I have most every Showa Ultra-Act regardless, but it doesn't matter one iota, making all series of Ultraman available via Bluefin is fantastic! All we have to surmount next is the Tamashii Web exclusive barrier and I'll be set.

Are you being vague on purpose? :lol For obvious reasons it will probably never be discussed in full detail, but the expectation is that the longstanding international rights feud between Tsuburaya and Chaiyo was the reason Bluefin shied away from releasing the merchandise here. Distribution rights to the series Ultra Q through Ultraman Taro continue to remain in Chaiyo's hands, and Tsuburaya has no hand in the Shout Factory sets of Ultraseven or Ultra Q. It is very possible that merchandise rights are no longer an issue. A couple Showa Ultraman vinyls made by Marmit were made available via Diamond earlier this year, an Ultraman mobile app game is coming to the US, and now this announcement... something's definitely gone right!

Of course, retail Ultra-Acts from any series from Ultraman Leo or later have always been available via Bluefin.

Agreed, Web Exclusives will be a big question mark which we will have to play The Waiting Game with. The ones I would have to really think might make the cut (as of the upcoming web exclusive items right now) would be Jonias and Mother of Ultra. Jonias at least had some tiny, itsy-bitsy US presence as the anime movie was dubbed into English and released on video. And if you are going to release Father of Ultra, then releasing Mother would follow. Of course this is pure speculation on my part.

Well, that and wishful thinking when it comes to Jonias, because if I could get him through Amazon or something I would do it in a heartbeat.

Baltan, have you heard any rumors or anything about Chaiyo licensing the other Ultra shows for DVD release in the US? A Malay DVD set of Return of Ultraman has turned up online in the last few weeks, which got me thinking about the possibility of seeing Return, Ace, or Taro released via an outfit like Shout Factory. Although with their recent cancellations, I don't know how viable releases like that would be -- I have no idea how sales of the two Shout Ultra sets are doing relative to releases like VR Troopers or BBB.

I keep hoping I'll see a tweet or Facebook post over the next few weeks, before the Tamashii web ordering period cut off at least, confirming that Dark Zagi and Noa will be brought over next year by Bluefin. Don't know if it'll happen or not, but fingers remain crossed.

Even if the Bluefin announcement was covering both exclusive and retail Ultra-Acts, which it isn't but I'll play along with the best-case scenario here, it would already be too late for any current exclusive to be covered in the deal. It's like the way Bluefin was able to get permission to do MonsterArts exclusives stateside as well as the standard figures - Little Godzilla had just recently been announced, but the deal didn't retroactively cover Garuda or the G-Force set. Ultra-Act sales have never been as strong as MonsterArts or DBZ Figuarts since the best characters were untouchable, so it probably wouldn't happen anyway, but I will continue to hope.

Regarding what could come of other Ultraman DVD releases, I'll quote myself on Monster Zero:

Ah, I see, thanks for the clarification. I don't think I was playing as close attention to Bluefin and the MonsterArts line at the time so I was unaware of that sequence of events. But yeah, I'll keep hoping too.

That aside, I just opened up the Ace I picked up from AmiAmi. Nice figure, more striking in-hand then I expected it to be.

Yeah, it's all speculation/hope at this point. The thing about Jonias and Mother Of Ultra is they are not released yet; Jonias is due in October, and Mother of Ultra in November. Whether or not that would make any difference, who knows? Like you said, the coverage of Web Exclusives is little more than wishful thinking, but wishful thinking is free, heh!

Thanks for the info regarding the DVD releases. It's unfortunate that Return, Ace, and Taro wouldn't rate a release here in the States, but it's not entirely unsurprising. Although I am a little surprised that an outfit like Shriek Show would not try to work something with Chaiyo for their Tokyo Shock label, which has released some really nice daikaiju DVDs in the past. They could market those sets with giant "First Time In The US!" stickers and such, ha ha! :D


Ace is awesome. I wasn't sure how I would like him compared to Leo, whom I really liked, and Ultraman, but he poses really well and has some very sharp lines on him. I have him in a two fisted pose, almost like a boxer, and he looks great.

I have been re-arranging my bonus room where all of my crap is displayed, and I have my 5 Ultra-Acts all together, ready for combat. That's a fearsome visage, seeing Ultraman, Jack, Ace, Taro, and Leo staring back at you. It'll only get more fearsome with the addition of Seven, Gaia, and Zero... and eventually 80!

Unfortunately typing this has made me want to get a bunch more Brother's Mantles...

According to the Cybergundam Blog, Ultra Seven arrives on the 19th.

For once Figinstock pays off! Just got an e-mail, was actually awake to see it, and scored an Ultra Seven pre-order at amiami :D

Nice one, dude! I'm champing at the bit for Seven!

Cool! Good to hear.