New Monster Hatch Acquisitions

Latest additions to the stuff on my desk collection:

Ultra Monsters Gomess (left) and Jirass (right) attend the first meeting of the League of Substitute Godzillas. (Gomess was created for the TV series Ultra Q, and Jirass for Ultraman, from modified Godzilla costumes.)

These two kaiju both came to Earth from outer space, but couldn't be more different: Seabozu (left), who just wanted to go back to the peacefulness of the Monster Graveyard, and Spacegodzilla, who just wanted to kick Godzilla's ass.

I've finally acquired Giganto the Mole Monster (the big green guy above) to round out my collection of Marvel monsters. This display represents part of Mole Man's kingdom beneath Monster Island, made up mostly of Heroclix figures.

There is (in no particular order) Mole Man, a Moloid, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android (a.k.a. Awesome Andy), Bi-Beast, Sasquatch, Man-Thing, Man-Wolf, the Lizard, a Brood warrior, one of the Mindless Ones, Dragon Man, Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy, and the Hulk. And to drive home that this is a mash-up between the Monster Island of the Marvel Comics Universe and the Monster Island of the Godzilla movies, there is also a Destoroyah creature out front, and a Baltan alien (from the Ultraman universe) hiding in the back. The gorilla ripping open his cage door is from Horrorclix and is there because he reminded me of Konga. And the 2 human females are Elsa Bloodstone (daughter of the monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone) and her Nextwave team member Monica Rambeaux (formerly Captain Marvel, Photon, and Pulsar of the Avengers).

Like the rest of my Monster Island collection, I'm still adding to this one, but now that Giganto is in place, I felt like it was time to post a picture.

Giganto is of historical importance to the Marvel Universe because he was on the cover of Fantastic Four #1, reproduced for the FF Omnibus below:

And here is his first appearance immortalized by Alex Ross:

 A Giganto by Art Adams:

And my current desktop wallpaper:

So here is the layout, with the subterranean area of Monster Island on the left, the surface of Monster Island in the center, and NYC on the right:

And that's your Monster Hatch update.

Know Who Else Talked to Chairs?

Here you go: I created this template so that everyone can design their own Twisted Toyfare Theatre cover commemorating Clint Eastwood's historic conversation with a chair at the 2012 Republican National Convention. Just add word balloons!

If you post yours on Twitter, please include the #TwistedToyfare and #Eastwooding hashtags. Enjoy!

(For those that are unfamiliar with Wizard Magazine's Twisted Toyfare Theatre, it was the precursor to Adult Swim's Robot Chicken, and consists of comic strips made from posed Mego action figures.)

And considering the topic of today's blog post, for some reason I find it highly amusing that the only Clint Eastwood action figure I could find on the internet is for "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly."

Also, I'm just going to leave this here as the last piece of the puzzle:

Behold the Kuratas Mecha

This is why I love Japan. While Americans stockpile handheld weapons and survival gear for the zombie apocalypse, the Japanese are preparing for the REAL threat: giant radioactive monsters.

Kuratas is a 12' 5" tall, nearly 10,000 pound, fully-functional Mecha built by Suidobashi Heavy Industry at a cost of 1.4 million dollars. It can be controlled from within its one-man cockpit or remotely from a 3G smartphone. It fires both rockets and 6000 rounds of ammo/minute.

More details about the debut of Kuratas at WonderFest 2012 here and here. These guys are definitely ready for Godzilla Wednesdays:

Muppet Labs' Mechani-Kong Revisited

Yesterday I blogged about the Muppet Labs' Gorilla Detector, and the confusion that the toy version of it brought me.

But today I found myself wondering if perhaps the REAL question should be: How did Dr. Bunsen Honeydew get his hands on the severed head of Mechani-Kong in the first place?!?

Is it possible that he is, in fact, in league with the evil genius Dr. Hu, Mechani-Kong's creator? Muppet Labs always struck me as an awfully shady operation. This would explain a lot.

