Toy Review - Zetton

Ultraman was a 1960's Japanese television show, brought over to the USA in the seventies. Each of the 39 episodes followed the Science Patrol as they attempted to keep Japan safe from giant monsters. Unfortunately, they were frequently overwhelmed, but on the plus side that meant Hayata, the Science Patrol's second-in-command, could transform into the giant superhero Ultraman to take out the offending monster or alien.

Ultraman, while not totally forgotten in the US, is incredibly popular in Japan, thriving even when monster films like Godzilla and Gamera were going into hibernation. New seasons of the show are still being made, and some of the weekly monsters have acquired fan followings and encore performances. A few even managed to become heroic.

Moving on to the actual monster this toy is based on, Zetton is one of the more well-known Ultraman enemies, and has the honor of being the final monster fought by Ultraman in the original season of the show - he was episode 39's antagonist. He went on to make a number of reappearances and is generally held as one of the stronger monsters Ultraman has faced.

This figure, created by Bandai in the eighties, does a nice job of replicating Zetton's bizarre appearance. His arms and head are posable. He is made of a soft vinyl that isn't widespread in my collection, giving him a unique feel. There are newer figures of Zetton, but they're all pretty similar, so this old one is perfectly acceptable.