The attraction to these toys began when I was about 8 years old in 1972.
That Christmas morning I opened a box from an aunt who lived in Japan . Out
came bag after bag of colorful and weird looking creatures and robotic heros.
I was hooked on Major Matt Mason and G.I. Joe, like any other kid of the early
70's, but these strange dolls
really stretched beyond anything I could imagine. In particular, I was
fascinated by robotic hero dolls such as Ultraman and Ultraseven. Ultraman is
basically the Japanese version of Americas Superman. There have been
numerous series about him and his many brothers and relatives. Check out
my links for more information on the shows and characters.
Throughout the mid 70's , I was able to buy these dolls made of vinyl by such
companies as Bullmark through stores in local Japan towns in Los Angeles
and San Francisco. It wasn't until about the early 90's that I picked up my
interest in my childhood hero again. It is during this period that I obtained the
bulk of my collection through buying and trading with fellow collectors.
Rare 13" tall Self Paint Ultraman by Marusan 1960's
Ultraman, Ultraseven, Return of Ultraman, UltraAce, and Zoffy dolls by Bullmark 15" tall
These large colorful illustrations were inserted behind the vinyl dolls
in a clear bag with a smaller piece stapled along the top. Known as
"Backing Cards" and "Header Cards" most featured brightly painted action
scenes of various kaiju and heros.
Most backing and header cards correspond to whats in the bag. Although
occasionally, an unrelated doll can be found with mismatched cards.
Ultraseven dolls by Bullmark
Backing and header cards for vinyl dolls often featured incredible
artwork Often these can be more rare than the dolls. Like most
packaging, once the toy was taken out of the bag the cards were thrown
away !
U1
U2
Family
Mirror
Kaiju
Books
Links