How to Make a Mechanikong

Ultra Seven Makes Dreams Come True

Doctor becomes space superhero / Astronaut Furukawa had childhood dream of emulating Ultra Seven

Tatsuya Kimura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan—Flying into space like the superhero Ultra Seven. It was a childhood daydream of Satoshi Furukawa, today a 47-year-old surgeon-cum-astronaut. He made this dream come true Wednesday after waiting for 12 years, when the Soyuz spacecraft carrying him and two others was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, bound for the International Space Station.

Family, friends and acquaintances in his hometown and at the launch base cheered at his successful flight and wished him fruitful days at the ISS.

“When he was a child, he always talked about Ultra Seven,” his mother, Hiroko Furukawa, 74, recalled while watching the launch at the base.

“Ultra Seven” is one of Tsuburaya Productions Co.’s famed “Ultra” science fiction TV series. “Ultra Seven” was the third series after “Ultra Q” and “Ultraman.” Ultra Seven, the title character, is a superhero from the imaginary Nebula M-78.

read more at Yomiuri Shimbun      illustration found at deroli

Come Together

These are the wax castings for Garakutagigas which go into the making of iron molds. Molten metal. . .

Alex Wald x Atelier G-1 Collaboration: GARAKUTAGIGAS — Interview by Kirkland Jue

I've been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the announcement of my first toy design, a collaboration with premier kaiju sculptor Mr. Okuda Shigeki of Atelier G-1. Kirkland Jue of Toybot Studios did a fine interview with me about what makes Garakutagigas tick; it is reprinted here with his kind permission.

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One of the toys revealed at Super Festival 56 this weekend that just blew me away is the GARAKUTAGIGAS which is a collaboration between Chicago Artist Alex Wald and Atelier G-1. I first met Alex a couple of years ago at Mark Nagata's Toy Karma 2 Custom Show at Rotofugi. Super nice guy. Obviously super talented as well. We sat down for a virtual interview on his latest venture:

pictures via:   Sofubi Blog Kadomiumtank    Garamania

 

TBS: You mentioned Garakutagigas is a Junk Giant, a golem of garbage and industrial waste. What is his relationship to Garamon if any? He looks like a junkyard version of mecha Garamon.

AW: There is a core element of Tilsonite in the composition of Garakutagigas--the element that composed the Garadama meteor that brought the original Garamon to Earth. This rare substance has a number of strange properties; it may house a living intelligence that can exert a creative or organizing force over its surroundings. So when a metal reclamation yard was built over an ancient Tilsonite impact crater... I have enough notes to make a fairly decent story. I started to rough it out, thinking it would be cool to have a mini-comic with the toy but soon realized I didn't have enough time to get one done for the first release. It will happen eventually...

TBS: Is there any social commentary related to your design? 

AW: Actually I'm very interested in the relationship between what we call art and what we call junk--dialectically opposite but really it's very much a matter of perspective. The lines are not at all fixed--what one culture considers junk, another calls art. Our society produces and venerates much that we condemn as "junk culture," we may know it's unworthy, mediocre or substandard but we love it just the same. And then there's the issues of salvaging the colossal waste our society produces as an unavoidable byproduct to progress. These concepts came flooding in to me as I drew the earliest pieces that evolved into Garakutagigas. I've been to a few junk yards, there's a pervasive atmosphere of doom to an auto graveyard. And I love the idea that all this waste, this useless garbage, is carefully guarded by men with guns and ferocious dogs. 

TBS: Is he related to Hedorah or Smogun in any way? 

AW: Yes, I think that (creator of Hedorah) Mr. Banno was prescient in some way; he was inspired by Rachel Carson's landmark book on ecology "Silent Spring." He conceived the pollution monster Hedorah in the early '70s when great debates raged about pollution and ecology. The following years have seen Hedorah resonate even more strongly in society. The collector's world we're familiar with is a tiny niche society with a million fragments--by now there must be nearly as many renditions of Hedorah as there have been of Godzilla. I don't know the statistics...it might be interesting for someone to take a census...

TBS: Was he shiny and brand new like Mecha Godzilla at one point and then fell into disrepair?

AW: Oh no, "baby, he was born this way!"

TBS: If you could pick another one of your illustrations to be made into a vinyl toy, which would it be?

