Featured Creature Kaiju File: The one that's supposed to be the best Godzilla movie

 

 

Title: Godzilla Vs. Biollante

What Year?: 1989

Classification: Weird Sequel/ Mashup

Rating: It’s Okay! (3/4)

 

With this review, I’m at the end of an off-week which I’ve spent going through a lot of material, including some very good films and one or two that are easily among the worst I have ever watched. In the middle of it all, I got to one I had backlogged for a little while, after a long, intermittent quest to find it, and I knew I had a winner. It not only suited my needs, but offered a gateway to some other material I’ve been meaning to get to with this feature. I present Godzilla Vs. Biollante, a kaiju movie that very possibly saved a franchise and the genre, and happens to have been nominated as the best Godzilla movie ever.

Our story begins with a recap of the last sighting of Big G, in which the military actually won after a fashion by driving him into a volcano. In the aftermath, bits of Godzilla tissue are discovered and collected by the military, a scientist, and a shady corporation that will try to expand the movie’s thematic range. The scientist is the one who makes progress, using genetic engineering to hybridize the kaiju DNA with plant cells, which might conceivably solve world hunger or just eat an unspecified Midwest city. But his grief-ridden backstory drives him to try to resurrect his deceased daughter by spicing her DNA into the mix. The result is an utterly terrifying plant/ Gojira/ human hybrid called Biollante. Meanwhile, Godzilla escapes from the volcano, and the army is back to being completely ineffective even with the hardware that defeated him before. The fallback for Japan is to send the rapidly mutating plant monster against its sire. It all comes down to a rumble between Big G and the Jolly Green Monster, and the best hope for humanity is that neither of them wins!

Godzilla Vs. Biollante was a 1989 science fiction/ kaiju film by Toho, written and directed by Kazuki Omori. It was the direct sequel to the 1984 film Return of Godzilla, itself conceived and promoted as a “reboot” of the franchise. Godzilla was played by Kenpachiro Satsuma, who had first appeared in the franchise as Hedorah in Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster. The soundtrack, including a new version of the Godzilla theme, was composed by the late Koichi Sugiyama, previously known for video game music. A U.S. theatrical release by Miramax was reportedly planned, but failed after a breakdown in negotiations with Toho. An English dub was released direct-to-VHS in 1992. The film was not an immediate success in Japan or with western audiences, but gained greatly in popularity. In 2014, the film was chosen as the best Godzilla film in a poll by Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting Corporation. It is currently “out of print” in the United States, with no known availability on digital platforms.

For my experiences, this review really built up from a correspondence that maybe escalated into an argument. The upshot, as I previously vented back in the Smog Monster review, is that I grew up loving the idea of Godzilla without having access to the films or really getting into them on the few occasions I met them in the wild. (I can think of a very specific film that definitely contributed to that, but that’s a rant that can wait for another day.) When I did finally get a chance to look at a good sampling of the series and the kaiju genre, I was mature enough that my interests evolved in other directions, which I will definitely cover as this series goes on. The big exception was certainly the present film, which I found on a used tape that I watched once or perhaps twice and quickly traded back in. I wouldn’t have counted it especially good, yet it was certainly different and interesting (enough that I had the Evil Possum fight the damn plant). Of course, it was this movie that proved almost impossible to find at a decent price, but after a few years, I finally got hold of a copy that was pretty much certain to be a bootleg, and after Allegro Non Troppo, I was impressed enough that it actually played on my equipment.

Moving forward, most of what can be said about the movie is by way of comparisons that will hinge on familiarity with the genre. It is front and center a very serious film, to a degree perhaps not seen since Rodan. It also brings in some more specific themes and subtexts of earlier films, particularly the spy/ espionage element of Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla and the environmental “message” of Smog Monster. A further good word is in order for the music, which gets very random yet hits just the right vibe when working from the franchise’s theme. The downside is that there’s no corresponding improvement in the story, which leaves us with the same muddle of pseudoscience and silliness that Toho already had down by the 1960s-‘70s transitional period. One more thing that I find more intriguing are certain parallels with The Thing, which also came up with Lily CAT. A good part of this can be put down simply to the modernized suits and effects. When the slime and tentacles are flying, however, more direct comparisons become difficult to avoid. It leaves me wondering if Carpenter’s film was more successful in Japan; still, the strongest feeling, as with Lily CAT, is a culture taking back what was theirs all along.

