Fantastic Black Friday Deals, Godzilla Style!

Who says that Black Friday deals are only for cheap electronics and sweaters we all hate.

Amazon.com seems to know that the King of Monsters has many fans out there, so they've placed a WHOLE bunch of Godzilla related items on mega-sale now!

We're talking 40, 50%, 60% off new items (even more of a discount for used items) and they come with free shipping if at least $25 is spent.

As a BIG thanks to all my Godzilla fans out there...I've looked through what I consider to be the best deals yet and have posted them here for your pleasure.

If you know any major Godzilla fans out there (or if you're looking for something yourself) these items will make great Christmas presents!

Enjoy!:

The Godzilla Collection


Godzilla (Blu-Ray)


Godzilla Criterion (Blu-Ray)


Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah - Giant Monsters All-Out Attack


Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths


Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla / Godzilla vs. Destoroyah


Godzilla - Final Wars


Destroy All Monsters [Blu-ray]


Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II


Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla


Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah / Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle for Earth


Godzilla Raids Again


Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus: The G Annihilation Strategy


Godzilla - Tokyo S.O.S.


Gamera - Triple Feature Collector's Edition - Blu-ray


Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster


Godzilla ToyVault Stomp Card Game

Godzilla Image of the Day

If you stare at it long enough you will eventually see a Godzilla figure there.

...trust me, I think.

It honestly looks more like Yoshi
though.

Weird Godzilla Toy...part 17

Alright who's the brainchild that mixed these two polar-opposite franchises into one.

You're looking at a one-of-a-kind Godzilla Koosh Ball.

Yes there is such a product in this world.

I've chronicled various weird Godzilla related merchandise in the past (such as a Godzilla beer holder, a Godzilla stamper, a Godzilla resin toy) but this one takes the cake.

How could this toy possibly ever work?

The basic concept behind a Koosh Ball is to hold it in your hand and squish it.

There's no real reason or rhyme to it, it just feels good considering all of the feelers involved.

But how can this be accomplished if you've got a Godzilla figure morphed into it now?

Plus this toy cannot substitute as a traditional articulated toy as none of the appendages move.

This toy is basically stuck in the middle of nowhere's land, and this is where it fails miserably.

Apparently the Godzilla 1998 toy makers went to great lengths to merchandise everything humanly possible as one needs to look no further than this toy for added proof.

Godzilla Actor of the Day (Kenpachiro Satsuma)

For this "Actor of the Day" column I've already chronicled various actors in front of the camera...now I thought I should give credit to the man behind the suit.

Kenpachiro Satsuma has literally been the "man-in-suit" within multiple Godzilla films.

He has played Godzilla no less than 8 times, not to mention the additional films where he has played other kaiju monsters.

He was singlehandedly responsible for bringing Godzilla to life and giving him that personality we all know and love.

Sure there were other special effect technicians adding explosives, digital fire breath, eye and tail movement, etc., but nobody can state they played as a big as a role as Kenpachiro did.

Interesting side note of trivia, he first played Godzilla within the Godzilla 1985 almost by accident.

The original Godzilla stuntman left at the last minute so Kenpachiro was hired to replace him. But unfortunately that Godzilla suit couldn't be remade in time to conform to the new actor's build.

As such Kenpachiro suffered many cuts and injuries throughout the making of the film when his costume kept riding against him.

But his experience was still satisfactory enough to play the King of Monsters in multiple other films, which was great news for all of us.

In fact here's a list of the Godzilla movies he's been in:

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) as Hedorah
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) as Gigan
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) as Gigan
The Return of Godzilla (1984) as Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) as Godzilla
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) as Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) as Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) as Godzilla
Monster Planet Of Godzilla (1994) as Godzilla
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) as Godzilla
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) as Godzilla

Impressive yes?

I also found a very good interview with Kenpachiro that I highly suggest everyone read, as he gives great insight into the making of those movies and even gives his own thoughts on the Godzilla 1998 film.

Enjoy!

historyvortex.org: Kenpachiro Satsuma interview

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!!!

I hope everybody has a fantastic Thanksgiving, and is able to spend some quality time with their families and eat and be merry!

And don't forget to put on a Godzilla movie during dinner!

Nothing like having a good movie to finish the evening!

My Favorite Reward Surveys

To all my Godzilla fans, as a nice thank you for your visits and for making this website a success, I thought I would give everyone here a nice reward.

