Banpresto Ultraman Gallery
Introduction:
Long before the Power Rangers, there was Ultraman, one of the earliest Japanese live-action superhero series. He was a soldier from another planet who protected the Earth from the many bizarre creatures who posed a threat to mankind. Ultraman has been called a Japanese version of Superman, and it seems like a fitting description, except that Ultraman and the monsters he fought were all about 120 feet tall. So you could also say that Ultraman was an attempt to bring the popularity of the giant monster films to television. The first Ultraman series began in 1966 and lasted just 39 episodes, but the legacy continued in new series' which sprung up every couple of years, introducing more and more members of the Ultra-family.
Banpresto has produced an extensive amount of Ultraman toys, with new toys produced every year since 1990. Strangely, very few of the catcher toys seem to have found their way to the US, so I hope my page will be the best available source of information for the fans of Ultraman and the collectors of Banpresto's catcher toys.
As always, click on any of the thumbnail images to see a larger image.
The Early Years
It all started in October of 1990, when the first set of plush Ultraman catcher toys appeared. The set was made up of five 6 inch toys: Ultraman, Baltan, Kanegon, Pigmon and Dada. Like many of the series from 1990, there were two versions of each, a regular plush and a fuzzy plush. See image 1 for the first regular plush Ultraman. Image 2 is the fuzzy plush versions of Ultraman and Kanegon. Incidentally, these are the oldest catcher toys in my entire collection.
A second set of five appeared in November of 1991, including Ultraman (identical to the 1990 version), Ultraseven, Baltan, Eleking, and Jiras. (At least I think it's supposed to be Jiras.) Jiras is the only one I've found from this set, and can be seen in pic 6, which has 4 monsters. He's the one in the bottom left corner.
The next two series both came in May of 1992. First, a set of 10 members of the Ultra-Family: Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Ace, Ultraman Taro, Mother and Father of Ultra, Ultraman 80, Ultraman Great, Ultraman Leo and Ultraman Joe. Image 2 shows Ultraman, image 3 shows Mother of Ultra & Ultraman Taro, and image 4 is Ultraman Joe. The second '92 series consisted of 5 monsters, including Ikarasu, one of my favorites. (See pic 5)
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| Ultraman (1990) | Ultraman & Kanegon | |||
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| Ultraman (1990) | Ultraman (1992) | Mother of Ultra and Taro | Ultraman Jonias | |
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| Ikarasu | More Ultraman Monsters |
Late in 1992, Banpresto released two sets based on an animated series called "Ultraman Kids", which presented the cast of Ultraman heroes and monsters as children. Not much is known about the series itself, but the catcher toy set consisted of Ultraman, Ultragirl Pika, Eleking, Pigmon & Baltan. You can see Pika and Baltan in pics 7 & 8. The second set was a small plush set with keychains attached, and you can see the set of 8 in image 9.
By '94, Banpresto was looking for new ideas to keep the toys interesting, which resulted in some unusual sets. One set could be used as musical instuments! Baltan had a horn sticking out of his face, and Ultraman was a Maracca. (You can see that one in Pic 10 below.) During these years, the toys were still aimed at the younger market, but in mid-'95, Banpresto started making them with vinyl costumes, and better representations with more details became commonplace. (See Pics 11 and 12 for two examples from 1996.)
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| Ultraman Kids Pika | Ultraman Kids Baltan | Ultraman Kids Keychain Set | Ultraman Maracca |
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| Ultraman Tiga | Ultraman Tiga (Sky Type) |
13. - This Ultraman Tiga comes from a set of 3 plush toys from July of 97. The other characters in the set were the original Ultraman and Ultraman Zearth.
Pic 14 has two toys from the first Ultraman Dyna set from October of '97. Dyna had three forms he could transform into. In his "Miracle" form, he could fly. His "Strong" form had more strength. His regular form was known as "Flash" type. The full set consisted of 3 plush toys and 3 plastic figurine keychains.
15 & 16 are toys from the Zearth 2 set, and these toys even have plastic helmets. So far, Ultraman Zearth has appeared in two movies so far, and for those who aren't familiar with them, the movies are comedies which parody the genre. Zearth can't stand to get dirty, and he's the first Ultra hero to be seen washing his hands.
17. Ultraman DX - 1999 - The DX line is a larger line of plush toys and figurines. This particular one measures about 12 inches tall. It was released as a single DX toy, and not part of a series.
18. & 19. - 1999 Ultraman Set - The latest set of 4 plush toys, which represent the most current Ultramen and also the two oldest. In Japan, the most current Ultraman series is Ultraman Gaia. Recently, a new Ultraman has been introduced to the show, called Ultraman Agul. From what I've read, Agul also fights against monsters, but without regard for human life. Image 18 features Ultraman Gaia on the left, and Ultraman Agul on the right. Image 19 shows the two classic Ultra heroes, Ultraseven and the original Ultraman.
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| Ultraman Tiga | Ultraman Dyna Miracle Type & Strong Type | Ultraman Zearth | Ultraman Shadow |
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| Ultraman DX | Gaia & Agul | Ultraseven & Ultraman |
Non-Plush Toys
In addition to all of the plush toys, there have also been numerous series of other items, such as keychains, slippers, ties, t-shirts, speakers, backpacks, bath sponges, watches, remote control vehicles, Christmas tree lights and more. Like all of the toys on these pages, these toys were not sold in stores, they had to be "caught" and won in crane game machines. The boxed toys have handles on the top of the box. Here are just a few examples...
19. - Motion Detectors - 1996 - These battery operated figurines have a sensor in the front, and when you walk by, they let out a monstrous roar.
20. - Water Pistols - 1998 - There were 3 water pistols modeled after the guns used in various Ultraman series. You can see one example below.
21. - Sunglasses - 1999 - Packaged in triangular boxes, Banpresto produced 5 styles of sunglasses based on the Ultraman heroes. The Ultraman and Ultra 7 styles can be seen below.
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| Motion Detectors | Water Pistol | Sunglasses |
In 1995-96, the ultimate Ultraman collection was released. Would you believe 32 heroes and 102 monsters!?!? This 30th Anniversary set has it's own page. Click here to see it.
I've got a few more Ultraman toys and images to scan, so please check back every once in a while to see what's new. There is so much to cover here...
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