That brings me directly to the monsters. Godzilla as shown here is back in his role as “anti-hero” at best, and the most immediate effect is that we really don’t see much of him. When he does appear, he tends to look mysteriously and vaguely disgruntled, with some visible rough bits in the suit. Biollante, by comparison, is a beautiful, horrifying masterpiece. We see two forms of the creature. The first and (as usual) more interesting is a column of vines topped by an eerily beautiful flower, to me like a cactus blossom. Even here, the stabby, bitey tentacle-vines are already in evidence and clearly lethal. The first engagement ends with the plant seemingly disintegrated by Godzilla’s blasts, another moment of weird beauty. Once the plant reassembles for the finale, it’s 1000% terror. The final form makes me think of nothing so much as the colonial superpredator in Deep Rising. Its crocodilian central face is a bit underwhelming in execution, though it’s big enough to make a credible effort to bite Big G’s head off. It’s the secondary branches that remain the primary threat, snapping viciously and purposefully enough to suggest independent life and perhaps the ability to fission off into new plant-monsters if the main mass is destroyed. This is truly a creature where the only safe option is nuke from orbit.

That leaves the “one scene”, and I’m going with the one that introduces Biollante. Around the first -second act transition, we come to the doctor’s lab after hours, to discover that two guys whose affiliations aren’t clear have broken in. They’ve already evidently found what they’re looking for in the doctor’s files. Just then, a shady character we’ve met before arrives, a mysterious operative so cool we don’t question why he’s wearing sunglasses inside an office building at night. They’re clearly after the same thing, and the other guys have brought their own guns, so a fight breaks out. The regular burglars are clearly not in the agent’s league, so they quickly retreat to cover. (By the way, I got this with subtitles, but these two speak English anyway.) As they argue over their options, a tentacle-vine smashes through the door behind them; it’s a comical moment, with a real element of surprise even if you know what’s coming. Of course, the amateurs are quickly lunched, then Biollante goes for the agent, and what’s impressive is that it proves to be an even fight. In short order, it’s morning, and we find the doctor gazing out a hole in the wall. It’s a side trip that doesn’t really contribute anything to the story, but it’s exactly the kind of things that makes the franchise and genre fun.

In closing, what I come back to is how I really feel about this series. If I had grown up with the movies and not just the idea of Godzilla (and my Dormei Genericzilla), I’m sure I would love them as much as anyone else. As it is, I certainly enjoy the Godzilla movies, and there are some that are among my favorite kaiju movies. To me, it all comes down to perspective, and to me, Godzilla feels like what would happen if the most popular 1970s sci fi movie had been Starcrash. Yes, they’re fun and even great, but there’s better things out there. If I was doing my own kaiju lineup, I’d go with The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Rodan, any of the 1990s Gamera series (definitely incoming), and one or two of the 1970s Godzilla movies on the side. (And heck, why not House… if sleeping is optional.) That’s the proper place of the series, as a gateway to better things. With that, I for one am moving on.

The Legion of Silly Dinosaurs: Walk on the wild side!

 

It's time for this month's dino blog, which as always means the most work for the least views. This time around, I'm doing another clearance of the backlogged material, specifically stuff that I didn't buy but still photographed to have proof it exists. And it you've been here long enough to get a feel for what I'll pay money for, you can already guess this is going to be a rough ride. To start with, here's pics above and below from the store where I got the Dragon Knight dinobot.

