Nakayoshi Redjack from Ultraman Ace なかよし レッドジャック ウルトラマンA

Ralph Cosentino, author, illustrator, and toy designer extraordinaire sent me some pictures and information regarding a beautiful new toy he recently acquired that I want to share with you here:

This is a Nakayoshi Redjack. It is Ralph’s understanding that only 10 of this “Hawaiian" version were made.





Photos © 2006 Ralph Cosentino. All rights reserved.

Red Jack レッドジャック appeared in Ultraman Ace Episode 30 (1972) entitled: The Ultra Star That Even You Can See (きみにも見えるウルトラの星 黒雲超獣レッドジャック) (KIMI NI MO MIERU URUTORA NO HOSHI).

Here is a shot of Redjack from the Ultraman Ace show:



From Wikipedia:

Ultraman Ace (ウルトラマンA or ウルトラマンエース - Urutoraman Êsu) is the title superhero of a tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV show, and is the 5th show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from April 7, 1972 to March 30, 1973, with a total of 52 episodes.

Starting with this show, the Ultra Series heads in a notably different direction, slowly shifting from a sci-fi/mystery adventure to full-tilt superhero fantasy fare. Also, all previous Ultra-beings (namely Ultraman, Zoffy, Ultra Seven, and New Ultraman) make more frequent appearances here, whereas they only made guest appearances in the previous show Return of Ultraman.

This series marks the debut of special effects director Koichi Kawakita, who went on to do many other tokusatsu superhero shows (for both Tsuburaya Productions and Toho Company Ltd.), and directed the FX for the majority of the "VS Series" (AKA: "Heisei Series") in Toho's Godzilla films. Kawakita, needless to say, was a student under the late Eiji Tsuburaya.

Thanks, Ralph!!!

For more info on Ralph Cosentino and his many projects, see these great websites: Honk Honk Ashoo; Kaiju Kidz; Ralph Cosentino; and UFO Toys (Coming Soon).