New Blobpus figure: Jupon

Jupon was unveiled the other day at the Blobpus x Masayoshi Hanawa exhibition. (Full coverage here.) Kaji-san (Blobpus) transformed the character from a 2D illustration by Hanawa-san into a sofubi figure. Since the source material has no sides or back, Kaji-san had to fill in the rest of the design. So, the figure is a true collaboration between the two.

Here's a shot of one of Kaji-san's Jupon customs held up next to Hanawa-san's original colored illustration:

With the above custom, Kaji-san intentionally chose colors and paint techniques to match Hanawa-san's design. A few other customs from the show did the same, while others have a more "trademark Blobpus" design and color sense.

More after the jump:

I think Kaji-san did a great job preserving the lines and design essence of Jupon while fleshing it out with a distinct Blobpus look and feel.

The figure, which is about 8" tall, is articulated at the waist and at the two front arms. This gives the chunky figure a good deal of posability.

At the recent exhibition, the premier production Jupon was on display. It will go up for sale on September 8 on the Blobpus website, and the cost will be 7,800 yen. The sale will be open to collectors everywhere - great news for international fans!

Here are shots of the figure from multiple angles:

And here's a shot of the figure next to a Hanawa-san painting:

This is just the beginning for sofubi's newest dynamic duo. The next figure in the line will be Belotonian Jr. Here's a shot of the in-development head sculpt:

Read more about Belotonian Jr + see more pics of Hanawa-san's work on my report here.