For contest, these pics are from two different trips. The big brachiosaur in the opening pic is an electronic/ animatronic toy made of foam rubber, I'm sure considerably larger than the Dormei Godzilla. The packaged set immediately above looked like they could be knockoffs of 1980s vintage dinosaurs. The resemblance is especially strong to the Imperial dinos, though not enough to convince me these are direct copies. It's one of the most interesting things I've seen for sale new, and in 20/20 hindsight, I definitely should have gotten this rather than the dinobot. It's the kind of thing that fascinates me just by continuing to exist. While I'm at it, here's another mall sighting, from a semi-classy shop.

What interested me about these is that they are about on the level you might see in a museum gift shop. To me, they really aren't any more interesting than the patchisaurs and other obviously outdated dinos that are still out there. Of course, they're nicer and more polished, but they have their own scientific flaws, as evident especially from the brachiosaur. Next up, here's something that was at the grocery store not long ago.

This one is as far as I can tell a bagged version of the Walmart Marx clone dino set, complete with the patchisaur Pteranodon and the Hideous Abomination. (If it looks like you're seeing a frog foot in the lower pic, that's the Abomination....) The weird part is, they also threw in a uintathere, which almost convinced me to buy this thing. I might have eventually, but the set got sold out. Next, here's a sighting at the unidentified restaurant/ shop where I found Gumby and Pokey. Don't know that I have anything to say...

And to wind things up, here's even more from the store where I got the dinobot.

Apparently, you can make a Carnotaurus look goofier than the real thing.

On the other hand, this looks more realistic than the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park.

Why is the bootleg packaging rip off a movie nobody remembers?

And multiple Godzillas!

And with that, I'm wrapping this up. These truly are what I do this featuer and the blog for. I may not get much of my traffic from these posts, but it's always worth it, and sooner or later, I might even turn this into a book. (A reminder, I just got a new ebook out!) And here's one more thing...

That's all for now, more to come!

Rogues' Roundup: Christmas robot toys!

 

It's time for yet another Christmas post, and as you might guess, I have a big backlog of junk I could use. The big surprise is that a lot of this is stuff people just give to me, or at least things I got in "white elephant" exchanges. For this post, I also did some maintenance and even took a bit of video. To kick things off, here's the central exhibit and I believe the first one I got, a jazz reindeer!

Legalize it! Mistletoe, that is...

For the history, I think I got this in 2016 or so. When I got him, he would play "Jingle Bells" and do a sort of dance. The tag that would give the usual date and manufacturer's info appears to have been deliberately removed. To my further recollection, there was some extra stuff tacked on that I removed. However, I never seriously doubted that the saxophone came with the figure, though at this point, it's only securely attached to his mouth, which makes it look like an oversized pipe. He proved to pose the most issues when I tried to get him to work, something I'll get to further in. For now, here's one more pic with generic Godzilla. The big guy's taller, but not by a lot.

"Oh yeah, I was tripping every frame of Godzilla vs. Hedorah..."

Next up, we have the most elaborate gimmick of the group. It's a regular dancing reindeer, except it also has a light-up fan that spells out a holiday message. I got it in a box I lost track of. A tag says "Newtoys", but doesn't give a date. Here's the toy.

And here's the other two. The first is a more or less realistic dog that "sings" and rolls around. A tag gives the company name Kids For America and the date 2007. The other is a more cartoony character that swings his head around to the tune. A tag on one ear gives the product name Puppy Precious, and advertises that it plays 10 songs, but I can find no other info. Both make a barking sound tuned to the music. Another common denominator is that they are very overpowered, which I will get to. Here's a couple pics, with a Marx Soviet soldier for reference, because we haven't had giant Marx lately.

"Gaahh! Capitalist consumerist killer robot attack dog!"

With this lineup in places the real question was if I could get them to work. I set up a work area on the Couch Mark 2, got out a bunch of batteries, and set things up to upload to my misbegotten Youtube channel. As alluded above, the big reindeer required the most work. At the start, he would play a few notes of music without doing anything else. With a change of batteries, he would play music again, but didn't move. I turned the neck and joints, and gave it a few more tries, and eventually he did start dancing again. Unfortunately, he's very prone to falling over, an issue I had noted previously. Here's the before and after.

