Hi all! A new, and not inexpensive, Gatchaman item has been announced -- a polyresin figure statue of Jun! Produced as a limited edition of 300 pieces by a company named R.A.W.S. (Which stands for "Real ArtWork Series). The figure shows Jun's head, torso, and legs to just above her knees, and is mounted on top of a base designed to look like her Yo-yo. The Yo-yo is then mounted on top of a black cube-like base with silver plates bearing the Gatchaman name and a serial number. All told, the figurine will measure 28cm tall x 9.7cm wide x 9.7cm deep. As I mentioned, the figurine is not cheap. She retails for 14,800 yen (15,540 yen, after taxes), roughly $137.00, so be prepared to dig deep if you want one. The figurine is scheduled for a late-November/early-December release, but preorders are being taken now for her. If you have a favorite Japanese hobby store to order things like this from, you might wish to check with them about her. From a quick check, I've found that she can be preordered through both CD Japan and Hobbylink Japan, which can be found at: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/index.html and: http://www.hlj.com/ I have dealt with both in the past, and can verify that they are both trustworthy retailers. CD Japan has a preorder deadline of September 25th, but I do not know for how long Hobbylink Japan will accept them. I wouldn't dawdle if you really want one of these. Anyway, I just figured you'd want to know! James

Hi all! Here are some pictures of the figurine. Enjoy! James

OOOooo...that is very cool, James! Thanks for sharing it with us...they really paid attention to detail on this piece, and I like that she isn't wearing her helmet!

It is well made! The attention to detail is awesome. I love the way they have done her face. She looks so beautiful. If I had the money for one at the moment I would buy one. Unfortunately I have to save my pennies for some RL things that out weight it....what a shame.

That looks fantastic! I wish they'd done the whole body though. It looks weird, cut off as it is.

This is great James. Thank you for posting. I love the pose and the detail they put into this. Any idea if they intend to do any of the other characters?

Hi all!

Any idea if they intend to do any of the other characters?

At this point, Jun is the only Gatchaman character they've announced. Most of what the company has on their website are one-shot items, which doesn't bode well for them producing the other characters, but also doesn't mean they won't. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. James

It looks very well done and detailed, although I don't recall her dress being quite that clingy.

Thanks for sharing the information James.... the detail etc, are really great!

Originally posted by lborgia88 It looks very well done and detailed, although I don't recall her dress being quite that clingy.

Just imagine the guys' Birdstyles being that clingy....

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Just imagine the guys' Birdstyles being that clingy....

Oh I can imagine that! If they do a Joe figurine, they cannot cut his legs off too -that would just be so wrong!

Hi all! Ummm... Should I mention that the guys are already wearing skin-tight uniforms, so "clingy" is not really an issue there...

If they do a Joe figurine, they cannot cut his legs off too -that would just be so wrong!

Actually, Bandai has already done something like that with Joe, though on a much smaller and less expensive scale. Back in early 2005, they released a series of vending machine toys of Tatsunoko characters. For 300 yen apiece, you could get Ken, Joe, Casshan, or Hurricane Polymer. Each of these pre-painted figures were made of soft plastic and had to be assembled by the buyer. Once assembled, they measured between 3 and 4 inches in height. While Ken was done as a full figure, Joe was sculpted from the knees up. Here's what they looked like: Personally, I didn't think the Joe looked bad. Had they done him as a full figure, he'd have been much smaller, like the Ken figure was. For the size of these figures, the detailing on both of them was very nicely done. Not as nice as the Jun figurine, mind you, but still very nice. James

Those are nice figurines indeed James! Thanks for letting us know. I had a question for you. On eBay I see some 12 inch figures of Ken and Joe from Mediacom. Some have ridiculously high prices. Are they very rare or was there a limited number of copies? I've also noticed the Dark Jun figure--where did the idea for that come from? Was it a discarded idea from any of the series? Just being curious...Thanks James!

Sigh, Joe has already lost his legs... Actually, it looks like he's wading through fire or magma (must be cyborg Joe), which at least provides a reason for why his legs aren't showing. The Jun figurine doesn't have that.

Hi all!

I had a question for you. On eBay I see some 12 inch figures of Ken and Joe from Mediacom. Some have ridiculously high prices. Are they very rare or was there a limited number of copies?

