KK Reviews: Splurrt Toys

In this video, I review several Splurrt customs, while taking a look at a number of Splurrt resin and sofubi toys from over the years.  Make sure to check out my interview with Joe Merrill of Splurrt in the upcoming issue of Clutter Magazine.

Jyujin by GEEK! Produced by Medicom (Video)

Jyujin is a huge figure designed by GEEK! and produced by Medicom. The figure was shown at some Medicom exhibitions last year, and then we started seeing releases, at places like the Summer 2013 Wonder Festival, Medicom, and TAG.

The 12" behemoth is imposing, but it also has a thoughtful, brooding expression which adds to the character.

Here's my video review of Jyujin, with some other figures brought in for size comparison.

Kaiju Korner Video Reviews: "Old Timey" Stingy Jack

Welcome to the first-ever KK Video Review! This is the "Old Timey" version of Brandt Peters' Stingy Jack, a figure in the Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke line. Hope you like it!

Side by Side: Calliope Jackalope - Akihabara Adventure!

Calliope Jackalope, a Kathie Olivas design, is one of the toys in the Circus Posterus and Tomenosuke-syoten sofubi line. Let's join two Calliopes on a very special KK Side by Side as they tour the nerd capital of the world: Akihabara!

The best way to get to Akiba? The train, of course! The station is on a number of lines, including the Yamanote (which circles around Tokyo) and the Sobu, which cuts across the city east to west.

Let's change seats...

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KK Reviews: Stinky Ginger by Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke-syoten

Stinky Ginger, designed by Chris Ryniak, is the third figure in the Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke-syoten sofubi line. (Click here to check out the first figure - Brandt Peters' Stingy Jack, and here to check out the second figure - Kathie Olivas' Calliope Jackalope.)

Stinky Ginger represents an interesting departure from the first two figures, with a stronger emphasis on texture and sculpting detail and a sharper, more angular design - in contrast to the round, smooth designs of Jack and Calliope. To my mind, that helps make the series more well rounded, as it incorporates other sofubi design traditions.

If I were to categorize Stinky, I might place the figure in a similar vein with sculpts from Shikaruna and Yamomark, which are extremely bold and detailed.

Let's start with a look at the packaging.

The figure comes in a traditional bag + stapled header card, which has a really fun illustration, lettering, and color matching the figure.

More after the jump:

KK Reviews: Calliope Jackalope by Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke-syoten

Circus Posterus and Tomenosuke-syoten are on a roll! Calliope Jackalope, designed by Kathie Olivas, is the second figure in the team’s collaborative line of sofubi figures. The first, Brandt Peters’ Stingy Jack, was a very long time in the making, requiring the talents of designers, sculptors, and painters in the US, Europe, and Japan.

Once the process was worked out and the kinks were smoothed over, this United Nations of Sofubi Masters kicked it into high gear. With the wind at their backs, they released Calliope Jackalope within months of Stingy Jack. The new figure slots in perfectly not only with this line, but also with Kathie’s previous customs, resin figures, and production releases.

As it’s the holiday season, I took Calliope out on the town for a series of photo shoots in six locations. So let’s get to it – it’s Christmas in Tokyo, with Calliope Jackalope.

Let’s start by looking at the packaging.

Like other figures in the line, Calliope, which is 7.5” (190 mm) tall, comes packaged traditional sofubi style, in a clear plastic bag with a stapled header card.

The header uses a beautiful minimalist color palette, with the figure’s name in English and Japanese. Interesting to note that in the illustration, Calliope’s antlers are intact, while the sofubi figure has antler stubs.

Once again, the back of the header is signed by the artist. I can’t recall seeing this done outside of the Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke line. It reminds me of the way Blobpus (Kaji-san) signs the foot of every figure he hand paints. These are really nice personal touches.

Our first shoot was with a little Christmas tree in front of a convenience store near my house. The tree reminds me of something from Peanuts. It has a straggly string of lights and plays midi style X-mas tunes on a continuous loop.

On the naming of things, a "calliope" is a steam organ. (Fits in nicely with the Circus Posterus motife!) A "jackalope" is a folklore creature that's part jackrabbit, part antelope (which, combined, gives you "jackalope")  - hence the figure's outfit and broken antlers. All in all a very cool name!

Let’s look at the figure from all sides.

Immediately we can see one of Calliope’s unique features: the articulated legs which spin 360 degrees and allow the figure to sit perfectly balanced on a ledge. I’ve never seen this done with a sofubi figure, and it’s a testament to the master skills of both the sculptor - Yohei Kaneko of Mirock Toys - and Teodoru Badiu, who performed the initial 3D rendering of the figure. The importance of technical skills can’t be overstated when producing sofubi toys (or toys with any material), from the design to the wax, joint, mold, and paint stages.

