The Ultimate 1991-1993 Bandai Ultramonster Checklist

[Baltan II]

What a great run and an impressive subset of a collection! It's the first time I've seen anyone collect all of a specific vintage Bandai Ultraman subset that wasn't a mere handful of figures or just the 1983 collection or something.

What's next for your collection focus now that you've finished here, Mike? You obviously have a good start on other years of Ultra Monster Series vinyls. There's always 2007-13 for an easy-mode spotlight, but you favor the vintage stuff more. Maybe 1994, at least the resculpts, redecos, and replacement figures? Promotional figures? Covering 1983 yourself?

[Legion]

[Legion]

Bonus Post #1

#71 - Giant Yapool

Starting in mid-1994 Bandai decided to give the Ultramonster line a bit of a facelift. As mentioned in the introductory section of this overview, Bandai began updating sculpts and/or paint jobs on certain figures, replacing the old tags with a new design in the process. They continued to release new characters, although after a small handful of classic-era characters they would use the line for newer monsters from current series until 2000, when the entire toy line was totally refreshed. The 1994 release of Giant Yapool from Ultraman Ace features a very solid mold and a simple but effective color combo of gold paint on bright orange. This figure has popped up several times since then. It's 2001 release features metallic paint on the head, while its 2009 release has so far been the only time the figure has been cast in matte vinyl. Its best release was easily for the Ultraman Mebius line in 2007, standing out thanks to the yellow and green sprays on the legs.

#72 - Dodongo

These days it has become exceedingly rare for Bandai to release brand new figures based on more obscure classic-era characters unless they have a really good reason to do so. That makes figures like Gamakujira, Aribunta, King Crab and this guy so special. Essentially two men inside a silly, green, winged horse suit, Dodongo shares a cult status with monsters like Gyango, despite only ever appearing in one episode of the original Ultraman show. Sure the figure is tiny, a little crude (the molding process has the head sticking straight up in the air) and simplistically painted. But how could someone not love this toy? The overall crudeness of such a late toy probably explains why we've never seen it again.

#73 - Alien Vira

Narse was a very different kind of toy, but this thing takes "different" to a whole 'nother level entirely. Another one of those early Ultraseven foes that was just a big marionette, Vira doesn't have the kind of design that you'd think Bandai could really translate into figure form. But for one of the last old school monsters they would do until the end of the decade, Bandai decided to try something a little unique. Only the head of the toy is cast in traditional vinyl and painted the standard way. The rest of the body (aside from the feelers at the bottom, which are softer so they won't break) is made up of several hard plastic sections that are screwed together in the back. The figure looks like it'd be able to stand up on its own without support, but to add a little extra insurance, Bandai included a suction cup at the bottom of the toy. It's not the most necessary thing they could have done and after almost 20 years mine doesn't have the suction it used to in order to keep the figure standing, but I appreciate Bandai going the extra mile. While the figure was tagged, it was also encased in a plastic clamshell just to keep it a little safer. It's definitely THE most intriguing toys of entire history of this line, and it doesn't seem to be the most common these days either.


Comparison photo


1994 and 2009 Yapool figures

[Legion]

Bonus Post #2

Jirass

The story behind Jirass is well known. Eiji Tsuburaya had a lot pf pull over at Toho. For Ultra Q and in the earliest days of Ultraman, Tsuburaya would often raid Toho's storage shed for costumes and props he could recycle to create new monsters for his shows. For Ultraman episode 10, Tsuburaya took the body of the 1964 Godzilla costume, stuck the head of the 1965 Godzilla suit on top of it, placed a frill where the two pieces were connected and repainted the completed suit. And with that, Jirass was born, perhaps the one Ultramonster with the most cross-over appeal with the Toho universe.
Bandai released their Jirass figure in 1995 as part of a large playset that contained a unique Ultraman figure in a battle pose, a play mat and several electronic buildings. But while the playset itself is generally obscure, the Jirass figure has become very well known. Bandai absolutely nailed the sculpt on this toy, with the body coming a long way in terms of accuracy when compared to their original 1964 Godzilla from 1983. The head is an extremely good likeness to the 1965 Godzilla, topped only by the 1965 toy released in 2005 in the Godzilla Memorial Box. The figure is molded completely in green with gold sprays. My only real gripe is with the thickness of the frill, which looks awkward from the side. Seen from the front, however, the figure is absolutely beautiful. It's really an essential toy for both the Ultra AND Godzilla collector.
The figure was reissued tagged only once in 1998. It used the then-current tag design but was outside the numbered line. A special release, this figure was numbered 0-SP and was cast in a slightly darker shade of green.

I hope everyone has enjoyed this run-down! I've had a great time putting it together. I hope it proves essential for anyone hunting down these older toys! Good luck and happy hunting!

[king_ghidorah]

[Baltan II]

[Kaiju_Ultra_Fan]

it's a shame how many amazing threads of late are ruined by photobucket screwing over everyone's pictures.

It's like they broke the internet.