Toy Company Spotlight: Gigabrain

[Legion]

PART 1: JET JAGUAR

By the middle of the first decade of the 21st century the Japanese giant monster collecting landscape had changed radically. With no new Godzilla movies being made output from Bandai - once the undisputed king of the hill - ground to a near complete halt, allowing smaller companies to pick up the slack with stylized versions of Toho kaiju aimed at collectors who enjoyed the old Marusan and Bullmark figures in their youth. Marmit, Marusan and M-1 were already producing their own figures late in the 1990's, but by 2005 many other companies had come on the scene, including Y-MSF, CCP, Pilot Ace and the subject of this thread, Gigabrain.

Apparently (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), Gigabrain is a small subsidiary of Marmit. That would go a long way towards explaining why just about all of the Toho characters Gigabrain has done are either figures that never appeared in Marmit's Monster Heaven line, or were figures that did appear in that line but could have been improved.

Gigabrain's first figure was Jet Jaguar, released in 2006. The sculpt is simplistic - it's not as accurate as the Bandai figure, but then again toys like this never set out to be that accurate anyway. The major selling point of this figure was it's 16 points of articulation, a gigantic rarity with giant monster figures. Each arm alone includes 4 joints, with more points of movement at the neck, waist, hips, knees and ankles. Unfortunately without anything in the way of ball or pin joints the articulation is limited either way, but the fact that Gigabrain attempted to do something like this in the first place makes this figure unique and to many people made Gigabrain the company to watch in 2006.

Like all companies putting out figures like this, Gigabrain has put out countless color variants of this toy, with most being sold as show or event exclusives. There are at least twelve known varieties including two glow in the dark versions and (as I'm told recently) a version painted in colors that mimic the Green Goblin. Shown in the photos below are the figures the reside in my own collection.



Above is the closest Gigabrain got to a completely movie-accurate Jet Jaguar in terms of paint. They released another version with black eyes and a head the same color as the rest of the body, while this one goes with gold eyes and a silver head. My only real qualm with this figure is that the blue on the lower legs doesn't come to a point at the knee. Otherwise this is an awesome figure and I easily prefer it to Jet Jaguars made by Marmit, as well as Bandai's earlier 8" figure.



The Jet Jaguar on the left in the above photo is probably my favorite out of the ones I own. It's cast from a completely clear vinyl - a nice break from more milky, opaque translucent vinyl many figures use - and painted with metallic colors. There's something about it that make me crave gummy candy. The figure on the right is painted completely gold with red eyes and almost has the appearance of a statue. Another cool toy.



I would really like to know the significance of the figure on the left here or what it's trying to represent, because it's another one that's really cool. The splashes of green are really appealing and I like the gold trim around the eyes. The Evangelion style Jet Jaguar on the right is another great figure, even though I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of that anime, or any anime at all. The colors in general just work really well and it's rare to see purple kaiju figures, so that makes this one stand out. This was actually my very first Gigabrain: the one that got me started.



Finally, these last two don't need much of an explanation if you've already read my Bandai Jet Jaguar spotlight. It's the firefighter and medic Jet Jaguar variants from the "Godzilla Island" TV show. While I didn't mind it when Bandai did this, it just seems like overkill with these two.

Either way, Gigabrain was off and running and even better things were just ahead.

Check back soon for part 2!!!!

[leunames]

[Legion]

JetJagger mentioned his own huge Jet Jaguar collection to me earlier today, which includes 12 Gigabrain variants...

[MekaGojira3k]

[ebirahsmeg1]

Gigabrain really is an excellent company (yeah yeah, I know technically, they're a subsidary of Marmit ). My only complaint about them is their extremely slow output.

