Chris Mirjahangir: First, would like to thank Tsubasa Utsumi and Tamashii Nations for conducting this exclusive interview with us about the S.H. MonsterArts line of Godzilla figures.

Now, to dive in, there used to be accessories that came with both the S.H. MonsterArts figures and in stand alone packs and that seems to have stopped. Will there be any more released in the future?

Tsubasa Utsumi: There is a cost concern with effect parts that adversely affects the MSRP, we will have to evaluate it for individual releases. We know the American market seems to like the effect parts, we are considering a effect part package that will be compatible across lines, but it needs further evaluation.

Demand for effect parts domestically in Japan does not seem very high currently so it would have to be a Web Exclusive item, but would be available to the American market. But because it would have to be a web exclusive item and thus a smaller production quantity, the msrp for such an item might be too high for consumers. We hope our Godzilla 2014's effect part will be very awesome (if approved).

Mirjahangir: Godzilla 1964 is the first release from the Showa series. Will there be more in this series to come and how will that be decided by, sales figures or something else...?

Utsumi: Though performance for items contributes to future developments within a line, there are other numerous factors to also consider such as the age demographic of the consumer, tooling costs for the manufacturing process, domestic vs international demand, and others. We are still finding the collectors for this line are those in the young 20s-30s, not the 40+ age range we had predicted for Godzilla 1964.

Mirjahangir: Are there plans to release a Godzilla 2014 figure next year? Will the other monsters in the film get figures made as well?

Utsumi: Oops I answered your question accidentally in previous question. ^^ We are planning, but not yet finalized. Even if no breath in movie we are considering creating own original concept idea that would look cool.

Mirjahangir: S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1964 is shorter than Godzilla 1994 (pictured to the left) and Godzilla 1995, what is the reason for this?

Utsumi: The figure size is relative to how they are in the godzilla movies, with showa being shorter and Godzilla 2000 being slightly larger. The actual scale may not be correct, but the relative size is.

Mirjahangir: Will we see Gamera in the S.H. MonsterArts line at some point?

Utsumi: The possibility is there, we will have to see next year. Unfortunately I cannot say at this time as we are branching out into various other western properties in addition to the Godzilla monsters being released next year.

TSUBASA UTSUMI

Working for Bandai's Tamashii Nations, a unit that develops poseable and highly detailed figures on franchises such as Gundam and Pokémon, Tsubasa Utsumi is the lead product manager for S.H. MonsterArts figures. Previously he was in charge of the S.H. Figuarts Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) and Power Ranger lines.

Date:	10/15/2013
Interviewer:	Chris Mirjahangir

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