Ultraman Daizukai Concept Sketches

A small glimpse into Shoji Otomo's Ultra Kaiju Daizukai sketchbook, taken from the out-of-print The World of Shoji Otomo: Kaiju Daizukai

Ultraman

Alien Baltan

Bikon

Guronken

Red King

Mefirasu Seijin

Pestar

Terochirusu

Up From the Depths!

Artstorm tightens their stranglehold as king of giant vinyl toys with their release of Kaiju Gyo!



The beast is loose from the pages of the 1972 horror manga of the same name by Umezu Kazuo. I can't get over the details and chromatic color scheme of each fleshy scale and membranous appendage. Imagine the damage this veritable land shark could do with its double row of teeth.



Gyo attacks! This should put the size of this guy into perspective. He'll eat your other figures for lunch. Seriously, handling it feels like you're cradling a mutant baby dipped in formaldehyde.



As it's common for mythological Japanese creatures, Gyo settle their differences in the sumo ring. Judging by the battle-damaged Baltan Alien standing ringside, refereeing is an occupational hazard waiting to happen.



Quick aside on the Artstorm/Umezu Kazuo Ultraman collaborations:

Umezu Kazuo wrote Ultraman manga for Sun Wide comics in the late 60's. However, given the technology at the time, the production studio only had still photographs from the set to provide for reference materials. Without detailed schematics of the characters, Umezu was forced to fill in the gaps with his imagination, hence the line of Ultraman figures designed with that special Umezu touch. The winged Baltan Alien in particular stands out as an Umezu original.

It's unfair to tease you with these awesome figures once they're already sold out, so luckily we have one extra Kaiju Gyo and Winged Baltan Alien available for sale. Shoot us a mail if you're interested!

Super Festival 50 Report Part 2: Ultraman Exhibit

Two weeks after the event and I'm only part 2... Let's hope this post can make up for lost time! There's no sense in wasting any more of your precious moments when the pics can do all the talking for me. You'll have to forgive them though, I was being trampled by a herd of silver-aged otaku competing for shots when I took them.

Ultraman Q&A/Retrospective Exhibit

Susumu Kurobe, Hiroko Sakurai and Satoshi Furuya

	Click here for more pics!
Ultraman at Super Fest 50