AW: Mr. Okuda and I have discussed the possibility of another design. I'll decline from identifying it at the present out of deference to him. But I have a number of other designs on my astromonster blog and in my Flickr sets. I'd like to get back to sculpting some originals as well---I haven't made sculpture in a very long time....

TBS: Would you like to design more toys in the future?

AW: Oh yeah! That this is happening at all is totally a dream come true---I still can't believe it. In addition to my other drawings and images, I have many designs for specific toys. My sketchbooks have been full of them for years!

TBS: wow..! Thank You Alex... Looking forward to this toy. We can hardly wait. The response has been tremendous.

Alex would like to thank Mark Nagata who helped put the collaboration with Atelier G-1 in place. It also couldn't have happened without the aid of the omnipotent Yo Miyamoto..! 

Atelier G-1 x Astromonster = GARAKUTAGIGAS!

The prototype figure of GARAKUTAGIGAS debuted at Super Festival 56 in Tokyo,
April 29, 2011. Sculpted by Okuda Shigeki for Atelier G-1, design by Alex Wald. 
Special thanks to Miyamoto Yo and Mark Nagata! Watch for the official Atelier G-1
release this summer at World Characters Convention in Tokyo!

Have you seen Them?

I never get tired of painting...them. But what do they think about how I make them look?

Tura Satana RIP 1938—2011

The Hundred Monsters Game

Mizuki Shigeru's Yokai Hyaku Monogatari (Hundred Monsters) was, like much of his manga work, based on folk stories and traditions involving ghosts, spirits and monsters. Here is a sugoroku ---a paper board-game---depicting less than a hundred weird creatures from Japanese lore. This example may possibly be pre-War as the title across the top reads right to left "Hyaku Monogatari Bakemono." Along with the spider demon, rokuro-kubi and lantern ghost there is also a demon teakettle, a cracked pot and a walking phallus!

Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai (百物語怪談会 -- A Gathering of One Hundred Supernatural Tales) was a popular game during the Edo period. To play the game, one hundred candles were lit in a room at twilight. The players gathered around taking turns telling kaidan (weird tales). After each tale a single candle was extinguished and the room slowly grew darker and darker. The process was believed to summon a supernatural entity.

More Kaiju Rarities

I tend to accumulate lots of images--from the internet, as well as from print--at a steady rate. This weekend I spent some time arranging my "catch" files and found some pieces that I now no longer remember the source for. If anyone has more info on these--or better yet, copies at a higher resolution--please email me and I'll post them in future updates.

The caption I wrote on this merely says Kaiju Shibuya. The monsters are Drako II and RedKing; the female models are, alas, unknown. The photo looks like it may have been from a magazine spread circa 1966. I'd love to see the rest of this shoot!


This just in! Our San Francisco correspondent August Ragone writes:
  "The first photo is sourced from a photo spread, "Monsters & Dates: Ultra Gals", in the April    1967 edition of "Monthly Heibon" (Heibonsha Limited). The girl holding hands with Red King is famous actress-model-singer, Linda Yamamoto (best known to tokusatsu fans as one of the Rider Girls from the original KAMEN RIDER series. Holding Drako's hand is Tomoko Kei, another popular singer-actress-model. Both of these girls are happa." 

I'd say the Ultra Dates are not only happa--they're happenin'!

Many thanks, August! 

The (partial) kaiju suit shown above is Ghostler from the Captain Ultra series. Eagle-eyed affiliate August Ragone identifies the crew as employees of Ekisu Productions, all of whom worked at Toho under Eiji Tsuburaya; the man standing behind the monster is company chief Masao Yagi. 

Above is the contents page from a 1955 copy of Vue magazine courtesy of Brad Warner. Brad believes, and I would agree, that this is very likely the first publication in English about the King of the Monsters! Notice that the monster's name is given as "Gojira"--the name "Godzilla" would not come into common usage for another year when Joseph E. Levine bought the rights to bring the film to the U.S.  Hey, Brad! Do you still have copies of this mag? I never got one...

Mystery Kaiju

Who can identify the mystery kaiju in this old menko card and the name of the film they appeared in?

Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn!

Langorias Reborn

Couldn't resist developing this a bit further. Some of the other Kaiju Comrades pieces are scheduled for upgrades too.

Kaiju Comrades 2 video!

