With the growing popularity of garage kit models of Toho Kaiju characters,
it seems natural that the science-fiction weaponry featured in their movies
would also inspire kits. This article will focus on the history of the earlier
and more obscure garage kits.
One of the participants at the Wonder Festival of January 1992, made available
a 1/1 scale model or the Oxygen Destroyer as used in the original 1954 Godzilla
movie. Pictures of this model were shown in contemporary
Hobby Japan
and
Model Graphix articles covering that particular festival. Around
late 1986 Kaiyodo produced a resin model of the flying World Air Force Alpha
ship and a Mysterian flying saucer from the 1957 MYSTERIANS movie. The ship
was about 11 inches in length and made of soft white resin with very little
surface detail while the flying saucer was 11 1/2 inches long. Original price
was 2,500 yen (¥2500).
The 1963 movie ATRAGON featured a battleship size flying submersible called
the Go-Ten-Go. Various models were made in the 1960s including the
often reissued and terrible injection plastic model by Aoshima. The
later garage kits were often superior in detail and accuracy. In fact,
one of Kaiyodo's first model kits was a Go-Ten-Go kit with vacuform main
hulls and resin parts produced around 1982. Kaiyodo eventually released an
all resin Go-Ten-Go around 1986 which was later reissued in vinyl in 1989.
The original vinyl version was ¥2500. The vinyl version had a scribed
deck to represent the wood deck while the original resin issue had a smooth
deck without scribing. In late 1992 Kaiyodo produced a smaller 1/950 Go-Ten-Go
and a 1/950 Mu Empire submarine in resin for ¥2800 each. In addition
to the 1/950 Atragon submarines, Kaiyodo also made similar sized resin models
of the Alpha submarine and evil Black Shark submarine from LATTIDUE ZERO.
General Products produced a metal 1/700 Go-Ten-Go in the mid 1980s. Inoue
Arts produced probably the largest Go-Ten-Go in a diorama set with a scale
Manda encircling the submarine. It was listed as 1/200 scale and measures
75cm and cost ¥35,000 in the early 1980s. This was a limited edition
although it is possible Inoue Arts may have produced and marketed a very
limited reissue. It still remains a very rare model.
Paradise employed the talents of Inoue for their vinyl 50cm Go-Ten-Go in
1991 (selling for ¥24,800), which is still available. Paradise
also produced a limited edition resin Planet X UFO saucer from
Godzilla
vs. Monster Zero for the 1991 summer Wonder Festival that sold for ¥1000.
Time Tunnel 2 also produced a small Planet X saucer which came with a sleeping
Godzilla for the summer Wonder Festival the year before. Wonder Festivals
were a good source for special edition garage kits which were frequently
no longer available after the show is over.
The 1991 Wonder Festival saw a resin JX-2 spaceship from the GORATH, the
BATTLE IN OUTTER SPACE earth spaceship (Speed Ship) and the alien Natal saucer,
and the DESTROY ALL MONSTERS SY-3 spaceships. Incidentally Kaiyodo made a
larger vinyl SY-3 in 1990 which may still be found. It sold for ¥8000
when originally released.
WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS introduced a Maser cannon and tractor. There is a 1/350
resin Maser cannon in their 1/350 Yolks Gargantuas set. WAVE also made a
small metal special edition Maser cannon and tractor available with two of
their injection molded 1/87 Maser Cannon kits during an introductory promotion
in 1992. WAVE also produced a larger 1/35 Maser cannon for ¥68,000 in
1991. Kaiyodo produced their 1/35 Maser cannon which sold for ¥28,000
in 1992.
GODZILLA 1984 featured the Super-X. Kaiyodo made a resin 1/150 Godzilla vs.
Super X set priced at ¥2800 in 1984; however Kaiyodo 1/350 series is
much smaller than the Yolks 1/350 series. Kaiyodo made a larger resin three
inch Super X. This was originally advertised as 1/350 also! It
is actually more in scale with the larger twelve inch Godzilla 1984 models.
This was also reissued in vinyl with a similar sized Super X-2 from the next
film. Nitto made a larger resin 1994 Super X with moving parts before the
demise of this mass produced company although that Super X was of a limited
production resin issue.
GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE introduced the new Super X 2 which was made into a
large 1/150 vinyl model with options for open and closed nose section by
Falchion. The Super X came as a bonus in a smaller vinyl form in the
Max Factory Biollante-Gojira vinyl model. In fact, Falchion also included
a small vinyl model of the prototype Super X-2 not seen in the movie. Falchion
made Super X-2 in 1/250 scale. Interestingly, Max Factory reissued the Biollante-Gojira
as a Ghidrah-Gojira with a bonus vinyl small Godzillasaurus and "KIDS" time
travel ship from the 1991 GODZILLA VS KING GHIDRAH.
Finally, while I intended to focus the discussion to Toho weaponry, I would
like to mention the Astro-Boat from the 1967 THE X FROM OUTER SPACE movie
made by Shochiku. Umikobo Takarajima (Dream Company-Treasure Island) made
a resin model of the Astro-Boat for ¥4500 in the summer of 1993 to go
with the earlier Paradise model of the X Monster.
Article © 1994, 2006
Frank Young.
