Bullmark (ブルマァク) is a Japanese toy company that is most famous for selling

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

character toys in the 1960s and 1970s. Founded in 1969 after the bankruptcy of pioneering toy manufacturer Marusan, the company was also known simply as Bull by many people as their logo of a bull was stamped on the bottoms of the feet of many of its toys.

Products

Bullmark's

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

and

Ultraman The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...

toys are extremely popular among Japanese toy collectors; some currently retail for thousands of dollars. Bullmark's vinyl toys were produced in a variety of sizes from "mini" (3-4") to "standard" (8-9") to "giant," (usually 12" or more) with smaller runs produced with different colorways for export to Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States. These so-called "Hawaiian" versions of the characters, which were produced in relatively small numbers, feature brighter colors than their Japanese counterparts, and therefore are popular among collectors both in Japan and abroad. When the fad for soft-vinyl monsters began to fade in the mid-1970s, despite gimmicks such as sparker figures and magnets embedded in their palms (each of which included a tin friction-motor car), Bullmark began re-thinking the concept and released a series of soft-vinyl toys containing missile launchers, and other play gimmicks. These were sold under the brand "Mecha Machine," among other names. In an attempt to compete in a changing toy marketplace, in 1973 Bullmark also branched out into

die-cast toy A die-cast toy (also spelled diecast, or die cast) is a toy or a collectible model produced by using the die casting, die-casting method of putting molten lead, zinc alloy or plastic in a mold to produce a particular shape. Such toys are made o ...

s, which were sold under the brand name of "Zinclon." Perhaps most famous among these are a small line of diecast metal renditions of characters from the Godzilla films. Bullmark co-founder Saburo Ishizuki explained in the afterword to the book ''Super #1 Robot'' that the diecast Mechagodzilla toy was "so popular that I could hardly keep up with demand... oI updated the look of the

ther Ther may refer to: * ''Thér.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Irénée Thériot (1859–1947), French bryologist * Agroha Mound, archaeological site in Agroha, Hisar district, India * Therapy A therapy or medical treatment is the attempte ...

monster characters with more robotic appearances and incorporated all-new action features." The Zinclon series would eventually incorporate a variety of giant robot characters as well as monsters. Bullmark closed shop in 1977. The same year, Saburo Ishizuki took Bullmark's sales and marketing subsidiary Ark and turned it into a full-fledged toy manufacturer in its own right. During the 1990s, Ishizuki assisted the Japanese toy manufacturers M-1 (M-Ichigo) and

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

in producing licensed reissues of many classic Bullmark vinyl toys, which proved to be exceedingly popular, from both the Godzilla and Ultraman lines. Ishizuki officially revived the brand as an independent company once again, with manufacturing and consulting support from Yuji Nishimura of M-1, in 2009.

External links

Bullmark Shop
(Official Japanese website)
Club TokyoRaging Bullmark

Super #1 RobotBullmark diecast/chogokin
Toy companies of Japan Toy companies established in 1969 Japanese companies established in 1969 {{Toy-company-stub

Products

See also

External links