On a personal note, here are some great survey sites I've been using these past two years to obtain easy disposable income.

This entire year I haven't spent a single penny towards purchasing music, DVDs and/or books. Instead I routinely finish these surveys and use Amazon.com reward dollars to pay for everything.

I highly recommend anyone wishing to do the same to follow these links and start earning these incentives.  (Besides those Amazon.com gift cards, each survey site includes many other products/services to pick from).

Now these surveys do take work, as it takes time to build enough points for redemption. Plus it takes multiple surveys in order to help tailor-build them.

But once those surveys start working…the money will begin accumulating left and right. Not anything big really, but enough to build some decent spending money.

The wise expression, “A rich person never spends their own money but rather someone else‘s” comes into play here.  That's what I consider success, and I hope more people can learn this too.

While I do obtain some small incentives for helping refer people over to my favorite sites, the main thing here again is to offer these opportunities as a nice reward for being such big fans.

To all of my Godzilla fans out there, enjoy!

Bing.com
Why search the web for free when you can instead earn points for each search. Simply click the link below to get started.  I use it for every search and the points add up:
Bing.com: Reward Center

Mysurvey.com
Perhaps my favorite reward survey site of all. They offer the quickest surveys with the most points possible. Plus they periodically send out materials for product testing and tracking purposes, which double the cash incentives.
To enroll simply email me below and include your first name, and I will send you an invitation notice:
williamdefalco@yahoo.com

Zoompanel.com
My second favorite reward site. Their surveys take longer but they offer more reward products. Just click on the link below to get started:
Zoompanel.com: Reward Center

In the mood for a Godzilla Vietnamese Sandwich?

Too late unfortunately, as the restaurant housing this sandwich just closed.

What you're looking at is the "Godzilla Sandwich" that was available at the "Ba Bay" Vietnamese restaurant within Washington D.C.

Chef Mike Nguyen created this sandwich as in-house joke, mixing in a bunch of ingredients out of spontaneity from various departments.

But its taste turned out to be so good he quickly began offering it thereafter.

He even posted it on the restaurant's Facebook page for added notification.

Mike named it "Godzilla" based on its size, and because (as he puts it) "this extreme banh mi comes, like its namesake, by land, air, and sea: meatballs (land), fried chicken and eggs (air), and whole fried catfish (sea)." The sandwich is topped off by two slices of baguette.

Unfortunately the sandwich's demise came with the restaurant's closure.

Even with its short existence, it was nevertheless outlandish featured within a D.C. Social website so there was definitely something going right.


For further information about the sandwich here's the link to that website:

dcist.com: Godzilla Ba Bay Monster Sandwich

Godzilla on Google Earth?!

No unfortunately not, but one can still hope.

Apparently a YouTube user named "mura8ma" generated a Godzilla model within Google Earth.

It allowed him to literally zoom into the Earth to find Godzilla doing what he does best, invading a city!

Check out the video if you want to see what it would be like to discover Godzilla using Google Earth.

Enjoy!

Godzilla Toy of the Day

What you're looking at are the Godzilla trading cards (36 Pack) from the 1998 Godzilla movie.

I included this within my Toy of the Day column because of the unique cards given within the set.

(I say this from personal experience as I've already purchased a box set before).

Coming with 36 different packs of cards, there's the standard photos showcasing the main characters and certain film points.

On the back of each card are texts describing the action along with a little trivia.

But what really made me enjoy the set were the "behind-the-scene" conceptual art cards by Patrick Tatopoulos and Co.

I'm a HUGE fan of concept art, as it's great to see an artist essentially give birth to what will end up on film.

Such is the case here with very early concept cards showcasing Godzilla at his inception.

Some of the art in fact is so early, even Godzilla himself looks different than what ended up on film.

There's also some fantastic "Godzilla Gallery" cards showcasing great painted artwork.  I've included an example as a reference point.

Unfortunately I did not find any special edition type cards, i.e. autographed or movie-owned stuff, but then again they may not even exist.

Nevertheless it was still extremely exciting to open each pack and see what's inside. It brought me back to my teenage years when I would do the same with Marvel/DC cards, eagerly anticipating what's in each pack.

In any case I highly recommend this set for any Godzilla fan out there, and it comes at a very cheap price too.

EXCLUSIVE Interview: Todd Tennant, artist for the Godzilla 1994 graphic novel and "American Kaiju" the mini-series!

Great news everybody!

