Side by Side: Stinky Ginger - To Nakano Broadway!

I was joined by two versions of Chris Ryniak's Stinky Ginger on a trip to the worldwide capital of toydom - Nakano Broadway! Stinky is the third figure in the Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke-syoten sofubi line. Click on each image to see its full size.

We start our adventure waiting for the bus. Here the Stinkies are hanging out on a sign featuring a famous Japanese logo which one sees all over. It's for a delivery company called Takkyubin, which delivers packages all over Japan for very competitive rates.

Here the Stinkies face off to debate the relative merits of Takkyubin vs. Japan Post. One of the interesting features about life in Japan is people often mail things to themselves from shops rather than carry them home. For low fees (500-1000 yen or less) or even for free, you can have all manner of parcels and packages sent to you, which can be nice if you're on vacation or even out and about in your own town, given how crowded trains get.

 More after the jump:

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...

 The story continues after the jump:

Side by Side: Stingy Jack

This is my first chance to do a Side by Side with figures from the excellent Circus Posterus x Tomenosuke-syoten line of sofubi toys. I've written a full review of Brandt Peters' Stingy Jack here and one of Kathie Olivas' Calliope Jacakalope here. Now let's see how the first and second versions of Stingy Jack square up alongside one another.

Alas, the little park near my home is being worked on or torn down, so it's surrounded by massive walls of corrugated metal. As much fun as it might be to do the shoot within those walls, I did not have my pole vaulting equipment on hand, so instead I did the shoot on the ledges of the many pretty flower and plant boxes in the area. There were many onlookers, and lots of smiles all around.

Let's start with a front shot, which reveals just how much work is going into making each of these figures unique. It's immediately clear the designers and painters aren't simply "color swapping." Each version has its own identity and stands out strongly on its own.

This is the debut version of Stingy Jack, called the Classic Version (purple). In this shot and the next, you can see how the same masking was used on the eyes and mouth, but to different effects. I like the way the colors of the eyes are different, but they didn't alter the mouth color. That means they weren't color swapping for its own sake.

This version of Stingy Jack is called Toxic Marshmallow. Here we can see how the nose and stalk were hand sprayed in each version.

 More after the jump:

Blobpus x MVH Enma Ollie side by side

Now that the GID Enmas are shipping, I thought it would be nice to take a side by side look at the first two Enma production releases.

I think the colors on both releases are quite a bit different, though they both have the signature Blobpus look.

 More after the jump:

Paul Kaiju x Real Head Biterman Side by Side

Biterman features a Paul Kaiju head design on an adult Real Head body.

The Biterman on the left was released at Shinto Gangu sold on 12.16.2011. The one on the right was sold at Shinto Gangu on 1.18.2012.

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Real Head Necromon: Side by Side

 

Necromon is one of my favorite RxH adult figures, with the standard adult RxH body and head design by Lamour Supreme. Real Head has put a lot of work into growing the line this year, with new designs by Mori and a bunch of other artists. Here are a couple of 2011 Necromon releases, side by side to show the coolness and versatility of the character and the excellent sculpt and paint work.

The version on the left is GID and was a limited version sold at Superfestival 55. The one on the right was sold at Superfestival 56. 

 More after the jump:

Lady Maxx: Side by Side

 

Lady Maxx is one of the latest in Max Toy Co's line of popular mini figures. In recent years, the company has strengthened its offerings by pooling the talents of some of Japan's best toy makers. Lady Maxx was sculpted by Makino-san of TTToy and cast by Shimuzu-san. What's more, the figure boasts more than TWENTY paint masks, also made by a master Japanese artisan. As his company puts out figure after figure, Mark Nagata masterminds the circle of talent, designing characters, color schemes, and header cards.

Here's a look at two versions of Lady Maxx. The hot pink version was recently released through the Max Toy website and at Design Festa 33. It brilliantly shows off the detailed sculpt, top notch mask work, and a beautiful combination of metallic and matte paint. The silver/black Lady Maxx is a test shot painted by Mark Nagata to use as a reference piece for future colorways. Though this isn't a production piece, I think it does a great job bringing out the sculpt while creating an almost pewter effect.

 More after the jump:

Chaos Stereo 1 and 2: Side by Side

Chaos Stereo is a mash up of Nerd One's Stereogon (the body) and Real Head's mini Chaos  It was an out of the blue collaboration between the toy companies that works so well it looks like the figure was originally designed that way.

I thought it might be fun to take some side by side pics of the first (and only two, so far), releases of this fantastic collab.

With two of them facing off, you really get a sense of the figures' hulking anatomies.

More after the jump:

Chaos Next 1 and 2: Side by Side

Chaos Next is one of my favorite new Real Head figures, combining the Mirock Chaos Head with the Nextman body. Both the scale and overall look go really nicely together.

The two December releases were shown in this month's Hyber Hobby. The first (green and metallics on flesh body) was a Shinto Gangu store release. The second (metallics on black body) was released at the store's Dec 26 four-man show).

Here are some side by sides for a comparative look at both figures. (Click on each hi-res shot to see the original size):