I have a feeling that if we ever did get a Marmit MH Gabara...perhaps it won't come from the MH line, but from Gigabrain instead. Too bad that at the current rate, the next new figure won't be released for another 2-3 years. :-\

The only figure of their line that I don't like is their Daiso-goji 65...the dorsal fins are just way too small and the head/mouth expression just looks plain goofy from certain angles. Otherwise, their items are awesome.... :drool: )

[Baltan II]

I really liked what Gigabrain tried doing with Jet Jaguar and incorporating articulation of some kind into their figures. As I don't own anything by them (but I sure do want some!), I wouldn't know, but did they continue playing with that idea or was it later dropped? I can wait until part 2 for that answer.

The Gundam, Evangelion, and black-eyed versions are definitely my favorites of the JJs released. I'd love a better view of the two glow versions and the "Green Goblin" too (is he based on the movie version, with all that metallic green?), if jetJagger wanted to oblige.

[jetJagger]

[Legion]

PART 2: GODZILLA 1965

Marmit has done a lot of Godzillas during the course of their three figure series. They produced a 1965 Godzilla in the original Vinyl Paradise line and then again in the Para Baby series. But for whatever reason they never got around to adding one to the Monster Heaven series, despite every other major Godzilla suit variation currently being available for that series. Luckily Gigabrain would correct that in 2006 with a Monster Zero style Godzilla of their very own? Did it measure up to the expectations set by the Jet Jaguar?

Yes and no.

While Jet Jaguar was given an amazing amount of articulation, this figure goes back to the tried and true "arms, legs and tail" joints, pretty much the standard of all Japanese Godzilla vinyl toys. On the other hand, while opinions are divided, I'd say this figure captures of the look of this particular Godzilla suit very well. The suit's columnar legs and potato sack body are very accurately portrayed and I like the design of the tail, the tip of which looks like it's actually being help up with a wire. My one gripe with the overall look of the toy is with the tiny back fins, which throws off the proportions of the toy quite a bit. Luckily, Gigabrain would learn from this, change the fin design and their following Godzilla figures would thankfully look much better.

Finally, the face sculpt is probably the toys strongest aspect and in profile looks incredibly film accurate. The neck and lower jaw are both especially well done and the only other 1965 figure I can think of that does it better would be Bandai's figure from the 2005 Memorial Box. Unfortunately, the paint jobs on the head of the various releases of this toy tend to make or break the overall effect, as the following photos show.



This is the first release of this figure, cast in a dark green vinyl and sprayed with darker highlights as well as silver on the nails and fins and what looks like a spray of metallic blue on the chest. The eyes are really weird on this one, small pupils placed in the center of the eye with a silver highlight in the middle. The end result is that the figure looks like he's zoned out. The highlights on the eyes bring everything down. Gigabrain also released an apparently more limited version of this same figure with gold paint instead of silver. Unless someone knows of more variants not shown here I think it's the only one I'm missing.



Here are two more versions of the toy, including the requisite glow in the dark figure on the left. While pink and yellow aren't my ideal colors, they're strangely appealing here. Unfortunately bringing the look of the toy down are those gigantic black eyes, which make Godzilla look like he's tripping on something. Much better, and probably my favorite, is the version on the right, with an imaginative color scheme that brings to mind the Popy figures of the 1970s. The bright red vinyl bleeding out from the black paint job looks terrific and the silver and metallic blue brings the toy together. I especially like how the fins look. The eyes are a bit better this time, but still too small.



Finally, these two translucent figures were released at a Superfest in the Fall of 2007, with the only difference between the two of them being the vinyl color used. The figure on the right is really nothing special, as the green vinyl clashes with the blue body paint while the red stripe down the chest looks too garish. The figure on the left is a much, much stronger, and ties with the the red version as my favorite '65 variant and looks amazing when lit from behind. The color combo works much better and I definitely have a weakness for purple and metallic blue. These two figures probably have the best eyes as well.

Whether or not you think this figure was a step down from the Jet Jaguar one thing remains true: Gigabrain's upcoming figures would blow both of them away.

Check back soon for part 3!!!

