Kaijujitsu: Kanegon カネゴン ブルマァク ウルトラQ

By B-Club (Bear Model) ...

This was a potential submission for the Super7 "Imagery of Japanese Toys" show to be held on April 18, but decided against it...

(All photos copyright © Geozilla Omni-Monster 2009)

Littra 原始怪鳥リトラ by M1Go M1号

A simple, but beautiful, figure... Looks like fine chocolate. Yum!





















Standard size. The wings, legs, and neck are articulated. Littra is from Ultra Q.

Photos © 2007 Geozilla Omni-Monster. All rights reserved.

Littra was a prehistoric bird from Ultra Q episode 1 entitled "Defeat Gomess!" (original air airdate: January 2, 1966).

A description of the "Defeat Gomess" episode from "The Q-Files: The Complete Ultra Q Episode Guide":

"While mining a train tunnel between Tokyo & Osaka, a construction crew unearths a strange object from within a huge underground cavern. Unable to identify the object, Jun and Yuriko venture into the tunnel to further investigate. In the meantime, Ippei and a reporter, with the help of a young boy named liro, discover that the object is the egg of the monster bird Littra. According to ancient legend, when Littra's egg is found, the giant monster Gomess will appear to destroy the Earth and consequently, Littra will rise up to defend against it. Unfortunately, Jun and Yuriko have already encountered Gomess while exploring in the caverns and are pursued to the surface by the ferocious monster. Jiri and Ippei help to warm the egg, thereby accelerating the hatching process and soon Littra is born. Gomess emerges from the tunnel and the two monsters clash in battle After a vicious struggle, Littra uses its citronella acid ray to defeat Gomess and then expires itself, having fulfilled its destiny."

12 ゴメスを倒せ! 古代怪獣ゴメス
原始怪鳥リトラ 監督-円谷一
特技監督-小泉一
脚本-千束北男

Pigmon or Garamon? ガラモンとピグモンは同じ着ぐるみですか？

Why is the "same" figure sometimes called Pigmon and sometimes called Garamon?

I have seen this question come up quite a number of times. It was posed again over at the Rotofugi board in response to some of my pics of the Marmit Garamon I posted there.

Here's my explanation anyway...

Garamon was a giant, partly robotic, building-smashing monster that first appeared in the Ultra Q television show in Japan. Garamon tears up the Tokyo Tower, for example. Garamon weighed 60,000 tons and was 131 feet tall.

I believe the name “Garamon” is short for “Garadama Monster.” The monster arrives on Earth on a Garadama (i.e., a meteor).

The costume used for the giant Garamon in Ultra Q was later "recycled" and used for the human-sized “Pigmon” (Pygmon) (Pigumon) (from “pygmy”) in a few Ultraman related episodes. The Pigmon character was friendly to humans and a somewhat comical figure, as compared with the giant building-smasher menace Garamon.

As a practical matter, it is really pretty hard to tell whether a particular vinyl figure is supposed to be of Garamon or Pigmon - Usually the toy maker specifies which one they are intending to portray, but sometimes it is hard or impossible to tell just by looking at the figure.

In any case, if the figure has a balloon attached, it is almost assuredly intended to be Pigmon (although not all Pigmons have balloons). The balloon first showed up in the Ultraman “Monster Lawless Zone” episode. The balloon served both as a tracking balloon (so that the Science Patrol could see it bobbing along through the underbrush) and a “bomb” (to be exploded by shooting at it from afar).

The Science Patrol attached the balloon to Pigmon by shooting it into Pigmon’s back as he was running away: Pigmon was actually trying to help the science patrol by leading them to an injured scientist that they were looking for on the island. Later in that same episode, the balloon plays a role in helping Ultraman defeat Red King, who also was on the island wreaking havoc. (Pics of Red King coming here soon.)

The Ultra Q show predated Ultraman. Unlike Ultraman, it was in black and white and did not feature a giant superhero (such as Ultraman). Instead, Ultra Q was more of a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits like show that involved the human characters dealing with supernatural “unbalance.” There was a different monster in each Ultra Q episode. Most shows started off with the statement (again, sort of like Outer Limits), that “for the next 30 minutes, your eyes will leave your body and enter inside this fantasy time" (where “time” was probably intended to mean more like “dimension”).

The picture above is a still from the Ultra Q show picturing the giant Garamon on the rampage near the Tokyo Tower:

And here is a still from the Ultraman DVD "Monster Lawless Zone" episode showing the diminutive Pigmon, just before the balloon is released in front of Red King, and shortly before Red King kills Pigmon by tossing huge rocks onto him from above(don't worry, Pigmon is "resurrected" without explanation in later shows).



All of the information above is based on what I have been able to glean from various sources, including the Ultraman DVD and various sites online. If anybody has any corrections or additions, please feel free to chime in.

Photos © 2007 Tsuburaya Production Co. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Garamon ガラモン by Marmit マーミット

[Click the pics to enlarge.]
























































By Marmit (Parababies). Standard size (about 7 inches). Mail order limited version. White vinyl with paint. This version came with a Garadama (ガラダマ) (meteor) (not shown). Garamon travels to Earth in the Garadama.

マーミット　ビニパラベビー　ガラモン (通販限定)。大きさは約17cmです。

Garamon originally appeared on the Ultra Q ウルトラQ television show.