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KK Reviews: Mimobots

 

Mimobots, the flagship goods made by Mimoco, are a perfect blend of designer toys and consumer electronics. I've been a big fan of these super fun removable USB flash drives for years, and I'm thrilled to have a chance to review several of the latest bots here.

For this shoot, I wanted to do something special. One of the common features of Japanese life is the presence of stone statues. You can find stone cats, squirrels, frogs, and other animals in front of houses and stores - on walls, pedestals, landings, and windowsills. Though inanimate, these still objects represent the animus (spirit) present in all things.

Japanese folklore is full of tales of yokai - spirit animals like kappa and tanuki usually out of sight, but still coexisting with the rest of us. Mimobots themselves are often based on characters from cartoons or comics, or based on designs from artists, or even miniature representations of well-known people. As such, the object is representative of something beyond its immediate form. And, based on the data you add to the drive, it can possess an infinite variety of content - your songs, your photos, your files.

So I thought it would be fitting to shoot the Mimobots with some everyday, and some very famous, streetside statues. Along the way, I'll talk about different aspects of the drives.

Let's start with a Bruce Lee Mimobot:

Bruce Lee is part of the Legends series, which also includes Albert Einstein Mimobots. On the well-designed packaging, you can see a sticker indicating this is an 8GB flash drive. You can buy Mimobots in a range of sizes, as small as 4GB and as large as 64GB.

Here's Bruce in front of a stone creature perched innocuously in front of a house. Like other Mimobots, Bruce stands at 2 3/8" (60 mm) tall. The size is perfect for tossing in your bag or carrying in your pocket.

 More after the jump:

KK Reviews: Stingy Jack by Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke-syoten

Stingy Jack is the first sofubi figure released through a collaboration between Circus Posterus and Tomenosuke-syoten. The making of Stingy Jack, a Brandt Peters character, involved an amazing design --> production development process involving top flight designers and artisans from around the world.

The process involved Brandt's original character design, as well as a 3D rendering by Circus Posterus's Teodoru Badiu, plus a resin prototype, followed by a new sculpt, waxing, test pulling, mask making, and many more steps until the figure reached the final manufacturing stage. For an exhaustive look at all the steps, check out the Tomenosuke blog and the Circus Posterus blog.

I'm thrilled to have the chance to discuss this toy, which blends western and eastern toy design and production techniques. Let's start with the packaging:

The figure is packaged in traditional sofubi style, in a clear plastic bag with a stapled header card.

Beautiful header front featuring an illustration and the figure's name in English + Japanese.

Here's where the packaging makes its mark. This debut version of Stingy Jack - called the Classic Edition (purple) - was a run of 120 pieces. Not only is the exact number of the figure stamped on the card, but each card is signed by Brandt. Really nice personal touch.

I shot the figure at my local park, which we might as well call KK Park since I do most of my outdoor toy shooting there.

More after the jump:

Kaiju Korner Review: Todd Robertson's Ammonaito

Todd Robertson is well-known for his amazing toy customs, especially his signature mecha virus treatments of figures, which range from the tiny to the gigantic. His work has been shown at events and in galleries from Boston to Tokyo and many places in between.

Todd's place in the indie toy world solidly established, he now brings us an original resin figure: Ammonaito. This one-piece toy has a lot going for it, and I'm thrilled to have not one, but two Ammonaitos to show you.

This time, I did the shoot indoors. Let's start by looking at each figure, and then we'll look at some side by side shots:

Ammonaito strikes me as a kind of a sci fi crustacean, just as home at the bottom of the ocean depths as he is on a deep space freighter.

You can see the complexity of the sculpt here. Though it lays flat, its angles, curves, and recesses make it burst out from whatever surface it's on.

Another side look

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KK Reviews: Splurrt's HiYa

Over the last year, as so many amazing indy toys have been made not only sofubi, but also in resin, clay, and other mediums (shazbot!), I've also been expanding the bounds of what we cover and explore on KK.

Today I'm really excited to shine a spotlight on HiYa, a resin figure by Splurrt that is fantastically well made and executed. From the sculpt to the balance to the articulation, this figure just plain rockin on all cylinders.

I did something different with this shoot, taking multiple angle shots of HiYa using two different natural materials as backdrops. I thought that might make for an interesting look at the figure in different settings.

