[Modern Toy / モダントーイ] Giant Gamera

Modern Toy [モダントーイ] is a soft vinyl toy producer whose lineup over the past decade can only be described as an eclectic grouping of licensed properties. Beyond the Giant Gamera toys pictured below, they have produced and sold several variations of Paira Seijin (from Warning from Space) and an unpainted grey Robot Hack (from Captain Ultra, which may have been sold assembled or assembled and painted or as an unassembled kit). Modern Toy also shared a booth with upstart toy company, iluilu, upon the latter's debut at Superfestival. Modern Toy's Giant Gamera was probably first produced in 1999, based on the imprint on its foot. Most sales seem to have occurred in the first half of the 2000s. Two versions cast in grass green and light blue vinyl, respectively, are the most commonly found and, I suspect, were sold through dealers or direct mail-order. There are a host of other versions, most of which turn up infrequently if at all: flesh vinyl w/ orange paint; flesh/pink vinyl w/ pink, red and blue paint (2 different versions); GID vinyl w/ blue paint; and orange vinyl w/ green paint. The majority of these were probably exclusive items from hobby shows, with the GID version distributed as a gift item.

This dark blue unpainted Giant Gamera bears a sticker on one foot reading "Sample T1" I don't believe there was a Giant Gamera produced in this color of vinyl, so it would probably be a production sample (i.e., a test shot). An unpainted red Tokyo Tower (otherwise identical to the painted version included with most production releases) was included when I purchased this figure- rather intriguing that they would bother to keep the accessory together with the main figure for a test shot.

I've come across MT's Giant Gamera in a pink and blue scheme a few times in the past. I thought the color combination was very eye-catching and unique for a Gamera toy; however, the very high prices always forestalled a purchase. Well this one came along at a reasonable price and I very quickly hopped on it. To my surprise when comparing it to older pictures, I realized that it featured a slightly different paint application than the past pink-and-blue versions (which only had blue paint on the rear 2/3 of the head and which may have used pink, rather than flesh vinyl). Accidentally, it appears, I bought a toy that I had never seen before. I can live with those kinds of accidents. This version includes a painted red Tokyo Tower accessory, which is not pictured here. As a note, the tower can be gripped in Gamera's hand. The stylized precision of this Giant Gamera seems to either draw people in or turn them off to the toy. You might say that it is the antithesis of the Bear Model school of sculpting. My only recommendation is that you find one and hold it in your hands before you say 'never'.