Toy Review: Godzilla's Gang Bemustar

This is a very short toy review for a very cheap toy.  Mattel released a series of old Popy soft

vinyl toys in the USA in 1978, dubbing the line "Godzilla's Gang."  Outside of Godzilla himself, the rest were actually Ultraman villain monsters.  It was kind of a strange grouping, but at around a buck a piece, one wasn't going to complain (not that I had any clue of who Ultraman was at the time).  I'm pretty sure that we had three of these toys, one of which was Bemustar.  I have no experience with the actual Ultraman show that Bemustar originated in, but I was able to locate this video of him doing his thing.

Anyway, all this is completely secondary to the fact that I'm here to post pics of a toy I knew virtually nothing about as a kid, but enjoyed mightily.  Here is Bemustar.

Sculpting on these old vinyl toys rarely were screen-accurate, but that's part of the charm.  He's got a joint at the neck.

I remember that the colors just enthralled me as a kid.  I believe the actual vinyl is a brown, but then there are varying sprays laid on top in metallic greens and magentas.

He's also got some joints that allow his arms to move up and down, but that's about it for such vinyl toys.  Still, having practically no articulation matters little when faced with such awesome paint.

Bemustar's got some really cool skin texture.  I love the silly tail.

"Oh, you think my tail is SILLY, huh?  I'll show you how silly it is next time I'm stomping around your downtown!"

There's the famous Popy stamp!

These old vinyls are great if you can get your hands on them.  Bemustar seems to be fairly easily acquired via venues such as Ebay, though the other Godzilla's Gang figures may be harder to come by.  He was a cheap thrill back in the day, and still seems to be today.  Thanks to Bemustar, I am in some small way able to reach back over the years to that little eight-year old me, breathing life into a small hunk of vinyl.