Godzilla/Trendmasters

The prototype of Deluxe Zilla Junior, one of many cancelled figures from The Animated Series

## Collectible Information

### Status

Lost (Kamacuras and Manda, S2 of Godzilla TAS)Found (King Kong figures, a majority of Godzilla 98 series 2 and Animated Series)

## Product Information

### Year(s)

199519982000

In the 1990s, Trendmaster was the primary manufacturer for Godzilla toys in the United States as they produced action figures of the classic Japanese kaiju, as well as his allies and adversaries, in two main series; along with separate toylines for the 1998 American film and a brief take on Daiei's *Gamera* franchise.

## Summary

Trendmasters' toyline, sometimes known as “Godzilla Classics,” featured almost every kaiju from every *Godzilla* movie up until the series' point at the time. Many of the figures had multiple variations based on packaging differences, colour, and whether or not they made sound effects. They were also a lot more beefy and stylized compared to how they originally appeared in their films. The main 1994 line had 6” figures, 10” figures, Bendabale figures, Hatchlings, Battery Powered walkers of Godzilla and King Ghidorah, a line of human action figures known as Godzilla Force, micro playsets, wind-up toys, and several other miscellaneous merchandise. A comic book titled *Monster Island Unleashed* was even made to promote the toyline.

The next wave was Godzilla Wars which repackaged several of the previous KOTM figures, but also introduced new characters along with a gimmick called Power-Ups which featured Godzilla characters cladded in cyborg armour with attachable weapons. Like before, many of the packages had variations to them, as well as the figures themselves, and new collectible trading cards were available with most of the toys.

Trendmasters' third classic Godzilla line, Doom Island, was set to be released to stores in 1997, but it never was. The only release it received was through Trendmasters' website as contest give-away prizes. Years later in 2001, an Anguirus figure was revealed inside a Doom Island Godzilla box.

Although not affiliated with Toho and often considered a rip-off of Godzilla, Trendmasters created a short-lived toy line of *Gamera* in the late 1990s called "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe," which featured the giant turtle abd all of his iconic adversaries (ue. Gyaos, Gurion, Zigra). The 6” figures consist of Godzilla (normal and Supercharged), Spacegodzilla, Megalon, Baragon, and Varan. 10” figures were made for Supercharged Godzilla, SpaceGodzilla, and Biollante. Battle armor sets were made for Godzilla, Mecha King Ghidorah, Kumonga, and Anguirus who was discovered much later in 2001. Two Megamutations figures include Gojira and Destoroyah. Some of the Figure Sets include the Doom Island 40th Anniversary set (which include M.O.G.U.E.R.A., Battra, Gigan, etc.), and sets where some of the Kaiju fight dinosaurs. Godzilla spars with a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor, MechaGodzilla fights another raptor along with a Stegosaurus, and Mecha-King Ghidorah faces more Velociraptors along with a Pteranodon.

## Forgotten Classics

Two beefed up versions of obsucre Showa kaiju were nearly considered for the classic *Godzilla* lines, yet were scrapped at the last minute. The first Manda, a giant sea fragon who first appeared in the 1963 standalone film *Atragon* and was later brought into *Godzilla* canon for *Destroy All Monsters!*. The second was Kamacuras, an oversized praying mantis that made its debut in *Son of Godzilla*, alongside Kumonga the spider, and was lucky enough to make it to the prototype stage whereas Manda was only rendered in concept art. Regardless, both characters were scrapped from release.

Also, Trendmasters created prototype plush dolls for Godzilla, Rodan and King Ghidorah; all depicted in a cartoonish artstyle that were never released.

## It Was Licensing That Killed the Beast

During the success of their *Godzilla* line, Trendmasters considered doing a line of toys related to the original *King Kong* movie, which was a major influence to the original *Gojira* and has sparred with him on the big screen two times, along with receiving his own Toho film in 1967 - *King Kong Escapes*. Usign a repurposed mold of Kerchak from the *Tarzan* line, which in turn was a recycled gorilla from Cylastic Jungle Animals, Kong would utilize a new head sculpt featuring glowing red eyes and chains around the arms that properly beared a likeness to the Eighth Wonder of the World. The CEO of Trendmasters used to work for Mattel where he designed the Rage Cage Hulk playset, which he planned on utilizing said concept for a similar playset known as King Kong Monster Mountain. Unfortunately, neither products came through as Trendmasters turned down their licensing deal with MGM.

