G-Fest and All Monsters Attack in Chicago, Japan World Heroes in Burbank; it seems that when it comes to giant monster conventions, New York City is left out in the cold. You’d think America’s largest city
would be an ideal location for a kaiju/tokusatsu themed convention. Thankfully, John Bellotti (@Roboseven) is here to make that happen and deliver Kaiju Brooklyn to fans in the tristate area. As its name suggests, Kaiju Brooklyn is a one day toku convention held in New York’s borough of Brooklyn, and while not as big as G-Fest this convention was chock full– with vendors, artists, cosplay, a special screening of Shin Ultraman, and hundreds of fans enjoying each other’s company and bonding over a shared love of giant monsters.
The entirety of Kaiju Brooklyn was held at brooklynONE productions in Building 5 of Brooklyn’s Industry City and while the space may have been small, the selection from the attending vendors was massive. Right as you walk in you are greeted by Robo 7’s table, where attendees could stock up on Kaiju Brooklyn swag and officially licensed Ultraman shirts as well as some original prints by John Bellotti himself.
Muteki Sales was there with some awesome S.H. Monster Arts figures for sale. Kaiju Brooklyn had a heavy emphasis on the Ultraman franchise, and when it came to merchandise for everyone’s favorite colossal-sized superhero, Vampire Robots was the table that had you covered with dozens of figures to choose from, fresh in box, ready to be displayed in your collection as well as a selection of Kamen Rider and Godzilla figures & statues. Seismic Toys was on full display with out-of-the-box vinyl figures,
officially licensed soft vinyl figures and boxed figures that everyone wanted to get their hands on and by the end of the convention, a noticeable amount of their inventory was gone. Seeing as they had monsters from a wide variety of franchises it was no surprise this was the table to be at if you wanted to add to your collection.
Fans of soft vinyl figures would definitely want to check out Last Bastion Studios, who flew in from Los Angeles, with their amazing selection of original sofubi figures. Want a handbag with a touch of kaiju? Viscerally Yours had bags featuring some Godzilla monsters that make the perfect fashion accessory. Everyone loves a vintage throwback, and Agin Toys was there with a wide selection of vintage figures. Need something to spruce up your gym bag? Speakeasy of Strength was there to help fans get strong enough to take down the Big G himself. Aside from selling figures from his personal collection, Steve Holiner was offering 1 week of small group personal training at his geek-friendly gym for only a dollar. Tokyo Bronx had hats with street art-inspired designs, free Godzilla coloring packets, and very
cool anime stickers. brooklynONE productions is located right next to St. Marks Comics who was also in attendance selling Godzilla figures and comics from their inventory.
For those of you missing some lively artist alley sections of traditional monster conventions, Kaiju
Brooklyn has you covered to the fullest extent. Their mantra of artists welcome, always, shines through with their curation of NYC-based artists. Gino Patti and Bill Couture were seated next to each other selling their prints featuring all of your favorite giant monsters.
Giuseppe Bianco showed off his unique art style that combined drawings of kaiju mixed with plant life that reminded me of something you’d see in a Tim Burton movie! Aside from his signature drawings of Godzilla riding a tricycle, Jet Jaguar on a pogo stick, and other monsters using outdoor children’s toys, Steven Chanks had prints and stickers of horror icons like Leatherface, The Creature From the Black Lagoon, and Jason Voorhees just to name a few. Fans of comics were sure to head to John Gebbia’s table where he was promoting his comic series “Dose!”. And last but not least, the illustrious Dope Pope was in attendance selling not only some of his incredible art pieces but the first ever licensed Gorgo figure that he sculpted for Titanic Creations!