[ebirahsmeg1]

[Legion]

PART 3: GODZILLA 1962

Marmit has done a lot of different figures based on the 1962 Godzilla, or Kingoji as many fans tend to call it. While most of their figures are really well done, I have to admit that I've never really been a fan of their Monster Heaven version, released in 2002 at the start of that line's production. It wasn't an awful figure, but it lacked a certain something. The people at Gigabrain must have felt the same, since Kingoji ended up being their third Toho figure, released in early 2007.

In my opinion, this is the figure that put Gigabrain on the map. It's an incredible likeness for this type of toy, and I'd probably put it second on my list of favorite '62 sculpts, right behind Bandai's 2005 Memorial Box figure. The head sculpt is a little rough but still captures this Godzilla's personality. I like the hunched over body design, skin detail and sculpting on the finger and toenails. There's no denying what Godzilla this is supposed to be. Even the fat, baggy legs are perfectly rendered.

But what I think is the best aspect of this figure's sculpt - and what puts it far ahead of the 1965 toy - is the way the back fins were designed. On the '65 figure (and like all Marmits and most recent Bandai Godzillas) the entire back fin section is a separate piece which compromises the flow of the sculpt. On the Kingoji however, only the middle strip is separate, the seams hidden by the smaller outer rows which are part of the body sculpt. This assembly looks fantastic and is completely unique to this figure and the Gigabrain 1964 Godzilla, which was released at the same time and will be covered in part four.



This is the very first of many, many releases of this figure. The overall color scheme mimics the 1965 release with the green vinyl just a little bit darker. Combined with the black sprays some of the great detail on this Godzilla gets a little lost and I remember being very critical of the figure when it was first released. Since then I've warmed up to it considerably, though I like several of the variants quite a bit more.



I became a full fledged Gigabrain nut around the time these two figures were released and for a while I vowed to pick up every single version of the Kingoji I could. The glow in the dark one on the left uses a great blue and silver combo and is definitely my favorite of Gigabrain's glow figures, while the translucent one of the right is another good one. Gigabrain always tends to pick just the right colors for their translucent figures and they always look good when held to the light.



But these two figures are my favorite Gigabrain Kingojis by a long shot. Apparently limited to under 50 figures each both figures have the same color paint sprays - black and silver with gold eyes - but are cast in blue and purple vinyl respectively. The color shades chosen for the vinyl are incredibly strong and vibrant and, in the case of the blue version, really stand out against the black paint. In fact, I almost want to display these from the back to get the most out of the vinyl color that shows on the back fins. If it weren't for the '73 Gigan figure these would be my favorite Gigabrains. Period. Very highly recommended if you can find them.



Here are a couple more translucent show exclusives, released in the fall of 2007. Again, the vinyl colors used are well chosen, especially in the case of the blue figure, though blue is my favorite color so your mileage may vary. Two more very cool figures.



Finally, here are two more exclusives, released in the winter of 2008. These are probably the most traditionally colored versions of this toy that Gigabrain would put out. The gold fins on the figure on the left bring to mind the Yamakatsu 1964 Godzilla while the figure on the right has a definite 1990's Bandai quality to it with the glossy black vinyl and silver fins. I might like the original green figure a little more than these, but these are great for someone digging the sculpt but not as appreciative of the sometimes crazy paint schemes these figures often get.

It was at this point, 9 figures later, that I gave up trying to get all of these figures. There have been several more variants released in the past few years (usually metallic painted versions, which seem to be the stylistic preference in Japan these days) but it became impossible to keep up with them, let alone afford them all. Regardless, there were still more great figures to come.

Check back soon for part 4!!!

[MekaGojira3k]

Holy crap the Purple Vinyl King Goji looks great! I wish I had one *drools*.

[canofhumdingers]

This is a great thread! Gigabrain has produced some seriously awesome stuff. I need that glow version of the KingGoji to go with my glow '64. They make such an awesome pair. This is really a great sculpt and I agree about the back fins. I don't have the '62 (yet...) but the fins on the '64 are done the same way and it REALLY looks nice. You get really well sculpted back fins without any of the odd shapes designed to help with mold-release, but you don't have to see the ugly seams. Bandai should take note of this next time they sculpt a new Godzilla (in know.... I know.....)