Read all about it here!

Kaiju Comrades 2

Mark Nagata presents Kaiju Comrades 2 at Design Festa Gallery, East Room #303 Tokyo, Japan from March 12—14, 2010. The opening is only a week away and all my work is finally winging its way over to Harajuku. I'll be sitting this out in Chicago unfortunately. Check out the full lineup of artists and a promo video here and here.

Thanks to Mr. Miyamoto and of course Mr. Nagata for making this all possible! I welcome your feedback on the designs-- I'm ready to start sculpting prototypes of the pieces that generate the most interest.

Ultra Kaiju Menko

from top, left to right: Hidora, Banilla, Gabura, Dodongo, Prote Seijin, Aron, Mephuilas, Goldon, Tetsujin 28-gou, Spehl Seijin, Zarab Seijin

Nude Date with Baragon

image courtesy of Ed Godziszewski.Baragon ©2010 Tōhō Kabushiki-kaisha.

Gekko Kamen menko

Swingin' Kaiju No. 963

Instant Toy Karma's Gonna Get You!

Coming up in just a few weeks is Toy Karma 2 • Art Inspired by Classic Japanese Toys —— and, thanks to the new trend in alphabetization, I'm at the head of the list! Thanks to Mark Nagata for making me a returning Toy Karmanaut!

Handing the mic to Mr. Kirby Kerr here:

What is Toy Karma? Well, in our case, it’s an art exhibit featuring artists expressing their love for classic Japanese toys. But it’s so much more than that. As Mark Nagata, founder of Max Toy Company and curator of this exhibit explains on his blog, it’s the idea that if you’re honest in your dealings that one toy that you’ve always dreamed of getting will eventually come to you. For many serious toy collectors it’s a guideline, a mantra and yes, even a lifestyle. This exhibit pays homage to the mysterious force and power that toys have over us.

Toy Karma, the exhibit, is held every other year at Rotofugi Gallery, Chicago. The first Toy Karma exhibit was held in September 2007. Toy Karma 2 (aka TKII) will be held at Rotofugi Gallery September 5-20, 2009. We hope you can join us!

Toy Karma 2

Rotofugi Gallery

1955 W Chicago Ave • Chicago, IL

Opening Saturday, September 5 • 7pm-10pm

Music by dep

Exhibit continues through September 20

http://www.toykarma.rotofugi.com/

Alex again...

Here are the preview jpegs of my pieces.

"Tura Satana in Violent Planet" will be available in two editions: the "Classic" design with blue-green sky and a psychedelic, or "Hawaiian" edition featuring heavy doses of yellow, pink and orange. (Sorry, no Glow in Dark available. Maybe next time...) The prints are 13" x 19" giclees on Ultra Premium Matte 100% cotton rag stock. There will be only 25 signed and numbered copies of each edition —— don't miss this! And don't make me use so many exclamation marks!!!

Hope to see you there!

Ultra ジグソーパズル

These jigsaw puzzles were the very first Ultraman items in my
collection--I've had them since 1969. They came in little boxes
marked "20 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle." No manufacturer name or other
information, just a simple "Made in Japan" notice on the bottom.
I believe the art was very likely originally intended for menko
cards--possibly the larger variety as they are quite detailed.
Something that viewing these images on a monitor can't convey is
that they are 5 color prints--all have metallic gold borders
and pictorial areas. I've collected many more Ultraman pieces
since then and yet these remain some of my most treasured pieces.
O-tanoshimi ni.


Ultraman tai Kaiju Gabora

I have a small sized menko with the same image that I found
around the same time. Though the monsters were the main
attraction for me back in '69 (it was some years before I'd
learn the word "kaiju") I became fascinated by the humanoid
figure. Who was that glowing-eyed being with the mysterious grin?


Bemlar • Gavadon O-abare!!



Hassha! Baltan • Antlar o Taose!!



Ultraman tai Kaiju Gyango




Magma Taishi • Kaiju Aron • Kaiju Gappa (Mama Gappa!)



Batman and Robin! Kairyu Daikessen!

For most American fans, this final card is the mind-blower of
the set. Batman's costume colors are definitely "off-model" and
Robin has a pistol! I didn't realize that the helmeted shooters
were Ultraman's Science Patrol team members until I became
more steeped in Ultra Lore.