The reindeer with the fan posed a different kind of problem. A change of batteries got it to play and light up. The real difficulty is that the head isn't clear of the fan. To get a good recording, I had to adjust the head to keep the fan from snagging. Here's the Youtube clip.

Singing Reindeer with LED fan! - YouTube

The kaiju dog proved to be the easiest to deal with. The Dogzilla is billed as singing and dancing, but he really just swings the giant head back and forth like he's shaking a rat. Here is his big moment.

Then for the finale, I had the rolling dog. I had him working before the others, with just a change of batteries. Most if not all the action is from the massive tail and what must be a very powerful motor. I quickly learned not to hold onto the toy during a demonstration, because getting your hand in the way borders on painful and certainly can't be good for the toy. For this post, I set up a squad of the giant Marx figures for a little fun. The humanity...

Vintage Marx figures vs. Christmas robot dog! - YouTube

And with that, I'm done for today. Merry Christmas; life and light; and praise to the Logos made flesh. That's all for now, more to come!

Featured Creature: The one where Godzilla turns environmentalist

 

Title: Godzilla Vs The Smog Monster aka Godzilla vs Hedorah

What Year?: 1971 (Japanese release)/ 1972 (US theatrical release)

Classification: Weird Sequel/ Mashup

Rating: What The Hell??? (2/4)

 

As I write this, I’m reaching 10 reviews for this feature, and almost up to 180 for this blog. I decided it was time for something a bit different, and to that end, I looked at a few different movies. That brought me to a whole genre I have somehow missed, the Godzilla/ kaiju movies. That still left me with a few choices, including some good ones within the 1980s-‘90s timeframe I have mostly adhered to so far. But the one that had been at the top of the pile since long before I started this feature was from further back, at the transitional period of the very early 1970s. Here is Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster, and this is one time you want the English dub, just for the hysterical opening musical number.

Our story begins, after a cheery montage of scenes of pollution, with a child playing with his Godzilla toy. This isn’t “meta”, however, as both the boy and the adult authority figures refer to the big guy in the factual present tense. Meanwhile, scientists discover strange tadpole-like creatures that appear to be generated spontaneously from polluted water. Inevitably, these congregate into one kaiju-sized mess referred to as Hedorah. This entity proves to be able to change its shape, mostly alternating between a vaguely humanoid form and a sort of flying saucer of muck. The people of Tokyo are terrorized more graphically than usual as the creature smashes ships and sprays the city with a gas that reduces people to skeletons. Even Godzilla is unable to score a decisive victory over the slime monster. It’s a fatherly scientist, injured in an earlier attack, who makes a breakthrough, demonstrating that the creature can be dried with an energy weapon. The military sets up the superweapon for a last stand, in defense of an encampment of hippies who definitely deserve to be eaten. It just might be the army who saves the day, but only if Godzilla can keep Hedorah from smashing their machine first!

Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster was a 1971 film from Toho, the 11^th to feature the title character Godzilla. The film was directed and co-written by the late Yoshimitsu Banno, as what he maintained to be a return to the serious environmental themes of the original film Godzilla King of the Monsters. The film featured veteran Haruo Nakajima (d. 2017) in his second-to-last outing as Godzilla and Kenpachiro Satsuma as Hedorah, with Akira Yamanouchi as Dr. Toru Yano. It was released in Japan in 1971 and in the US by AIP (see Futureworld, Meteor, etc.) under its given title in 1972. The AIP version included a new theme song “Save The Earth!”, consisting of English lyrics set to the music of the Japanese theme “Give Back The Sun!”. While the film was evidently profitable, it drew negative reactions from critics, fans, and Toho management, leading to Banno’s dismissal from the studio. Michael and Harry Medved included the film in their 1978 book The 50 Worst Films of All Time. Banno and Satsuma would return for the 1980s incarnation of Godzilla. Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster remains reasonably available on DVD and Blu Ray, featuring a Toho dub with the original theme song in Japanese only.

