Toy maker Bandai Co. has secured the rights to the Ultraman character by purchasing 33,400 shares in Tsuburaya Productions Co., the special effects company that created the classic superhero and TV show.

Ultraman KYODO PHOTO

Namco Bandai Holdings Co. said Jan. 21 its subsidiary bought the 33.4 percent stake from Tsuburaya's parent, TYO Inc., a TV commercial production firm.

The deal gives Bandai the authority to produce merchandise and services based on Tsuburaya's Ultraman and 42 other properties, it said.

TYO, listed on the Jasdaq stock market, earlier turned Tsuburaya into a wholly owned subsidiary. Prior to its acquisition by TYO, the production firm was run by Kazuo Tsuburaya, grandson of the special effects TV and film director Eiji Tsuburaya, who founded the firm in 1963.