I've been really getting into the godzilla figures lately. On top of that, I am prone to make rash, impulsive buys. I just picked this dude up for $30 shipped. Did I get ripped off? I don't know much about Japan vinyl outside of Gargamel & Secret Base....

do you feel like you got ripped?

haha. nah man, this thing is fucking sweet! just trying to obtain some sort of comfort and balance on my spending towards a toy i'm not familiar with...

That Godzilla is a theater exclusive from the Godzilla 2000 movie. Just like other toy companies, Bandai kaiju prices fluctuate. Condition of the toy & tag play a factor, too.

$30 shipped for this isn't bad at all.

Erik's right, that's a pretty decent price for the theater exclusive.

good to know. thanks y'all. usually it turns out the other way around. i end up paying $60 for somthing i later see go for $20. My main concern was if there were bootlegs out there. Since I seen this same figure selling for around a $100 on the bay. Must be them damned flippers, huh?

Bandai theater exclusives seem to have no rhyme or reason to their pricing. Back when I was heavy into Bandai Gamera vinyls I'd see theater exclusives go for almost a hundred bucks at one time and then under fifty a few months later...

Maybe someone can help me out on this, but do the boots still usually either not have tags or have really wonky paint jobs (like spray but no painted eyes, etc)? I remember that's how it was back in the day (around 7 years ago) but I haven't really kept up...

The bootlegged Godzillas tend to have crazy/contrasting paint jobs, and do not come with tags. With that in mind, it is fairly easy to attach tags, real or not, to vinyls with a special hang tag gun. So fakes may look like the real deal.

A bootlegged Spiega (tarantula from Son of Godzilla, DAM, and Final Wars) just sold on eBay for around $80. It even had an attached tag and was being passed off as a Bandai theater release. Bandai never released a standard size Spiega figure.

If you're ever after a certain sculpt and question whether it's legit or not, drop a line here or check the archives at http://www.clubtokyo.org. Lots of knowledgable collectors around who can help avoid buying the fake stuff.

The Gamera theater exclusives can't seem to stabilize in price. The Bandai TE '95 and '99 versions jump from $35 -$100 all the time. Having patience and keeping a lookout will pay off with Bandais tho, since they consistently fluctuate.