Monday, December 17, 2007

Spanish soundtrack to BotP to be released

Tatsunokofan, our resident expert on Gatchaman and BotP merchandise news, posted this new information on the BotP Mailing List:


When Battle of the Planets aired in Spain during the 1980s, the series was given a new theme song. This song was titled "Comando G" (As G-Force was renamed 'Commando G' in Spain), and was sung by a kids group named Parchis. Parchis also recorded three other BotP-related songs, though the other three songs were not used in the series. Instead, they were released on a pair of EP records, as well as appearing on various Parchis LP records.

One of these LP records was titled "Comando G," and included both the new theme and a song for Zark titled "Zark-7," as well as songs like Spanish language versions of "Video Killed the Radio Star," "Animals, Animals, Animals," and "Man Gave Names To All the Animals."

Well, the Comando G LP record has finally be released on CD, thanks to a Spanish music comapny named Divucsa. Along with the 10 tracks that were on the original LP, they also added another of the Parchis BotP songs, "La Batalla de los Planetas." The covers for this disc can be found at the Divucsa website at this link.

If you're wondering what the songs sound like, they were included as part of the bonus material on one of the ADV Gatchaman DVDs, or you can see some music videos that the Parchis did for them on YouTube:

Comando G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDIkoQJcp5g


La Batalla de los Planetas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7lU-yvmS80


Unfortunately, I've been unable to find a place where you can order the CD, though I do know that it can be found on eBay, if you wish to look there.



Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Merchandise update from Japan

Gatchaman TV series re-release: All three Gatchaman TV series (Gatchaman, Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter) will again be released on DVD via a subscription service. The DeAgostini Company is offering the DVDs individually, three episodes per DVD, at a rate of one DVD per week for 68 weeks. The first DVD will cost 790 yen (about $7.00), but the remaining 67 discs will cost 1,790 yen (about $16.00) apiece. The first DVD is scheduled to ship February 5, 2008.

The subscription offer is limited to residents of Japan. If you want Gatchaman episodes, I recommend the ADV DVDs. (Gatchaman II and Fighter episodes are not available in English outside of fansubs.) Where collectors might be interested in the DeAgostini releases is in the packaging: Instead of coming in the standard DVD case, the discs will be packed inside a booklet which will include episode guides, an art gallery, production notes, and other goodies. I don't have any information whether any of this is new material. Subscribers can purchase a special binder to hold the booklets. There are also bonus goodies: a Gatchaman mouse pad, and different figures of the characters.

The DeAgostini web site is here: http://www.de-club.net/gtd/

Kotobukiya Gatchaman cell phone RPG game: As of December 12, Japanese cell phone users can visit a handful of store chains and, for a 525 yen fee, load the Gatchaman game onto their cell phones. This web site has all the information and shows animated screen shots of the game: http://www.kemco.jp/applipage/07_game/gatchaman_i_a.shtml

Once again, this is available to Japan residents only. But with the upcoming Gatchaman movie, the US may start seeing merchandise like this for the US market.

Thanks, Tatsunokofan!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

I LOL'd

"Sosai Tim" just launched his Gatcha-Funnies site, featuring captioned scenes from Gatchaman, G-II and G-Fighter. Some are a teensy bit blue, some are OK, and some, like this one, had me laughing out loud. Go check out the site.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

G-Force Action Figures, Part 2


Thierry from Limited Toys Design sent me more photos and links! Enjoy!

PRINCESS

I really like these. He has a good interpretation of her face, and her poses with the yoyo are spot-on.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3689/princess02wz2.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/738/princess03wm3.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5383/princess04ns7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/467/princess05pw0.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/8139/princess06oq7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/679/princess08ln3.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3749/princess09ku8.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4465/princess10rh4.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/293/princess11lg3.jpg

KEYOP

What’s especially impressive is the way Thierry got the character in proportion. The figure has Keyop’s wiry figure and attitude down perfectly.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7232/keyop03iz9.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5248/keyop04cr5.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4723/keyop05sy9.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/261/keyop07tr3.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/645/keyop08qi4.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/1483/keyop09od1.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/9828/keyop10yx1.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/9076/keyop11yu5.jpg

TINY

Check out the split-toed boots and the other details.

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6181/tiny03ho7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5237/tiny04mc7.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/8471/tiny05ck1.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6316/tiny06ld1.jpg
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4230/tiny07pe1.jpg



These figures are for sale. For details and pricing, see my previous post.

Gatchaman featured on Let's Anime

Let's Anime is a new blog all about classic anime written by one of the best old-school authorities on the subject that I know. And his latest entry features Gatchaman and its many versions. Check it out!

http://letsanime.blogspot.com/2007/11/your-scientific-ninja-team-gatchaman.html

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Cool custom G-Force action figures

More info on the G-Force action figures featured in ToysREvil



A few posts back, we found an interesting photo in the Toysrevil blog. To follow up, Thierry of Limited Toys Design wrote me with some new photos of his custom-made G-Force action figures. Check these out--fully articulated figures with meticulous attention paid to detail.

As you can see from his site, Thierry creates custom action figures you won't see anywhere else. He grew up with UFO Grendizer (Goldorak), Battle of the Planets, Captain Harlock, Captain Comet and many others. He'd always wanted 12" figures of the whole G-Force team and the bad guys. Since Medicom never went past the Mark and Jason figures ("Too difficult to find a girl body, kid body and fat guy body," one Japanese toy rep told me once), he figured it was up to him to create the figures.

For Mark, Jason and Princess, he used standard 12" action figure bodies. For Keyop, he used an articulated body from a different scale. Tiny provided the biggest challenge, being shorter and wider than the others. He modified an 11" body with a larger suit.

He sculpted and molded the heads with helmets, and the visors are molded in a tainted clear resin. He also did custom modeling on the belt buckles as you can see below.



These custom models are available for sale for the following prices, plus international shipping:
Mark: 170 euros
Jason: 170 euros
Princess: 150 euros
Keyop: 150 euros
Tiny: 200 euros

He requests half the amount in advance to confirm the order and the rest when the figures are ready to ship. He needs 2 months to create the whole team. You can pay via Paypal (add 3.5 % for the fees), by international money order or by credit transfer.



Contact Thierry at info@limitedtoysdesign.com

Here are links to more photos:

MARK:
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/8045/mark02dy0.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/742/mark03dw3.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4743/mark04yx9.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/2251/mark05an4.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/944/mark06qb0.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5341/mark07bb6.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8048/mark08ya8.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/3152/mark09ln1.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5919/mark10ak0.jpg

JASON:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/713/jason02sj8.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8272/jason03un6.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5389/jason04tz7.jpg
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/3946/jason05cb3.jpg
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1733/jason06ss5.jpg
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/9928/jason07mp8.jpg
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/9839/jason08cu9.jpg
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/7266/jason09yp2.jpg
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2904/jason10ad8.jpg

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Links of Interest

Imagi is profiled by Business Week magazine:
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2007/gb20071015_727073.htm


Roland Kelts plugs Gatchaman: While promoting his new book, "Japanamerica," author Roland Kelts interviewed at Imagi, and he puts in a plug for their upcoming films, describing the importance of the classic anime AstroBoy and Gatchaman. To find the interview, go to http://www.imagi.com.hk/web/ and look in the "What's New" section at the bottom of the Imagi home page.