For my experiences, I have already written plenty about my conflicted experiences with Godzilla in my toy blogs (see especially the patchisaurs and generic Godzilla). It will suffice to say that I loved Godzilla as an idea through my childhood, but on the few occasions I was able to watch the movies, I was either confused or underwhelmed. It was only in my adulthood that I really got a look at a representative sample of Godzilla/ Toho/ kaiju movies, which quickly convinced me that the best of the genre were the ones that didn’t have the big guy. (At one point, I traded in a copy of Godzilla Vs. Biollante, a tragedy I may recount at another time.) As for the present film, I certainly knew of its notoriety, but I didn’t watch it or look for it until I happened to find it on the used shelves. It immediately struck me not as better or worse than other kaiju movies, but as wildly weird even by genre standards. It’s certainly not the worst Godzilla movie (I have other candidates in mind for that), but it could very well be the strangest.

Going on to the movie, what’s noteworthy is that how much of the strangeness has little if anything to do with the monsters. The obvious and egregious example are the animated sequences, in hindsight a preview of the traumatizing weirdness of House. On the same vein, there’s the montage of TV-screen images literally bombarding the viewer, until the transformation to a cartoon comes as a relief. Then there are the musical numbers, somehow more bizarre in the US cut, and the overlapping the “party” sequences, which are so laughably tame nobody bothers to tell the kid to leave, yet still as freaked out as the real deal. To me, the most incongruous moment is the previously noted presence of a Godzilla toy. I’m sure nobody really thought this through further than convincing kids to buy more toys. Still, having Godzilla merchandise in the monster’s own assumed universe is a level of fourth-wall irony that western media didn’t get to until far more recently. There’s an extra odd yet poignant note in the familiarity with which the kid treats the toy, pushing it down the slide no differently than a flesh-and-blood friend. It’s just enough to wonder about the reality of what follows, without the pretentiousness that such subtexts often bring.

Meanwhile, what’s front and center is Hedorah, and it is truly nightmarish as well as nauseating. Things get off to a good start with the tadpole stage, with an extra cringey moment when the doctor handles one with his bare hands instead of a remote-control robot claw. Once they assemble, the resulting creature is easily among the most formidable on record. What’s especially unsettling is that the monster doesn’t seem to pay much attention to humans except as a source of the pollutants it feeds on (see also The Green Slime), raising the indignity as it decimates the population with what amount to excretory byproducts. Only Godzilla appears to register as a threat, ultimately distracting the creature from the humans’ belated response. The most surreal part is that the two opponents are legitimately well-matched. While Godzilla is hard-pressed to do more than temporarily disable the sludge creature, it takes visible effort for it to do any harm to him. What makes or breaks the whole setup is our default hero’s clear disgust at his adversary’s oozy attacks. The overall feel is like Rocky fighting a hobo with an unidentified skin disease; Big G can hold his own when he puts in the effort, but what he really wants is to deal with the amalgamation at arm’s length. It all builds to the film’s most effective moments, as Godzilla first tries to fling the whole mess away, then ends by wading into its desiccated mass to stamp out any remnants of life.

That leaves the “one scene”, and while there’s a lot to choose from, there’s one sequence that’s strikingly random even for this movie. After the first round or so between Godzilla and the slime monster, the youth of Tokyo gather in a nightclub you know is hip because the kid actually isn’t present as far as I can tell. Someone projects Jackson Pollack splatters on the walls while a woman in a skintight suit sings the theme song. Many of the patrons wear fish masks as they dance along, for reasons that might well make sense if you know any Japanese. In the middle of it all, one of our protagonists sits and broods. He becomes anxious, or else realizes how weird this really is. Meanwhile, a stream of ooze flows stealthily down the stairs. When someone finally notices, the sludge comes down faster, without overtaking any of the partygoers. Our gallant hero puts himself between the singer and the slime. Just when there’s real tension, the slime retreats as quickly as it came. Then we see the one actual victim, a sodden kitten still mewing pitifully. Where did it come from? Why is it even alive? Like almost everything else, it makes no sense, and works nevertheless.

