Hello, I hope this is an ok topic, as it has vintage and modern. I thought it might be a nice reference to start, to post a vintage figure beside its counterpart reissue OR repro (thanks for the correction Steve! ). A big thanks to Mark K as always , for his vast toy knowledge and his generosity to share. He's helped me immensely from avoiding BIG boo boos along the way in my toy adoptions, and all of the factoids are vastly fascinating to me. AND thank you to everyone for sharing your knowledge and questions along the way too! Ok... so here is the Popy Kanegon. The repro is smaller and stands to the left, while the vintage brother stands to the right and is taller. also... The differences: -Height of vintage is about 5 mm taller (not that much!) -The length of the collar scale (just under the head) is slightly longer in the vintage creature (see 1st photo) -Chin of repro is sunken in/concave, but in the vintage it's a convex transition, where the head fits onto the neck--you can see this in the second photo Other than that, the logo is identical, and the color and spray placement is also nearly identical. It's really hard to tell them apart! So unless the adoption descriptions are specific or you happen to really know the difference, it's easy to confuse the older brother with his younger counterpart I'm adding the header card, encyclopedia, and Baltan photos that Steve posted (see his original post in the Vintage Mail Day thread). Thanks again Steve, for finding and sharing these photos! HEADER CARDS Reissue Vintage Front Back Vintage advertisement from back of Ultraman Encyclopedia of Keibunsha Baltan: Reissue on left, vintage on right
Re: Vintage vs. Reissue - Study in Taxonomy It's puzzling because they made the new versions so close the original - something you would not think was 'acceptable' given how particular Japanese collectors are with vintage toys. I would have thought they wanted to add some kind of extra stamp or copyright just to be sure. Great idea for a thread Grace. Here is one I took a while ago of the original KZ Goji alongside his Slash reissue counterpart. Unlike the KZ reissues, you can see distinct sculpting differences between the two brothers.
Re: Vintage vs. Reissue - Study in Taxonomy cool idea for a thread! ive posted this somewhere here before, but here it is again for good measure unifive reproduction on the left, vintage bandai/popy on the right obvious paint differences, size difference, and (not pictured) the unifive has a "U" stamp next to the other markings on the back. in case you are knee deep in a pile of vintage and repro kaijin minis, you can just check for the "U" and know which is which.
Re: Vintage vs. Reissue - Study in Taxonomy You found your camera - yeah! This really is a fantastic idea for a thread. It's one of those that you would think had been on here for years but here we are. I won't be able to add anything from my own collection, unfortunately, but I'll certainly be following every last post when they happen. Wonderful scores, Grace! Thanks for sharing them with us.
Re: Vintage vs. Reissue - Study in Taxonomy i thought "reissue" meant reusing the old molds or casting a new mold from an older toy (which would explain the size difference), but the kanegon looks like a re-sculpt. in addition, the new header card exhibits shifted elements and a wider crop of the artwork compared to its vintage counterpart, not to mention the difference in line weight. a re-draw? that's a lot of effort!
sheesh! can't slip away with anything around here! Bill you know I'm only chiding you! And thank you everyone, for the nice comments Okee Dokee Bill, I edited the topic to include Repros, as well as my description. Thanks for keeping this scientific study accurate! ...wonderful additions everyone! Hopefully, this will be a helpful reference. P.S. David, I did find the camera, but not the cable to download the photos <insert angst here! >. So the carpenter took the photos. He really thinks these toys are weird (but in a good way).
Hi there I know this is an old conversation, I just wanted to ask does anybody know the actual size of the vintage popy baltan!?
I knew they did garamon but did not know about kanegon. Is the repro vinyl softer? The concave effect could just be warping when it got hot. Happens to the bullmarks.
Oooh, lovely pair of bone monsters you collected there Charlie. While I would do some serious things to get an OG Bullmark in my family some day, I have to say that the Bandai reissue of him, with that ever so delightful space silver paint, has really earned a special place in my heart. He is kind of the perfect segue for me between the goofy and cute vintage takes, and the more 'show realistic' Bandais that came out later. Together though, the best of the best.
yeah I agree, I feel like the Bandai version is a good stand in for the Bullmark, especially since he has a paint job that more closely resembles his costumed version, without being too over the top realistic. and I've always been a fan of the lack of care that went into the spray for his mouth on the Bandai version. It gives a more evil, almost bloody mouth look, to him. All that being said, the colors on the Bullmark pop! really hard, and it stands out on the shelf, I was happy to be able to pick him up.
This is a great idea for a thread @Mr. Humphreys -- a very enjoyable subject to study. Below are some vintage Bullmarks (left) and M1 reissues (right). Some are bigger, some are smaller:
Wonderful stuff Mark! I like seeing all of the angles, this makes a good reference! Especially in light of our recent vintage discussions on vintage auction listings. Thanks for resurrecting the topic and posting some great pics!
I agree with you Grace alot of great stuff here, I'm not really into the mini sofubi but these mini gojis have always caught my attention. But in most cases; Vintage Wins
@Sanjeev - Toho Kaiju Club? If you ever have free time in Portland, Oregon, get in touch. ps - bring your standard size Bullmark MG
Anthony, nice comparison. I like both of those. I have heard the larger reissues were from the original molds, and the much smaller reissues were downsized from an existing vinyl figure. Does that sound about right? In a similar vein, here is a vintage Bullmark vs modern Marusan reissue comparison:
Whoa! What a lot of new posts! Thanks for all the new additions! I absolutely LOVE all of these comparisons! Good stuff, and just can't get enough!
I hope this helps anybody out there looking to avoid those counterfeit repainted Bandai MechaG's. There have been a couple of very suspicious ones over the last few years and I doubt this will ever stop. I would recommend focusing on the vinyl color and foot engravings rather than the paints or general wear, but I will admit all of this is very difficult from those (purposefully?) terrible YJA photos. I am always interested in a discussion on this topic.
This is excellent, Mark, thank you so much for taking the time to document these side-by-side and share them with the community. I definitely feel you on the challenge with spotting a lot of these reproductions, especially (not that I am buying them) on high-ticket items like the MG. I am right there with you in scrutinising photos at great length - oftentimes, too much so, hahaha, much to my own regret - whatever I can find online, from auction listings, marketplaces, and blog posts. But as you pointed out, even when you do have high res images, it can be a lot of guesswork. I think another factor which plays into a lot of the newer toys too is a general 'softening' of the mold, so newer/repro pulled toys tend to have less definition in some areas. This is noticeable [to a trained eye] in some areas of the MG as you've shared above; in placed like the tail ridges/segments, the 'bumps', and the Bullmark (or Marusan) stamp, you can sometimes see a lack of 'crispness' (for lack of a better word) than the vintage toys have. But it is definitely something that is very subtle, and you really do need the good quality photos (and generally a side-by-side) to make this clear.
