Gene Worm
A Guru of Rubber Monsters, and a
Bad Movie Lover
Karma: 57
Posts: 667
Rubber Monsters > CGI Monsters
|
 |
« on: June 19, 2015, 11:29:36 PM » |
|
Back in the late eighties, or early nineties, there was a quirky Kaiju toy company in Japan, named "Amapro". They were probably one of, if not the first to make vinyl dolls of original Kaiju that haven't appeared in any show. In 1996, Amapro became desperate and attempted to make their own Tokusatsu, featuring the hero named "Armor Jack" which basically had Godman's face. So what they tried to do was create a 2:40 long, low-budget, promotional film featuring Armor Jack killing the monsters.
Later, in 1997, Core Magazine began to sponsor short VCD episodes named "Assault! Armor Jack!". From 1997 to 2001, only three were created. Unfortunately, Armor Jack turned out to be heavily unsuccessful and quickly faded into the mists of extreme obscurity. However, either before or after Armor Jack became unsuccessful, Amapro released a bag of three vinyl dolls of the characters that has become super rare, and is nearly impossible to find. The characters were Armor Jack, Rarigonika (Sort of a fuzzy gorilla monster with a skull for a face and crab claws for hands), and Naruton (a black and bumpy dinosaur-like creature with fish-paste for a face). All were designed and painted quite accurately to the show, besides Naruton who usually comes in greens and yellows, sometimes even blue. Afterwards, Amapro itself seemed to have fallen into the abyss of obscurity, and has been forgotten by many.
Way later, Armor Jack returned in a disgusting fashion. I have no idea if Amapro made as a joke, or (most likely) some sick human being made a series of a version of Armor Jack, using vinyl figures instead of actual costumes. Two episodes of this can be seen (if you dare), on YouTube by its Japanese name. Its name translates to, "Agony!! Armor Jack!". It contains gruesome vulgarity, and I closed it in disgust, at the very beginning.
However, one more reference to Armor Jack has returned only very recently. I don't know if it was made by the same developers of "Assault! Armor Jack!", but a couple of episodes of a very obscure Japanese, free-to-watch tokusatsu, called "Sailor Fight!". The show featured a badly modified version of the Naruton suit, and another monster that was in "Assault! Armor Jack!", called "Tsutabara". In "Assault! Armor Jack!", he looked like a scaly, green plant man with a white boa around his neck, and what looks like a radish for a head and a jack-o-lantern-esque mouth and two, small eyes. In this, however it looks vaguely like Armor Jack's Tsutabara's head, but the body is just a clump of vines. And even this free "Sailor Fight!" show is in the sad mists of obscurity.
Even though Amapro's sad downfall has lead to many people forgetting what it even was, or its great and bizarre, and mysterious story, not everyone has forgotten. I for one, have put so many years of my life into bad movie research. And hopefully, I have answered many questions about the mystery of Amapro. Thank you for reading this. And you have the opportunity to share this information with curious bad movie lovers, like me who dedicate hours a day to piece together the great puzzle of the bad movie world. It may be a cheesy place. But don't get me wrong, it's a great one too.
|
