Source: William Winckler Productions, Wacko / Soap Plant press release Special Thanks to William Winckler
Glitter Red Gigantor Hikari Sofubi Exclusive USA Toy Release & Signing Party with Fred Ladd
Sunday, April 19, 2015, 3-6pm Wacko / Soap Plant 4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90027 323-663-0122 Fred Ladd, the “Father of American Anime” will be making an in-store appearance at Wacko / Soap Plant to promote the new Funko GIGANTOR Hikari vinyl robots on Sunday, April 19th, between 3:00 pm ~ 6:00 pm. This is a very rare opportunity to meet, and have merchandise signed by the man who introduced Japanese animated cartoons to North America. Mr. Ladd is one of the true pioneers from the Golden Age of Television and recently celebrated his 88th birthday. Fred will autograph any Funko GIGANTOR toy purchased at Wacko for FREE. For any other GIGANTOR item (Japanese toys, DVDs, books, comics, etc.) he will charge $ 20.00 (same for any ASTRO-BOY or KIMBA THE WHITE LION items). The limited edition “Glitter Fire” Red Glitter Gigantor Hikari Sofubi figure manufactured by American toy company, Funko, will be available exclusively at Wacko / Soap Plant in Los Angeles, CA. The total run of this edition is 500 with 84 pieces going overseas and the remaining pieces for sale only at Wacko / Soap Plant. The retail price is $50 each and there will be a strict limit of only two per customer. BUY YOURS NOW! Funko has licensed the classic black and white, 1960’s GIGANTOR TV series property for all new GIGANTOR merchandise, from writer/producer/director Fred Ladd (GIGANTOR, KIMBA THE WHITE LION, ASTRO-BOY) and his company Entercolor Technologies Corp., thru GIGANTOR official merchandise licensing agent William Winckler Productions, Inc. Fred Ladd / Entercolor Technologies Corp. is the owner of the classic GIGANTOR TV series and its merchandising for all English speaking world territories, and has owned and exercised all English speaking rights since the 1960’s. Funko will be producing 7-8 inch tall HIKARI Japanese Vinyl Robot Figures, 4-inch tall Pop! style Vinyl Robot Figures, and 3-inch tall Mini Blind Box Vinyl Figures from the GIGANTOR series. The HIKARI vinyls are all “hand-made” using the exact classic Japanese style of Vinyl toy making pioneered by companies such as Bullmark. The Funko GIGANTOR Hikari figures are set to be platform released in March and April 2015, and the Pop! Vinyls around August 2015. FRED LADD
In 1963 Ladd wrote, produced and directed the American English version of Osamu Tezuka’s MIGHTY ATOM series (Japan’s very first major anime TV series) as ASTRO-BOY and it aired all across America on major network television on NBC-TV. ASTRO-BOY was the first successful anime series ever dubbed in English for American TV audiences and it became a hit. Following ASTRO-BOY’S success, in 1965 Ladd wrote, produced and directed the American English version of TETSUJIN 28-GO, known in the U.S. as GIGANTOR. GIGANTOR ran 52 half-hour episodes and became a huge hit in syndicated television throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s. Mr. Ladd actually purchased all rights to the original GIGANTOR series for all English speaking territories of the world, and has owned the show and its merchandising rights ever since. The late Peter Fernandez (original voice of SPEED RACER) was one of the talented voice actors on GIGANTOR, and the series became the most popular show Ladd ever wrote, produced and directed. In GIGANTOR, a little boy named Jimmy Sparks uses a remote control device to control a powerful giant robot, GIGANTOR, in order to stop diabolical villains (who often have their own evil giant robots), and to help people whenever they are in danger. Ladd had yet another English language anime hit in 1966 with KIMBA THE WHITE LION, another syndicated television success based on Osamu Tezuka’s anime series JUNGLE EMPEROR. It has been widely stated that Disney’s THE LION KING was a blatant copy of KIMBA THE WHITE LION. Ladd went on to writing and producing the animated feature films PINOCCHIO IN OUTER SPACE and JOURNEY BACK TO OZ, the animated series THE BIG WORLD OF LITTLE ADAM, G-FORCE GUARDIANS OF SPACE (aka BATTLE OF THE PLANETS), and even a new updated color series of GIGANTOR in 1980. Other animated series writing work included shows at Filmation studios – GHOSTBUSTERS, MASK, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, SHAZAM!, and TARZAN. Ladd also wrote, produced and directed the English language dubbed versions of the famous live-action children’s movies based on PIPPI LONGSTOCKING starring Swedish child actress Inger Nilsson – PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS and PIPPI ON THE RUN (co-produced by Swedish & German production companies). PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS was theatrically distributed all over America, and the rest of the English speaking world, to great success. In the film, Pippi Longstocking must rescue her father who was kidnapped by pirates. Ladd served as creative consultant on the hit 1992 anime series SAILOR MOON, and he was also a pioneer in the colorization of black and white cartoons to color, for classics such as Looney Tunes, Betty Boop, Popeye and Merry Melodies. Today he is working with William Winckler Productions, Inc. on licensing his classic GIGANTOR series and related merchandise, as well as his BIG WORLD OF LITTLE ADAM series. FUNKO is currently releasing Hikari vinyl and Pop! Style vinyl figures of the classic GIGANTOR robot, and MEZCO TOYZ will soon be releasing a very large GIGANTOR figure of their own. FUNKO Funko was established in 1999, and has produced licensed goods for Marvel, Hello Kitty, Star Wars, Disney/Pixar, Transformers, Elvis Presley, Simpsons, Family Guy, Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes, Betty Boop, Austin Powers, Cat in the Hat movies, Scooby Doo, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and many more. The company now adds GIGANTOR to its list of classic TV icons. Funko is one of the world’s leading collectibles companies with distribution in Europe, Australia, and North America. Funko produces stylized vinyl, tin, plush, action figures, and licensed electronics. WACKO/SOAP PLANT In addition to housing La Luz de Jesus Gallery, the birthplace of Pop Surrealism and Lowbrow Art, Wacko / Soap Plant has one of Southern California’s most extensive selection of vinyl art and sci-fi toys including long out-of circulation limited editions. Only toys purchased here will qualify for free signing, but Mr. Ladd will sign other items for $20 each. Reserve your signed copies today! Contact the book store for purchase information: (323)663-0122 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or click here to purchase your copy online.