With the Medicom Ken and Joe figures, it's sort of a yes-and-no. When Medicom first released the figures in Japan in early 1998, they were fairly expensive, 9,800 yen apiece (Around $90.00 each). For their initial release, each figure came with a limited edition cloisonne pin (The red bird head for Ken, the "G" symbol for Joe). A second standard-issue run followed without the pins as a bonus. Surprisingly, the non-limited edition versions seem to be available in smaller numbers, so I suspect that there were actually fewer of them made. Anyway, because of the high retail price when these figures first hit the market, the figures tended to be sold on the secondary market for high prices as well. This changed when Battle of the Planets mania briefly hit in 2002/2003. At that time, Diamond Comic Distributors made a deal with Medicom to reissue the Ken and Joe figures in blue Battle of the Planets packaging for the U.S. market (The original Japanese packaging were black boxes). With the tooling for the figures already done, and with Diamond purchasing a large enough quantity of the figures, Diamond was able to sell them for around $30.00 apiece. Aside from the different packaging, one noticable difference between the two releases were the figures themselves. In the years following the original Japanese release, Medicom had redesigned their standard male figure body, but the uniforms worn on the Battle of the Planets releases used the original pattern for the old style body. The result is that the uniform doesn't seem to quite fit right. As Heather puts it, they look like droopy drawers Mark and Jason. Also, in case you wondered, the Battle of the Planets versions of the figures did not come with the cloisonne pins of the original limited editions. So, in general, the original Japanese release can still command a higher price, simply because it is the original Japanese release. Of course, the prices on the Japanese versions have dropped somewhat over the years, simply because of the existence of the BotP versions. The Battle of the Planets version, having been produced in higher quantities, usually goes for less. This assumes, of course, that the seller has any idea of what they actually have. So, to finally answer your questions directly, the Japanese release is more rare, but not overly so, but the Battle of the Planets version is far more common (At least here in the U.S.). There was a limited edition run in Japan (Look for the sticker on the box saying "Limited Edition!!" and the pin visible in the box over their left shoulder), but there were plenty of them made. The U.S. release had no limited edition. Technically, there are a limited number of copies available, simply because the figures are no longer being manufactured, but they were made in decent quantity before production shut down.

also noticed the Dark Jun figure--where did the idea for that come from? Was it a discarded idea from any of the series?

No it was not. The "Dark Version" Cool Girl Jun figure was nothing more than Takara wanting to release an "Alternative" version of Jun when they reissued the standard version of the Jun Cool Girl figure back in 2006. They had apparently considered doing a version of Jun in her civilian clothes as the "Alternative" version (Which is what they did with the Cutey Honey reissue they released at the same time), but they decided that this made her look too much like a Barbie-style fashion doll, and went with the Dark Version instead. Personally, I'd rather have had her in civies. James

Thanks again for all the information.

I have the BOTP Mark and Jason dolls (actually, two sets... one for me and one for my kids to mangle) and IMHO, I don't care how good the quality is on the Japanese ones: for the price, I'd rather have 3 or 4 of the BOTP dolls than 1 Japanese one, KWIM? I was able to pick up the ones I have for about $20 apiece at a shop in San Francisco. I want the Dark Cool Girl Jun sooooo badly. But again, I refuse to pay $100+. The price of the regular Birdstyle Jun came way down on EBay last year, and I picked one up. I'm still waiting for the dark one to get more reasonably priced.

Those have got to be fun to play with....

Hi all!

I don't care how good the quality is on the Japanese ones: for the price, I'd rather have 3 or 4 of the BOTP dolls than 1 Japanese one, KWIM?

I didn't say that the quality between the Japanese and the U.S. releases were substantially different, only that the body style used for each release was different. If it were not for that difference, it would be very difficult to tell the Japanese release from the American release once they were out of their boxes.

The price of the regular Birdstyle Jun came way down on EBay last year, and I picked one up.

The original release of the Cool Girl Jun also had a U.S. release, back when the figure first came out, thanks to Diamond importing it as a BotP Princess figure. The U.S. release is different from the Japanese one only in that it has an English language sticker giving the product information stuck on the bottom of the box. This U.S. release, as well as the reissue of that version, have definitely helped to keep the price a bit lower on that version. James

Wow, the details are astonishing! Thanks for sharing the pics James!

Thanks for all the information, James! You've been a great help. I still hope you write a book someday. I don't know what they have in mind for merchandise when the Gatchaman movie comes out. (Personally, I would love a life sized doll of the Condor!)

Originally posted by Condorfan I don't know what they have in mind for merchandise when the Gatchaman movie comes out. (Personally, I would love a life sized doll of the Condor!)

Yes, that could certainly give a new meaning to "happy meal" !

Cloud sits imagining the size of the bag for that "Happy Meal"

CD, as far as I'm concerned they can keep all the food with that meal... I'll just take the prize!

