(item number) 1018
(title) Marusan Standard Size Soft Vinyl Garamon (1st Series)
(maker) Marusan
(the date of issue) the 1960s
(size) 230 mm
(Material) Soft vinyl
(detailed) Main item 8 (very slight sun discoloration, minor scuffing)
(starting bid price) 5,500,000 yen
(comment) The Marusan Standard Sofubi Garamon
Representative differences between Garamon Period 1 and Period 2 include whether the tail is movable, the molded color, paint on the body, and the specifications of the copyright name and manufacturer stamp on the soles of the feet. 600 units were produced from the original mold for Garamon Period 1. The molded color is dark navy blue: the copyright name is applied with a rubber stamp on the sole rather than being engraved, and there is no manufacturer stamp at all. The entire body is painted silver and green, the belly and areas around the face are cream-colored, and the lips are painted red. The tail has a riveted attachment and is designed to be movable. The second production run of Garamon is molded in dark green: starting with this second run, production-type molds suitable for mass production were used. Therefore, it is slightly smaller than the first run. The licensing name is stamped on the sole of the right foot, and the manufacturer's name is engraved on the right ankle. The whole body is painted in blue-silver, the belly and face area in cream, and the lips in red. Unlike the first run, which featured a movable tail, from the second run onward Garamon's tail is molded integrally with the body. This is the first-run Garamon soft vinyl figure released by Marusan in 1966 as one of six Ultra Q kaiju figures. In deep navy molded color with a movable tail: the licensed name is featured as a rubber stamp on the sole. At the time, Marusan, struggling from poor performance after a failed slot racing car business, pushed forward with toy sales for Ultraman Q (Ultra Q), which began airing on TV in 1966, and aimed to commercialize soft vinyl figures. As the first wave, Gomes, Garamon, Gor , Pegila, Kanegon, and Pagos were released: initially wholesalers reacted coldly, but later placed large orders and the toys won overwhelming support from children. This Garamon is a vinyl figure released in the very early production run: 600 units were made from the original mold. Because vinyl figures became popular toys, production was increased, and at that time production molds were used, so vinyl figures made from the original mold exist only in this first batch of 600. Therefore, the figures made from the production molds from the second batch onward are somewhat larger. Many original vinyl molds were made as prototypes, and perhaps for that reason the first-series Ultra Q monster vinyls lack manufacturer or licensing stamps: it seems a rubber stamp was used to add the licensing name when the product was commercialized. To cope with increased orders due to higher demand, they eliminated the labor-intensive separate-part tail and made it a single molded piece to cut costs, so Garamon figures from the first production onward had no movable tails. This Garamon from the first production shows some wear from age, but-crucially-there is no damage to the tail, which is the most common problem. This is the company's first receipt in eight years since Catalog No. 86 (Miyagawa).
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