SciFi Japan » Merchandise

SciFi Japan » Merchandise http://www.scifijapan.com/articles Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:04:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 GODZILLA 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION SOUNDTRACK CD Going Out of Print March 31st http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/11/godzilla-50th-anniversary-edition-soundtrack-cd-going-out-of-print-march-31st/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/11/godzilla-50th-anniversary-edition-soundtrack-cd-going-out-of-print-march-31st/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:19:53 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12525 La La Land Records Special Thanks to Mark Banning

La La Land Records has made the announcement on their website that their great 2004 release of Akira Ifukube’s career defining score for GODZILLA (Gojira aka; Godzilla, King of the Monsters, 1954) is going out of print on March 31st. There are reportedly less than 120 copies left in their inventory so fans who missed out on this when it initially came out would do well to act fast. Another great incentive to purchase this CD is that it’s price has been reduced to $4.98! To order the GODZILLA 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, go to lalalandrecords.com/Godzilla. La La Land’s release boasts a significant upgrade in sound quality and is a no-brainer alternative for fans who cannot afford to track down a rather expensive copy imported from Japan. The only Japanese import still in print is the version from the GODZILLA SOUNDTRACK PERFECT COLLECTION which cannot be bought on its own. The 1993 Toshiba/EMI release as well as the version that came packaged with the score to RODAN are both long out of print. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/11/godzilla-50th-anniversary-edition-soundtrack-cd-going-out-of-print-march-31st/feed/ 0 NARUTO SHIPPUDEN COLLECTIBLE CARD GAME SHONEN JUMP CHAMPIONSHIPS http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/09/naruto-shippuden-collectible-card-game-shonen-jump-championships/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/09/naruto-shippuden-collectible-card-game-shonen-jump-championships/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:17:27 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12501 VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases Special Thanks to Erik Jansen

Bandai America Inc. and VIZ Media, LLC are pleased to announce the new NARUTO SHIPPUDEN Collectible Card Game (CCG) SHONEN JUMP Championship Tournaments in North America. There will be multiple tournaments held throughout the United States at select hobby retailers culminating in the National Championships to be held at the Gen Con Indy taking place in Indiana on August 7th and 8th. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN CCG, Bandai America’s top selling collectible card game, is a game of strategy where players construct card decks of Ninja that use their powerful Jutsu to complete Missions and protect their villages. The NARUTO SHIPPUDEN CCG, currently has hundreds of tournaments held each week at local hobby retailers throughout the United States. SHONEN JUMP Championship Tournaments will be accessible to NARUTO fans, beginners and experienced CCG players. Experienced players will test their skills against other players in the SHONEN JUMP Championship Tournaments to win special prizes. New players may redeem special coupons found in Shonen Jump magazine and receive a free NARUTO SHIPPUDEN CCG demo kit. Bandai volunteers will also be on location to teach new players how to play. NARUTO fans will have the opportunity to receive special SHONEN JUMP promo cards through special promotions and attendance at the tournaments. Finally, one lucky person will win an autographed promo card signed by Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of NARUTO. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/09/naruto-shippuden-collectible-card-game-shonen-jump-championships/feed/ 0 UPCOMING PRODUCTS: SCI-FI REVOLTECH SERIES http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/05/upcoming-products-sci-fi-revoltech-series/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/05/upcoming-products-sci-fi-revoltech-series/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:00:18 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12251

Next month Kaiyodo launches a line of highly detailed and articulated figures based on popular science fiction and fantasy characters. Photos courtesy of Anime Jungle. Alien © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Daimajin © 1966 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc. © 2010 Kaiyodo Co., Ltd. The Popular Toy Line is Expanded to Include Kaiju and Special Effects Movie Characters Author: John “Dutch” DeSentis Translations: Jim Ballard Source: Anime Jungle Official Site: kaiyodo.co.jp/revoltech Special Thanks to Tetsu Shiota Fans and collectors are probably familiar with the brand Revoltech, which is owned by the Kaiyodo Company of Japan. It is a series of super-articulated figures in the 4-6 inch scale and based on various popular characters from manga, video games, television, film, and anime. The name itself reportedly means “Revolver Technology” as the revolver joint is what gives the figures their super-articulation. Of interest to kaiju fans is the upcoming line, SCI-FI REVOLTECH, which will showcase popular characters from both east and west. The first figures up for release on April 1st are the Xenomorph from Ridley Scott’s ALIEN and the vengeful god DAIMAJIN from the Daiei movie series of the 1960s, followed on May 1st by Tsuburaya Productions' friendly beast Booska and Toho's Baragon (from FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD). Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/05/upcoming-products-sci-fi-revoltech-series/feed/ 0 Monster Attack Team Issue 8 Now Available http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/03/monster-attack-team-issue-8-now-available/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/03/monster-attack-team-issue-8-now-available/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:17:49 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12337 Monster Attack Team Special Thanks to Michael G Keller and Edward Holland

