Unpopular Kaiju Collecting Opinions

[StardustGenius]

"Useless/unnecessary product consumption."

I'd like to know what aspects of kaiju toy collecting are useful and necessary.

Added in 1 minute 5 seconds:

(watch Scott Toy Guru for an inside perspective on how the industry works).

This is a really weird reference to encounter in the wild, because Scott was one of my best friends in high school, and we're still in regular contact today.

Cool! I think he has a very interesting perspective as to how toys make it to shelves and what works/doesn't. That isn't to say I think he has no bad takes (literally whining about Black King Grey Skull.). There was a lot of whining a few years ago about a MMS Super Mechagodzilla getting votes over Varan or whoever, but no exploration as to why Super MG was even polling well. Is it really that hard to believe a super robot is appealing?

Seriously, we're going to get upset over V A R A N? I mean, Super Mechagodzilla is a very boring choice, but not understanding WHY the appeal is there, is missing the forest for the trees.

[Andagi1]

-The absolute state of Godzilla film soundtrack accessibility

You need to elaborate here.

I can't think of any way to readily access every soundtrack prior to G14 other than the Perfect Collection CDs, which altogether cost hundreds. I suppose we have things like Mondo vinyl releases and smaller CD compilations, but nothing comprehensive and uniform. However I think this only became a real issue once Toku Radio was taken off of Youtube. Really wish I could find a Dropbox or Mega of all those tracks.

[Legion1979]

It frustrates me that we never got many Toho soundtracks on CD in the US back when it was the dominant way to listen to music but now we're getting a ton of really nice soundtrack albums and collections on vinyl.

[Spuro]

However I think this only became a real issue once Toku Radio was taken off of Youtube. Really wish I could find a Dropbox or Mega of all those tracks.

Aw... this is news to me

Well, it had to happen eventually. It's a shame, the guy had a pretty sizable collection too. But another will take his place. They always do.

[Creature22]

I think he has a very interesting perspective as to how toys make it to shelves and what works/doesn't. That isn't to say I think he has no bad takes (literally whining about Black King Grey Skull.). There was a lot of whining a few years ago about a MMS Super Mechagodzilla getting votes over Varan or whoever, but no exploration as to why Super MG was even polling well. Is it really that hard to believe a super robot is appealing?

Yeah, I like his videos as well. I work in contracting/supply management myself and while not specifically dealing in the toy industry, a lot of the principles remain the same. It's part of why I try to be more objective with stuff like the Movie Monster Series and their varying degree of quality; there are a lot of environmental and economical factors coming into play that are different from when the line was around in the 90s/2000s. That doesn't mean criticism isn't valid, but some things can't be helped.

With regards to the Bandai poll, Super Mechagodzilla scoring that well is not a huge surprise to me. The last time Heisei Mechagodzilla was released in the MMS line was 20+ years ago; chances are pretty good that many Japanese fans, especially the casual ones, don't remember or aren't even aware of it.

Haha true. But what I think he's really talking about are people who feel the need the buy everything. The ones who use a large collection as a source of pride or a part of their personality. A person who insists on buying SOMETHING Godzilla everywhere they go and at every con they attend, no matter what it is.

Yeah, this is what I mean more or less. I don't see anything wrong with the occasional purchase of something that you genuinely like, but I think there is a lot of overkill and "buying because it's there". It also overlaps a little bit with the whole "embracing nostalgia" thing and becoming stuck in the past. Overall I think it encourages potentially harmful habits.

[Anguirus]

I prefer the Diamond Select over the Bandai Spirits Pacific Rim figures, because I believe the Spirits' figures were too poorly painted, outside of the Atlas Destroyer figure.

[LSD Jellyfish]

We need more gashapons or small figures of famous/memorable/striking Godzilla characters that aren't monsters. Examples include, but are not limited to, Dr. Serizawa, Goro Maki from SoG, Shobijin, most of the alien designs (Kilaaks, Space hunters, black hole aliens), Katsura, M-11 (or Nelson), Ozaki or Captain Gordon, etc...

Ms. Namikawa has occasionally appeared as a figure, so we need more! Maybe likenesses might be an issue.

[KingKaiju]

I've seen this a lot on social media but while it's okay to have favorites, anyone who defends any company to death no matter how valid the criticism is a sucker. They're in the same league with sports fans who'll fist fight each other over which team or player is better. If you got hit by a car tomorrow and died, they'd lose no sleep.

[Jomei]

What constitutes a valid criticism is in the ear of the be-hearer.

What's the consensus on Funko stuff? Consoomer schlock for the soy-faced gentleman? Or what?

[Legion1979]

Funko sucks. Not just Godzilla. All their stuff. I'm so over it being the dominant pop culture collectible.

