"Oh, C'mon...Let's Go Trample Osaka. It'll Be Fun!"

It's another adventure in Kaiju-rama. Not so much a diorama as a straight Photoshop job. It's the SH Monster Arts figures of Angilas and Godzilla in sort of a re-imagining of a scene from Godzilla Raids Again. Fun! Click on the photo for the larger image.

It's in the Trees, and Don't Wanna Die Young

Kind of like the 1962 Godzi I finally acquired recently ("Oh Lawd, He Comin'," Thursday, March 26, 2026), I was finally able to find the SF Revoltech 5" figure of Mogera, from Toho's 1957 SF spectacle, The Mysterians at a decent price. So, I set about creating a new Photoshop scene of the little guy, pictured above. The line "It's in the trees! It's coming!" from Night (Curse) of the Demon is apt, so that's what I call it.

There was a geocaching lunch event at Uptown Charlie's in Browns Summit, NC, today—called "Don't Wanna Die Young," since its theme was extreme caches, which was a topic of some enjoyable conversation. I set out early and grabbed a number of caches I hadn't yet found, mostly around Reidsville. Just a handful of attendees today, but it was great fun.

This afternoon, a visit to Hamlet Kitchen for wine with friend Gretchen, who is recuperating from a knee replacement is on the docket.

Laterz.

"Oh, Lawd, He Comin'!"

I've collected a fair number of daikaiju figures over the years, my favorites mostly being the different Godzilla variations. The 1962 "King Kong vs. Godzilla" variation is one I've sought for quite a while, since any of the approximately 6" figures are hard to find and usually very expensive. However, I recently found a pre-owned NECA 62 Godzi on eBay at a fair price, so here he is. I set up one of my miniature landscape sets, found a free background image on Pixabay that looked nice, Photoshopped it a wee bit, et voila. Achievement unlocked.

On the Loose

I just received the S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 2000 figure, and I had no sooner taken him out of the box when he set about trashing my miniature city set. Talk about a miscreant. A friend suggested that I call ICE on him, but I'm not that big an asshole.

Here's a version with a little extra "oompf."

Happy Hedorah Day

1971 Hedorah vs. 2004 Hedorah

It's the Smog Monster's birthday, so here's a double-dose for you in the photo above. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (a.k.a. Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster) came out in Japan on this day in 1971 and was released in the United States in February 1972 (and I saw it at the drive-in theater on its opening night). The photo above is a Photoshop/diorama I put together a while back using a couple of the figures I've collected. I've been on a real daikaiju kick recently, mainly because I'm kind of on a daikaiju kick all the time. I guess I've had the fever a little more than usual due to the release of friends Ed & Steve's Godzilla: The First 70 Years, which I wrote about here just the other day.

I have not been a collector of much of anything for a few decades, but when I did collect things, it was daikaiju- and anime-related goodies, mostly back in the 1980s, during my days of living in Chicago. But two or three years back, for reasons unknown, I got monster figure fever, and so, little by little, I found myself collecting daikaiju again—mostly Toho monsters. Then I decided to create some dioramas, enhanced with Photoshop. Most of the ones I've done are quick, down-and-dirty efforts so that I don't waste valuable writing time playing around. However, I can't say that I haven't enjoyed the hell out of composing some of these beasties.

Therefore, I'm gonna post a bunch of them here, just for shits and giggles. If you like giant critters, then maybe you'll find these enjoyable.

My earliest diorama(s)—Godzilla and Anguirus (or Angilas, as I much prefer), which were Kayodo resin kits I built in 1985; in 1992, I built myself a miniature city out of cardboard, and these are a couple of the photos I took back then.

MechaGodzilla, Anguirus, King Seesar, Godzilla (sort of reproducing a publicity shot from Godzilla vs. MechGodzilla, 1974)

An S.H. MonsterArts figure of Gigan (Godzilla vs. Gigan, 1972)

Godzilla and Angilas (Godzilla Raids Again, 1955)

Baragon, from Frankenstein Conquers the World, 1965), roaming about in my neighborhood!

MechaGodzilla 2, Titanosaurus, and Godzilla (Terror of MechaGodzilla, 1975)

Gorosaurus (from King Kong Escapes, 1968)

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (Godzilla vs. Hedorah, 1971)

Godzilla and MechaGodzilla II slugging it out at Ferrum College! (Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla, 1993)

Shin Gomess (Shin Ultraman, 2022)

Godzilla meets Megalon for a serious talk (Godzilla vs. Megalon, 1973)

A hell of a thing to wake up to! (Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla, 2002)

A diorama I created today, using 1:300-scale miniatures and some Photoshopping (Godzilla 2000, 1999)

And another one using the same miniatures as above (Godzilla 2000, 1999)

Many...Monsters!

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (a.k.a. the Smog Monster)

As far back as the early 1970s, I had amassed a pretty huge collection of daikaiju movie memorabilia, including the then-available plastic monster models from Aurora — Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. And in the early-to-mid-1980s when I lived in Chicago, I did a lot of modeling, primarily military aircraft, giant mecha from various anime franchises, and... daikaiju! Inspired by my good friend and roommate, Bill Gudmundson, I put together a few Japanese monster resin kits, brought to us by Mr. Miyawaki, who owned Kayodo modeling company, and scratch built a handful of my own. After the 1980s, I pretty much quit collecting, well, anything.

Relatively recently, however, I took a shine to some of the available daikaiju figures from Japan. All too many of them are way beyond my price range, but I have occasionally picked up some of the less-expensive figures and customized them a bit. And these can be fun to pop into some composited digital scenes, which I'm including here just for the hell of it.

MechaGodzilla, Angilas, King Seesar, and Godzilla from Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla

Gigan from Godzilla vs. Gigan

Godzilla vs. Angilas from Godzilla Raids Again (No, I don't care what Toho has done, I will not spell it "Anguirus"; Angilas was good for a lot of years, and it's perfectly proper.)

Baragon from Frankenstein Conquers the World

MechaGodzilla 2, Titanosaurus, and Godzilla from Terror of MechaGodzilla

Gorosaurus from King Kong Escapes

Godzilla and MechaGodzilla from Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2

Hedorah 1971 vs. Hedorah 2004