BANDAI official Ultraman toy information site

Hello everyone. I'm Nono, in charge of Ultraman toy development.

This time, we will be featuring the "DX Ancient Spark Lens", which has been available for pre-order since last month, in two parts!



In the first part, we will use a brand new prototype to explain the new appearance and the transformation gameplay that uses a photosensitive sensor to "transform by collecting light"! Please stay with us until the end.
(We will introduce the DX Black Spark Lens, for which preorders have recently begun, next week after episodes 16 and 17 of the Ignis arc have aired, taking into account the content of the main series. Please look forward to that as well.)


■Exterior design based on the "real thing" used for filming!!
Before explaining the electronic gimmicks, let's first take a look at the appearance of the main unit.



This Ancient Spark Lens looks very similar to the Guts Spark Lens, but the green exterior parts will be completely new in design and made with new molds.



One reason is that compared to the Guts Spark Lens, there are design differences such as the absence of clear parts on the grip, but the most important thing was reproducing the uneven texture design of the surface.

Unlike the Guts Spark Lens, an artificial artifact developed by Akito, the Ancient Spark Lens, an ancient relic, has organic bumps on its surface.



If we were to use the mold for Guts Spark Lens, the surface would be too smooth and shiny, resulting in a completely unrecognizable appearance, so we decided to take the plunge and remake it from scratch.

However, when it came to reproducing the unevenness, we were faced with the fact that these unevennesses are created by hand, resulting in very uneven and subtle details.
This is because, unlike soft vinyl figures and other figures that are sculpted by hand by a sculptor, NARIKIRI TOYS are "designed" taking into consideration the structure of the gimmick and the space needed to fit the internal electronic components, so they are not very compatible with such organic textures.
Even if we were to spend time and money manually picking out the finer nuances, we would then have the problem of not having detailed information on the Ancient Spark Lens itself.

While wondering what to do, I stared at the photo materials in front of me...
Oh, come to think of it, there's already a prop for the Ancient Spark Lens in the filming.
If we could 3D scan this, wouldn't that problem be solved all at once?

So, thanks to the generous cooperation of Tsuburaya Productions and the modeling department at LSS, we were able to find time during a break in filming to borrow the actual props found in Akito's study...!

This made it possible to trace the 3D scan data of the prop (the real thing) onto the design data of the product, faithfully reproducing the overall appearance and surface irregularities!



The design of the band is painted a vibrant blue-green, and while the details are clearly visible on the left and right sides of the wing, the grip part looks rusty and the details have been lost...even the smallest details have been reproduced to match the prop.



We have also put some effort into the wings and crystal parts, using very beautiful pearl colors.
The original material itself is PC, which is not particularly unusual, but by adding pearlescent material to the translucent white, it has a unique texture that changes color vividly depending on the angle from which you view it.
(For hobbyists, it may be easier to understand if I say it has an atmosphere similar to that of Majola paint.)



This color was a prototype during the development of a product I was in charge of in the past, and I really liked it because it was so beautiful, but it ended up not being used in the item at the time, and I've been looking for a way to use it ever since.

The outer green of this "Ancient Sparkle Lens" is a very chic green, which gives it a rather subdued appearance, so I thought that by using a distinctive color for the white parts in between, I could express the overall feeling of a sacred artifact and a sense of flashiness in a good way.


■Play NARIKIRI playing by "collecting light" using a photosensitive sensor!
Next, let's talk about the "transformation play" gimmick.
As stated on the product page, the biggest attraction of this item is the light-gathering transformation play that uses the "photosensitive sensor"!



There is a light sensor built into the front of the main unit, and when this sensor detects light the light gathering play begins.
The gimmick is that if you continue to expose it to light for a certain period of time, it will be able to transform into Ultraman Trigger.

This gimmick comes from the fact that the Ancient Spark Lens is a sacred treasure that has been used by the Earth Planet Guard to collect the light of the stars for generations. Yuzare also mentioned this in the 11th episode.

I was originally thinking, "It wouldn't be fun if it only had the same gimmick as the DX Guts Spark Lens (there's no hyper gun mode in the setting...)," when I learned about this setting and jumped at the idea, thinking, "I can recreate it if I use a light gathering sensor!"
Many Ultra fans may remember Max Spark from "Ultraman Max."
It was a bit of a challenge as it was a gimmick that hasn't been used much recently, but thanks to the track record of commercializing it with Max Spark, development was able to proceed smoothly!


So, next I'd like to show you the specific process of how to play with the photosensitive sensor... but that will be continued in the second part!
The second part of the article will be updated tomorrow! Please look forward to it.