 In conclusion, the one thing still lingering in my mind is the Medved brothers’ book. Now, it is itself an easy target of ridicule, particularly in light of Michael Medved’s subsequent politics. What I have repeatedly pointed out (see my own Plan 9 review) is that even in the 1990s, it was quite difficult to access older movies, and harder still to get a good sampling of movies from another country. With regards to this movie in particular, what I distinctly recall is that the Medveds presented it as no more or less than an “egregious” example of its genre, and that’s still a quite reasonable assessment. With the resources of the age of the internet, it’s easy to see that there are both better and far worse movies from Godzilla, Toho, and Japanese cinema in general. What this movie offers in spades are the things that made the series and genre memorable, for better or worse, and on the whole, it’s fun even if you’re just looking for things to laugh at. That’s enough to keep a space on my shelves, and a passing grade. With that, I’m done.

The Legion of Silly Dinosaurs: Big Mouth Mayhem!

 

To round out my "fifth week" lineup, I decided it was time for an extra dino blog. This time around, I have kind of a backlog, simply because there's what I consider a whole category of dinos. They aren't big, they aren't flashy, and they certainly aren't good, but when it comes to "silly", these guys give even the patchisaurs a run for their money. Here are the big-mouth dinos, starting with a pic with Bossk.

For the background, it should go without saying that "big mouth" is a term of my own creation, though I was a little surprised I didn't find it in independent use already. My definition is a hollow creature made from rubber or otherwise flexible material, with an opening into the interior space at the mouth. A secondary characteristic is that they are larger than usual for low-end dinos, sometimes extraordinarily so. From what can be known, they were definitely being made in the 1970s if not earlier, by manufacturers including Dormei, Arco and Imperial (see the Genericzilla Junior post). Unsurprisingly, there's plenty of gray area, especially on what you count as a dinosaur. Many toys made with the same technique and materials represent lizards, crocs, and other relatively mundane creatures. Others represented dragons and other fantasy creatures, a trend that intensified in the 1980s with a wave of He-Man knockoffs. While several egregious offenders released examples with proper manufacturing marks, most were as anonymous and untraceable as we should now expect. Here's a pair from my collection that I'm sure must have come from the same manufacturer.

For this particular set, I had the one on the right when I was a kid. I picked the one up on the right in the wild a few years back. I knew on sight that it was part of a set with my old dino, though at that point, I wasn't sure I still had it. Eventually, the old one turned up in one of my searches, and there were no real surprises on examination. The gimmick with these pair is that they glow in the dark. Overall, they actually look more realistic than might be expected, though how they came up with the "crest" on the carnosaur's head is anyone's guess. Here's some more pics.

"C'mon, let's ditch these nerds... `Incoming asteroid', what's that even mean?"

And to show what I mean about realism, here's another specimen I picked up in the second-hand stores, as I recall in a set that also had a patchisaur Pteranodon. It's one thing to make a goofy creature and call it a dinosaur, it's another to give it the name of a cool dino that was getting famous. And to think we complained about Velociraptor being portrayed without feathers...

Here's one more closeup.

Now's the time for further rambling. In my recollections, these were toys even I viewed as disposable, and I wasn't wrong. I'm sure there's more I still have and many more that disappeared long ago.  The only ones I really formed any further memories around were a pair that came on a birthday cake and a huge example that I'm sure was well over 6 inches tall that battled Husky and Sidekick Carl on occasion. Over time, they faded away, but never disappeared entirely. Meanwhile, I  gradually found a certain fondness for these guys. Then... I found this. And bought it, so I would have proof it exists. Oh dear Logos, how the Hell does this thing exist???

It kind of looks okay on this side, doesn't it? But take another look...

Wow. The thing about mass production is that you have interchangeable molds so basic symmetry isn't a problem. It would practically be easier and cheaper to do it right than to have it come out this wrong. Then we still haven't had a closeup. The horror, the horror...