[Joseph Goodman]

We need more gashapons or small figures of famous/memorable/striking Godzilla characters that aren't monsters. Examples include, but are not limited to, Dr. Serizawa, Goro Maki from SoG, Shobijin, most of the alien designs (Kilaaks, Space hunters, black hole aliens), Katsura, M-11 (or Nelson), Ozaki or Captain Gordon, etc...

Ms. Namikawa has occasionally appeared as a figure, so we need more! Maybe likenesses might be an issue.

I don't even collect any toys, but Super7 doing ReActions of the Monster Zero cast (Fuji, Glenn, Miss Namikawa, The Controller) would just be... right.

[Executive Hamster]

I like funko personally. They are fun little cheap collectables, and honestly Im surprised at their quality for the price point (which I suppose is saying more about the state of the collector industry than anything else). Ive really liked their funko albums theyve been doing. Outside of collecting Godzilla, I used to dabble in a bit of urban vinyl collecting. Art toys and what have you. I mostly stopped because of that whole field getting hijacked by hype beast culture, but thats a whole other discussion (I blame KAWS personally). In the context of those types of vinyl toys, I have less of a high opinion on Funko. I prefer my vinyl toys to be art toys than pop culture stuff. I want it to be a piece of art designed by a talented artist, and thats why I got super into Kidrobot dunnys and the like. I particularly love stuff by Urban Aztec, the project of Jesse Hernandez. They are just so much more lively than Funko and Id love to do one one day.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

-The absolute state of Godzilla film soundtrack accessibility

You need to elaborate here.

I can't think of any way to readily access every soundtrack prior to G14 other than the Perfect Collection CDs, which altogether cost hundreds. I suppose we have things like Mondo vinyl releases and smaller CD compilations, but nothing comprehensive and uniform. However I think this only became a real issue once Toku Radio was taken off of Youtube. Really wish I could find a Dropbox or Mega of all those tracks.

There's places online you can get it. Just have to know where to look. I have the whole collection in flacc files on my computer.

[Legion1979]

Social media has resulted in people having far bigger toy collections than they ever would have otherwise. It eventually turns into a lifestyle because you end up needing to keep buying stuff to stay relevant to an online audience.

The word "sofubi" sounds and looks ridiculous when used in English conversation.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Social media has resulted in people having far bigger toy collections than they ever would have otherwise. It eventually turns into a lifestyle because you end up needing to keep buying stuff to stay relevant to an online audience.

Are people really doing that though? Is there an audience for that? I mean people like showing each other collections, and I like looking at what other people have, but I never feel like that I'm in competition. I guess toy reviewers might need to do that to keep up, but I'm not sure how they'd make money over it.

I'll say though that, seeing others collections has gradually opened me up to buying new types of figures. For example, I used to only collect Bandai MMS (granted I had no money and I was in college). But now, after seeing so many of the "higher end stuff" it's opened my eyes to sort of the beauty of Marusans, Bullmarks and the likes.

The word "sufubi" sounds and looks ridiculous when used in English conversation.

Agreed, just call them soft vinyls, it's not so hard. I guess it might just be a cost thing, as people can call the more "higher end stuff" soufubi" to make it seem like they're special/not just regular vinyl figures.

[canofhumdingers]

^Theres definitely a few YouTubers out there who buy any and every single product with Godzilla on it and have some utterly massive collections. I don’t think there’s a ton, but there are a few. And then there’s also a few who don’t buy EVERYTHING (that I can tell) but do buy every single figure from a particular line or company (such as all Bandai mms releases, or every single X-plus figure).

[Your Boy Leroy]

Most kaiju-collecting YouTube reviewers are either fucking weird, obnoxious, or a combination of both (I want to throw Jobby the Hong out of a window). I know they’re all just giving the YouTube audience what they want by acting like snarky morons, but Jesus Christ.

[canofhumdingers]

Yeah I can’t sit through most YouTubers (of anything, not just Godzilla collecting). I do watch them from time to time to see a new collectible in hand before buying or to find out about the latest news but I invariably end up skipping just to the parts that give me the info I’m looking for and then quickly move on.

[Executive Hamster]

Shelves of ONLY 6 inch or ONLY 8 inch collectables, all standing in a perfect line, look absolutely terrible to me. I'm obsessed with the idea of having different scales all grouped together as well as filling every space possible. Its just way more interesting looking to have a wide variety of figures fill your spaces.

[Creature22]

As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to the opinion that “less is more” and prefer a small collection of stuff I can swap out, so I tend to space them out a little. But I do like to mesh different eras/sizes and mix it up a bit.

I will agree that I find using the “sofubi” term to be a little bit pretentious, similar to when people plug “kaiju” in for any oversized monster or creature even if it’s a bit of a stretch.