EDIT: you know, I'm really liking that pink translucent version too... blue is nice but getting kind of over-used for an "odd" or "quirky" but still appealing color scheme on vinyl monsters....

P.P.S (or 2nd EDIT): They also fairly recently released a variant of the '62 in the same deco as that red vinyl, black spray, with silver/metallic blue fins as the '65 pictured in this thread. It looks really nice...

[Legion]

PART 4: GODZILLA 1964

Gigabrain's 1964 Godzilla (or Mosugoji) figure was released at the same time as their Kingoji figure in early 2007. And even though I think it's a far better sculpted toy, it's definitely overshadowed by the '62 figure and it's multiple and more appealing color variants. I think that's a huge shame, because it's really one of the very best figures in Gigabrains Godzilla series in terms of likeness.

Personally, I think this figure features one of the best best overall sculpt of any 1964 Godzilla vinyl figure, with only kits offering better likenesses. Aside from the slightly smaller tail even the stylized look that often characterizes toys like these has been abandoned for a more proportioned, screen accurate look. Like the Kingoji figure, the back fins are again a single separate strip down the middle, flanked by the two smaller rows of fins. The skin detail looks great and is very accurate to the monster suit, including the bumpy knees, smooth textures on the hands and feet and the smooth, curved, pointed finger and toe nails, which are a sharp contrast to the large, bony nails on the '62 suit and figure.

The head is an amazing sculpt, getting just about everything right. The rubbery, fleshy jowls are well represented, as well as the slightly sunken lower jaw and baggy neck. It looks terrific in profile and from a lower three quarter angle, which to me brings to mind scenes from Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster as Godzilla throws his head back in disgust as he converses with Rodan and Mothra. Finally, the figure's overall profile is just about perfect with the neck given just the right length and angle to match the overall attitude of the monster suit. If I didn't like Gigabrain's Gigan so much (see part 5) this would be my all-time favorite of their toys. It's hard to do the amazing sculpt of this toy justice with photos.



This is the first release of this figure, painted the exact same way as the Kingoji. This is interesting because it makes it easier to appreciate the sculpt and compare the differences between the two figures and the monster suits they represent. My only gripe with this figure are the eyes, which are a little large and sloppy. Variants of this toy would follow a similar pattern as the '62 and unfortunately I don't own some of the more unique color versions.



Here are the glow and green translucent versions. They're both pretty good, but I like the colors on the 1962 glow figure more than I do on the '64 nor do I like the over-saturated, bloody red lips.



Not much to say about ether of these, as they were released alongside similar translucent Kingoji figures in the fall of 2007. Again, I like the blue a lot more but I'll point out that the eyes on these figures are really well done, giving Godzilla just the right menacing look.



And finally, a pair of glossy black versions, one with gold sprays and one with silver. They were released with similar Kingoji figures in the winter of 2008.

Check back soon for part 5!!!

[Bio_Goji_89]

[howze01]

[Legion]

[ebirahsmeg1]

At the time these two awesome figures were released, I was living northern Japan, which didn't have any of the great shops that Tokyo/Akihabara has. I also caught a major case of "Yellow Fever" ( ) during that period and didn't care about collecting for about a year and a half. Now I am playing some serious catch up.

I will not rest until I have G62 and 64 black or black/gold. Both these figures are the first *true* quality 62/64 figures that are in the 8 inch scale range. True, Marmit made some 8 inch MH figures, but the Gigabrains are *far* superior to the MH ones (especially Gigabrain's Mosu-Goji vs Marmit MH Mosu Goji...it's like night and day). They capture the spirit of these classic Godzillas beautifully. Even Gigabrain's Monster X, a kaiju I would have otherwised cared less about, looks amazing and is also on my wish list (I've seen green, gold, and red variations of Monster X all over Tokyo..all of them look badass :th-up: ).

