Last modified 01/20/99

Ark (Arkron) Ultraman Monsters.

Even when I was a child, I always preferred Ultraman over Godzilla.  Don't know why, maybe it's because of the "humanoid" factor?  Ultraman was a lot easier for me to relate to as a child.  He was and still is the epitome of a super hero.  He has the size capable of rambling with the monsters and the intelligence to outwit them. Ultraman can always dispose of the monsters in under three minutes.  (Actually, he can only transform for three minutes under the polluted atmosphere of the earth.   So if he cannot beat up these monsters and zap them with the ultra lethal plasma beams, earth would be doomed.)  In contrast, Godzilla is very unpredictable.   Sometimes good and sometimes evil.  Godzilla would save Tokyo in one movie and destroys Tokyo in another.  This drives me nuts as a child and is definitely too much for my little brain to absorb at that time.  I however, did start to like Godzilla more and more as an adult.  I guess every taboo has an opposite attraction, and the thought of being able to rampage the entire city is actually kind "cool" come to think about it:)

As for the toys themselves, they are very well made and each can do a ton of tricks, such as shooting 8 consecutive missiles, launching a glider or a spinning disc, etc.   All the extremities are interchangeable, and you can even try to build a giant monster by combining all of them together.  (Each toy comes with additional interlocking pieces.  It's like combining action figure with Lego.)    Ark made six monsters in total, with two versions of King Joe.  My personal favorites are Baltan and Japanese version of King Joe because I feel their sculptures most resemble the originals.  These toys are still not very difficult to find at a reasonable price and actually a bit underappreciated in my opinion.  I am still looking for Red King and Gomera to complete my collection.