Bandai America: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:07, 10 February 2019

For the Legendary Pictures' Godzilla-based toys, see Godzilla (2014 Bandai USA Toy Line)

Godzilla is a series of action figures made by Bandai USA since 2002. It was primarily available at Toys 'R' Us and Kmart until 2019, when Walmart began selling Wave 13.

Kaiju fans often call this company Bandai Creation as a result of confusing packaging text on the first five waves of figures.

Classic Godzilla Figures

Wave 1 (2002)

Bandai USA's first Godzilla figures became available online at the end of 2002, reaching brick-and-mortar stores the following year.

Wave 2 (2005)

After several years of silence, new Bandai USA Godzilla figures arrived in stores without any prior announcement.^[1]This would become a staple of the company's releases. Bandai USA planned to include two additional figures in this wave, Anguirus 1955 and Mecha-King Ghidorah, but they ultimately went unproduced.

Godzilla 2001
King Ghidorah
SpaceGodzilla
Mechagodzilla
Unproduced Mecha-King Ghidorah and Anguirus 1955 figures

Wave 3 (2006)

Every character in this wave was from Godzilla: Final Wars, which Sony released on DVD in the United States in December 2005.

Wave 4 (2007)

Wave 5 (2009)

This wave included reissues of Godzilla Millennium, Godzilla 1968, Hedorah, Destoroyah, and Anguirus.

First Godzilla
Mechagodzilla 1974
12-inch Gigan 2004

Wave 6 (2010)

Godzilla 2004 (reissue)
First Godzilla (reissue)
Rainbow Mothra (reissue)

Wave 7 (2011)

Godzilla 2001 (reissue)
Gigan 2004 (reissue)
SpaceGodzilla (reissue)

Wave 8 (2012)

Bandai USA planned to include a LittleGodzilla figure in this wave, but cancelled it after learning of the character's low popularity among Godzilla fans.^[2]

Godzilla 1968 (reissue)
Mechagodzilla (reissue)
Gigan (reissue)
Unreleased LittleGodzilla

Fusion Series Wave 1 (2012)

Figures in the Godzilla Fusion Series are made from softer, translucent, and glittery vinyl.

Fusion Series Godzilla 1968
Fusion Series Gigan
Fusion Series Mechagodzilla 1974

Wave 9 (2013)

This wave was headlined by a new King Caesar figure, along with reissues of Burning Godzilla, Mechagodzilla 1974, Gigan, Rainbow Mothra, and Godzilla 1968, along with the 12-inch Godzilla 2004 and Kiryu.

King Caesar
Burning Godzilla (reissue)

Fusion Series Wave 2 (2013)

Fusion Series Godzilla 2000
Fusion Series Rainbow Mothra
Fusion Series Burning Godzilla
Fusion Series Burning Godzilla prototype
Unreleased Meltdown Godzilla

Wave 10 (2014)

Godzilla 2000, Godzilla 1954, and King Caesar reissues

Wave 11 (2014)

Godzilla 1954 and King Ghidorah reissues
Godzilla 2014

Wave 12 (2015)

The wave included reissues of the 6-inch Godzilla 2014 and King Ghidorah figures, as well as a new 12-inch Godzilla 2014. Bandai USA's Toy Fair 2015 display included figures from Bandai Japan's Godzilla-E.G. line, rebranded as "Hatch-n-Heroes," though they were never released.

Wave 13 (2019)

This wave began arriving at Walmarts in January. Though Bandai USA had released figures of all these characters before, they partially resculpted King Ghidorah^[3] and gave Godzilla 1968 a duller pink mouth. Rainbow Mothra, Godzilla 1954, and Godzilla 2000 figures have been sighted in stores as well, though they do not yet have listings on the Walmart site.

Godzilla 1968
King Caesar
King Ghidorah
Mechagodzilla

Play Sets

Pack of Destruction (2002)

This set features ten 2.5-inch kaiju figures: Godzilla 1954, Burning Godzilla, Minilla, Manda, Mothra Larva, Mothra Imago, Gigan, M.O.G.U.E.R.A., Destoroyah (Aggregate Form), and Destoroyah (Perfect Form).

Godzilla Crumble Zone (2002)

This set features all the monsters from Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, although the film had yet to be released in the U.S.: Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Mothra Larva, Mothra Imago, and Baragon. It also included a large mat, several vehicles, and breakable buildings.

Tokyo Vinyl (2012)

Due to poor sales of this stylized line, Bandai USA cancelled plans for Godzilla 1954, King Ghidorah, and Minilla figures.^[2]

Godzilla 2004
Mechagodzilla
Unreleased Godzilla 1954
Unreleased King Ghidorah and Minilla
The Tokyo Vinyl line is revealed in the Bandai Toy Fair 2012

Chibi Figures (2013)

Chibi Figures 2 Packs
Chibi Figures 6 Pack
Chibi Figures
2 Pack Chibi Godzilla and Mechagodzilla
2 Pack Chibi Mothra and King Ghidorah
Chibi Godzilla
Chibi Mechagodzilla
Chibi Mothra
Chibi King Ghidorah
Chibi Gigan
Chibi Destoroyah

Convention Exclusives

Bandai Creation has released two convention-exclusive figures: a Burning Godzilla 2004 at San Diego Comic-Con 2013, and a Godzilla 2014 with blue dorsal plates at New York Comic-Con 2014.