Unfortunately, the G64 is very elusive...I have never seen it *once* anywhere in Japan...occasionally it pops up on Ebay or yahoo auctions, but it's never the black or black/gold color sceheme I want. It's extremely frustrating. In contrast, the G62 figure is rather easy to find, and I've seen it several times in Tokyo and on ebay, but once again, it's never the color scheme I want (black or black/gold as well) (Normally I don't care that much about color schemes if a figure is good, but Godzilla is the one kaiju I am *very* picky about when it comes to figures of the King of the Monsters). However, I managed to hunt down Marmit MH Giant Biollante/Rose Biollante and more recently MH Angilas 2 after years of looking with no success, so patience is a virtue....but I want these 2 figures now damn it!!!!! :drool:

[Legion]

[ebirahsmeg1]

[Legion]

[leunames]

I love the gigabrain mosu-goji. Wish I had more of the color variants. I have the orange, which has a fantastic "sci-fi alien" look to the figure

[howze01]

[ebirahsmeg1]

[canofhumdingers]

I LOVE the Gigabrain Mosugoji! It is an absolutely awesome figure. I have the glow version & I gotta say, I like it's color better than the '62 glow (but that's probably b/c I'm not AS partial to blue...). It's also a rather sentimental figure as it's the first "designer vinyl" I ever bought. But even more than that, it's the first Godzilla I bought in Japan the one time I've been there. It was a two week trip & I bought him on like day three and he traveled all over Japan with my wife & I. I got him at Monster's Lab & made a second trip there on our way back through Tokyo at the end of vacation & bought a Marmit & a Toygraph and got his contact info to order the new Glow version of the Marmit '84 that was due out within a week or so. But this gigabrain will always hod a special spot in my collection. And you know, I like the red mouth, but mine isn't quite so sloppy/garish as yours it seems.

[Legion]

PART 5: GIGAN 1973

Gigan fans are living the good life these days. Teruyoshi Nakano's alien cyborg masterpiece has enjoyed a huge explosion of popularity in recent years. Although his popularity can't possibly touch the ever-popular Hedora, just about every company has done a Gigan. Marmit's Monster Heaven version (2002) set the standard against which all other stylized Gigans are judged, just as their Iron Joe figure (2007, as a built up version of their vinyl kit) did the same for realistic versions. Everyone else - from Bandai Museum to Bare Model to X-Plus to Pilot Ace and to multiple releases from Marusan - have done Gigan toys.

There is one thing almost all of the more screen-accurate representations have in common. All of them show Gigan as he appeared in Godzilla vs Gigan (1972), with the well crafted, suitably evil-looking version in that film being a favorite among fans. When Godzilla vs Megalon (1973) went into production however, a new suit had to be built to better withstand the more physical battling that would take place amongst the monsters. So Gigan was redesigned to be a little less bottom heavy, with a buzzsaw that was a permanent chest attachment and not a separately moving piece, a slightly different scale and horn pattern on the neck and a much less nasty-looking face. This suit not only appeared in Megalon, but also went up against Godzilla again in the TV series "Zone Fighter", made the same year.

I've always had a fondness for this second Gigan suit. It matched the overall goofy look of the rest of the monster cast in Godzilla vs Megalon but wasn't a drastic enough redesign that it was possible to be faithfully recreated in toy form unless real dedication was made in translating the subtle design changes. And that really didn't start happening with toy companies until the past decade.

I had just gotten into the Gigabrain figures when this photo was released in the Spring 2007, indicating that Gigan was the next figure in their Toho line...



...and it wasn't even necessary to look twice to realize that not only was Gigabrain specifically doing a 1973 Gigan figure, but it had the potential of being one of the coolest Gigan figures made in any era by any company. Did this figure live up to expectations? Would I have gone on and on as much as I have here if it didn't?

