ACRO

Sideshow and Acro present the Gill Beast: Namazu (EX Version) Vinyl Collectible. Comment from James Groman: I first saw the amazing 1954 film, Creature from the Black Lagoon when it was shown (in the original 3D format!) at our local Library when I was a kid. I could not get the film out of my head for weeks afterward, and took advantage of any opportunity to talk about it with anyone that would listen to me. I was obsessed with the incredible design of the Creature himself, which was a marvel of design, sculpting and rubber monster suit tech at the time. Over the years I've had a couple chances to sculpt the Creature, as well as Creature-like sea monsters very much inspired by the gill-man. As my toy design career began to have a renewed success a number of years back, I took the time to design and sculpt my own aquatic gill-beast very much inspired by The Creature. I began to show the sculpture around to different companies, and was so excited to get interest from Kaz.Kadowaki and his Japan based Vinyl Toy company ACRO. I was very familiar with ACRO from their fantastic line of redesigned Ultraman monsters in the Kaiju Remix series they produced. I decided to name my deep-sea denizen Namazu, after the Japanese Mythological giant Catfish who was known to cause earthquakes and tsunamis. In our redux of the myth, our monster is the true Namazu, a beast so ferocious and horrible that the story of him being a giant catfish was fabricated to make his existence more acceptable to the fragile minds of humans. Now, for the first time, we know the true appearance of the great Gill Beast: Namazu! Now featuring an EX variant colorway, painted by Kotaro Ogata!

Comment from James Groman: When I was a young boy growing up in Lakewood, Ohio in the USA, I lived about a quarter mile from the elementary school I attended. A few of my classmates were always discussing this cool new TV show where a giant super hero character fought giant monsters in every single episode! Not only that, but the told me every episode had a different monster, and some episodes had multiple giant kaiju! Being a fan of dinosaurs, Godzilla, King Kong and Ray Harryhausen, I couldnt wait to see what they were talking about. I discovered the series they were discussing was the amazing Tsuburaya Production: Ultraman, which was the very first series featuring the hero that aired on American television in the mid to late 1960's. Unfortunately, Ultraman came on in the afternoon, just about the same time I got out of school. I remember running home at full speed to make it there in time to see the show, usually arriving just in time to see the very first appearance of the featured Kaiju as it lumbered onto the screen in each episode. Now, finally being able to have a well informed conversation with my friends about the show, we all soon found we each had a favorite kaiju character from the series. I, of course, had multiple favorites. Among them were: Gomora, Bemular, Gabora, Geronimon, and the fantastic: Red King. Red King had a powerful and imposing appearance to me. The small, snaggle toothed head on top of that long bulky neck and "Michelin Man" (feel free to look him up) body made him look that much more imposing. Also, something about the actor who played him in the series struck me. Red King definitely had his own unique personality, with alot of the actors human gestures and characteristics coming through as he waged war with the other Kaiju. The first episode we see him in was one of the most memorable of the show, in which he swallows an H-Bomb and Ultraman chops him into several pieces, transporting the head and neck (the parts containing the bomb) safely into space. When Kaz Kadawaki asked which Kaiju I wanted to sculpt for his Japan-based company Acro as part of their renowned Kaiju Remix series, I went for Red King right away. As I designed and sculpted my own version of Red King, I tried not to veer too much from the original concept of the beast, (after all, that is the very reason I loved him so much!). I did however bring in a number of details and proportions that came to his design in other iterations of the character in later versions of the series. Even his coloring combines not just one, but a number of the colors used on him over the years, since there have been many. I hope all Ultraman fans enjoy my tribute to one of my favorite Monsters from the series. And thanks to Kaz and Acro for making it all possible! Don't miss your chanc to add this Ultraman figure to your Kaiju Remix Series collection today!

ACRO presents the Gyango Kaiju Remix Series Vinyl Collectible. Designed and Sculpted by Sagata Kick.Comment from Sagata Kick:Since being deeply impressed by Paul Komoda's Bemular when I was a student, I have been following the KAIJU REMIX series. It is a great honor for me to be part of this series that I have long admired! Originally, Gango is a character born from the modification of a Bemular costume, so when creating my version of Gango, I made sure to infuse it with respect for the KAIJU REMIX version of Bemular. For me, my first encounter with Gango was through the shadow play in the opening scene when I was a child, and I remember being quite shocked at the time. The eerie silhouette, the clattering teeth, and the round eyes. To my young mind, it appeared incredibly frightening and became a sort of trauma. It wasn't until I was in university that I finally watched the main series, and I was once again shocked by the stark contrast between the lovable behavior of Gango and the terrifying image I had in my memory. It's the combination of fear and charm-these two opposing aspects-that define Gango for me, and I've put a lot of effort into sculpting this duality. I hope you'll enjoy it when you get a chance to hold it in your hands!