Kabaya produced this insane toy as a promotional item for their Jyu-C candy (pronounced like "juicy") in 1973. It appears that Jyu-C is still being produced today (http://www.kabaya.co.jp/juuc/item.html). I guess it must be good; can't say I've ever seen or tried it. This toy consists of four parts. The first is a large plastic egg (not shown) with the Kabaya Jyu-C logo. This egg splits in half to reveal a vinyl monster inside. I'm told that the name of this character is "Henshoku Kaiju Biomelon" (Color-change Kaiju Biomelon). Biomelon? Yeah, I dunno. The larger figure is inside the egg. I'm pretty sure it's made of vinyl; all four limbs are articulated. The figure is actually just a hollow shell held together by magnets and metal washers, and splits apart to reveal... A smaller vinyl figure! You might recognize this fella from some of those little patchi-kaiju sets that were reproduced/bootlegged several times over. The vinyl is very soft and rubbery. Now this guy actually arrived with the head popped into the neck joint. When I took it out, I heard something rattling around inside the small toy. My first thought was, "Oh God, it's another creepy note." With some trepidation, I heated the toy a bit and popped the head off (although the vinyl is so soft that you really don't need to heat it at all). AND THERE IS A MICRO VINYL INSIDE THE SMALL FIGURE. This one must be barely an inch tall. There is an amazing amount of sculpted texture for something that could be easily snorted up a kid's nostril. I can't fathom the thought process and chain of corporate approvals that would give rise to such a bizarre and elaborate prize item. But I can say that pulling out that micro vinyl from the body cavity of another vinyl fills me with the type of wonder and delight that makes this hobby worthwhile.
This is the best thing I have seen in ages, thanks for posting. I always loved the toy within a toy concept when I was a kid.
That's pretty fucking awesome, Daniel! Great score! I'm kinda surprised so much thought went into a "mascot toy", like you said, but also because other toy-toys of the day didn't offer such gimmickery. Wild! So, does Biomelon actually change color???
easily the coolest thing I've seen all week! What a fun toy, love stuff like that. I still have one of those wind up eggs where Godzilla comes walking out... this is giving me some great ideas to rip off
I can half imagine the Kabaya dudes back in '73 getting a hold of a righteous bag of 'shrooms, producing the idea of a dragon inside a dragon inside a dragon.. that goes on forever man! Biomelon is just about the right name..
That would be pretty wild. Nothing happened with the hairdryer... maybe some freezer time is in order?
that is one fun piece of kaiju right there... but go back what did you mean by finding a creepy note?
Beautiful find. I managed to find the original ad online: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/thatseurobeat/ ... /2007/8/30
Impressive sleuthing. All those ads rule! I wonder though, the one from the ad does look pretty different from the actual toy. There was obviously a massive transition from the hand-sculpted prototype shown, so somewhere in the design process they must have decided it was a bit too menacing for children. Unless they just pulled some other more typical kaiju molds for retooling, to save money. The more we learn about this story, the more interesting it becomes. Can anyone identify what is says about the 'internal' figures, if anything?
Wow, that's really interesting. Thanks for digging that up and posting it. Never would have thought to search for the ad. If I'm reading this correctly, it says there were 1,000 winners selected each week from 4/15 to 6/30. This really gives you a sense of the scale of production of these toys back then. Sounds like there was also a trading card of Biomelon given out as a consolation prize. @ultrakaiju- It only says that there are 2 additional kaiju stored inside of the one pictured.
This. It's kind of unfortunate that this style of toy isn't around so much in the current sofubi world. It seems like it'd be a lot more work, production-wise, but it's such a cool result.
Wow! Fantastic toy! Thanks for sharing with us. I wonder if maybe it wasn't just for the prize, but possibly this was a toy that was repurposed for this promotional use.
That is AWESOME! I just want to say that from now on, I am sjaking every single mini I pick up (or am allowed to put my grody hands on)!!! This can't be the only one of its kind, and I'm a big fan of micro figures Great find - what a fantastic toy!
