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Introduction --
For me it all began with a
revelation. Like many boys my age, I grew up a fan of all things monster
and monster related. And being a dinosaur buff, nothing could beat the
biggest dinosaur of them all. Sure the Wolf Man or the Creature from the
Black Lagoon were cool, but Godzilla was always the best. My friends and
I had Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, weekend Creature Features on
the local UHF channel, “From Dusk til Dawn” showings at
the drive-in, and what seemed like nearly endless visits to the local
toy stores and comic book shops to buy more
Aurora monster model kits and whatever other goodies I could find. I can
still remember the when and where of walking into King’s Department
Store and seeing the Godzilla Gang figures for the first time, or
turning the aisle at Zayre’s and coming face-to-face with an endcap full
of Mattel’s Rodan toys stacked to the ceiling, and even finding the
first issue of Marvel’s Godzilla comics and knowing I would now be able
to get a monthly fix of the King of the Monsters.
But it always came
back to the movies. At first it was the super 8 film reels released
through Ken Films Company. Even though they would only come in condensed
versions lasting from two to eight minutes, it was a much more
fulfilling experience than owning a mass produced toy or model. The
cycle would repeat when VHS started gaining popularity and some of the
movies became available for purchase in their entirety.
It wasn’t until
a few more years had passed that I finally had the “Aha” moment; when
looking through the goods at my local comic shop - I spied a poster for
Godzilla 1985, and it was for sale! You could have knocked me over with
a feather as my mind raced: How could this be? I just saw this movie in
the theaters, and they weren’t selling the poster. I got yelled at by a
theater employee for even asking it – they weren’t for sale and had to
be returned with the film back to the distributor. Yes, I had seen
posters pictured in magazines before, but it had never dawned on me that
these were items you could actually own. And of course the key question
– does this mean I can obtain movie posters for other films as well?
Finally! THIS was the missing link. This was the elusive visceral
connection to the films for which I had been looking. An actual poster
that hung at the theater when you went to see the movie, not some piece
of plastic made in a factory years later. I quickly purchased the
poster, raced home to hang it and committed myself to finding other
posters. I started calling other shops and memorabilia dealers:
“Godzilla vs. Megalon one-sheet? Yes, that was the first film I saw in
the theaters, I must have it. A lobby card for Godzilla vs. The Thing?
I’m not sure what a lobby
card is, but yes please send it. A Godzilla one-sheet for $450? Well,
that is too rich for my budget right now, but soon. A King Kong vs.
Godzilla 3-sheet? Add it to the pile please.”
On and on it went for
the next few years, and when it seemed like I had about everything for
the Godzilla series, I started adding titles like Gamera, Mothra,
and Frankenstein Conquers the World to the list. I hunted every
size poster for every movie.
It wasn’t until 1990 when
the next revelation came. I was attending a comic book convention and as
I was walking around the room, I came across a poster for a Godzilla film
I had never heard of,
Godzilla vs. Biollante.
It happened all over, “Of course! If they made movie posters in the US,
then certainly they must have made movie posters in Japan! Probably in
other countries too.” Now the world was opened up to me. What I thought
had been a closed-end set, now became a near-limitless collection of
countries, posters, and advertisements. The adventure started
anew, and continues to this very day. When I wrote An Unauthorized
Guide to Godzilla Collectibles more than 15 years ago, I thought I
had pretty much figured out what had been made and what had been
available, but now thanks to better information, technology, and the
internet, communication with other countries is easier, knowledge is
growing at a much more rapid rate, and new things are being discovered
all the time. (An Iranian poster for Destroy All Monsters? It’s
an absolute must-have. Colombian poster for Space Monster Dogora?
Of course!)
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