“You’re nothing until you’ve been bootlegged”: a bootleg copy of the earliest Imperial Godzilla mini figure, almost certainly made in Spain in the late 1980s or early 1990s

I read somewhere a long time ago that one of the problems (and excitements) of archaeological research into early hominids (species of ancient human-like creatures) is that when researchers went back to a dig site to try to find more fossils from this or that species, they frequently also found fossils from a completely new species – and opening up new lines of research. In my experience, looking for Godzilla and kaiju bootlegs in Spain and Poland can be very similar. I am working on a large post on Poland which will be posted soon, and I want to keep the focus on Spain here.

While looking through the sale archives of Todocollecion recently, I chanced across two examples of a bootleg of an Imperial Godzilla that was previously unknown to me. I have never seen one of these anywhere else, and it seems almost certain that it originated in Spain. I should also add that I do not own one of these, but as they seem to be so rare, I will post on them now and add more details later if I ever acquire one, or if a reader kindly sends me details of one in their collection.

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The sale records show two examples, sold ten years apart and each with something that makes the blood pump faster in the veins of any kaiju hunter: in November 2014 (with a single image thankfully including a ruler) and February 2024 (with a series of images including the underside of one of the feet):

(Image from November 2014 sold lot archive)

(Images from February 2024 sold lot archive)

It is clear, even from just these photographs, that they were produced as somewhat crude casts of the earliest Imperial mini Godzilla figure (see earlier post on Chinese vintage Godzillas, and below for an image), and the inclusion of a ruler in the single picture uploaded by the seller in November 2014 allows us to see that they stand about 135mm high (against the approximately 140mm. of the earliest Imperial Godzilla mini when positioned in the same fashion). The slight reduction in size must be due to shrinkage during the casting of the Chinese-made model, and then slight shrinkage again during the production from the slightly smaller cast.

(The Chinese-made Imperial mini Godzilla in its earliest form)

To the best of my knowledge, the earliest Imperial Godzilla minis were only ever produced in green with black and occasional silver highlights. However, the later and shorter Imperial models were produced in orange and yellow with green highlights as here.

(The Chinese-made Imperial mini Godzilla in its later form – the model on the extreme right of both images here in the orange colour-spray over pale yellow base vinyl)

On a personal note, when I have offered Imperial Godzillas for sale, it is always the orange-yellow ones that sell far more quickly than the green models, and thus I suspect that the bootleggers who produced these were trying to give their products the more crowd-pleasing colour-spray found on some of the later Imperial minis.

It’s when we begin to look closer that we see how bad the paint spray of these is in comparison to the Chinese-made Imperial models, with paint applied in large brushstrokes (note in particular the uneven areas of orange applied to the foremost leg of the model and the first picture, and the painting of the eyes in both images above).

One of the most striking features here is that the bootleggers appear to have decided to add an approximation of the Imperial trademark to the sole of the right foot (many Imperial models have no marks under their feet, and that would appear to be the case with the example the bootleggers cast for their model).

(The foot-marks of two legitimate Imperial Godzilla minis of the earliest design)

The trademark here on this new bootleg differs quite a bit from the standard Imperial mark. It is too large relative to the foot, and its crown is a crude approximation of the Imperial crown, with its side lobes elongated into crude loops looking like the rings of Saturn, and the word ‘Imperial’ in clumsier script and omitting the ‘e’ so that it reads “Imprial”. The ‘e’ was tiny in the legitimate trademark, no more than a small loop added to a diagonal line joining the bottom of the bowl of the ‘p’ and the base of the ‘r’, and it is easy to see how someone who was unfamiliar with the word or italic writing might well omit this letter by accident.

(The soles of the feet of a legitimate Imperial Godzilla mini in its earliest form)

I do not, yet, have an image of the marks under the left foot, but as both sale listings included the words “Toho” and “1985” in their headings, I think we can surmise that the copyright marks under the left foot was copied as well.

However, the addition of this mark (or even marks) gives us pause for thought. It shows a significant amount of effort on the behalf of the bootlegger, and we might ask why, when it is clear that others could sell their products without any such mark. I suspect that this fake trademark was added in order to try to pass these off as genuine Imperial toys – perhaps even intended for sale in places where legitimate toys were sold (not the kiosk and inexpensive shop displays that most Spanish bootlegs appear to have been sold from).

I look forward to obtaining one of these bootlegs myself, and hope that any reader with one in their collection will get in contact to share more details of these glorious bad bootlegs.

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(Extra note in case you were wondering – because it would be driving me mad by this point: the quote in the title here was reported by the singer Tori Amos as said to her by the great Led Zeppelin frontman, Robert Plant).

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Confessions of a Kaiju Hunter