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Godzilla Exclusive Figure for San Diego Comic Con 2019

Bandai America’s latest figure is a throwback in more ways than one.

On Friday, the Japan-based toymaker revealed its San Diego Comic-Con exclusive, the 65th Anniversary 1954 Godzilla Vinyl Figure. As its title implies, it harkens back to the anniversary of the Godzilla franchise, to be sure. But it also recalls Bandai’s own toymaking history: plastic Godzilla models were one of the first products the company ever produced.

Bandai got its start in 1950 as a mom-and-pop establishment. After, World War II, the Japanese government began pumping money into Japanese toy manufacturing in order to convey a more peaceful global image for postwar Japan. Bandai’s initial name, Bandai-ya, is a reference to the company’s mission to focus first and foremost on toys and the enjoyment they can bring.

“Naoharu Yamashina originally named his company Bandai-ya, from the ancient phrase bandai fueki, which means ‘eternally unchanging’ and incorporates the aspiration to always create products that satisfy the souls of people of every age,” Yumiko Taguchi, a spokesperson for Bandai, told the South China Morning Post.

Godzilla Exclusive Figure, shown in box.

See also: 'Mobile Suit Gundam' Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary Today

Today, Bandai is chiefly known for its Mobile Suit Gundam line of mecha toys, which come both as figures and as DIY kits for fans to assemble at home. But its line of Godzilla plastic figures is almost as old. In 1983, when Toho announced the production of The Return of Godzilla, the first Godzilla film since 1975, Bandai launched its first line of Godzilla figures.

These initial Godzilla figures were referred to as sofubi, a Japanese portmanteau of “soft vinyl,” and were made with a then-new technology for molding polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic into figures and toys. A similar version of this technology is still used today and PVC is still the primary ingredient that Bandai uses in its toys and figures, including this new exclusive.

Bandai's 1984 version of the 1954 Godzilla model, photographed by Club Tokyo.

It’s no surprise that the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive bears a striking resemblance to one of Bandai’s very first Godzilla sofubi, Godzilla 1984. Side by side, it’s clear that they used a similar mold to improve upon the original. This time, they used translucent flake vinyl with added paint treatments on top to make the anniversary version a high-quality upgrade.

So there you have it: it’s not just the history of Godzilla that Bandai America is celebrating with its 2019 convention exclusive, but the history of Bandai itself! The more you know.

This anniversary figure stands 6.5” tall and will retail at the Godzilla (Toho Co., Ltd./ Bandai America Inc.) booth #3535 at San Diego Comic-Con for $30.