Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

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DoctorMafune
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Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by DoctorMafune »

With thanks to ebirahsmeg1 for the invitation to launch an MTS...

Cue Sato's unforgettable "Gimantis" theme from Son of Godzilla...bizarre percussion and staccato horn included. 8-)

Back in the 80's, there weren't many replicas of everyone's favorite giant mantises (we called them Kamakiras at the time.) The only Kamakirii I knew of were an unobtainable Kaiyodo resin kit, and a tiny rubber figure waving a claw at collectors only too happy to get him. Then in 2004, sculptor extraordinaire Bill Gudmundson rendered a 1/165 scale Kamacuras in resin, and I jumped at the chance to get one.

These days, we can populate shelves with swarms of the little (and not-so-little) buggers, and X-Plus has a 25-cm scale Kamacuras on the way. To celebrate a great monster design and the fun of driving vinyl Minyas crazy, let's start things off with a couple of pics of the Amapro / Marusan Kamakiras, which is nicely in scale with the Marmit Monster Heaven series...
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Naturally, I couldn't rest until I had three of them, one in each of A/M's color schemes.

Here's another angle, with Ebirah crashing the party.
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(In case you're wondering, I couldn't get the third Kamacuras to sit on the riser.)

There's more where these came from, but I don't want to hog all the fun. Post some pics of your favorite Showa Kamacuras figures! :mrgreen:
"Rudeness is the weak person's imitation of strength." -- Eric Hoffer

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa & GFW)

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

If you don't mind DoctorMafune, I will list on the master list as Kamacuras for both Showa and GFW versions, as there are not too many figures of either incarnation to go around, so seperate spotlights for each of them might not have very much content. Cool?

Great choice in Kamacuras though (just got done watching Son of G the other day for the first time in awhile :mrgreen: ), and this thread will be getting even busier once the Xplus Showa figure comes out. I would love to get my hands on those Marasun Kamacuras. They really go well with the Marmits.

Below are the terrific Marmit Parababy Kamacuras 3 figure set.

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They also released a fantastic green variant set (hope someone who owns it on these boards posts a photo it!).
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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DoctorMafune
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by DoctorMafune »

No problem, EM1...you're right about the shortage of Final Wars Kamacuras figures, so it makes perfect sense to include them here.

And you scooped me with the Parababy team converging on Minya as he hatches! :D Mine are the red set, too...but never fear, I've got a few more Kamakiriii waiting in the wings. Let's see who else joins in, in the meantime.
"Rudeness is the weak person's imitation of strength." -- Eric Hoffer

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

DoctorMafune wrote:No problem, EM1...you're right about the shortage of Final Wars Kamacuras figures, so it makes perfect sense to include them here.

And you scooped me with the Parababy team converging on Minya as he hatches! :D Mine are the red set, too...but never fear, I've got a few more Kamakiriii waiting in the wings. Let's see who else joins in, in the meantime.
^^

By all means, please still post some photos of those bad boys! :monsterx:

Marmit Monster Heaven Kamacuras (GFW)

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Does anyone have the black gallery variant? :?:
Last edited by ebirahsmeg1 on Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by KlenSeven »

Ditto
Resized Image

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Surprised no one has posted the Bandai Kamacuras figure yet :?: One of the few Bandai 8 inch figures I don't own.

I found an online review of the Marmit Monster Heaven "Black" Lucky Bag FW Kamacuras (although it's not really black, but a metallic color):



And here's an online review of the standard variant:

GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by KaijuZoo »

I have the Marmit Vinyl Paradise and Parababies but alas most all my stuff is still packed up.
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

No worries, you can come back to this thread anytime and post them.

Shocked no one has posted anything regarding the Bandai Kamacuras:

Bandai 8 inch Kamacuras
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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DoctorMafune
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras

Post by DoctorMafune »

Nothing like a little Iron Chef to spotlight my favorite Marmit VP figure of all time... Kamacuras!

That's it, Minya...the little bug wants you to go into his playhouse...
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Ready... set...
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Guy Fieri says about 11 minutes...
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Mmm...smell that cayenne...
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Though a few of the earlier VP figures have a well-deserved reputation for chunkiness and less-than-stellar sculpts, the Kamacuras blew me away...especially after a long preceding dry spell of few replicas of the monster at all. (My friends in Japan had assured me that Kamacuras isn't / wasn't a popular monster there, so toy companies had been reluctant to produce one.)

I still think it's a terrific design for a monster, and I'm glad Amapro as well as Marmit came around...not to mention Bandai, Iwakura, Albatross / Chikyu-Boueigun and X-Plus.

Meanwhile, I wish I'd bought three of the VP Kamacurii...it's an incredible figure: a sheer honking hunk-of-bug handful, with great detail, and sheer screeching coolness.
"Rudeness is the weak person's imitation of strength." -- Eric Hoffer

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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by KlenSeven »

Ha. Love that first shot.

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ebirahsmeg1
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Xplus 25cm Showa Kamacuras (3 came in a set)
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Looking for a quick snack....

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GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

Legion1979
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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by Legion1979 »

What are the differences between the three figures, ebirah? Can't afford the RIC set, only purchased the regular release.

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Re: Monster Toy Spotlight #28: Kamacuras (Showa)

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Legion1979 wrote:What are the differences between the three figures, ebirah? Can't afford the RIC set, only purchased the regular release.
No difference, they're all the exact same mold (my only real complaint about this set). It would have been nice to have made each one a slightly different pose, or at least include some extras. So unless you really want 3 Kamacuras for a Son of Godzilla set, I think just sticking with the regular release is the best option...

Added in 10 hours 37 minutes 16 seconds:
Online review:

X-plus 25cm Kamacuras(Fresh Vinyl)
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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