And with that, I'm definitely ready to quit. That's all for now, more to come!

Mystery Monday: Genericzilla knockoff???

 

It's the fifth week of the month, and it finally crossed my mind, I don't really need to do more movie reviews. Instead, I decided it was time for an extra installment of mysteries for a new acquisition I couldn't think of a better place for. In the last few weeks, I caught wind of something I hadn't seen before, and put in an order online. What I got is the dino/ creature featured above (with the Truckstop Queen and Duchess as usual), at face value a routine knockoff on the vein of Generic Godzilla. But, as we will see momentarily, things are stranger and more complicated than they look, and the trails might be more directly entangled. Moving forward, here's a few "unboxing" pics, or rather unwrapping.

When I ordered this guy, I had three pieces of information, reliable or otherwise. First, it was advertised as 9 inches tall, a figure some sellers with similar items hedged as 8". Second, it had no markings except "China". Third, it was speculated that it might be from Dormei, the same infamous manufacturer that made Generic Godzilla. I knew I wasn't getting to the bottom of this without a specimen in hand, and it was pleased with the unusual and vaguely attractive color scheme, so I ordered it for not a lot less than I paid for a full-sized Dormei original. Here's a pic of him straight out of the plastic.

What was moderately intriguing was that the figure came with the tail off. It could have been removed for shipping, but it seemed possible that this was in fact a "vintage" specimen that never got sold. That raised the further possibility that the plastic wrapping was original shipping material, but I didn't see any signs that it was particularly old. What was most significant by far was that the socket for the tail looked quite a bit like that of Genericzilla. Here's a couple more pics.

Something else I determined on further examination was that the figure as about 8.5 inches, which happened to be pretty close to the "authorized" but not very good Godzillas made by Imperial in the 1970s and/ or early '80s. Given that context, there was a definite potential tie to Dormei. While I consider it doubtful that they were the manufacturer (apart from anything else, they put their name on things way too goofy for this to be the one they covered their tracks for), there is a very good chance that both makers knew each other's handiwork. As a further experiment, I detached an arm for inspection, which I knew I could do without ill effects on the Dormei specimen. It turned out to be harder than expected, mainly because of considerably softer material, but it wasn't too hard to remove and reattach. It turned out, if anything, that it looked even more like Dormei.

When I play with Godzilla, he can actually get hurt!

One more thing I decided to look into was the "original" Dormei Genericzilla, a variant I acquired when I posted about it last Spring. As I noted at the time, he had a head a lot more similar to the actual Toho design, especially in the 1970s. On examining them side by side, I found them too similar to be simple coincidence, insofar as even finer details on the snout match up. I'd have to watch a few Godzilla movies to decide if it can be accounted for by a common source. Here's a comparison shot and a closeup.

And, while I'm at it, here's a back shot. This is where we get into unusual territory. The spiky stuff on Godzilla's back are a distinctive feature I never quite worked out as a kid, and notably absent from many knockoffs/ bootlegs. Here, the protuberances, sometimes described as "shark fins", aren't close enough to be in litigious territory any deeper than it was already, but remain strikingly elaborate, especially with the triple rows. Incidentally, one of the lesser spines on the tail outright broke off, which should show in the pics.

And that's the end of the trail, for the moment. Having examined this carefully, I believe that it could if anything be older than the Dormei Genericzillas. What's decisive in my mind is the nearly indescribable feel, rough and almost powdery. (The skin texture is one more thing a lot more like the source material.) I tried looking for more info, but found only more online listings with no more information than I could figure out. One thing that was evident is that these things cost way too much not to be relatively rare, to the point that some are actually priced higher than Dormei Genericzillas. What made things more interesting is that there are some strange mutations out there still clearly based on the same molds. Here's my favorite.

Generic Godzilla or generic Gigan?

And it wouldn't be complete without a lineup, this time with the Walmart giant robot and the Robotech Red Guy!

And now I'm calling it a night. That's all for now, more to come!