FIRE ROOSTERS, PIG NOSES & BULLMARKS

2016 is finally over (thank Christ) and it's time to look forward to a brand new series of unfortunate events. But fortunately, addictions to beer and toy collecting will help drown out a lot of the negative noise... 

So I've got that going for me. Hooray!!

To kick off 2017, year of the "fire rooster", I'd like to share my first toy score of the year... not to brag or be a dick, but because fire rooster reminded me of Godzilla (fuck you Rodan). Plus it also gives me an opportunity to share some brief history on a couple of my favorite Godzilla soft vinyl (sofubi) toys. 

So without further ado, I present the limited edition Butanohana Vinyl Wars Godzilla.

Sculpted by Butanohana, a newcomer to the soft vinyl scene, who's name means "pig nose", in Japan. The particular variant pictured above was released exclusively in the USA by MEDICOM via Newbury Comics in 2014, and was limited to only 100 pieces.

However, the sculpt was originally released in 2005, featuring various other color formats, marking Butanohana's first attempt at a Godzilla vinyl figure, standing at approx 6" tall. 

In the photo below you can see their interpretation of "burning Godzilla".

MEDICOM's "Vinyl Wars" series consisted of dozens of reissues from Japan's top sofubi toy producers. The 2014 reissue of Butanohana's Godzilla was painted to resemble Bullmark's classic 13" Giant Godzilla, which was released between 1968 and 1970 (below). 

Isn't it fucking awesome?!?! Too bad I'd have to sell a few organs to own one.

I'm a total sucker for vintage style Godzilla toys, especially reissues or variant sofubi with classic paint schemes. Oddly enough, my last toy score of 2016 was B-Club's first reissue of Bullmark's Giant Godzilla, which was released in 2001. However it featured a more cinematic version of Godzilla's colors, being a dark green vinyl coated in charcoal black paint and silver spine fins. He is still a welcome addition to my Godzilla vinyl family, especially since I'll probably never be able to afford a vintage version in the original colors :(

Now if only I could manage to snag one of these badass 13" Giant Glow in the Dark Hyper Hobby exclusives... 

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Special thanks to Mike Johnson at Club Tokyo for some of the info and photos!