Remember when Mattel sold Japanese Kaiju figures? Had I not held onto a weird blue monster with big ears since childhood I would’ve answered “uhh, no.” Turns out, Mattel did obtain the rights to distribute toys for the popular Japanese company Popy back in the late 70′s. You  do remember Shogun Warriors, right? Same licensing agreement. Although they do not have the same legendary status, Godzilla’s Gang was a cool little series that I decided to go back and collect recently.

Like I said, I had a few of these as a kid and, miraculously, they’re some of the few vintage toys I had that survived the great purges. Not long ago I decided to figure out what the heck they were. After a little searching I learned they were released as part of Mattel’s eight figure line called Godzilla’s Gang. Well, you know how the collector mentality works. First: “Oh, what other characters were there?” Second: “Oh, I wonder if there are any on eBay.” Third: “Accept, my Best Offer, dang it!”

Turns out the blue guy with the big ears was Ikarusu Planeter. I was able to get a packaged one recently. These were distributed, apparently, more as a rack toy:

The back of the card had a little checklist. The bane of the vulnerable collector.

I do not know much about the world of Japanese “strange creatures“. I wish I did. I know Godzilla is a thing. And I know Ultraman is another thing. From what I’ve been told, all the creatures in the line (save Godzilla himself) are actually related to the Ultraman property. I have some catching up to do. Anyway, here’s the gang…

GODZILLA

NOKO-GIRIN

 MICLAS

 IKARUSU PLANETER

 KING JOE

MURUCHI

 ELEKING

BEMUSTAR

One of the things about these figures that I recall from childhood was that they had unique footprints. Like, the soles of their feet were not just smooth. They each had a sculpted footprint. For those of you who are in-the-know, how unusual is this? I’ve noticed some other vintage Popy vinyl figures of a similar scale and sculpt style that also have unique footprints. That leads me to believe that Mattel only chose to distribute, at first, eight of these Popy creatures. But more existed in whatever Popy series (“Ultra Saurus”, perhaps) Godzilla’s Gang came from. Please fill me in! Not that I need to expand my collection, mind you.

Anyway, even though I don’t know much about Japanese Kaiju, I think this series is rad. I’m glad Mattel introduced us to these as kids. The nostalgia finally caught up with me and now I’m poised to learn more about these wacky creatures. Again, if this is your thing and you have something to share, please do so in the comments below!