Marmit Releases New Kaiju Big Battel Toy!

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, April 15, 2008: Kaiju Big Battel, the world's only live monster wrestling spectacle, announces the release of its second monster toy (Vegetius), produced in collaboration with Marmit, Japan's leading manufacturer of vinyl monster toys.

This brand new, beautifully painted Vegetius vinyl, featuring Kaiju's most popular feral Rogue beast has been officially released for pre-sale in Japan. According to Google's English translation of the Japanese-only webpage, Marmit is currently taking orders for this limited edition vinyl at www.marmit.co.jp. So, if you live in Japan, or have connections across the Pacific, place your order as soon as possible for this Kaiju Big Battel vinyl!

The Vegetius vinyl is being sold for 5250 yen (about $50 U.S.) and stands approximately 11.5 inches tall.

As for the US release of the vinyl, the Kaiju Commissioner has announced that Vegetius will be released stateside at San Diego Comic Con in July.

You will also be able to pre-order the Vegetius figure at upcoming live Kaiju Big Battel events in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City.

Most Danger Spring!

The Kaiju Commissioner is thrilled to announce the next three cities to host Kaiju Big Battel, the world's only live monster wrestling spectacle. The Kaiju Heroes will be ready to spring into action on May 10th at the Roxy in the heart of Boston. Then, Dr. Cube and his Posse of mischievous mutants will invade downtown Philadelphia on June 1st at the Trocadero. And if Kaiju Grand Champion, Call-Me-Kevin, can survive, he will defend his Kaiju Championship title June 7th at Webster Hall in Manhattan. For Battel lineups, exclusive commentary, and the latest developments on Kaiju favorites, head over to kaiju.com.

What: Kaiju Big Battel with special guests from CHIKARA PRO
Musical Guest: DJ Clashious Clay
Where: The Roxy, 279 Tremont Street, Boston, MA. 02116
When: Saturday, May 10th. 7:00 Doors. 8:00 Show.
Tickets: $20. Ticketmaster. This is an 18+ event.

What: Kaiju Big Battel with special guest Chris Hero
Musical Guest: Harry and the Potters and DJ Clashious Clay
Where: The Trocadero, 1003 Arch St. Philadelphia, PA 19107
When: Sunday June 1st, Doors 3:00PM. 4:00PM Show.
Tickets: $19.50. Ticketmaster. All Ages.

What: Kaiju Big Battel
Musical Guest: Ronald Reagan and DJ Clashious Clay
Where: Webster Hall, 125 East 11th St. Manhattan, NY, 10003
When: Saturday, June 7th. 6:00PM Doors. 7:00PM Show.
Tickets: $25. Ticketmaster. This is a 16+ event.

About Kaiju Big Battel
Kaiju Big Battel is a modern conflict of epic proportions. Planet Earth is under threat: scattered throughout the galaxy is a monstrous mob of maniacal villains, menacing alien beasts, and giant, city-crushing monsters that are waging war against one another. Presiding over this mayhem is the Kaiju Commissioner, an enigmatic human-arbiter appointed by a clandestine cadre of world leaders to regulate Kaiju rage. If the Kaiju Commissioner doesn't do his job perfectly the entire world could get caught in the crossfire.

Currently, the Kaiju Universe maintains an active roster of approximately 50 monsters, including a factory-worker-turned-soup-can called Kung-Fu Chicken Noodle, a dirty hare-sage dubbed Dusto Bunny, a loser sea beast known as Call-Me-Kevin, and a despicable, square-headed mad scientist known as Dr. Cube. In addition to the Kaiju Commissioner, a few privileged humans also get a piece of the action, including Referee Jingi, a mustachioed official who enforces fairness and civility in the ring, Davio Salbino, an urban renewal expert who reconstructs crumbled cityscapes between Battels, and one tuxedo-wearing, mouth-running MC, Louden Noxious.