Burning Godzilla 2004
Burning Godzilla 2004 + Box
Burning Godzilla 2004 + Box
Godzilla 2014
Godzilla 2014 with box

Godzilla (2014)

Main article: Godzilla (2014 Bandai Creation Toy Line).

Japanese Releases

Main articles: Movie Monster EX Series, King of the Monsters Series.

Bandai Japan released the six-inch Bandai USA figures of Godzilla 1968, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla 1974, and King Caesar under the name Movie Monster EX Series in 2015. The following year, they released the company's 12-inch Godzilla 2004 and Kiryu figures in their King of the Monsters Series.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Bandai USA announced plans to produce figures for Godzilla: King of the Monsters in a 2015 interview with Toho Kingdom.^[4]

Bootlegs

Knockoff versions of Bandai USA Godzilla products include 12-inch figures of Godzilla 2004 and Kiryu, vinyl versions of the "Smash Strike" and "Tail Strike" Godzilla 2014 figures, and a malformed Godzilla 2000 with a glowing chest and dorsal plates.

Trivia

From December 2014 to February 2015, Toho Kingdom hosted a Bandai Creation poll for fans to weigh in on which non-Godzilla monsters they wanted the company to produce next.^[4] The top six vote-getters were Anguirus, Megalon, Titanosaurus, the Female MUTO, Varan, and Biollante. Bandai USA has yet to make any of these figures, nor the Godzilla 2016 figures they referred to in a follow-up interview with the site.

References

This is a list of references for Bandai America. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

[VM1-1] Vinyl Madness - Bandai Creation Second Wave Series

[cancellationMattFrank-2] 2.0 ^2.1 "As I've been told, the reason why we never got any more Tokyo Vinyl toys was because the last ones, Godzilla and MechaGodzilla, just didn't sell. Same goes for the chibis, which is why we'll never see any more chibi sets from Bandai America. We'll also never see another King Caesar, and when Bandai found out how much the fandom hated Little Godzilla they just went ahead and cancelled it." — Matt Frank, February 21, 2015, Facebook.