First, wood:

The balance on this figure is simply outstanding. From the top weight and asymmetrical design, you might think it would be a diver, but let me tell you HiYa is just plain SOLID. You set him down, and he's not like "Eh, I don't know....." He's more like "Boom. Done. Next!" Joe proves himself to be not just a talented designer and sculptor, but an accomplished craftsman.

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KK Reviews: Miles Nielsen's Shishi

Shishi is one of Miles Nielsen's fast-growing stable of brilliant clay kaiju (or clayju, if you like) characters. Miles, who has been working in ceramics for years as part of Munktiki, does everything for each release. He sculpts, casts, assembles, glazes, and fires every figure, making each release an intense labor of love and fantastic execution of craftsmanship - infused into what are really very fun figures.

I was thrilled that Miles sent over a Shishi for us to review. Immediately I thought of Asagaya's Shinmei-gu shrine as the site of the shoot. Not far far from Asagaya station, it's a peaceful, serene, and very picturesque site dating back to the Edo period. It's also a popular shrine, so I performed the shoot discreetly and respectfully.

A visit to a shrine starts with the washing of hands. Let's start there.

There are a number of small and large shrines in the complex:

 Not to mention some gorgeous architecture:

 More after the jump:

KK Reviews: Greasebat

Greasebat, designed by Jeff Lamm and produced by Monster Worship, is not only a faithful realization in sofubi of Jeff's line art, but also a very fun toy in its own right. From the excellent header card art, it's immediately obvious how well-sculpted the figure is - a 3D form that has leapt straight from line art to vinyl.

Let's start with a look at the packaging:

The figure is packaged in traditional bag/header style.

Classic rampaging monster art by Johnny Sampson.

 More after the jump:

KK Reviews: Altar Beast

Alter Beast is a figure in a fast-growing lineup of sofubi toys produced by Monster Worship, a US outfit that puts out toys, art, and apparel from artists including David Horvath, Jeff Lamm, Velocitron, Galaxy People, Mark Rudolph, and beaK.

Alter Beast is the Monster Worship mascot now realized in vinyl! The two-piece sofubi figure was sculpted by Monster5 and made in Japan through sofubi maker extraordinaire Ricky Wilson.

Monster Worship sent the figure over for us to check out, so I brought AB to my favorite shooting gallery. First up, the figure from all sides:

The two-piece figure stands at about 5" in the classic bonzai pose. It's articulated at the waist.

This is the first full-color version of the figure. It's currently (but no telling how long it will last) available in the MW online shop here.

 More after the jump:

KK Reviews: Ugly Unicorn

Ugly Unicorn is the first sofubi toy from Rampage Toys, a one-man operation run by Jon Malmstedt. This fun little figure, which debuted last month, stands 4" tall from horn to hooves. The first painted production figures were released as limited runs at Superfestival 57. Here's an up close look at one of those versions, called "Poppy Goji Ugly.".

Packaging

The figures are packaged in bags, with screen printed headers.

This edition was numbered on the back of the header

 Source

Jon was drawing and painting Ugly Unicorn long before it became a toy. One of the things I like about the figure is the way the sofubi version transitioned nicely from Jon's original art. The toy preserves the figure's smooth, basic lines and surfaces, which is key for opening the figure up to all kinds of different paint apps down the line. In fact, Jon (who just got an airbrush some weeks back) has already started experimenting with a multitude of painting techniques, including working with fades on clear toys stuffed with tiny resins!

More after the jump:

KK Reviews: Cadaver Kid

Welcome to the first edition of Kajju Korner's newest series: KK Reviews. We're proud to start the series off with a bang by showing you this amazing one-off Cadaver Kid, sent in by Splurrt.


Cadaver Kid is Splurrt's first sofubi toy. The character, which debuted just a few months ago, is already proving a big hit with fans from Tokyo to New York (aka Splurrt HQ). Versions have been quickly snatched up online and at shows, including its most recent showing at Super Festival 57.

The figure is about 4" tall, but don't let its size fool you. Cadaver Kid is tremendously detailed and, with three points of articulation (head and both arms) it has a lot of poseability.

In addition to an eye for very fine detail, Joe, the mastermind behind Splurrt, has a subtle paint palette. So to do the figure justice, I shot it outside, on a beautiful fall afternoon under a gorgeous blue Tokyo sky.

One of the things I really like about this toy is, no matter how you pose it, it stands firmly and doesn't topple over. That's a testament to excellent design work, since the figure has a robust head and body, but small feet. The weight balance is excellent.

These shots reveal the level of care that went into the sculpt and design from all sides. From the lumpy skull to the protruding musculature of the lower left side of Kid's face, you really get a sense that this creature was patched together from different body parts.

More after the jump: