From left to right, starting with top row: Creacher Preature, Charles Jaimes, Nate Thomas, Anthony Koerber, Doc Mack, Erika Swanson, Mancow.
KAIJU DAYS returns with more monster goods! This time, with a pop-up holiday event, hosted by Doc Mack, owner of the world’s largest arcade, Galloping Ghosts Arcade! The pop-up event took place on Nov. 25th, 2023, and was notable for not just the abundant number of figurines, both collectables and ones to pass on to the next generation of kaiju fans, but amazing original art and creations from a few of our local vendors that happened to be at the event as well!
The Artists
The artists were in a place I dubbed as “Artist Alley” of the Xmas event, as they were all grouped together. First in that lineup, is Erika Swanson. She is a local artist who has a passion for Godzilla and many other pop culture icons that are visible to the scene. She had presented to the event some of her work which includes her video web series, “Bellossoms: Full Bloom“, which is an adventure of flower maidens that are not just growing within each other, but together as a group.
The next artist that was present was a known KU member to the community, Creacher Preature, who has been mentioned previously in the community with events like Space Golf, and has even been a guest contributor, even covering Monsterama. To finish the round of artists, Nate and Anthony, of Kaiju Days’ friend, Matt Reedy, joined the lineup. Matt has been featured at Kaiju Days since Nate and Anthony have been putting on these events. You could say he’s a day-one guy.
The Vendors
To start off with our vendors, we have the owner of Otaku Corner’s Collectables. He is a collector but also a merchandiser of everything you would need to find if you’re into vintage otaku merchandise. Next up on the list is Charlie Jaimes, a friend of Anthony, who is also known as wolfman.138 online, and is a classic horror genre fan. Charlie had nice sofubi figures and limited edition pieces, too. Getting towards the end of the vendors list, we had the host himself, Doc Mack, owner of Galloping Ghosts Arcade, who had a table for his other venture, Galloping Ghosts Productions.
GGP had their own custom build kits of different kaiju that are available to the public for purchase. To finish up the vendors list, we finish up with the event holders, Kaiju Days (Nate Thomas) and Otakumerica (Anthony Koerber). Having not just their vintage and collectors sofubi, but also, their fairly priced vinyl figures that you can get as a great gift for a special someone for any occasion.
The Conclusion
So, other than seeing the amazing art and awesome figures, the event was as great as all the other pop-up events have always been: a massively fun time! These events give a lot of opportunities to see some familiar faces, buy some figures, and see some rare items. Since it is hosted by Galloping Ghosts, Doc needed to make sure that the event was more entertaining by presenting a few of the rare Godzilla Redemption games that are not available to the public around the states. Those games were “Godzilla Wars Jr.,” a game where you have to shoot balls into Godzilla’s mouth to destroy him. “Fight Mechagodzilla,” a game where you fly as MechaGodzilla and crash through cardboard cut-outs of other kaiju to destroy them.
And finally, “Duel: Godzilla vs King Ghidorah,” a game where you swing Godzilla’s tail to try to hit King Ghidorah and try to defeat him. With everything that I have been able to mention, it was a great event for kaiju-fans! There was plenty of extra stuff to do besides the event, such as the Pinball, the GAMA (Gym and Martial Arts), and of course, the world-famous arcade located down the street. This event had a great lineup for a community in the Chicagoland area, and the venue is ripe for extra fun! Highly recommend they do this again next holiday season, and if you’re in the area, check it out!
Some Pictures From the Event:
See my recap of Kaiju Days’ Space Golf Event Pop-Up
See my interview with Nate Thomas and Anthony Koerber, founders of Kaiju Days