Muppet Labs' Mechani-Kong

So when I was sorting through the odds 'n' ends I acquired in the Bucket o' Godzillas I purchased from the antique store, I really thought I had the severed head of Mechani-Kong.

Mechani-Kong is of course the giant robotic gorilla from the movie King Kong Escapes:

And this is the toy component in question:

However, no amount of Googling would turn up a toy Mechani-Kong with a head that looked like this. Here are a couple of examples:

Finally I stumbled upon this discussion thread, which included a picture of a customized action figure that someone had created by mounting this head onto the body of Iron Monger, the villain from the first Iron Man movie:

Thankfully, the discussion itself also solved the mystery. This was NOT the severed head of Mechani-Kong, but rather the Muppet Labs Gorilla Detector:

Not sure how I missed that episode of The Muppet Show, but here is the relevant clip:

So now my desk is as safe from gorillas as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's Muppet technology can make it...

Update: Muppet Labs' Mechani-Kong Revisited

Not Available in Stores: The Godzilla vs. Barkley Playset

To commemorate the days when Sir Charles Barkley used to keep Godzilla off the streets by challenging him to the occasional basketball game, I created this display for my desk by modifying a metal bookend and a Playmobil goal:

I photographed it on the file cabinet (above) before making a place for it on the shelf over my desk:

You'd think all those people would have moved their cars out of the parking lot before the day of the big game. This doesn't look like the sort of activity their insurance is likely to cover.

And because this video never gets old:

By the way, I really wish someone would make a figure of Godzilla with his sports goggles...

...and Nike shoes:

Previously:

Sir Charles Barkley vs. Godzilla (and Mitt Romney)
Sir Charles Barkley vs. Godzilla II
Kingdom of Monsters: Godzilla, Lady Gaga, and the Giant Armadillo of Texas (includes the Barkley/Godzilla success story)

Monster TV Guide

Previously in the Monster TV Guide...

Godzilla cameo

As far as I know, this cameo is the only appearance of a CGI Godzilla in a Japanese movie (no, I'm not counting Zilla in Final Wars):

Always: Sunset on Third Street 2

Although I'm not wild about the design of Godzilla's head, I have to say, this is an awesome scene. 

Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007)

Don't Call It A Comeback!

Legendary Pictures' presentation at the San Diego Comic Con for Gareth Edwards' upcoming Godzilla remake has generated a lot of excitement. While those of us who were not at the SDCC wait for the teaser trailer to be released at some indeterminate point in the future, here is a reminder of what Godzilla has already accomplished in the past:

Mama Said Knock You Out!

Bucket o' Godzillas

 

Last weekend my friend Amy alerted me to a local antique store that had a big plastic tub of Godzillas they were selling for ten bucks each, and today I finally got a chance to check them out for myself. I didn't count to see how many figures there were total, but some of them seemed rare enough to be a decent investment. My wonderful wife offered them $100 for the whole box, and they accepted. It wasn't until I got home and sorted through them that I realized how many figures there were all together.

First of all, there 15 Godzillas:

Additionally, there were 4 King Kongs, 2 Rodans, 2 Minyas, an adult and a larval Mothra, Anguirus, MechaGodzilla, Titanosaurus, Jet Jaguar, Gabara, King Caesar, Gigan, Gamera, Manda, a giant octopus, Ultraman, and Zetton, for a total of 37 figures averaging 6-8 inches in height.

Plus there was a plastic bag containing Mechani-Kong's severed head, assorted island natives and other tiny human victims, and a variety of giant insects and miscellaneous unidentified bits and pieces. (Any help identifying this stuff would be greatly appreciated).

So it was definitely a good deal. Now I have to sort through them and decide which ones I want to keep for my collection, and which ones I'll put up on eBay to recoup my investment (and hopefully turn a profit). 

(Although my wife is convinced that I won't part with any of them and is already referring to the card table I sorted them on as the Church of Godzilla, bowing whenever she walks past it).