About Studio Kaiju
Studio Kaiju, an independent Boston-based performance and media group, is the creator of Kaiju Big Battel, the world's only live monster mayhem spectacle. Producer of consistently sold-out events, Studio Kaiju is best known for its live tournament-style performances, which are a character driven, tongue-in-cheek hybrid of American pro-wrestling, Japanese monster-movies, and lowbrow pop-culture. These multi-media events, complete with video installations, monster-movie props, a towering "Danger Cage", and crushable miniature cityscape, can also be enjoyed from a safe distance thanks to "Kaiju Big Battel: A Practical Guide to Giant City-Crushing Monsters" from Hyperion Books and the Kaiju Big Battel DVD series.

To fund its live event series, monster creations and metropolitan destruction, Studio Kaiju produces and distributes its own line of merchandise including T-shirts, "real" monster meat, magnets and a whole catalogue of other cool but useless, limited-edition designer collectibles. The world of Kaiju Big Battel is also supported by the fun-fun website, kaiju.com, which hosts Big Battel news, monster profiles, live event videos, arcade-style games, comics, and the most commercial online mall ever.

About Harry and the Potters
Imagine if Harry Potter quit the quidditch team and started a punk rock band. Take that one step further and imagine that he stole a time-turner and decided to start that band with himself from a different point in time. This is the premise of Harry and the Potters which brings Massachusetts-based brothers Paul and Joe DeGeorge together as Harry Year 7 and Harry Year 4, a rock and roll band that has captured the literary-minded ears of people all over the world.

Harry and the Potters started on a whim in 2002, an impromptu performance in their parent's backyard for a few friends. Since then, they have released three full-length albums and have toured extensively within the United States, performing in every state with the exception of Hawaii. A sense of adventure has brought them to play in all manner of venues, including rock clubs, theaters, galleries, museums, bookstores, doughnut shops, pizza places, and even a pirate-supply store. But perhaps they are best know for their relentless touring of libraries. For each of the past four summers, Harry and the Potters have loaded up their van and embarked on cross-country tours that feature libraries as their venue of choice. These tours are celebrations of reading and rocking and would often see the band posting Summer Reading Lists and exchanging Harry and the Potters toothbrushes for book reports authored by fans. Their energetic live shows bring together people of all ages and seem to answer the question, "What would happen if Bruce Springsteen had been reincarnated as a boy wizard?"

Their enthusiasm and DIY-approach to rock and roll has inspired Harry Potter fans to create their own songs around the boy wizard. A genre, known as Wizard Rock, has emerged in the past few years, and it now boasts nearly 500 bands, all performing songs based on the Harry Potter books. Harry and the Potters were recently featured subjects in the "We Are Wizards" documentary which premiered at SXSW in March 2008. The documentary follows many of the influential figures in the creative Harry Potter subculture and will be screening at film festivals this spring. They continue their adventures this summer with their Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo '08, a 45-date tour that will bring a their traveling DIY summer camp across the country for all ages shows everywhere.

About Ronald Reagan
"Ronald Reagan" aims to revitalize America's economy by promoting large tax cuts, moderate deregulation, reductions in inflation, and a revival of 80's pop music. Following undistinguished careers in film, actors-turned-saxophonists Kelly Roberge and Alec Spiegelman recruited an ensemble of Boston's finest rock musicians to the 13-piece ensemble that they named "Ronald Reagan". However, only a short time into the bands existence, the sidemen went on strike, violating a band regulation prohibiting critical players from striking. Declaring the situation an emergency, analogous to those described in the 1947 Taft Hartley Act, "Ronald Reagan" held a press conference in which Kelly and Alec stated that if the musicians did not return to work within forty-eight hours, they have forfeited their jobs, and will be terminated. Two days later, "Ronald Reagan" fired the 11 striking musicians who had ignored the order to return to work. Historians cite this as one of the biggest setbacks to the power of organized labor in 80's pop cover band history. "Ronald Reagan" currently performs as a saxophone duo, and is currently seeking Boston's finest (non-union) musicians to complete the band in anticipation of a 2008 tour to Grenada.