[TK_Forum-3] Toho Kingdom Forums - Re: Godzilla Bandai USA/Creations Discussion

[TK2-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Toho Kingdom - Interview: Bandai America (2015)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 :''For the [[Godzilla (2014 film)|Legendary Pictures' Godzilla]]-based toys, see [[Godzilla (2014 Bandai USA Toy Line)]]''
-[[File:Godzilla_Toy_Line.jpg|right|250px]]'''Godzilla''' is a series of action figures made by [[Bandai|Bandai USA]] since 2002. It was primarily available at Toys 'R' Us and Kmart until 2019, when Walmart began selling Wave 13. The
+[[File:Godzilla_Toy_Line.jpg|right|250px]]'''Godzilla''' is a series of action figures made by [[Bandai|Bandai USA]] since 2002. It was primarily available at Toys 'R' Us and Kmart until 2019, when Walmart began selling Wave 13.
 Kaiju fans often call this company '''Bandai Creation''' as a result of confusing packaging text on the first five waves of figures.
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 </gallery>
 ===Wave 3 (2006)===
-Every character in this wave was from ''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]'', which [[Sony]] released on DVD in the [[United States]] in December 2005. As with Wave 2, Bandai USA did not announce the existence of the figures before they reached stores.<ref name="VM2">[http://www.vinylmaddness.com/BandaiCreation05.html Vinyl Madness - Bandai Creation Third Wave Series]</ref>
+Every character in this wave was from ''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]'', which [[Sony]] released on DVD in the [[United States]] in December 2005.
 <gallery captionalign="center" captionsize="large" spacing="small" position="center" widths="120">
 Godzilla_Wave3_FWG.JPG|[[Godzilla/Final Wars|Godzilla 2004]]
@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 ===Wave 6 (2010)===
 <gallery captionalign="center" captionsize="large" spacing="small" position="center" widths="120">
-Godzilla_Wave6_FWG.gif|Godzilla 2004
+Godzilla_Wave6_FWG.gif|Godzilla 2004 (reissue)
-Godzilla_Wave6_G54.jpg|First Godzilla
+Godzilla_Wave6_G54.jpg|First Godzilla (reissue)
-Godzilla_Wave6_MaL.jpg|Rainbow Mothra
+Godzilla_Wave6_MaL.jpg|Rainbow Mothra (reissue)
 </gallery>
 ===Wave 7 (2011)===
 <gallery captionalign="center" captionsize="large" spacing="small" position="center" widths="120">
-Godzilla_Wave7_GMKG.jpg|Godzilla 2001
+Godzilla_Wave7_GMKG.jpg|Godzilla 2001 (reissue)
-Godzilla_Wave3_FWGn.JPG|Gigan 2004
+Godzilla_Wave3_FWGn.JPG|Gigan 2004 (reissue)
-Spacegodzilla Toy.jpg|SpaceGodzilla
+Spacegodzilla Toy.jpg|SpaceGodzilla (reissue)
 </gallery>
 ===Wave 8 (2012)===
 Bandai USA planned to include a LittleGodzilla figure in this wave, but cancelled it after learning of the character's low popularity among Godzilla fans.<ref name="cancellationMattFrank">[https://www.facebook.com/GodzillaWiki/photos/a.431078356989039.1073741828.430624510367757/777306185699586/?type=1&comment_id=777457889017749&offset=0&total_comments=13 "As I've been told, the reason why we never got any more Tokyo Vinyl toys was because the last ones, Godzilla and MechaGodzilla, just didn't sell. Same goes for the chibis, which is why we'll never see any more chibi sets from Bandai America. We'll also never see another King Caesar, and when Bandai found out how much the fandom hated Little Godzilla they just went ahead and cancelled it."] — [[Matt Frank]], February 21, 2015, Facebook.</ref>
 <gallery captionalign="center" captionsize="large" spacing="small" widths="120" position="center">
-Godzilla_Wave8_G68.jpg|Godzilla 1968
+Godzilla_Wave8_G68.jpg|Godzilla 1968 (reissue)
-Godzilla_Wave8_MG1.jpg|Mechagodzilla
+Godzilla_Wave8_MG1.jpg|Mechagodzilla (reissue)
-Godzilla_Wave8_Gn.jpg|Gigan
+Godzilla_Wave8_Gn.jpg|Gigan (reissue)
-godzilla_bandai_creation_burning_godzillajpg.jpeg|Burning Godzilla
 UNRELEASED_BANDAI_FIGURES_-_Little_Godzilla.jpg|Unreleased LittleGodzilla
 </gallery>
@@ Line 81: / Line 80: @@
 ===Wave 9 (2013)===
+This wave was headlined by a new King Caesar figure, along with reissues of Burning Godzilla, Mechagodzilla 1974, Gigan, Rainbow Mothra, and Godzilla 1968, along with the 12-inch Godzilla 2004 and Kiryu.
 <gallery bordercolor="#d63429" captionalign="center" captionsize="large" spacing="small" position="center" widths="120">
+Bandai_Vinyl_Wave_9_-_King_Caesar.jpg|King Caesar
+godzilla_bandai_creation_burning_godzillajpg.jpeg|Burning Godzilla (reissue)
 Bandai Godzilla Ninth Wave.png
-Bandai Godzilla Ninth Wave - 6.5 Inch Figure Back.png|Burning Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, and King Caesar
+Bandai Godzilla Ninth Wave - 6.5 Inch Figure Back.png
-Bandai_Vinyl_Wave_9_-_King_Caesar.jpg|The new King Caesar figure
 </gallery>
 ===Fusion Series Wave 2 (2013)===
@@ Line 92: / Line 93: @@
 PTRU1-13755248enh-z6.jpg|Fusion Series Burning Godzilla
 Fusion Series Burning Godzilla.jpg|Fusion Series Burning Godzilla prototype
-UNRELEASED_BANDAI_FIGURES_-_Meltdown_Godzilla.jpg|Unreleased Meltdown Godzilla
+Bandai USA Meltdown Godzilla.png|Unreleased Meltdown Godzilla
 </gallery>
 ===Wave 10 (2014)===
 <gallery widths="190" position="center">
-Godzilla Bandai Creation 2014.jpg|Series 10
+Godzilla Bandai Creation 2014.jpg|Godzilla 2000, Godzilla 1954, and King Caesar reissues
 Godzilla Bandai Creation 2014-2.jpg
 </gallery>
 ===Wave 11 (2014)===
 <gallery widths='120' position='center' captionalign='center' spacing='small'>
-Wave_11.jpg|Godzilla 1954 and King Ghidorah
+Wave_11.jpg|Godzilla 1954 and King Ghidorah reissues
 Bandai_Creation_Godzilla_2014.jpg|[[GareGoji|Godzilla 2014]]
 </gallery>
 ===Wave 12 (2015)===
-Bandai USA's Toy Fair 2015 display included figures from [[Godzilla-E.G.|Bandai Japan's Godzilla-E.G. line]], rebranded as "Hatch-n-Heroes," though they were never released.
+The wave included reissues of the 6-inch Godzilla 2014 and King Ghidorah figures, as well as a new 12-inch Godzilla 2014. Bandai USA's Toy Fair 2015 display included figures from [[Godzilla-E.G.|Bandai Japan's Godzilla-E.G. line]], rebranded as "Hatch-n-Heroes," though they were never released.
 <gallery widths='120' position='center' captionalign='center' spacing='small'>
 Toy Fair 2015 Bandai 1.jpg