After far too long an absence, the popular fanzine Monster Attack Team returns! Edward Holland and the late Joe Riley began Monster Attack Team (the name taken from the anti-monster team in RETURN OF ULTRAMAN) began in the early 1990s as a fan club for aficionados of Japanese science fiction and fantasy. It soon evolved into a Dallas, Texas cable access television show and a small newsletter that grew to become a fan favorite mag. The print version of Monster Attack Team ran for seven issues, edited by Ed Holland with the assistance of David May and Michael G Keller, and featured articles and contributions by authors such as Ed Godziszewski, Kip Doto, Bob Johnson, Kevin Grays, August Ragone, Daisuke Ishizuka, Norman England, and Damon Foster. Nearly 15 years after the last issue, Ed Holland and Michael Keller have brought back Monster Attack Team with Issue 8. The editors have rounded up an "all star" group of tokusatsu writers and historians and produced a massive, 132 page edition that matches the quality of those truly great English language genre publications The Japanese Fantasy Film Journal, Markalite, and Japanese Giants. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/03/monster-attack-team-issue-8-now-available/feed/ 0 Review: Toho SFX DVD Collection by DeAgostini http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/22/review-toho-sfx-dvd-collection-by-deagostini/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/22/review-toho-sfx-dvd-collection-by-deagostini/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:17:21 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11991

Japanese bookstores are now selling the Toho SFX DVD Collection which packages classic movies with a collectible booklet. © 2009 Toho Co., Ltd. © 2009 KK DeAgostini Japan Author: Ed Godziszewski Official Site: KK DeAgostini Japan

One of the recent trends in Japan is take movie and TV series that have long been marketed on video, LD, and dvd and repackage them a new way to sell them yet again to the public. The preferred approach is to produce a bare bones DVD, bundle them with an A4-size booklet, and introduce a new volume every 3-4 weeks, thus bypassing video sales arrangements and allowing the product to be sold as a book in bookstores. Always one to look for ways to sell the same movies to collectors many times over, Toho jumped on this bandwagon recently and intends to sell 55 titles from their special effects film catalog. Sold by a company named DeAgostini starting in September of 2009, the Toho SFX DVD Collection has been a huge seller in its first few months, moving well over 200,000 units of each of the 11 titles released to date. Not bad for films, many of which have had at least at least 6 different home video releases over time. So what do you get for your ¥1990 (roughly $22 at today's exchange rate) per volume? Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/22/review-toho-sfx-dvd-collection-by-deagostini/feed/ 0 Winter WonderFest 2010 http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/18/winter-wonderfest-2010/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/18/winter-wonderfest-2010/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:07:54 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11846

Burning Godzilla roars over the crowd at Winter WonderFest 2010. Photo by Ed Godziszewski. © 1995 Toho Co., Ltd. A Look at the Winter Model and Toy Collectors Show Held in Tokyo on February 7, 2010 Author: Ed Godziszewski Official Site: Wonder Festival Owing to an accident in 2008 which occurred at the Tokyo Big Sight, former home of Wonder Festival, this biannual mega collectors event was canceled for the year 2009. But after securing a new venue at Makuhari Messe, WonderFest is back and bigger than ever. Ed Godziszewski presents a look Winter WonderFest with nearly three dozen photos of the latest Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman collectibles coming from Japan. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/18/winter-wonderfest-2010/feed/ 0 BANDAI MARKET REPORT http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/31/bandai-market-report/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/31/bandai-market-report/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:17:43 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11079

For nearly 30 years, Bandai has been producing and amazing variety of vinyl figures based on characters from the Godzilla, Toho, and Gamera films. Photos courtesy of Mike Russo, Bob Johnson, and John DeSentis. © Toho Co., Ltd. © Bandai Co., Ltd. An Overview and Price Guide for the Bandai Godzilla Toy Market Author: John “Dutch” DeSentis Special Thanks Mike Russo, Jean Carbajal, Brandon Shields, Bob Johnson, Greg Cordaro, Andy Shields, and James Bond

