Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Gold Bat 黄金 バット Model Kit

I made a vow to not return to the US without something related to the very first comic book hero in history, Gold Bat, aka Ōgon Bat, aka 黄金 バット (1931), and it wasn’t until my last day in Tokyo that I stumbled upon this awesome 60's / 70's (?) vintage Gold Bat model kit at a Mandarake store at Nakano Broadway. Beautiful painted box art, and the pieces are already gold too, so there’s no need to paint! So what do you guys say, should I break from my dork ass collector sensibility and keep this gem mint in the box, or should I put it together?



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9 comments:

  1. anthrax2525July 24, 2018

    That is where it's tough...
    Imai went out of business in 2002, and most of their tooling was taken up by Aoshima. Their classic Macross kit molds, though, are now owned by Bandai.

    I'd be inclined to leave it be. It's not exactly reissue material, nor would there be another kit of the same subject heading down the pike anytime soon (Maybe from a one-off garage-level resin casting, but not from one of the big guns like Hasegawa, Fujimi, or Aoshima, and certainly never Tamiya).
    It's just too unique to mess with, if you ask me.

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  2. Mr. KarswellJuly 24, 2018

    Good points, Annie! Thank you!

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  3. Mr. CavinJuly 24, 2018

    If you know somebody with a 3D scanner you could make a play-testable copy. For everybody.

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  4. Mr. KarswellJuly 25, 2018

    I’ll be rich!!!

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  5. anthrax2525July 25, 2018

    I dare say Cavin may be on to something...

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  6. JMR777July 26, 2018

    I'm with Calvin, make a 3 D version and build the newly created model. Or better yet, find someone who can not only scan in the model parts but assemble the kit via the computer and turn out Golden Bat fully formed.
    Golden Bat has been waiting patiently to be freed from his model kit tomb, so now is his chance to be out in the world via 3D printing. Modern technology makes life so much better and fun when used for peaceful and playful purposes.

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  7. Uncle ErnieAugust 04, 2018

    Do what will make you happiest!

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  8. American ToycoonSeptember 01, 2018

    Crazy! I went to a Mandarake store when I was in Japan last year. It was insane! So much stuff to see and quite pricy, too. I bought a few things to make me happy then found a bunch of groovy things in Thailand the following week. i have a GoldBat wind up robot from the 1990's. It's still in his original box.

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  9. Mr. KarswellSeptember 01, 2018

    One could probably spend a year inside the Nakano Broadway Mandarake stores and still not see everything!

    I bought a Gold Bat storybook 45 too that I’ll be posting here soon. Stay tuned...

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