Tokyo Cat Fight Toy Show

Show organized by Max Toy Co, featuring works by a big group of artists.

Max Toy x Dai Kaiju salon Negora Matsuri

Yesterday a fun little event was held at the Dai Kaiju salon in Nakano. It's a combo coffee shop/bar, with some food too.

These passes were sold at the previous Design Festa. Depending on which ones you bought, you could get one, two, or three pink Max Toy Negoras (mini, mid-size, and large) at the Negora Matsuri. The passes were also good for drinks and food. It worked out to be a great deal.

The pink Negora family.

  More after the jump:

Mechavirus Show at Rampage Studios

 A new show, featuring customs by Todd Robertson, opened today at Rampage Studios in Tokyo. It was a really fun show to cover - thanks Todd for making toys that are so fun to photograph!

Customs by Todd:

 More after the jump:

Wonder Festival 2013 (Winter) / ワンダーフェスティバル 2013［冬］ Interview with Mark Nagata

Here, I talk with Mark Nagata of Max Toy Co. about new toys and prototypes for upcoming releases.

Here are stills of the Max Toy protos referenced in the video:

Make sure to click on the image to see the full image size and the phenomenal sculpting detail.

 More after the jump:

Mark Nagata x Todd Robertson Custom Kaiju Negora Show

 

Through January 27, One Akiba is hosting a show featuring the customs of Mark Nagata and Todd Robertson. The Custom Kaiju Negora Show has already been extremely successful, with the majority of pieces already sold. But the figures are still there to check out in person.

In case you can't make it, here are pics I snapped today.

 

I'm surprised the Thor is the only one not yet sold. It's a beaut! Click here for more pics of these figures, which I snapped the other day.

Another glorious piece by Mark.Negora has gone henshin, turning into a remote controlled vehicle...

... driven by the mouse overlord!

 More after the jump:

Mark Nagata x Todd Robertson custom Negora show (partial) preview

I spotted these custom King Negoras by Mark Nagata the other day at the One Up Akiba shop. The day after tomorrow, Jan 20, the show opens with customs by Mark and Todd Robertson. Unfortunately when I was there Todd's pieces weren't up yet, so this preview is just a part of what will be sold at the show.

 More after the jump:

Designer Toy Award exclusives by Blurble and Mark Nagata

NYCC and the Designer Toy Awards are shaping up to be amazing events. Here are a couple of more DTA exclusives, set to be sold at the event on October 13:

CMYK Gusto by Blurble:

Limited to 4 figures. $55 each.

One-off Eyezon by Mark Nagata:

$300 for this stunning custom.

I love the way Mark has used Eyezon, one of his most amorphous and basic designs, as a canvas. He's also done some marvelous tattooed Eyezon customs for One Up shows this year.

Akiba Daisuke Festival

Now this was something different. Tokyo has quite a few toy shows (though a lot fewer than in previous years). And there are shows for video games, idol shows, and other elements of geek culture. But it's rare for many of these elements to not only come together under one roof, but to do so in an atmosphere of fun, high energy, and comradery. That was my impression of the Akiba Daisuke Festival.

The weekend show was held, appropriately, in the worldwide center of the otakuverse: Akihabara.

A note about the naming of things. Akiba is short for Akihabara. "Daisuke" means "to like" in Japanese.

I went for the toys but had a great time checking out everything else. But we usually headline with the toys, so let's start with a look at the indie sofubi on hand.

Real Head

 More after the jump:

A closer look at Max Toy's Kaiju Zanga

More images of Kaiju Zanga, a new Max Toy figure which debuted at the recent Wonder Festival:

The figure was designed by Nakayoshi's Yamashita-san.

Zanga has 10 parts, is about a foot wide, and weighs at least 1-2 pounds.

 More after the jump:

Mark Nagata (Max Toy Co) at SDCC 2012

Here I interview Mark at SDCC 2012. Kirby of Rotofugi joins the discussion as well. Touma too!

