Nov 08, 2005
One-Up Exclusive Black Skuttle
One-Up of Japan has brought us
numerous exclusive colorway of Touma’s works and this time around is a
Black Skuttle. We first saw the Skuttle at the Taipei Toy Festival and
needless to say it sold out immediately. This Black Skuttle is made in
Japan which can only mean the piece will be exquisite and near
perfection. If you own one of his earlier toys, the Fhantom, you will
know what I mean. This exclusive One-Up version will be available for
sale in December but with only 111 made, I suggest you pre-order one by
writing an email to One-Up. Currently it is priced at approximately
$52US and One-Up charges 5% surcharge for overseas orders. Although
with shipping you might pay up to almost $100, this utter cool toy is a
must have and it is MADE IN JAPAN!!! Now, how often are vinyl toys made
anywhere but China nowadays?????
Nov 04, 2005
Sin&Wombat's Monster
Ryu Nakamura of Sin&Wombat in Japan, who brought you Chicken Fever has a new toy with Gargamel. The Garbage monster Gomilla looks like a nightmare none of us want or maybe you do??? I love the creature's full set of teeth, all too eager to chomp through just about anything that stands in his way. The metallic paint along with the buggy blood shoot eyes makes him even more so menacing. The monster is available via Gargamel's online store Thrash Out for about $30US. The website can be difficult to navigate but you can always just order one by writing Gargamel a email. I know I am....and be sure to check out Ryu's website to see the creation process of this ugly sucker!!!
Nov 02, 2005
Mizuki's "Spirit" Toys
Shigeru Mizuki is undoubtedly among the most popular -- and certainly one of the longest-standing -- cartoon artists in Japan. He is a master of
Japanese horror stories of Yokai, which loosely translated means "spirits" or "demons". Since the 1960s he popularized many types of Yokai in his works, with the manga Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro (one-eyed Yokai superhero) being the most famous . From his stories come drawings of evil demons, mischievous spirits and lonely ghosts. From the
drawings come toys. Among my favorites are the Cave Man (原始さん means "Beginning"), the おばけのムーラちゃん(no English name...but look at the pics and you get the idea) and finally Dead God and Raccoon Dog (死神＆狸 セット). If you find them to be must haves, check out this site for more information. The Cave Man and おばけのムーラちゃん comes
in GID versions which were available at the recent World Hobby Festival in Kobe, Japan. All these toys cost approximately $38US each. Oddly, it is somewhat comforting to see Mizuki's spirits "come to life" after so many years of seeing them as 2d art. Hopefully,more of his creatures will continue to make that transition from 2d to 3d, there are just never enough "spirits" to go around.
Cave Man
おばけのムーラちゃん
Dead God and Raccoon Dog
GID Cave Man
GID おばけのムーラちゃん
Nov 01, 2005
Toys by Itokin Park
Japanese toy maker , Kazuhiko Ito aka Itokin Park wanted to make toys that made people happy and with toys like Robot Suit Boy and Rabbit Pilot, how can one not be? These adorable little fellows are bound to bring a smile to its owners, cause I sure was grinning from ear to ear when I received my Rabbit Pilot from Oalaworld. It quickly won my heart with his oversized rabbit ears and the eye catching color scheme. At 4" tall, it is heavier than most toys his size since he is made out of hard vinyl. You, big boys out there might think he is just a little too cute for you...well...let me tell you....Jack couldn't help himself from admiring MY Rabbit Pilot.
Departing from his usual cuddly, cutie toys, Itokin Park has sculpted a new toy, TYPOZIN which is designed by Yuuske Simiz and brought to you by 20001. TYPOZIN gives a feel of street art, a bit edgy and a bit abstract. It will be available in Japan at his December show at Splash & Sammy. Hopefully some will land in this part of the world, and for those in Japan...go to the show, take some pics....make us envious!!!
Rabbit Pilot
Robot Suit Boy
TYPOZIN
Oct 26, 2005
Cronic + Ex-Style: Maverasu and Zyurai-Asu
Straight from Japan, Takenaka of Ex-Style sends us pictures of Ex-Style's Halloween colorway of Cronic's Maverasu figure which stands roughly 5.5 inches tall. This special colorway went on sale at HP of CRONIC on 10.26.05 at 10:00 am JP time for 4500 Yen which is approximately $45 US. I really like Maverasu for the menacing tentacles on its back. They are articulated at 4 of its joints and are interchangeable with the arms in the front. Besides the Ex-Style Halloween colorway, Maverasu has also appeared in several other colorways including a metallic version shown below. This toy is very popular in Japan and I bet there are some fans here in the US who are dying to get their hands on one. If you do, send us a few pics!! Takenaka also sent along pics of what is apparently a custom version of Cronic's Zyurai-Asu. Zyurai-Asu and Maverasu are apparently mortal enemies. This info maybe slightly inaccurate as we've had to rely on machine translation to compile this post :-)
Cronic+EX-S Maverasu
Zyurai-Asu
Oct 25, 2005
New Kaiju Monsters
There is always something about the kaiju toys that fascinates me but finding updated info about them can be challenging at times, especially when everything is in Japanese. Well, this shall be my first attempt in translating the info I have regarding some awesome toys that just hit the Japanese market, so bear with me!!
