Super Festival 62 - Indie Toys

Today's Super Festival was fantastic. It had a great mix of debut releases, new versions of older toys, protos of upcoming figures, makers attending the show for the first time, guests from classic TV shows (like Ultraman Taro and Barom 1), and one heck of an amazing Ultraman Taro exhibition, which I'll post about later.

Let's start with a look at the indie toy booths:

Billiken

 230+ pics after the jump:

Paul Kaiju Re-Bootleg figures - first look!

 

Today at Super Festival 62, one of the coolest things I saw was a set of protos of two upcoming Paul Kaiju figures. The figures, which are being put out by Fig Lab, are called Re-Bootlegs. The reason is their arms and lower half were cast from an old line of 1970s tokusatsu bootlegs, while the head/torso sections are original PK designs. In one word I think the whole concept is AWESOME!

These are some of the figures from the 1970s line of bootlegs. The arms and legs were the same for most of the figures in the line.

Here's a look at the Re-Bootlegs with the vintage figures.

More after the jump:

Kaws x OriginalFake Star Wars Mini Darth Vader and Stormtrooper

Today, a mini Kaws inflected Darth Vader, a mini Stormtrooper, and some other things (like an incense holder and Snoopy keychain) were released at OriginalFake in Tokyo. Here are some shots of the minis.

The packaging is very secure.

The figures are about 1.5" tall. Given that, the level of detail, especially on the Vader, is pretty good.

 More after the jump:

Tokyo toy shop map updated

I've added three more stores to my map of Tokyo toy shops: Yamashiroya, Psycho Monsterz, and Rubber Duck. You'll find the first one (a gigantic multi-floor toy store in Ueno) in pretty much every guide to Tokyo toy stores, but maybe not the second and third - so a bit of extra flavor there for some cool, but a bit more under the radar shops.

Along with all the shop info, I've also added links to KK store reports, so you can read up on the shops before heading over.

The updated post now contains nearly 30 shops and shopping centers. 

Have fun!

Makaimura/魔界村 (Ghosts'n Goblins) Zoomoth keshi gomu Arthur

Carrying on with our Makaimura kick, here's a look at the excellent keshi gomu Arthur, released by Zoomoth as a one-day license figure at Winter Wonder Festival 2013.

A look at the figure from the back and both sides:

The figure is around 1.5-2" tall

 More after the jump:

Makaimura/魔界村 (Ghosts'n Goblins) Keshi Gomu Set

I finally tracked down a complete Makaimura keshi set, which was put out by Bandai around 1986. Today, during a lazy afternoon in Shibuya, Tokyo, I snapped some pics, since I think it will be a cool reference for folks into keshi and/or Makaimura and/or creepy photos of toys perched on giant rabbit mannequins.

There are 21 figures in the set. Just a few are of Arthur (armored and nearly nekkid) and the princess (not nekkid), and the rest of the figure are baddies bent on Arthur's destruction and, if you were a child of the 80s, all of your quarters.

Today's rubbery malfeasance took place at a nice coffee shop/restaurant called Glorious. It's smoke free and reasonably priced. The nachos aren't bad, and the serving of fries, which come in a paper bag NYC Pomme Frites style, is huge by Japan standards.

The figures came in five different colors, and they're about 1" tall.

More after the jump:

One Up April Pandemonium Custom Show

Pics of the latest custom show at One Up Akiba, featuring works by Todd Robertson, Blobpus, Dream Rockets, Dol Roffo, Sunguts, Gumtaro, P.P. Pudding, Uky Daydreamer, Click Crack, and Monster Factory, and others.

Todd Robertson

 

Monster Factory

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Yusei Majin news - past, present, and future

Here's some new Yusei Majin information, fresh from my recent visit to Cosmo Knight Alpha.

In a previous post, I wrote about the backstory of Yusei Majin and what led to its production as an indie sofubi figure. Part of the story (actually the beginning of the process for the creators of YM) was a green bootleg Ooze It released in Japanese gacha machines in 1983.

I just learned that there wasn't just a green and red Ooze It bootleg. The line also contained a completely different figure.

There was also a two-piece blue base (with silver spray) figure of the same size that looks like something right out of the Ooze It universe. It looks like it could be an original design inspired by Ooze It. Here it is alongside the green bootleg.

The figure adds an interesting new twist to the story.

Next, here are pics of the CKA window display, showing a nice side by side view of lots of Yusei Majin releases:

 More after the jump:

Sakura blossoms in Ueno Park, Tokyo

Ueno Park is one of Tokyo's most famous outdoor places. The grounds are spacious, and there are museums, cafes, religious sites, a concert hall, a mini amusement park, a baseball field, and even a zoo. (Also, the Yamashiroya mega toy store is just across the street from Ueno station.)

Plus, there are lots and lots of sakura trees, making the park a near lock on any list of spots for hanami, the Japanese tradition of flower watching, especially around sakura season.

The other day, I wrote about sakura blossoms in Meguro. Here are some shots from Ueno, which I took on March 22, around the time of the full blooming of the trees.

Once stepping outside the train station, I knew I was in for a mob scene.

There are lots of trees in different parts of the park, but this is the main thoroughfare. Not for the agoraphobic.

That said, if you are a photo bomber, the day could be epic.

 More after the jump: