the sphinx
3/19/24
GODZILLA x KONG Choco-lympics Candy Bar Showdown and Taste-Testing-O-Rama Death Match!
2/21/24
Trendmasters Godzilla Unproduced Doom Island Resin Recast Figure!
The existence of this Godzilla figure has puzzled fans for years. We all know Doom Island ended up as a cancelled line, but at Toy Fair that year, the Trendmasters display looked like this:
I forgot to mention, the figure bears the date of 1997! |
2/8/24
BATTLE ARMOR MECHA KING GHIDORAH (Godzilla Doom Island, Trendmasters, 1997)
Of the four "Power-Up" figures, this one is one of the coolest. Once again, the figure was given the black Doom Island wash, which really accentuates the sculpt here. Now, let's get inside the box...
When you look at the packaged figure straight on, it almost appears his tail(s) and wings aren't separate, but they are, as you can see below:
And here is a better view of the heads...I didn't stop to see if the backpack-type piece connected to the middle head was removable like the "Power-Up" figure, but I'm willing to bet that it still is.
The body of the figure also benefits greatly from the extra black paint:
And, just like the other figures, a packet of weapons and missiles can be found under the cardboard base:
Here is something else that you won't see anywhere, well, else. While the Godzilla figure included a Mechagodzilla card, this figure actually includes the right one. This card is so rare, I couldn't even find any trace to include it in the Trendmasters Guide (please see our Sphinx Godzilla Guides page for free PDF downloads, updated constantly), but it's there now!
2/5/24
BATTLE ARMOR GODZILLA (Godzilla Doom Island, Trendmasters, 1997)
To get a run-down on the line, as well as see the first two figures we looked at, see the previous posts about Battle Armor Kumonga and Battle Armor Anguirus! Both are completely awesome figures.
Those figures were brand new sculpts; the remaining half of the line were really re-painted re-packs, though, that you have probably even seen before. Today's Battle Armor Godzilla began in the previous GODZILLA WARS line as "Power-Up Godzilla."
1/19/24
(Another) GODZILLA 1985 Ad Slick Set (American Screen Accessories, 1985)
Comparing these to the previous set that we looked at a few years ago, one thing jumps out right away: while that set had a light-colored background behind Godzilla, this set has a dark one, making for a solidly black ad with white text.
This gave the newspaper personnel a choice, I suppose...the dark one is more striking, but in smaller sizes it might have looked like a big smudge on the page. What do you think?
1/16/24
The Kaiju Art of Ray Fromme!
Ray is a gifted and prolific artist, as well as a true fan who can talk about any era of Godzilla that you bring up, not to mention other great tokusatsu franchises! I don't feel comfortable copy-and-pasting examples of prints that are for sale, so you are encouraged to go to this LinkTree site, which lists out his stores, social media, and whatnot, including prints, originals, T-shirts, and more.
1/11/24
SHOCK AROUND THE CLOCK 2! Megalon & Godzilla On Monster Island (c.1979)
For our purposes here, though, both GODZILLA vs. MEGALON and GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND are included! If you can get past the giant Jack Elam face, here are the descriptions you can read:
Puma Man! |
THE CANTINA COMPENDIUM (5th edition, 2024) - Including Several Updates, now available!
I swore up and down I wasn't going to do it, but in the last four years, I'd collected a small handful of items that really needed to be added to the book. Also, right before Christmas, two important items came out that yielded a few more tidbits. They are so enjoyable and well-done that I need to mention them here:
Anyway, if you've enjoyed earlier editions of the CANTINA COMPENDIUM, you're going to want to replace them with this new edition:
LINK: The Cantina Compendium (5th edition, PDF)
Here is the old post explaining all of the details of the book, with plenty of screenshots to show you what you're getting into. Enjoy!
1/2/24
GODZILLA vs. MEGALON Theatre Ad Slick (Donald L. Velde, Inc., 1976)
12/22/23
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS "Coming Soon" Ad (April 3, 1939)
Here is what is probably a very unique ad for DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, which says "Coming Soon" (the film was released in late May of that year). This full-page ad comes from the April 3, 1969 issue of the Motion Picture Daily, which was a publication about the film industry that ran from 1931 to 1972.
It is 9.5 by 12 inches, and had to be scanned and stitched together. I always love how the listed stars are the monsters, and even HOLY CRAP WHAT DID I JUST SEE?
Bwa ha HA! I can't stop laughing. I hope somebody got in big trouble (I doubt it) for screwing that one up, and also for the mess I have to clean up, because Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes were just spat everywhere.
Also, American International has a slogan here: "The Film Company With The Future Look." It's rather confusing. You could read it as 1) they look futuristic, or 2) they are looking to the future...in which case, why not just say that? I think its usage was short lived.
Speaking of looking to the future, we are now just days away from a New Year, which will of course include the 50th anniversary of Mechagodzilla. This is as good a place as any, and as good a time as any, to share this artwork I recently assembled (these logos are very hard to find, especially in good quality). Enjoy!
12/13/23
"The Firebird" GODZILLA! Pilot Script (Hanna-Barbera, 1978) REVISITED
"Say, what are we looking at?" |
Scouring the KING KONG vs. GODZILLA script made me remember--with much embarrassment--that I'd never found time in the past three years to go back to the other script I own, that of the pilot for what at the time was called GODZILLA! with an exclamation point. When I first got the script, it was messily stapled together in bundles, and I was afraid of taking it apart...well, that fear is conquered. It's been carefully un-stapled and completely scanned, as well as meticulously compared to the finished episode. As hinted at in the few lazy photos I'd included in the original post, it's very different from the finished product.
Whereas the KING KONG vs. GODZILLA script included mostly smaller differences to the finished product (and may have even been constructed after the fact?), the Firebird script is full of altered dialogue, cut lines, and most of all, unproduced scenes...multiple pages of them, in fact.
As I slowly went through the finished episode a couple of seconds at a time, I annotated all of the changes in red (using Adobe Acrobat which enabled me to both line through discarded parts, and type in new and changed dialogue because you don't want to mess with my handwriting), which you can see in the screenshot above. Spoiler alert: there is metric tons of red.
Here are some of my random observations:
*This obviously wasn't the "Final Draft," which would've been the working version for the episode--which makes this script all the more important, and interesting!
*While lots of dialogue is cut out, and conversations are compressed for time, it quickly becomes apparent that many of the scenes were simply changed because they would've required too much animation...in other words, cost more. Let's fact it, Hanna-Barbera wasn't known for high art, but instead for cutting corners to crank out as much product as possible. Two shocking examples of this are: 1) the scientists fleeing the flowing lava, which was shortened and simplified to the point of embarrassment, and 2) the final battle between Godzilla and the Firebird as originally written, which took place on a shrinking ice floe that melts down to just enough room for the two of them. That would've been really cool!
*While much was deleted from the 52-page script, I had to type 9 pages of my own that wasn't in the original draft. As you would guess, lots of the material involves cramming more Godzooky into the proceedings. It's not that he's absent from the original, just not nearly goofy enough for their liking. The rest of the additions involve rewrites of the more complicated scenes, to simplify them for animating.
It's a very interesting read, and a real behind-the-scenes lesson in the production of the show and others like it. I should point out that the download includes two complete versions of the script; the original untouched script AND my annotated/red-lined/supplemented version. Read along with the finished episode, and you will be quite surprised!