## That's a Lot of Fish

In 1998, Trendmasters produced a short lived toy line for the 1998 American remake of *Godzilla*, directed by Roland Emmerich (*Stargate*, *Independence Day*) which was harshly received by both critics and Godzilla fans alike due to it aping off *Jurassic Park’s* effects & storyline, and the main offender being that “Godzilla” just wasn’t *Godzilla*; due to lacking the atomic breath ability and resembling an overgrown iguana rather than an ancient sea creature. Trendmasters released several action figures of Godzilla, who fans refer to as either SonyZilla or just plain “Zilla,” along with the Baby Godzillas who each had a different gimmick. They also made action figures for the main human cast (Phillipe, Nick, Jean Luc, O’Neil, Ultra Attack Animal), military vehicles as cannon fodder for the monster to destroy, and Micro Battle World Playsets.

There were plans for a second line of Godzilla merchandise to be released during the 1998 holiday season with more variants of Godzilla (Nuclear Glow, Steel Attack, Mayhem, Living, Shatter Tail, and Roar), along with one last variant for Baby Godzilla known as “Silver,” which was a repaint of the Razor Fang figure. Most of these prototypes were just repaints of figures from the first line which didn’t do well commercially and thus led to Series 2’s cancellation.

One thing that's worth noting is that before Trendmasters nabbed the license for *Godzilla* (1998), Galoob Toys proposed a prototype action figure that was sculpted by one of the artists who worked on the movie. Not much of it is special except for the fact it has a “fifth finger,” which gave Toho all kinds of trouble as Trendmasters did the same thing with their prototypes. All of them were subsequently destroyed in fear of “cancellation threats” made by Toho to their license deal.

## Suspended Animation

Airing on FOX Kids throughout 1998 to 2000, with a span of 40 episodes, *Godzilla: The Series* was an animated television series based on the American *Godzilla* that follows the adventures of the last hatchling laid by the monster in the original film. Many fans have often considered the show to be a huge improvement of the source material and Trendmasters was quick to make action figures while the iron was still hot. Protoypes were made for figures of Deluxe Godzilla, Thunder Sonic Godzilla, Baby Animated Godzilla, Cyber Godzilla, Crustaceous Rex (was mispelled as “Sea Rex” in advertising), Quetzalcoatl, Robo-Yeti, Nick and Randy who would’ve each came with accessories, N.I.G.E.l, the team's analysis robot who always gets destroyed in damn near every episode of the series; and the Ultimate Animated Godzilla, which was just a repaint of the colossal figure made for the 1998 toyline. Playset vehicles were also made of a H.E.A.T. (Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team) F/A-18 Hornet Strike Jet and a H.EA.T. Apache Capture Copter, and commercials were made to promote the toys before they were even finished.

Unfortunately, *Godzilla: The Series* was taken off the air around the same time that Trendmasters declared bankruptcy and the toys were never released. This also resulted in the cancellation of a pre-planned series 2 that would've featured El Gusano Gigante, a Cyber Fly, and a Mutant Rat. Most of Trendmasters assets were acquired by Jakks Pacific, who went on to do large scale toys for the 2014 *Godzilla* movie, as well as some figures for the 2019 sequel *King of the Monsters*, though most of the American *Godzilla* action figures are now manufactured by Playmates.

## Final Verdict

A majority of the stuff that was made for *Godzilla* (1998) series 2 and the animated series, as well as the proposed *King Kong* series, were salvaged by Jonathan Shyman, a superfan of Trendmasters who uploaded photos of his collection onto Flickr. The only things that remain truly lost are the Manda figure and the Kamacuras prototype.

In conclusion, Trendmasters *Godzilla* is considered: **PARTIALLY FOUND**

## Gallery

Concept art for a Manda action figure by CentaurPrototype mock-up for KamacurasThe main action figure for King Kong: The Ultimate BeastKing Kong Monster Mountain playsetStomp & Roar King Kong action figuresConcept art for Plush Caged and Playmation KongsPrototype animated plushes of Godzilla, Rodan and King GhidorahTest paint prototype for Living GodzillaPackaging and prototype mockup for Shatter Tail GodzillaPrototype for Silver Baby GodzillaPrototypes for Roar and Nuclear Glow GodzillasPrototype of Thunder Sonic Zilla Junior for the Animated SeriesProtoypes for figures of the human cast of Godzilla TAS, including Nick and RandyA catalog for both Trendmasters' Gamera and Godzilla TAS series, including mockups of the H.E.AT. Copter and F/A-18 Hornet JetPrototype for Baby Animated Godzilla, as well as the egg it presumably came withCrustaceous Rex prototype, painted greenCrustaceous Rex, painted red and misspelled as "Sea Rex"Prototype for Robo-YetiPrototype for QuetzalcoatlPrototype for the Ultimate Animated Godzilla that would've been made for TASPrototype for Cyber Godzilla, an equivalent of sorts to MechagodzillaPrototype for N.I.G.E.L. the robot
## Source

* Trendmasters. (Retrieved July 2020). Wikizilla. Online article.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/36185771@N06/14355338111
2. ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/36185771@N06/49524135862
3. ↑ https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Jakks\_Pacific
4. ↑ https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Playmates