A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

Welcome to the market overview and price guide to Bandai Godzilla collectibles. The Bandai Company for decades now has been the standard for producing toys based on popular Japanese characters; they are essentially the Mattel of Japan. As it pertains to this article, they began producing toys based on characters in the Godzilla Series in 1983. Over the years since, both the output and quality of the company has steadily increased. The figures themselves are made of vinyl and have been primarily produced in two sizes, 6 inch and 8 inch scale, with the 8 inch scale being the most popular with collectors. There are also larger figures which vary between the 14 and 24 inch scale. The decision to focus on the Bandai market is due to the company’s immense popularity among Godzilla fans and a general need to know where the toys currently stand as far as pricing and rarity. We have done research and kept our eyes on general trends from sales on the internet and at shows throughout the year such as G-Fest (the annual celebration of Godzilla and Toho Sci-Fi), the San Diego and New York Comic-Cons, Chiller Theater (the legendary toy and horror film expo in New Jersey), and other collector shows and marketplaces such as Frank & Son (in California) and the like. We also keep our eye on shops in the major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Finally, we also go to the people closest to the toys— dealers and collectors— to get their opinions and observations. Also included in this market report is pricing on GODZILLA-related Bandai figures such as the REBIRTH OF MOTHRA trilogy, the GAMERA series, and even Toho's YAMATO TAKERU (OROCHI THE EIGHT HEADED DRAGON). We are not, however, pricing DX (deluxe), battery operated, or candy toys. This article strictly covers the standard figures in their various scales. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/31/bandai-market-report/feed/ 0 VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE Game Coming from MONSTERPOCALYPSE http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/30/voltron-defender-of-the-universe-game-coming-from-monsterpocalypse/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/30/voltron-defender-of-the-universe-game-coming-from-monsterpocalypse/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:48:03 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11320 Privateer Press press release Official Sites: monsterpocalypse.com, voltron.com

An early look at the packaging for the new VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE battle miniatures game. Photo courtesy of Privateer Press. © 2010 Privateer Press, Inc. Voltron is © 2010 World Events Productions, Ltd.

Privateer Press has announced that the highly anticipated VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE battle miniatures game (PIP 50030) for MONSTERPOCALYPSE will be released July 2010 with an MSRP of $49.99. The VOLTRON game will include everything two players need to stage epic battles between the forces of Voltron and the Galaxy Alliance and Lo-Tron of the fiendish Drule Empire. Part of the popular MONSTERPOCALYPSE line, VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE will be completely compatible with all current MONSTERPOCALYPSE series. In celebration of the release, Privateer Press is offering the VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE Launch Kit (PIP 50033, MSRP $399.92) to brick-and-mortar retailers. The kit includes eight copies of the VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE battle miniatures game and two limited edition Mega Voltron figures for use in promoting the game’s release in the store. Retailers can pre-order the VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE Launch Kit through their distributor now. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/30/voltron-defender-of-the-universe-game-coming-from-monsterpocalypse/feed/ 0 SUPER FESTIVAL 51 http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/26/super-festival-51/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/26/super-festival-51/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:29:44 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11144 Super Festival

Prototypes for the new Marmit Destoroyah and Burning Godzilla figures. Photo by Ed Godziszewski.

In years past, it used to be a big deal to attend toy shows such as Super Festival— each show yielded not only its share of exclusive items, but they were a expeditious way to accomplish a good deal of shopping all in one place. Rather than spending time and train fare scurrying about Tokyo, Super Festival offered one-stop shopping where you could find not only most every current item, but also a nice selection of vintage (and sometimes otherwise unheard of) items. Due to a change in my business trip schedule, it had been almost 6 years since the last time I attended Super Festival, so attending this most recent incarnation this past January 10 impressed upon me just how much times have changed. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/26/super-festival-51/feed/ 0 VIZ Media Details 2010 Manga Releases http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/12/viz-media-details-2010-manga-releases/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/12/viz-media-details-2010-manga-releases/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:01:24 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=10910

Cover art for some of the manga titles coming from VIZ Media in the first half of 2010. Photos courtesy of VIZ Media. Biomega © 2004 Tsutomu Nihei/Shueisha Inc. Maoh: Juvenile Remix © 2007 Kotaro Isaka, Megumi Osuga/Shogakukan Inc.Rosario + Vampire Season II © 2007 Akihisa Ikeda/Shueisha Inc. Ultimo © 2008 Stan Lee–POW! Entertainment/Dream Ranch, Hiroyuki Takei/Shueisha Inc. Source: MediaLab press release Official Site: VIZ Media Special Thanks to Erik Jansen VIZ Media, LLC has announced some of their exciting new manga set for release throughout the first half of 2010. The new releases will be published by VIZ Media under its best-known imprints including VIZ Kids, VIZ Signature, Shojo Beat, Shonen Sunday, Shonen Jump and Shonen Jump Advanced. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/12/viz-media-details-2010-manga-releases/feed/ 0