Wednesday, February 28, 2007

RARE! Second Edition Nitto Walking Gamera! レア!重版歩くガメラ!

Nitto Walking Gamera - 496-300

In my years of experience collecting Nitto Gamera series kits, there are some unlikely kits that are impossible to find. The following series will highlight those kits. No better place to start than the second edition waking Gamera.

While the first edition "long box" Nitto kits are rare and highly desirable, with patience and luck they can be found. I have purchased them in Japan, on Yahoo Japan and even in the US from other collectors. But the only place I have found the second edition kits is in Japan. And I have only seen them twice! And both times I did not walk away until they were mine! In fact, the only one I have seen featured in a magazine is the Gappa kit, which will be next as it is number 2 in this series.

The second edition kit boxes were illustrated by none other than Shigeru Komatsuzaki, the maestro of model kit box and sofubi header card art. These illustrations would continue to front the standard series for another two re-issues over a five year period.

This series of four kits featured the greatest "cheat" in all of Nitto Gamera history! One that would more or less dictate another complete reissue of the standard series three years later AND would bring Komatsuzaki sensei back to paint the kaiju he missed the first go around! What is it you ask? Keep checking back!