Well I was wondering what I would do if I ever saw a bag that size show up in my classroom with one of my kids. It is amazing how many parents in my school can not find the money to buy their kids clothes that fit and yet they can find the money for Mc D's every other day .... priorities folks. You would save a whole lot of money if you bought a loaf of bread, cheese and some carrot sticks. And the meal would be a lot healthier too. *shrugs* Well I can only take educating children so far. I wish I had the energy to do more.

Originally posted by clouddancer Well I was wondering what I would do if I ever saw a bag that size show up in my classroom with one of my kids. It is amazing how many parents in my school can not find the money to buy their kids clothes that fit and yet they can find the money for Mc D's every other day .... priorities folks. You would save a whole lot of money if you bought a loaf of bread, cheese and some carrot sticks. And the meal would be a lot healthier too. *shrugs* Well I can only take educating children so far. I wish I had the energy to do more.

CD, is that true? What IS the matter with people these days?

Yeah, my mother certainly had no problem putting carrot sticks or apples in my school lunches -even though it seemed like all my friends were getting Vachon cakes and other goodies! It must be hard being a teacher, CD, knowing that there's only so much you can do for kids, if their parents aren't on board.

It's tough as a parent. You want your kids to eat healthy, but at the same time you know that if you put stuff in their lunches they don't want to eat, it will just get thrown out. I end up having my kids help me decide what goes into their lunches, and I make sure there's SOME form of fruit in there (usually raisins or dried cranberries). But the reality is that if I want to MAKE SURE they eat healthy foods, I ahve to give it to them at home where I can monitor them eating it. I've never sent McDs for lunch, though. Even if I wanted to, wouldn't it get cold and gross by the time lunch came around?

You have a good idea TJ, let the kids decide what they want to eat so it won't be fast food. When I was a kid we didn't have easy access to vending machines (I don't know if they have them on school grounds now) so I had to eat what I got for lunch or get nothing until dinner. My parents grew up very poor so they learned not to waste anything. Perhaps parents are buying McD's for convenience but there is a serious epedemic of childhood obesity and they are really doing their kids a disservice.

Originally posted by Transmute Jun It's tough as a parent. You want your kids to eat healthy, but at the same time you know that if you put stuff in their lunches they don't want to eat, it will just get thrown out. I end up having my kids help me decide what goes into their lunches, and I make sure there's SOME form of fruit in there (usually raisins or dried cranberries). But the reality is that if I want to MAKE SURE they eat healthy foods, I ahve to give it to them at home where I can monitor them eating it. I've never sent McDs for lunch, though. Even if I wanted to, wouldn't it get cold and gross by the time lunch came around?

My sister can still get her son to eat carrots as a snack -as long as they're peeled baby carrots with a mini container of ranch dressing to dip them in! Like you, though, she usually lets him pick his snacks at the grocery store, but vetoes anything she deems insufficiently nutritious. It seems to work.

Originally posted by Transmute Jun It's tough as a parent. You want your kids to eat healthy, but at the same time you know that if you put stuff in their lunches they don't want to eat, it will just get thrown out. I end up having my kids help me decide what goes into their lunches, and I make sure there's SOME form of fruit in there (usually raisins or dried cranberries). But the reality is that if I want to MAKE SURE they eat healthy foods, I ahve to give it to them at home where I can monitor them eating it. I've never sent McDs for lunch, though. Even if I wanted to, wouldn't it get cold and gross by the time lunch came around?

It does not get cold because the parents drop the food off at the school just before lunch time. Which is a whole other complaint from me .... If you have time to stop, buy lunch for your child and bring it to school, do you not have time to take your child out of school for lunch? After all it would probably do your child good to have a break from us witchy (start with a B) teachers?

I'm not sure what to say on this topic... I can see different sides of the story. Still one thing is for sure, I never got fast food for lunch in school. Usually had to deal with the lunch food. Now that makes a person tough sometimes.

Originally posted by clouddancer

Originally posted by Transmute Jun It's tough as a parent. You want your kids to eat healthy, but at the same time you know that if you put stuff in their lunches they don't want to eat, it will just get thrown out. I end up having my kids help me decide what goes into their lunches, and I make sure there's SOME form of fruit in there (usually raisins or dried cranberries). But the reality is that if I want to MAKE SURE they eat healthy foods, I ahve to give it to them at home where I can monitor them eating it. I've never sent McDs for lunch, though. Even if I wanted to, wouldn't it get cold and gross by the time lunch came around?

It does not get cold because the parents drop the food off at the school just before lunch time. Which is a whole other complaint from me .... If you have time to stop, buy lunch for your child and bring it to school, do you not have time to take your child out of school for lunch? After all it would probably do your child good to have a break from us witchy (start with a B) teachers?

Or whip a sandwich together... it doesn't take that long!