After the main event it was time to move next door for the screening of Shin Ultraman. This screening was supposed to take place outdoors, but due to the possibility of rain, it was moved inside to the Game Room space across the courtyard. The Kaiju Brooklyn crew moved quickly and effectively to set everything up and the screening was a success, with everyone enjoying themselves and the movie. Before the screening, we were graced with an Ultraman panel hosted by EJ from Ultraman Connection, the official Ultraman website for international fans of the franchise, as well as his co-host, Kevin Derendorf, author and Kaiju Masterclass alumni. As someone who is not too familiar with Ultraman I found this panel very informative as they went into a brief history of the franchise and how much it inspired Hideaki Anno’s (Co-Director, Shin Ultraman) career. Also, this was the first time I saw Shin Ultraman, and it was very fitting and special that it happened at a convention like this.
After Shin Ultraman the convention came to a close, and it was safe to say that the first ever Kaiju Brooklyn was a success. Eager to learn more about the current and possible upcoming conventions, I caught up with show organizer John Bellotti to ask him a few questions.
Bold- Nick Crispino
Default – John Bellotti
N: What made you go all in on creating Kaiju Brooklyn?
J: Basically, my day job went away because I work in Hollywood and the writers and actors went on strike. So, I looked at it as, “Let me take advantage of this time off.” And I happened to be introduced to Anthony of brooklynOne Productions, and he was looking to do some more pop culture events. I pitched him the idea and he went for it. I said, “I have all the resources, I know the artists, the vendors, I have the right connections. Let me put ’em all in a room together and see what happens.” And by all accounts, it seems like it was a huge success.
N: Did you have any particular goals when it came to hosting the event?
J: Obviously for people to enjoy it and for all the vendors to make money. I myself have been a vendor since 2015 and I know what it’s like to go to a show and make $40 when you’re driving two hours to get there, and I also know what it’s like to go and make $7,000. My biggest stress was hoping that people would make money at the show because without the vendors, you don’t have a show. And if I want to do this every year, who’s gonna want to come back if they’re not making any money?
N: So not if, WHEN you have the show next year, what are the plans to make it bigger and better?
J: First to have a bigger space. We’re actually looking into a larger space upstairs, it’s built more to handle large events so that’s the first step. Secondly, increasing it to two days, and other stuff like having more vendors, having guests, more screenings, more panels, and taking over this whole campus Dragon Con
style, like, really lean into Industry City and everything it has to offer. And of course, maintain the quality and welcoming atmosphere.
N: You mentioned guests. Who are some dream guests you’d want to have at future shows?
J: Shusuke Kaneko, Shinji Higuchi, Yuji Kaida, and Hiroko Sakurai for sure. I’d absolutely love to get the actors from Japan who dress up as Ultraman because they’re coming to New York Comic-Con and they’re actually going to come to my Robo 7 booth. I would love to have just one of those guys
here with Kaiju Brooklyn, that would mean the world to me.
Thank you for your time, John!
I’ve been to many pop culture conventions in my life, and one problem that I notice the smaller ones tend to have is a lack of things to do. What sets Kaiju Brooklyn apart is the sense of community. Sure you can see and do everything in a short period of time but the fact that everyone was there for the same reason, to geek out over kaiju, made it easy to interact with people and keep the event fun and engaging. I saw countless attendees vlogging and making video content, creating a sense of FOMO for Kaiju Brooklyn that I’m sure will bring in more fans next year. When people weren’t browsing the dealers room they were flocking to many of the surrounding restaurants and seating areas, enjoying each other’s company
and talking all things tokusatsu. If you know anything about this fanbase, you know those conversations can last a LONG time.
with Kaiju Brooklyn to create kaiju themed drinks!
Even after the event people stuck around Industry City’s bars and restaurants making their own unofficial afterparties and when it was finally time to say goodbye, the eagerness for more Kaiju Brooklyn was felt by everyone. John has said that the first Kaiju Brooklyn was meant to act as sort of a test run to see if people would show up to something like this. With hundreds of tickets sold and everyone enjoying themselves I’d say it sure was successful enough to continue next year. I can’t wait to see this show grow into a larger convention and potentially grow out of Brooklyn. Given enough time and popularity I can see Kaiju Brooklyn turn into Kaiju NYC with fans coming in from all across the country. Until then, this convention will call Brooklyn home and you can bet for as long as it goes on, Kaiju United will be there to report on all of the fun that’s to be had!
