SPECTREMAN (Part One)

[Jorge Galvan]

Previously...



August 7th, 2024 (the G Fest Report)

And sadly in regards to SPECTREMAN; I had one of the dudes from Beast From the East talk to me.



Beast of The East Collectibles

https://beastoftheeastcollectibles.com

And he pretty much Told me that I am SCREWED, when it comes to Spectremen.

"He was not that popular here in the states and when it comes to trying to FIND any merch, good luck."


Well that was all I needed in a already lousy weekend. So it is what it is.
​



SInce then...
2/5/2025


It has been a little over five months since I report that report and 6 months since I was at G FEST. And my quest for SPECTREMAN merch/swag was pretty much halted.

But, I was not gonna let that stop me.

Tee Hee.


I took Frank's advice (Was that his name??? Can't remember) and I decided to LURK around various Japanese sites and see if I could find anything.


Welllllll


Yeah and no, anything GOOD, that I found was GONE or sold out. The one site that was supposed to be a big help

MANDRAKE

https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/?lang=en

What's funny is it is NOT Pronounced MAN-DRAKE

but; Mand-ARE-AKE in Japanese.

I went through the motions and whatever I wanted was SOLD OUT.


Even Beat from the East was no bleedin help. Or SHowcase Daikaiju

https://showcasedaikaiju.com/

They are idiots there and Sean Linkenback thinks he's so hot cause he wrote that ART of Japanese Monsters book years ago.


So my only option was EBAY

And I acted and found a couple of things, but anything else RARE was SNAPPED up quickly or too Expensive! Out of my range financially! And let me tell ya there was some kool stuff!


But I am happy with what I scored SO FAR... So with that being said, here is what I have to show and let me say also, that I deliberately PUT THIS HERE in the "MODERN" section, cause really none of these figures are "vintage" or "Antiques"

[Jorge Galvan]

You are asking "why the Hell is Spectreman BLUE?" Well in BRASIL, there was a 32 issue (mini) comic book from 80-82?? That published his exploits, and I was lucky to score one. SO FAR!


AND there is NO Ebay in Brasil. They have a site called


Mercado Livre

https://www.mercadolivre.com.br/

And I have yet to do any business on here as I am not sure if they ship to the states, but I have seen some interesting stuff and yeah, even TODAY; Spectreman is still Huge!!

[Jorge Galvan]

Sorry, I am doing this Arse Backwards and Sideways! Besides Brazil the other place besides the US(?????) where he is popular is FRANCE!!! And if you look there is a graphic novel in one of the photos, more coming up

[Jorge Galvan]

This is one from JAPAN! Yea!!!! And it is looking SWEET! More to see

[Jorge Galvan]

And WHY am I so HUNG UP on Spectreman???


I dunno? Gawd, I hope this isn't some Psycho-Sexual thing!?!?!?!?


Naw, seriously over the years, I have always thought fondly of the character and how "KOOL" He looked and the show.

Antartica Press last year or 2023(???) Did a FIVE Issue mini series on the whole Spectreman family

Here it is all collected

https://antarctic-press.myshopify.com/products/spectreman-heroes-hc

What is weird is that Spectreman himself was the LAST issue ( # 5) and it took me forever to find a copy as issues 1-4 were NO PROBLEM to find, but it seemed like # 5 was NONEXISTANT. Bt I got it and the story of course SUCKED!! Hahaha, Even the artwork Blew!! But I give these guys an A+ for making the effort to pull this off


So is Spectreman a TOHO production? Nope. A Tsuburaya Intellectual Property? Nope.

There is a (Small?) company that had owned him, but it seems not anymore

https://p-production.jp/

P Production had been sold to Khara


https://www.khara.co.jp/ and it all seems a bit odd. Not sure if this is typical business or what in Nippon

[Jorge Galvan]

I know Justin is gonna kick me in the head, but I don't even have the series on dvd!


Which is something I am gonna have to rectify off of CD JAPAN!


But, I still strongly remember all the battles with Dr. GORI and his monsters and the series debuted years after we all were introduced to ULTRAMAN! I am not sure why or how it was picked up here in the states for the most part weekday afternoon UHF TV!! It was here on channel 44 WPWR (which is NOW channel 50 wpwr ) it was part of the WGN group of tv stations. I think now its part of tribune broadcasting-METV group of families.


We would come home from school and watch KIMBA, the SPACE GIANTS, ULTRAMAN and then SPEED RACER (Mach AGOGO) and then Spectreman replaced Ultraman.

The good ole 70's early 80's and then it was all gone to be replaced by algorithms, zeros and ones and too much BuuuulllllCheeett!!


The way he looked and the way he fought his villain's and how he carried himself. And he had an "Underground" vibe to him, which I dug!

[Jorge Galvan]

And will there be a part TWO? yeah, I think so, but no time soon, as I am a bit SKINT right now and I have some "projects" I am working on that need that Ca$h. So maybe September/October of this year, unless I drop dead, which ya never know!!


So will see, but I hope you guys dig these figures and please forgive the camera work as I am a goddamn DINOSAUR when it come to all this technology.


Thanks, all!


CHEERS!


JG!

[Jorge Galvan]

my one Braincell is dead. I forgot four more shots! DUH! Sorry!

[Jorge Galvan]

OK. FIVE More total! Sorry!!!

[KnightDetective]

Thanks, Jorge! The pics are a treat!

Our county seat had a gi-normous video store back in the VCR days and they had a bunch of Spectreman tapes. I put quite a bit of wear on those!

When Mego did Ultraman, I hoped it might open the door to taking a chance on Spectreman as well. The characters would make great looking figures, as evidenced by the marvelous customs here on the board. If I had the budget, I would have nabbed all of those!

[Jorge Galvan]

Thanks, Jorge! The pics are a treat!

Our county seat had a gi-normous video store back in the VCR days and they had a bunch of Spectreman tapes. I put quite a bit of wear on those!

When Mego did Ultraman, I hoped it might open the door to taking a chance on Spectreman as well. The characters would make great looking figures, as evidenced by the marvelous customs here on the board. If I had the budget, I would have nabbed all of those!

Thanks, Knight! I doubt that MEGO would go after Spectreman, yeah, I think they have enough going with what they have have. But who knows?!?


I just love the character and I am glad what is out there is out there. I might hit up Antarctic Press and ask how there experience was doing the mini series. Will see.

[KnightDetective]

I just love the character and I am glad what is out there is out there.

Me, too! As I'm seldom "on the road" these days, I rarely get to make these happy discoveries myself. Please don't be shy about adding to this post with your future findings! Much appreciated!