It's anthropomorphic, but do you have $91,000 to spare?

The File 770 science fiction fandom website reported on October 17 that the top-end Takashimaya Tokyo department store is selling a solid gold statuette of Baltan, a giant space lobster-man villain from the Ultraman TV series, for the yen equivalent of $91,000. A Japanese news video shows solid gold statuettes of Ultraman himself, plus other Ultraman space villains such as Bogleech.

Ultraman, a 40-foot-tall superhero from outer space, appeared on Japanese TV for 39 weekly half-hour episodes from July 17, 1966 to April 9, 1967. It was produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the company of Eiji Tsuburaya, the creator of Gojira (Godzilla) in 1954, and was meant to be for Japanese TV what Godzilla was for Japanese movies. It succeeded wildly.

It became part of an Ultra-Crusader TV kaiju (giant monster) series that included Ultra Q, Ultra Seven, The Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Ace, and twenty-three others up to Ultraman X this year. Ultraman appeared on American TV in 1972, dubbed by Peter Fernandez’s voice actors who had been responsible for Speed Racer. The real reason that these TV series run about one year each is to constantly change the toys of the Ultramen and all their monsters.

Ultraman is a nostalgic favorite, often re-run, and Baltan and Bogleech are space villains known in Japan as well as Darth Vader or the Storm Troopers of Star Wars in America. When the World Science Fiction Convention was held in Japan in 2007, Ultraman appeared on that year’s Hugo Award trophy.

This is all well-known to anime fandom, but since they’re anthropomorphic space monsters, they qualify for furry fandom as well.