I am posting an exclusive interview with Todd Tennant, who is the artist for the Godzilla 1994 graphic novel that I've previously chronicled in one of my YouTube videos (seen here).

Todd is also the artist and creator for various outstanding Kaiju-related projects, including an upcoming one titled "AMERICAN KAIJU", which Todd describes as "THE AVENGERS meet DESTROY ALL MONSTERS".

(One can easily find this new work at his website americankaiju.com, and see his YouTube previews both here and here).

I initially came across Todd's work when I was looking at information related to the long-lost "Godzilla 1994" film.  As a Godzilla/Kaiju fan, it's always great to see other fans like Todd take the initiative and turn their fandom into something we can all share and enjoy.

Todd is definitely a talented individual (as you will see in all of the enclosed pictures he was kind enough to share), so it was very nice of him to spend some time doing this interview.

I highly recommend everybody to take a look at his websites (of which I've included all of the links for) and share them with anyone else you might know.

Godzilla/Kaiju fans everywhere will definitely enjoy seeing his work.

Enjoy!

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GMN: Your artwork is amazing Todd. You’ve been able to combine the classic comic book look with photo-realism. Can you tell us when you first began drawing?

Todd: Thank you for those kind words. I’ve been drawing ever since I was old enough to pick up pencils and paper, mostly drawing dinosaurs. I did also love classic comics. My favorites were the Atlas/Marvel Jack Kirby-Dick Ayers giant monster comics. Steve Ditko’s GORGO & KONGA comics he illustrated for Charlton were also a big influence. Later on, I wrote and pencilled many of my own comics stories while in Elementary & Junior High school.

GMN: Every artist has that one moment when they decided to turn their hobby into a career. When was that moment for you?

Todd: That would have to be shortly after I took an offset printing course. Running a press was ok, but I preferred doing “paste-up” art. From there I got into commercial illustration and finally ended up as an architectural renderer. I gradually got back into creating my own comics stories whenever I had the time.

GMN: Let’s talk about the item that first led me to your artwork, the lost Godzilla 1994 film. Many Godzilla fans (including myself) see it as a huge opportunity lost considering the talented folks involved. You’ve taken it upon yourself to turn its discarded script into an original graphic novel (found at americankaiju.kaijuphile.com). How did you first come across this canceled project, and what made you start creating a graphic novel for it?

Todd: I went to see the TRISTAR Godzilla movie when it was released in 1998, which re-kindled my old love for the Toho Godzilla movies I saw as a kid. I began purchasing all the G-movies I could find and began reading G-FAN magazine, where I read several articles about the “original” TriStar GODZILLA project that was cancelled in late 1994. Later on, the first draft of the ’94 screenplay (written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio) began showing up on the Internet. I printed it out and read it. About halfway into it, I began wondering why on earth TriStar did not film this version rather than the one now known as “GINO” (Godzilla in name only). Soon after that, I attempted to illustrate the screenplay in a graphic novel format.

GMN: How long does it take you to create/finish each individual page?

Todd: That really depends on the number and complexity of the individual panels on the particular comics/gn page. Some pages take one day, others can take up to 3 or 4 days, depending on whatever my workload is for my architectural illustration business.

GMN: I noticed the last page drawn for this Godzilla graphic novel was back in November 2010. Are you planning on doing any more work for it?

Todd: One thing I’ve learned is to never say never, so I would have to say that the status of my American GODZILLA ’94 online graphic novel would be “indefinitely on-hold”.

GMN: Can you tell our readers what you were attempting to do with Toho Studios regarding this graphic novel?

Todd: In the beginning, it was my intention to produce “G’94” only as a fan-based graphic novel on my original American Kaiju website www.kaijuphile.com.
I was getting many requests for a published version, so I contacted the publishers who had previously released GODZILLA comics (Marvel & Dark Horse), but was told they were not interested in renewing their licensing contracts with Toho.
Later on, Bluewater Productions tried to contact Toho concerning the publishing of my G’94 gn, but they never heard back from them. We found out a few months later the reason was the deal they had made with IDW comics for their Godzilla comics.

GMN: What is your favorite Godzilla movie and why?

Todd: That would have to be GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (’56), simply because that was the first Godzilla movie I saw on TV. I’ve never been quite the same since that afternoon.

