Last Bastion Studios, one of LA’s premiere collectible art house studios, has partnered with Tsuburaya Productions and The Licensing Group to produce an incredible series of 3” vinyls depicting the legendary Ultraman and two of his most famous foes through a Kickstarter campaign running right now!
Last Bastion, formed by Wes Allard and Chris Hillseth in 2017, is a true “renaissance studio” in the world of art and creativity, having earned acclaim for work in 3D sculpting, comics, and modeling. Their Luchador graphic novel has received widespread acclaim, and their personal kaiju series, Ragnar, is one of the coolest around — that is, aside from Ultraman, of course!
It’s clear that Last Bastion has a deep appreciation for Kaiju and the tokusatsu genre, and as such, they were an obvious choice to collaborate with Ultraman. From their brilliant minds and the venerable 57-year history of the Ultraman Series comes a delightful trio of vinyl “chibi”-scale figures, with designs taken from the original Ultraman, sourced from concept art by Sophie Campbell, with sculpts by Christopher L Hillseth and Kevin Smith, and render work and reward cards by Brandon Gash.
This first collection features the original Ultraman — complete with the classic series logo at his base — as well as the Prince of Monsters Gomora, and the uranium-eating monster Gabora. Despite their super-deformed proportions, every figure perfectly captures the spirit of their full-sized counterpart. Ultraman’s body is dense, powerful, with a barrel chest and muscles rippling — tiny, tiny muscles. Gabora’s body has gone from a long, stocky creature to an English Bulldog-sort of squat, the ultimate in ugly-cute. And Gomora’s body, complete with wrinkles to fit its craggy skin all over, feels like it’s about to lumber forward and take out a historic castle!
Each of these three wonderful figures is available painted, or unpainted in an Ultra-fitting red vinyl. The figures are planned for release around December 2023, but Last Bastion is making them available to fans early through a special presale on Kickstarter! Each of the unpainted vinyls are available for $20, while the painted pieces can be obtained for $35 each. In addition, the unpainted 3-pack can be purchased for a special price of $55, while the painted 3-set is available for an even $100. This is a special price for early supporters, so jump on it fast!
Last Bastion’s Kickstarter is up for exactly 3 more weeks as of the publishing of this article, so jump on it fast — check it out right here! In addition, Ultraman Connection will be featuring an interview with Chris Hillseth, one of the brains behind Last Bastion Studios, so stay tuned for that! And for everything Ultraman, toys, merch, shows, and all, stay close to Ultraman Connection!