Coming up: Konatsu Nagata Show

From March 31 to April 1, the venerable Design Festa Gallery in Harajuku will host a show featuring the work of Konatsu and Mark Nagata of Max Toy Co. Mark is planning to fly to Japan for the show, marking his first appearance in Tokyo in around 1.5 years. Unfortunately, KK won't be on hand to cover the event. Don't worry though, we've got some pretty amazing stuff planned in the coming weeks. ;-)

If you're in Tokyo, make sure to stop by. Mark always has amazing figures on hand for his shows, and Konatsu, the designer of Max Toy's red hot Negora + Big Fish figures, is sure to impress.

Here's the back pic of the show's flyer:

Max Toy x Mandarake Dualos

To commemorate the relocation of its Sapporo shop, Mandarake is releasing an exclusive Max Toy Dualos. This is Max Toy's first collab with Mandarake.

The figure will be released on March 17. It will first be sold at the Sapporo shop starting at 11:00 AM. Then, online sales will start an hour later at 12:00. The price will be 8,400 yen per figure.

Here's a shot of the back of the figure:

For the full release details (Japanese only) click here.

2012 Winter Wonder Festival Exclusive Toys Preview

WF is tomorrow, and the previews have started to flow! Here are exclusive previews from a bunch of indy sofubi makers:

M1 Go

Sunguts (Booth 6-20-02)

 

Click here for full list of Sunguts exclusives.


Shamrock Arrow (Booth 4-07-06)

Dr Strange Toys (booth 4-07-06)

Nerd One (booth 4-07-06)

More after the jump:

Todd Robertson custom Max Toy micro Eyezons

Todd Robertson has done a small run of Micro Eyezons, featuring his mecha virus technique. Considering the Eyezons are about 1.5 inches tall, that must not have been easy! The figures have a nice metallic paint color and precisely painted super-micro eyes.

 It's a very small run, and the figures are $90 each. They're up for sale now on the Max Toy webstore.

Speaking of Medicom....more sofubi exclusives

Recently I wrote about the upcoming RESTORE x Medicom exclusives. On the same day (Dec 10), Project 1/6 will release a slew of other sofubi exclusives (presumably online and at the shop):

Ichibanboshi

Yamomark

Max Toy

Max Toy x Kaiju Korner figure + print set on sale now!

Welcome to the release of the first Max Toy x Kaiju Korner collaboration! Irene and I are thrilled to have worked with Mark Nagata of Max Toy on this set. So let me start by thanking Mark for being a great guy and all around kaiju master!

The kabuki-themed set contains two Max Toy mini figures: Dragigus + TriPus. They are all painted by Mark, with line art by Irene. As the figures are hand painted, there will be slight variations from figure to figure.

Here are indoor and outdoor pics:

Each set also comes with a signed and numbered postcard-sized giclee print based on a painting by Irene:

This Kaiju Korner exclusive release is limited to 15 sets.

The sets are first come, first served. One set per person. Ordering is easy. First, the basics:

Price
Each set (2 figures + 1 print) is $75

Shipping Options
Japan
Signed delivery: $10

China
EMS: $15

Taiwan (Happy 100th Birthday!), Singapore, and other Asian countries
Standard airmail: $10
EMS: $15

North America, Australia, UK
Standard airmail: $10
EMS: $20

Europe + Central America
EMS: $23

South America + Africa
EMS: $26

How to order:

To order, please send an e-mail to: kaijukornerandy@gmail.com

In the subject line, write: Max Toy x Kaiju Korner set. In the body, include the following details:

Name:

E-mail:

Address:

Country:

Phone number:

Shipping method:

After I receive your order, I'll generate a Paypal invoice. After the invoices go out, you'll have 48 hours to make payment. I'll ship within 3 business days of receiving payment. And that's all there is to it. :O)

Thanks!

KK Andy + Irene