The first toy is the ChitanoZaurus Series 2. This guy is at a whopping 9.8 inches tall and with his glowy orange/brown skin tone, it is easy to see how this not so little creature slowly grows on you. He is currently available from Japan for 4200 Yen which approximately is $42US. You an either fax or email your order and pay by bank or postal transfer. Check out Marusan for more info.
The next creature is ジャイガー which literately means anti- large demon animal. From the looks of this fellow, he is sure one not to mess with, so buy at your own risk. Purchasing info same as above. Hurry if you want one...deadline to order is by the end of this month!!!
Oct 24, 2005
Touma's BOO
Touma debut his toy "Boo" in the US at this year's SDCC and the little creature with a wide grin was widely received. If you missed out, do not despair!!! Wonderwall and Touma has more variants of Boo and another little friend of his, Baboo (see below). Check it out. If you find them a must have, check out Oalaworld. I did and broke the bank!!
Oct 04, 2005
Meredith Dittmar: My Guys
Meredith Dittmar - Available Online
Buy online
Meredith Dittmar creates amazing "3d doodles". Her My Guys are quirky and lovable polymer clay creations. Over the last 10 years, Meredith has created over 10 thousand unique My Guys which have been "adopted" by a growing legion of fans and collectors. Sales of Original My Guys and open-edition Clones will resume this fall from her site CorporatePig. In addition to the individual figures, Meredith also creates striking dioramas featuring complete scenes made up of multiple figures and lovely backgrounds. Wanna see these up close and personal? Meredith Dittmar has upcoming shows at Wootini (North Carolina - October), Schmancy (Seattle - December).
Sep 21, 2005
The Army of Gwin
October Toys has just released their series 001 of the Gwins. What is a Gwin you ask? Well, you have come to right place. The shape of a Gwin is a penguin but it is more than just your ordinary flippered marine bird. Gwin is a creature based on Tux, the Linux mascot, created by Larry Ewing & The GIMP.The first army consist of 9 Gwins by artists Mimic, Doktor A, Eric Treadaway, Nixon Scratches, SpookyAMD, and idlechimp.
I first saw these in person a few months ago at SDCC. George and Ayleen, the peeps behind October Toys were utterly personable like their little creature friend. The Gwins, slightly 3 inches tall, sit comfortably on their wide bottoms, a direct result of spending all of their time eating and sleeping.The designs range from the confused Gwin Rubber_D (duck or penguin?) to Doktor A's self destructive "Hard To Swallow". Get moving and get your Gwin Army!!!
Fred
Classic
Hard To Swallow
Rubber_D
Frosty
Tim
Back Biter
Strange Fruit
SkeleGwin
Sep 17, 2005
Tristan Eaton's Skumbo Signing at KR NY
Courtesy from DragonCypher of NY, we have awesome pictures of the Tristan Eaton's Skumbo signing at Kidrobot, NY. From the looks of things, there was quite a crowd at the signing. Besides the Skumbos, Tristan was also signing his 20" El Loco with his Regining Kings, even his 20" custom from VK2 made an appearance. Check out yourself!!
Tristan with SEEN
Apr 29, 2005
White Touma Hell Hound
So earlier this month, I was able to purchase an all-white limited edition of Touma's Hell Hound toy at Qeeology in Pasadena, CA. The bonus on this one is that it was hand-signed (before-hand, not onsite) with a nice blue HH drawing by Touma himself. The drawing has such clean lines that it almost looks manufactured -- he obviously is very talented and has very steady hands :-) This toy cost me a pretty penny but I think he's worth it !
Mini-Review: This new design by Touma is quite impressive. The hound has a sort of presence that's a mix of edgy and cute rolled together. As for articulation, there are 8 points of articulation! : head, arms, legs, each ear, and the tail. The Hell Hound's head is very detailed. In particular, I really love that the ears can be posed either close together or farther apart thereby changing his "mood". Additionally, the facial features are very stylized -- inset eyes, an upturned mouth with a pointy circular nose, and a sly grin. Finally, the collar is very detailed with the spikes being quite pronounced. As for the rest of the body, the paws are very similar to that of Touma's Knuckle Bears -- fairly wide and the tail is nice in that it is articulated (rotates).
Mar 30, 2005
Details, details, details
I haven't been collecting vinyl for very long at all... just started in December '04 in fact. I started collecting because I was lured by the brilliant art and amazing shapes. And that's still why I collect today. Beyond great design though, I find that other details can really "make" a toy for me. When I got my first Qee I was amazed by both the quality of the paint job and the inclusion of lots of "extras" such as stickers, buttons, and of course the keychain (I don't think I could actually bear to use a qee on a keychain...). But the coolest thing about the Qee's in terms of "extras" is the forethought to have all? of the Qee's designed with holes in their feet so that can be placed on their own custom stands!
Mar 20, 2005
Touma's "Boo"
The artist behind Talons, Knuckle Bears, and Snout is apparently about to release a new design: "Boo". They're kinda cute, but I'm not really sure if I like them. However, I do find that Touma's designs look much better in person than they do in web images. 
Mar 18, 2005
Tree Dweller
Tree Dweller is a really fabulous looking figure from Nathan Juervicius, who is more well-known for the Scary Girl character line. I'm particularly fond of the "set" she comes with, especially the hanging lanterns on the tree. Small details really set great toys apart from good ones. She's a little on the pricey side though. What to do... what to do ? ;-)
Check it at Rotofugi.