By the mid-1960s G.I. Joe had crossed over into the Japanese market bringing the American toy to Japan. Looking back it may seem surprising that Japanese kids would want to play with American military toys just 20 years after the atomic bombings of World War II. Nonetheless, a new generation of children in Japan enjoyed the figure.

G.I. Joe wasn’t the only hero who made it to Japanese children. Captain Action made the journey to their toy market too. Through an arrangement with Nippon Ideal, the Ideal Toy Corporation’s Japanese group, Captain Action was initially released with his original superhero uniform sets. Three of the military themed outfits were for patriotic heroes Captain America, Sgt. Fury, and Steve Canyon.

At the same time in Japan, Tsuburaya Productions had debuted the new live-action series, Ultraman. The Tokusatu show – which literally means a special effects series – tells the stories of Shin Hayata, an agent working for the Science Special Search Party. Hayata works by becoming a giant space lawman. The popular Ultraman series has been revived and rejuvenated many times since it first aired in 1965.

Capitalizing on the popularity of the character Nippon Ideal wanted to add an Ultraman figure to the line-up of superhero costumes available for Captain Action. A prototype was produced and then advertised in Shonen Magazine. Though Captain Action was very popular in Japan with both children and collectors, the Ultraman costume set never made it beyond the marketing stage. The reasons behind the decision not to move forward with the international costume set are unclear and the whereabouts of the prototype are unknown.

The information and photos provided in this article come courtesy of James Long.