Great Stuff!

For my birthday, my girlfriend gave me a cool gift - a really awesome hat and card. She made them both herself! ^_^

Cronic Spotlight #7: 2007 WHF Hand Painted Dorogami

This is the first Spotlight on a hand painted Cronic figure. Koiwa-san started making brushed (as opposed to sprayed, as most kaiju figures are painted) hand painted figures about 6 months ago. By mixing paints, Koiwa-san is able to come up with paint schemes that replicate surfaces, like wood, marble, etc.

So far, Koiwa-san has made Hand Painted versions of every one of his 6 figures, except for Dorome.

This Dorogami was released at the World Hobby Festival in May, 2007. The figure has a kind of antique brass feeling to it.

First a couple of indoor shots.

Doro don't sleep wid da fishes

I like the contrast of the figure to the metal shelving here:

To the outdoors!

Some close ups:

Zyurai Asu 2007 Summer Pink

Zyurai Asu is back!

Today, Koiwa-san sold this cool new version through his site. I love the contrast of a bright base color with dark cool metallic paints.

A couple more pics:

Cronic Spotlight #6: 2007 Winter WonderFestival Bakurasu

This red Bakurasu is one of my favorites. It really captures the spirit of the character. The figure was released in Feb 2007 at the Winter Wonder Festival at the Big Site in Tokyo.

The base color is solid red vinyl with multiple color apps sprayed on. The blues have a cool metallic hue which really pops under strong lights.

Speaking of which, it was HOT today - more than 38 degrees Celsius.

Before the shoot, Bakurasu wanted to cool off for a bit:

He strikes me as a perpetually hungry fellow. Here he is eyeing his prey:

Nirvana:
To the outdoors!

Front: Side:
Back:
Close up:

Doing his best Adonis impersonation... Hanging out with the flowers: Que pasa...
Playgrounds are cool.
Slides are very cool. (But 40+ degree black floor padding baking in the open sun and burning this poor photographer to a crisp are not!)
Bakurasu mounts his steed and prepares for battle...

The Eyezons have it!

At next week's SDCC, Max Toy Co. is premiering a new figure, which I really like. Eyezon will be released in two versions. The first is a yellow fellow with orange and green highlights.

The second version is yellow with orange and silver spray, plus it's GID!
Great stuff, Mark!

Coming soon to Clutter magazine...

In August's issue, look for a couple of articles by your friendly neighborhood kaiju man.

The first is a write up of the Cronic X Max Toy kaiju and print exclusives. I sent tons of cool pics and a 1,000 word article to Clutter for that one.

Second is an interview/photo expose featuring the brilliant kaiju customs of Seattle artist extraordinaire H. Lee Porter.

If you have a chance, check it out! :)

Cronic 2007 SDCC Exclusives Revealed!!

At the 2007 SDCC, 5 different Cronic exclusives will be sold at the Max Toy Co. booth. Like other Cronic releases, every figure was handpainted by Naoki Koiwa.

First, the worldwide show premier of Cronic's newest figure: Dorome. Two versions will be sold.

Painted:
Unpainted:


There will also be two new Dorogami's.

Painted: Unpainted:

Finally, a stunning clear rainbow Nougaki!
When you see Mark Nagata at the Max Toy booth, make sure to thank him with a smile. :O)

This year's SDCC - looking better than ever!!

Kaiju Korner @ 2007 Summer WonderFestival

I'll be there snapping pics with about 40,000 other toy crazies!

Of course, I'll bring you shots of the 3rd Nerd One X Cronic Nougaki (with blue resin skullhead by Nerd One). The figure has rapidly become a huge fan favorite. I'm sure there will be lots of other surprises from Cronic, RealxHead, Blobpus, and many others.

I'll sort and upload pics from my hotel room as soon as I recover from the day/night's debauch!

Summer WF on August 12th - just a few weeks away!

Cronic Spotlight #5: 2007 Taipei Toy Festival Dorogami

Now for the second installment of Double Spotlight Sunday: The 2007 TTF Dorogami, also sold at One Up's booth at the show.

This figure started out as a clear colorless Dorogami. It looks like a blue coat was sprayed on, with purple and black highlights added. The large jewel is dark pink, and the two smaller ones are light pink.

This is one of those figures that needs to be seen under bright lights to be appreciated, so where did we go for the shoot? The Takashimaya Deparment store, of course!

Atop a diamond jewelry display case:

Shiny things!
Oh, you naughty Doro!

Love (or a light snack...)

To the great outdoors!

Front view:

Side view:

Back view:

Cronic Spotlight #4: 2007 Taipei Toy Festival Nougaki

Today is Double Spotlight Sunday!

First, the 2007 Taipei Toy Festival Nougaki, sold at the OneUp booth at last week's show. This is a really stunning figure. The base is clear green. Over most of the figure (except one forearm), a coat of black spray was applied. Then silver highlights were added over that, and the "front face" was given green eyes and a purple jewel. Green war paint sideburns were also added, presumably by brushing somewhat dry green paint on each cheek.

The "back face" was given a red jewel, with ominous green highlights brushed on to give the face a mysterious "idol statue" feeling.

This Nougaki is not only a fantastic design, but it's one of the best at giving both faces a unique personality.

OK, onto the pics....

The two faces of Nougaki:

Shoe fettish!

Front view:

Back view: Side view:

Close up: