt becomes. This is a good thing though.
Really beautiful! Makes me think of emerald gemstones and jade (except maybe yours is more expensive! ). Thank you for the comparison pics and the descriptions, great details and nice to see the base details! Sorta reminds me of my Tiger 7's I have some that are bluish green (heavily worn) vs. a "bluer" turquoise (newer condition). Good stuff Mark!
@deafmetal Mark Thank you very much for sharing this information with us, please correct me if I did not understand well, your theory is that the three figures were originally made of the same vinyl color but the exposure to the elements such as sun, humidity and maybe even buried caused the differences of tone in the vinyl. If so, it makes a lot of sense to me.
@Mr. Humphreys - Thank you, Grace! @Alebrije - Roger, yes, that is my theory, but I also wonder if the shade of green paint could also have some effect. For the regular exterior of the vinyl that would make sense, but not so much the bottom of the feet which are unpainted. I was very suprised to see how light turquoise blue the interior vinyl was of the recent green goji.
