THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
POOR JIM MORRISON. The misguided Door thought he was the man who would be Lizard King.
But after nearly 40 years, Godzilla has stood up to everything Japan's Toho Studios could throw at him: on land, the fearsome, three-headed Ghidorah and Megalon the cockroach; from the sea, a lobster dinner called Ebirah and Hedora, the pollution mutation known as the Smog Monster; and in the air, Rodan the pterodactyl and Mothra the . . . uh, moth.
Godzilla fought King Kong to a draw. In one Freudian clash, he took on his robot likeness, Mecha-Godzilla. And the only reason Charles Barkley beat him in that Nike ad was because the Phoenix Suns' forward had a better pair of shoes.
Now, he faces the most formidable challenge of his career.
Trendmasters Inc., trying to win over the lucrative legion of fickle American boys, has unleashed an extensive line of Godzilla toys.
``We knew Godzilla had 40 years of equity out there,'' said DeWayne Booker, marketing VP for the St. Louis company. ``We thought because of the play value, the recognition of the characters and because there hasn't been anything on the market except poorly executed toys or way overpriced imports, there was an opening for us to come in with a good-looking line of Godzillas.''
Trendmasters has come in armed.
Already out are wind-up Godzillas, Godzillas in plastic eggs, bendable Godzillas, 4-inch action figures and big ones that scream. A battle play set in the shape of his head opens up to reveal a micro-size New York, complete with World Trade Center, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty; others have a scaled-down L.A. or San Francisco.
On the way are plush toys, puzzles, sports bottles, a Godzilla that breaks out of a mountain when it's shaken and foil envelopes with a Godzilla inside that automatically inflates when it's smacked.
Considering the Power Rangers, VR Troopers, X-Men, Ninja Turtles, Aliens, Gargoyles and Street Sharks vying for shelf space, it's not bad strategy.
While volume is good, Trendmasters is counting on one intangible that the competition can't: When today's boomers were growing up, Frankenstein and Dracula were twentysomething fuddy-duddies. Instead, they watched Godzilla.
Now, they're acquainting their kids - and reacquainting themselves.
``The toys are targeted at boys, because that's who we have to get to pull on mom's skirt or dad's shirt,'' Booker said from St. Louis. ``But we know there are big boys and girls who want to revisit the happier, kinder, gentler world of big, dumb, talking, inflatable monsters.''
Booker calls Hank Saperstein ``Mr. Godzilla.'' Saperstein demurs, saying he's really the big guy's uncle.
Head of UAW of America, which licenses Godzilla in the United States and Canada, Saperstein was there when the Lizard King invaded Tokyo in 1954 and the States two years later.
``I was running `Godzilla, King of the Monsters' in Norfolk and Richmond when you were 7 or 8 years old,'' he said from his Los Angeles office. ``It's rather simple: Godzilla is an icon figure that has been on television 52 weeks a year for the last 20 years.
``People are thinking Godzilla is being discovered. Godzilla was discovered a long time ago. He just never went away.''
In part, that can be attributed to clever marketing - national advertising campaigns with Nike, Dr. Pepper, Konica and Samsung that have kept 'Zilla in the public eye. But nostalgia can't be overestimated, Saperstein said.
``Godzilla is bigger than life, and I have a philosophical view about it,'' he said. ``In this day and age, when people are concerned about health, crime, paying the mortgage and all those things, the idea that there's a Godzilla to come forth and save the day is kind of a silent, unspoken hope that we all have.
``If I wanted to get corny enough, I'd put a white hat on Godzilla and a black hat on the other guy. It's that Lone Ranger thing.''
Godzilla could get a leg up in the toy wars if a new TriStar Pictures film - the first made outside Japan - gets off the ground. Director Jan De Bont (``Speed'') left the project because of artistic and budgetary conflicts.
Extensive special effects reportedly put the cost at $130 million, more than twice ``Jurassic Park's'' $57 million. The studio is trying to trim it to $100 million.
``If there's a movie, it would make us very happy,'' said Trendmasters' Booker. ``If there's an animated or live-action television series, it would make us VERY happy. But even without that, we would have gone for it with a powerful Godzilla line.''
That line is selling in South Hampton Roads.
Until last week, Jerry Bigelow had to go over to his best friend's house to play Godzilla. The room of his Windsor Woods home is devoted to the X-Men, Spider-Man and the WildC.A.T.s.
But he had saved $50, and on the first day of spring break, his mom was taking him to the store. The 12-year-old had his eye on the Godzilla-Mothra set.
``They're really colorful and look like they came out of the movie,'' said Jerry, a sixth-grader at Plaza Middle School in Virginia Beach. ``He's a dinosaur, and I've always liked dinosaurs.
``And he usually wins.''
Bonnie Jones, toy department manager at the Wal-Mart in Virginia Beach, said nothing is going to outsell the Power Rangers, but Godzilla is running a close second.
``It did surprise me,'' she said. ``I think Godzilla has taken off because of what the movies bring back to us. When everyone thinks of dinosaurs, most of the paraphernalia is bought by adults. We carry Godzilla movies. I've had customers who've bought them, then come back to get the figures.''
Austin Wigfall seconded that. The Virginia Beach man, father of an 8-year-old son, was browsing the toy section last week.
``I grew up looking at the movies,'' he said, laughing. ``I have some on tape and played them for my son. If I brought him in here and he saw this . .
And over at Toys R Us at Lynnhaven Mall, Godzilla is bringing families together, too, said Dawn Taylor, who handles the action figures. She recalled one dad who came in with his sons.
After deciding on the voice-activated models, which replicate the metal-on-metal screeches of Godzilla, Ghidorah and Rodan, the boys wanted their dad to get one, too. He was more than willing, Taylor said.
``You could hear them screaming all the way up to the register.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Christopher Reddick
Backround by Craig Shapiro
[Godzilla]
[Mecha-Godzilla]
[Rodan]
by CNB