Bullmark

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Founded in 1969 after the bankruptcy of pioneering toy manufacturer Marusan, Bullmark is a defunct Japanese toy company that is most famous for selling PVC vinyl kaiju character toys in the 1960s and 1970s. The company was also known simply as Bull by many people due to their logo of a bull which was stamped on the bottoms of the feet of many of their toys. Bullmark's vinyl Godzilla and Ultraman toys are extremely popular among Japanese toy collectors; some currently retail for thousands of dollars. Bullmark's vinyl toys were produced in a variety of sizes from "mini" (3-4") to "standard" (8-9") to "giant," (usually 12" or more) and a small number were also re-painted for sale in Hawaii. These Hawaiian versions of the characters, which were produced in relatively small numbers, are often more garishly colored than their Japanese counterparts and are popular among collectors in Japan and abroad.

When the fad for soft-vinyl monsters began to fade in the early 1970s, Bullmark began re-thinking the concept and released a series of soft-vinyl toys containing missile launchers, magnets embedded in hands so figures could pick up cars, and other play gimmicks. These were sold under the brand "Meka Machine," among other names.

In an attempt to compete in a changing toy marketplace, in 1973 Bullmark also branched out into die-cast toys, which were sold under the brand name of "Zinclon." Perhaps most famous among these are a small line of diecast metal renditions of characters from the Godzilla films. Bullmark co-founder Saburo Ishizuki explained in the afterword to the book Super #1 Robot that the diecast Mekagodzilla toy was "so popular that I could hardly keep up with demand... [so] I updated the look of the [other] monster characters with more robotic appearances and incorporated all-new action features." The Zinclon series would eventually incorporate a variety of giant robot characters as well as monsters.

Bullmark went out of business in 1977. The same year, Ishizuki took Bullmark's sales and marketing subsidiary Ark and turned it into a full-fledged toy manufacturer in its own right.

Saburo Ishizuki currently assists Japanese toy manufacturers M-1 and Bandai in producing licensed reissues of many classic Bullmark vinyl toys. The Ultraman monster series of standard sized figures included Baltan Seijin, Kanegon, Garamon, Red King, Eleking, Zetton, Gomora, Gomess, King Joe, Takkong, Gudon, Twintail, Mikuras, Metron Seijin, Ragon, Goro, Mephilas Seijin, Bemler, Tyrant, Bemstar, Jamila, Kemular, Zarab Seijin, Icarus Seijin, King Zaurus, Gabora, Neronga, Antlar, Jiras, Muruchi, Telesdon, Dorako, Kiyla, Geronomon, Kemura Seijin, Seagoras, Seamons, Guts Seijin, Gunder, Windam, Dinosaur-Tank, Agira, Pandon, Pestar, Seabohzu, Astromons, Vakashimu, Velokron, Aribunta, Doragory, Baraba, King Crab, Black King, Tempeler Seijin, Sadora, Nackle Seijin, Zazahn, Earthtron, Aboras, Banila, Beacon, Danger, Dodongo, Brocken, Ghostron, Giledoras, Eledortus, Gamakajira,