It's In The Cards.

When I was home last April, I dug through the tons of boxes of Trading Cards in my locker and I brought a few sets back to Japan. Specifically, my Godzilla sets.

This set from '95 is mostly in Japanese and it was tough to complete the series. I'm missing #s 21, 23 and 99 and checklist 2 if anyone can help me out. Furthermore, I didn't get any of the 3D cards so I don't even know what they're like.

 This set from '96 is all in English and in Chromium. I have 8 of the Parallel stickers(below). I'm sure I had more, darned if I know where they are now.

Does anyone else have these sets?

ps. I just checked my archives and I've blogged about these Chromiums before. These must have been my doubles from a bygone era. Where the heck are they now?

Godzillas Through The Years.

No commentary on this one, it's fairly self-explanatory. If you can read Japanese, that is.
First up, some heads.

Now some bodies, albeit stubby ones.

I have most if not all of the stubbies. I'll have to dig them out of a box someday.
So how do YOU think the new guy compares to the above?

A Mole In The Operation.

A while back, I scored a couple of model kits from 1995 for 2 bucks a piece (original price 200 yen).

I was afraid that the task of assembling them would be over my head but, Woohoo!, I pulled it off!

In the top picture, it shows them zooming by at a tremendous speed. Let's see how fast these guys can go...



Okay, Mogera is a little quicker than Godzilla but I'd say it ends in a draw. Next time, I'll have to add a soundtrack.

Here are some behind the scenes photos of Mogera from his first appearance, The Mysterians. A kind of cyborg-mole, he likes to melt stuff while his masters kidnap Japanese babes.

One of these days, I'll get around to painting Mogera and hopefully someday I'll be able to find the other two in this series, Space Godzilla and Mecha-Godzilla. Then we'll really have a battle!

Battle Royale With Cheese.(2)

First the cheese. One of my favourite battles was キングコング対ゴジラ (King Kong vs. Godzilla) back in '62. I saw this along with the other Showa movies during a  Godzilla Movie Marathon throughout Golden Week.

This picture is courtesy of my tv channel, Nihon Eiga Senmon Channel, and states that the filming was done at Faro Island in the Solomon Islands.

I have a few more behind the scenes photos thanks to a book I picked up last month. I'll be scamming pics from it all month.

Spoiler Alert: There was a rumour going around that two versions of the movie were filmed. Thanks to the  King Kong vs. Godzilla Wiki page, we can dispel that myth.

• The dialogue is slightly different. In the Japanese version onlookers are wondering if Godzilla might be dead or not as they watch Kong swim home and speculate that it's possible he survived. In the American version, onlookers simply say, "Godzilla has disappeared without a trace" and newly shot scenes of reporter Eric Carter have him watching Kong swim home on a viewscreen and wishing him luck on his long journey home.

• As the film ends and the screen fades to black, owari (the end) appears on screen. Godzilla's roar followed by Kong's is on the Japanese soundtrack. This was akin to the monsters' taking a bow or saying goodbye to the audience as at this point the film is over. In the American version, only Kong's roar is present on the soundtrack.

Now for the aforementioned Battle Royale. All the elementary schools have their Sports Festival this Saturday so I've been able to enjoy some sunshine and watch the littluns run around. Here they are lined up and ready for battle:

This reminds me of MY Elementary school days at Central Public ES in Brampton. Due to my Christmas birthday, I began school at the age of 4 1/2 instead of 5 and there was only one other kid in my grade with the same circumstance. Thus throughout Grades 1-7, we were pitted against each other annually. No matter what the event, he was first and I'd come home with a dozen 2nd place ribbons. Since I was the wee-est lad in the school, this is no big surprise. Thinking back, it's okay that I placed second. I'd hate to have come in LAST for every event with 30 other kids, this way, at least I landed a ribbon!

Now I am of average height in this Lilliputian land and I look cool!