GMN: You’ve also mentioned an American Kaiju 4 issue mini-series coming soon, as part of Bluewater Productions (www.bluewaterprod.com). I’ve looked at the teases and it looks very ambitious, so I’m definitely interested in seeing more. Can you tell us more about it?

Todd: A quick pitch would go something like this: “Think “THE AVENGERS meet DESTROY ALL MONSTERS”.

AMERICAN KAIJU The Mini-Series is a compilation of giant monsters and stories and sketches I’ve created from the past 15 years or so. Of course, there will be “humans” involved also, but it’s really going to be all about the “Kaiju”. In the introductory story, there will be two teams of four giant monsters who will battle it out in Europe and the US.

(GMN NOTE: again previews can be found here and here).

They will prepare you for the Kaiju devastation that is coming soon.

GMN: There’s a whole assortment of good/bad guys and monsters on this website. Can you tell us about who each of them are and what role they play?

Todd: The story centers around a secret underground base, located in the SW USA. “Area 50” was established (before Area 51) in the 1930‘s to contain living prehistoric monsters, newly-discovered at that time. Many other scientific experimental programs took place/still take place there. The current American Kaiju line-up are: King Komodo, Gigante, King Yeti, and Pett. They are trained by Area 50 Head, Dr. Isaac Nathan, and his “Team AK”: Captain Jon Reynolds, Dr. Liz Mendoza, and Dr. Jeff Chun. They will be battling “The Environators”, a team of malevolent giant monsters lead by a wealthy international eco-terrorist named Alexander Dasco. Dasco was a part of Area 50 until his betrayal & secession back in the 90’s. The current line-up for The Environators are: Kwai-Long, Poseidon, Aligon and Angkah. (For more information, please visit www.americankaiju.com).

GMN: When exactly is each issue coming out?

Todd: AMERICAN KAIJU #1 should be released shortly after I finish up with AK #2. Can’t give an exact date right now, but will be sure to let you know as soon as I can.

GMN: How as fans can we continue to get updates on it?

Todd: The best source is: www.americankaiju.com

GMN: What exactly is Bluewater Productions?

Todd: Bluewater Productions is a full-service publishing and production company specializing in comic books, graphic novels and Multimedia. www.bluewaterprod.com

GMN: Overall the americankaiju.com website looks like a blast. It’s quite obvious that you’re a huge kaiju fan considering the content inside. What can everybody expect from this website upon visiting?

Todd: Right now, there is a basic overview of the story and introductory info for the Kaiju and human characters. There will be sneak peaks of coming kaiju attractions. We also have anew AK Forum, and a blog that should become much more active once AMERICAN KAIJU #1 is released. Come check it all out.

GMN: Now let’s go back to your other website, americankaiju.kaijuphile.com. Besides showcasing the Godzilla 1994 graphic novel, there's also a section dedicated to a King Kong vs. Godzilla graphic novel. What’s that about exactly?

Todd: KING KONG vs. GODZILLA is a story written by Mike Bogue and illustrated by your’s truly. It’s a re-telling of the Toho movie version that picks up where KING KONG ’33 left off. Our story has hinted explanations as to how Kong was revived and how he got large enough to battle the Big G. I used the original Kong design with some alterations, mainly beefing him up a bit more. The Godzilla design was mainly the one used in Toho’s GMK (2001). Originally, this comics series was intended for publication in G-FAN magazine, but only lasted for one issue (#58).
G-FAN had been publishing fan-based Godzilla stories and comics since it’s beginnings, but Toho sent them a “cease and desist” letter for both shortly after issue 58 was published. I’m still trying to figure out why...

GMN: Any other projects you’ll be working on in the near future?

Todd: Well, my hands will be completely full for the present with AMERICAN KAIJU The Mini-Series. I have many other old & new story ideas for that.

GMN: Random Question: Who is your favorite celebrity encounter and why?

Todd: That would have to be the night Jimi Hendrix accidentally kicked me in the back when he sat down (on the floor) behind me at a concert. I was 16, and my band had already opened for the headliners; a group from NYC, of whom Jimi was friends with. He was very nice and apologized. Anyone familiar with Jimi and his incredible talents will know “why” this was my answer;).

GMN: Thanks again Todd for this great interview.

Todd: You’re very welcome.

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As as special treat too, Todd sent me some updated pics of the "Gryphon" from the "Godzilla 1994" film.

He stated that they're based off of the maquettes that Stan Winston Studios built for the film, so this is officially the closest we'll ever see of the "Gryphon" monster.