^^^ wow, weird.

his face reminds me of a desiccated wildcat carcass that stayed for years on the edge of a field, on my way to work, many moons ago.

stinky

Great find Michael, I know you have been after him for a while. The writing is hardly even noticeable, so I would count that as a nice score. Perfect backdrop for the photo too Jonathan!

Such a great figure, man. Congrats!

I've always loved the texture on the sculpt and the way the colors really fit. I just wish the show were available subbed so we could see these guys in action!

nice michael, congrats

thanks all- just learned the history of this character and it makes me love the toy even more.

"it's a Weasel Yokai, and the name is a play on "Kusarigama" in reference to the "Manji-gama" part of the character's name; a conjunction of "gama" from the aforementioned weapon (which creates winds in the episode), and "Kamaitachi"."

"Kama-itachi is basically the critter responsible when you find a cut on your body you don't remember getting. It's also a pun - "itachi" sounds like "tachi," which means sword. That's why Sekien drew it as a weasel back in 1776, and modern portrayals follow his lead."

there you have it- a weasel yokai. also, in the episode, his weapon is a swastika on a chain

"In the actual episode, this character has a Manji (the original Indian Buddhist symbol perverted by the Third Reich into the Nazi Swastika), which he uses as a weapon, which is called the Manji-kama (from Kusarigama, a chain and sickle weapon)"

the more you know! this info was graciously provided by august ragone and matt alt

hopefully others out there can nerd out with me with all of this cool information

Thanks for all the info Michael. I for one love knowing all these little backstories, and as a non-fluent speaker/reader of Japanese, there are so many of these subtle nuances in naming that we can all miss. Not only is the character awesome, but it is great to know all these extra little bits of thought went into it too.

They are all wrong. It is CLEARLY a mutated mangy wolf/dog creature - a bipedal Chupacabra! It lives in Texas. For realz.

Thanks Ricky:

><

The FB group comes in handy for once!

Psyche! No vintage mail for me yet, but surely someone would have received a vintage toy in the last few days? I'm jonesing for some new vintage score pics.

Oh, all right...


IMG_20130417_091619_029 by sanjeev666, on Flickr

Oh man.

Way to come out of the woodwork and blow us all away Sanjeev. What a beautiful Hedo. I've only ever seen one for sale, but it is definitely something on my imaginary wish list. Yours has really strong paint and looks to be in excellent condition, considering how hard they are to find. Hope it didn't cost you a kidney (but even if it did, well done!).

Ooohh Hawaiian Hedorah. Fancy! One of the rarest Bullmarks. So Sanjeev that makes two pretty rare Bullmarks I know of in your collection (this and MG) is there a third 'rare Bullmark' you're after? Also I've always found it curious that Bullmark never made a non hawaiian Hedorah. Well I guess the yellow one is, but never one in more muted colors.

Do you mean releasing a different flesh vinyl based on in Japan? It is really interesting to imagine that some of the 'unloved' characters eventually become some of the rarest and most collectable. It is especially strange with Hedorah, given how creative a creature he was - and just at the enormous popularity of him now. To think that he could have been relegated to a benchwarmer in the 70s makes my heart ache. But I guess a lot of it might be related to the later release of the film, and the general way he is so different from other kaiju. The market may just have been saturated with all the traditional characters at that point, or maybe kids didn't see the threatening menace of smog.

I'm 100% positive this article has been posted here before but just in case old age has set in and my mind is going, here it is again:

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2006 ... yesterday/

Great article on Bullmark/Hawaiian toys. Mmmmmm purple striped belly Gorosaurus.

the new...vintage addition to my collection!
a kappa vinyl bank




Guzura vinyl pendant!


and the large Boo yon

I love that Scifi Japan article, Chris...even if it's a bit dated (especially its prices). I have much respect for Ultra kaiju, but I'll always be a Toho boy at heart!



Well, I may not be following you, but there are actually three Hedorah's (Hedorae?) that Bullmark put out. The yellow version is obviously the most familiar and most common. There's the pink one that we generally refer to as the "Hawaiian"...even though the reality IS that they were released in limited numbers in Japan as well (as mine was).

And finally, there's a crazy-rare version--allegedly only released in Hawaii--featuring the common yellow color scheme sprayed onto a caucasian vinyl figure. Yes, the yellow is sprayed all over as a base, then the other colors are sprayed on top...but the caucasian vinyl is clearly visible on the bottom of the feet, through rubs, around joints and whatnot. I know at least one board member owns one of these figures, so if he's lurking, perhaps he can chime in with more information...

Yep, those are the three that I know of too. The flesh one is similar to the Mechagodzilla, in that the overall colour of the figure (i.e. the yellow on the Tokyo design) is also painted on on the base 'flesh' vinyl. It is difficult to tell unless you happen to have one in hand and can flip it over to check.

Here is a pic I am 'borrowing.'

Yup...that's the one!

rakiko, that guzura pendant is amazing!

Boing-oing-oing!

Wow Sanjeev! That Hawaiian Hedorah is amazing. Great paint on it. Congrats!

Also thanks for the info about the third paint on caucasian vinyl version. I was not aware of that one. Thanks for the pic of it too Steve. Very cool to see.

Sanjeev, you mentioned:

Is there any noticeable difference between the Hawaii export ones and ones sold in Japan, or is it just that you know yours came from someone who bought it as a kid in Japan?