ガラモン (ウルトラ怪獣)
ガラモンは、特撮テレビ番組『ウルトラQ』第13話「ガラダマ」、第16話「ガラモンの逆襲」に登場したキャラクター。「ガラモン」は「ガラダマモンスター」の略。
宇宙怪人セミ人間（チルソニア遊星人）によって造られたロボット怪獣である。電子頭脳からの電波で操られて破壊行為を行なう。
体長：40メートル
体重：6万トン

For more info regarding Garamon and Ultra Q, see these links:

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ガラモン_(ウルトラ怪獣)
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ウルトラQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Q

Photos © 2007 Geozilla Omni-Monster. All rights reserved.

Kanegon by Bullmark カネゴン ブルマァク ウルトラQ

This is a Bullmark reproduction figure. Dark blue vinyl with lighter metallic blue spray and red and silver highlights. Standard size.

[Click the pics.]



























































Photos above © 2006 Geozilla Omni-Monster. All rights reserved.

Kanegon カネゴン first appeared in the Japanese TV series Ultra Q ウルトラQ, and is perhaps one of the most famous and iconic monsters from the Ultra Q show. The Ultra Q episode was entitled “Kanegon’s Cocoon” and aired in April 1966 (Episode 15).



The Kanegon story is somewhat surreal and whimsical. Very briefly: a greedy, money-loving boy wakes up transformed into the money-eating, human-sized, creature, Kanegon... a strange combination of shellfish and coin purse, complete with a zipper mouth and a coin counter on its chest. Kanegon has to keep eating coins to keep the counter from getting down to 0, or he will die. After going through a number of trials and tribulations, the boy/Kanegon apparently learns his lesson and he is transformed back into a boy. However, upon returning home, he discovers his parents are now Kanegons!

カネゴンとは、特撮テレビ番組『ウルトラQ』に登場した架空の怪獣。別名「コイン快獣」。硬貨を食べ続けないと死んでしまう。 その特徴的な容姿とあまりにストレートなネーミングから、日本では非常に知名度の高い怪獣であり、『ウルトラQ』をリアルタイムで知らない世代にもよく知られている。 デザインモチーフは貝、飛び出した目玉、頭部形状、皮膚の質感に特徴が見られるが、元々の貨幣が貝であった事から着想されたと思われる。

ウルトラQに登場したカネゴン

『ウルトラQ』第15話「カネゴンの繭」に登場。 身長：2メートル 体重：200キログラム 金の亡者の少年・加根田金男が偶然見つけたカネゴンの繭によって変身した怪獣。 外見は、頭部は一見カエルのようで、口はファスナーの付いたがま口、目はぴょこんと細長く飛び出ていて目玉はギラギラ（怒ると煙を噴出する）、胸にはレジスターが付いていて、全身は銅でできた鎧をまとったような姿形（火星人と形容される）であった。 主食は硬貨とお札。1日に必要な額は3,510円（当時）。胸のレジスターのカウンターに体内の金額が表示され、それがゼロになると死んでしまうので、お金を食べつづけたが、カネゴンに与えてお金がなくなった友人に売られそうになり逃げ出し、ついに銀行の金を食らうに至る。騒動の末に祈祷師のかなり無茶な予言を実行させた所、元に戻った。しかし、他人の落としたお金をそのまま自分のものにしてしまった金男の両親がカネゴンと化す。

Kanegon, the overhead monstrous beast which to special 撮 television program 'ultra Q' appears. Alias "coin it is pleasant the animal". Unless it continues to eat the coin, it dies.

That feature figure it is the monstrous beast whose straight from naming, in Japan degree of distinction is very high excessively, 'it is well known to also the generation who does not know ultra Q' in real time. Design motif the shellfish and the eyeball which springs out, head form, feature is seen in material feeling of the skin, but it is thought that it was conceived from the fact that the originally money is the shellfish.

Kanegon which appears to ultra Q

'"Cocoon of ultra Q' 15th story in [kanegon]" appearance.

Height: 2 meters Weight: 200 kilograms

The monstrous beast which changes with the cocoon of [kanegon] which the boy adding root rice field Kin man of the fanatic of the gold finds accidentally.

As for appearance, as for the head with like the glance frog, as for the mouth the purse where the fastener is attached, as for the eye to be long having projected bouncingly, as for the eyeball when (you get angry glaringly, gushes the smoke), the register having been attached to the chest, as for the entire body, the form kind of shape which the armor which it is possible with the copper the [ma] is taken (Mars person is modified) was. Staple food the coin is distant the bill. The amount which is necessary for the 1st 3,510 Yen (at that time). The amount of internal to be indicated in the counter of the register of the chest, when that becomes zero, because it dies, it continued to eat the money, but giving to [kanegon], it may be sold it becomes in the friend there not to be a money and escapes, finally receiving the gold of the bank reaches the point of. The place where considerably unreasonable prediction of the faith curer was made to execute on end of the disturbance, it returned to the origin. But, the parents of the Kin man who designates the money which others dropped that way as their own ones convert [kanegon].

[Sources: Wikipedia. Original Japanese and auto-translated text.]

Yamanaya Garamon (やまなや 怪獣郷 隕石怪獣ガラモン)

Two Garamons by Yamanaya from the Kaijukyo series. Standard size (about 9 inches).

Garamon originally appeared in the Japanese TV series "Ultra Q".

[Click pics to enlarge.]











やまなや　怪獣郷　隕石怪獣ガラモン

Photos © 2006 Geozilla Omni-Monster. All rights reserved.