The standard green (I'm assuming the mail order) Gigan did not end up being the first version of the figure to see release. Instead, this show version beat it out by several months:



And I already knew we had a masterpiece on our hands. Just in terms of raw sculpt this figure gets everything right. The barrel-chested look of the second Gigan suit is perfectly captured and the texturing of the legs and tail mimic the actual suit. Even the design of the overlapping body scales is meticulously rendered. The back sails are also designed to have a slightly saggy fabric look to them and no detail is missed on the head. There's no mistaking what Gigan this is supposed to be. Even the kneecaps are textured in such a way so that they don't look like simple, smooth vinyl.

The nicest touch about the toy is that the claws were designed to be articulated at the elbow, allowing you to turn them into different poses that go a long way towards giving the toy a hell of a lot of character. I'm thankful enough for this addition that I'll forgive the fact that the joints here make the arms a little thicker than they should be.



Just as much as the amazing sculpt left me in awe, the incredible and creative paint job also blew me away. Contrary to how the photos make it look, the vinyl is not a deep plum color. The entire figure is painted that color and in the right light the lighter vinyl shade underneath gives the figure a great two tone look that's really hard to appreciate in photos. But that's nothing compared to the amazing metallic blue vinyl on the scales, accented by the red/brown tips of the buzzsaw and sails. I remember stating that this was probably one of the very best Godzilla figures of 2007 and I said that just based on this one exclusive. It was just that good. That of course meant that the standard release had big shoes to fill.



The standard figure was finally released in late Summer/early Fall of that year. While I think the simple green vinyl color is a little bland it was still worth the wait. One thing I appreciate is how this figure (and all later variants) took the care to paint this toy accurately with what I'm assuming was a masking process. They could have taken the easy way out and gone with traditional paint sprays like the Pilot Ace figure or Marmit's Para Baby but that would not have done justice to the amazing sculpt. My only gripe (and it's a small one) is that the gold on the sails doesn't go all the way to the back of the figure, leaving a large section of the back of the toy an unpainted chunk of green vinyl. But that's just nitpicking. If you want a Gigabrain Gigan with a subtle, movie accurate paint scheme, this is the one to pick up, although I think the later metallic release blows it away (see below).



In October of 2007, Gigabrain released a pair of Gigan variants as show (Superfest?) exclusives. The two figures were painted the exact same way as their standard-release counterpart, but were cast in translucent blue and green vinyl respectively. And again, they hit another home run. Both figures look fantastic and I especially like how the gold paint on the sails fades into the vinyl. It's a shame that Gigabrain's productivity decreased drastically after this figure was released, as I think a lot of us saw this Gigan as the first of several amazing Showa-era toys. It's a shame that didn't end up happening.

By 2009 a lot of people were wondering what happened to Gigabrain. After a couple more releases that failed to set the collecting world on fire, Gigabrain just petered out, coasting instead on variants, mostly of the '62 and '64 Godzillas. Metallic-painted vinyl figures were currently in vogue and that is where Gigabrain's most recent Gigan release comes in.



Released in May of that year, this Gigan is yet another masterpiece. With the exception of slightly stronger gold paint (that covers the entire back this time) the figure is painted similar to the standard issue. The one big (HUGE) difference is that instead of a flat green vinyl, the figure is painted an amazing metallic teal, which makes the figure pop far more that it's standard release. I don't throw words like "breathtaking" around when describing vinyl toys, but this is as close as they come.



Someone at Gigabrain must have really cared about this toy since - while figures like the Jet Jaguar, '65 Godzilla and others were painted all sorts of insane colors - most of their Gigans always had some semblance of screen accuracy. As I said before, this is their masterpiece and I don't see anyone ever topping it. For completists sake, here's the one Gigan variant I've never been able to find - a glow in the dark version, which I'll admit doesn't do a whole lot for me.



So what was next for Gigabrain? Megalon? Angilas? Varan? Baragon? Another Godzilla? Even another Hedora? Well...their next figure was one no one was expecting and - not to ruin the surprise - Final Wars haters will be excused if they skip the next chapter.

Check back soon for part 6!!!!