Godzilla vs Megalon Print Block Ad

5.14.2026

I am out of control right now when it comes to collecting. Some collectibles are irresistible. I can’t sleep until I have them or I’ve exhausted all options to acquire them. I make calculations in my head and check my budget and convince myself I must have it. Then I click the “buy” button. Before the ink could dry in The Press Room video that features the printing of an original Godzilla vs The Thing ad block, I was looking on eBay for one. And I found the only one, a very expensive one. I said to myself, “No, too much.” But as much as I searched for these Godzilla ads and tv listings on Newspapers.com, I had to have a piece of the technology that made my childhood so memorable especially given how much I love Godzilla print material. The next day my dollars made sense and the timing was right. And I bought this amazing rare Godzilla vs Megalon newspaper advertisement printing block.

I never gave a thought about how Godzilla newspaper ads were printed. So I started researching and watching videos. As a graphic designer I should have known that these old newspaper movie ads were created with block printing. But the history of the press has always been a black box to me. The history of the printing press begins with pressing mechanical moveable metal type. And then came block ads created by movie companies to promote their films in newspapers. Newspapers used to be made with block printing. Wooden blocks with metal slabs with type and graphics were created by a typesetter. Ads were etched into zinc or magnesium plates that was poured into paper pulp molds that had reversed images of advertisements.¹ After the metal cooled it was mounted to a wood block. Later ink was applied to the block and then set into the printing press. Such block ads for newspapers were in use from the 1930s until 1980s. These blocks were available in various sizes to fit specific newspaper column sizes and then shipped to newspapers.²

Godzilla movies regularly popped up in local theaters during the 70s. But that was no place for me growing up. My life was spent in front of the boob tube. I lived by the local newspaper, TV Guide and TV listing and programming to announce when and where Godzilla would next appear. Famous Monsters of Filmland and Fangoria (1974) introduced me to the Godzilla movies I had never seen before, Godzilla vs Bionic Monster by the former, and Godzilla vs Megalon by the latter which printed a textless poster (seen above). The newspaper program listings and TV Guides made it possible to catch every Godzilla Showa-era movie during that time. But also more exciting. What movie was next was always a surprise. Godzilla could show up on at least three local UHF channels, channels 17, 29 and 48. When channel 48 shut down, channel 57 started up. So when Godzilla vs Megalon premiered in 1977 on the major network NBC on channel 3, it was a big deal. I don’t remember seeing a Godzilla vs Megalon ad, but the Godzilla vs Cosmic Monster block print ad I do remember. I clipped it, stored it and hoped to keep it forever. These black-and-white ads lit up my face when there was no Godzilla to be found. Every piece of Godzilla paper meant something. They were cherished and sacred. The TV and movie listings assured me that I would see Godzilla again. Long after Godzilla disappeared from my small screen, the evidence of his appearance was left on newsprint.

But my news clip disappeared. Many years later, I can find all the Godzilla movie ads I could want on Newspapers.com. This resource is the ultimate “wayback machine” for my generation to explore the world and times of our lives growing up before the advent of the Internet. Search any keyword, pick a time and a place and watch the newspapers, articles, TV guides and movie ads appear. Everything can be clipped and downloaded. Newspapers.com is a tremendous resource and research tool. Reassemble historical contexts. Recreate the happiest moments in your childhood. And learn something new. The memories and nostalgia await.

After securing this block ad on eBay I searched, screen shot and saved for Godzilla vs Megalon block ads in 1976. The ads come in many formats adjusted to fit the space available and needs of each theater. As the release date approaches the ads get bigger and smaller as it’s time in the theater draws closer to an end. Godzilla movie posters were always over the top, designed with great hype, hyperbole and exaggeration to win over the attention and dollars of the potential moviegoers. Godzilla vs The Thing (aka, Mothra) was censored. The monsters are in revolt in Destroy All Monsters. The Godzilla vs Megalon poster is a prime example. The thirteenth installment of the Godzilla franchise was released in U.S. theaters on Sunday, May 9, 1976. Its iconic poster depicts a scene that does not take place in the movie but sure works the imagination. Godzilla battles Megalon, each standing his own tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York. It borrowed the idea from the new King Kong movie poster, released in late 1975 and featuring Kong sprawled across both towers. “Giant against Giant… the Ultimate Battle” blazoned across the ad. The iconic artwork for the U.S. theatrical release of Godzilla vs Megalon was created by an artist credited as “Dippel,” signed in the bottom left corner. This principle art was used in various combinations to create the print blocks (as seen above).

My block print is made of a block of wood that is 4″ wide by 2″ high by 2-7/8″ deep. The Godzilla vs Megalon ad was etched into a zinc plate that was pounded into the block using small nails. Megalon is partially cropped by the left margin with “Color” written below him. The line moving toward his head is the tip of a fighter jet. Godzilla stands on the roof of the World Trade Center tower. “Giant against Giant… the ultimate battle” is across the top followed by “GODZILLA VS MEGALON” with “All New” and “Never Seen Before” below. An uppercase “G” for the movie’s G-rating appears at the very bottom. On its side appears the number 9260. Numbers were stamped on the side to make the blocks easy to identify. I couldn’t find an exact match on Newspapers.com but some were similar. This block has focused my attention back upon how Godzilla movies were marketed and released in the U.S.

These wood block movie advertisement would have been ordered by a movie theater manager, who selected and cut out the ad of his/her choice from an advertising slick found in the Godzilla vs Megalon pressbook (Back | Inside | Missing Ads) provided by Cinema Shares International Distribution Corp. An ad sheet, also called an ad slick, is a page with camera-ready ads of varying sizes for use in print material such as newspapers and magazines.³ Some ads provided space for the theater name and show times. Then the ad was sent to the newspaper along with an insertion order form listing the dates. In turn, the newspaper would take that information and order print blocks from typesetters such as the legendary KB Typesetting in Omaha. Founded in 1932 and in operation for over 50 years, KB was Hollywood’s big time manufacturer of newspaper movie ads. They produced about 60,000 letterpress blocks and plates.⁴ Unfortunately, these blocks were usually tossed into the trash by newspaper companies. But in 2019, Tim League, co-founder of Alamo DraftHouse, acquired the large KB collection of 60,000 original letterpress plates from DJ Ginsberg and Marilyn Wagner. The story is told in the short documentary, The Collection (2017). Now, the collection is known as The Press Room Collection. They are on exhibit at The Press Room Bar, which is “a museum, a letterpress print shop, and a bar all in one.” In their collection are many Godzilla movie print blocks. Now, I’m lucky to have my own.

Revised 5.15 & 5.30.2026