Sunday, February 19, 2012

New Miles Nielsen ceramic kaiju: Shishi

Miles Nielsen of Munktiki is back in the mix - the clay mix, that is - with an amazing new figure: Shishi. You might remember a few months back when Miles made a huge entrance into the world of kaiju figures with two releases: Kappa and Ikamura. Click here and here to read more about those figures.

In his next foray into the world of ceramic toys, Miles dives deep in with a spectacular two headed figure named Shishi. The two works on so many levels. In particular, I love the head sculpt, as it reminds me of the stone lions in front of Chinese restaurants, shops, etc. (Incidentally, I'm not sure if it's related to the figure's name, but 石獅 (shi shi) is how you say "stone lion" in Chinese. Well, 石獅子 (shi shi zi), but close enough. To further digress, one of the classic tongue twisting tone busters is 四十石獅子 (sishisi zhi shi shi zi).There's another about a mother riding a horse, but I'll quit while I'm ahead.) 

In terms of the figure's overall composition and texture, the heads juxtapose perfectly with the flat smooth body accentuated by sculpted fur. Bravo.
Shishi is made up of SEVEN molds comprising more than a dozen pieces:

- 2 heads (each being 5 pieces)
- 1 body (3 pieces)
- 2 arms (4 pieces each)
- Ear gang mold (Gang mold meaning there are multiple items in one mold.) ( 2 pieces)
- Tail gang mold (2 pieces)

The figure also comes with a set of ceramic twin boys, which make up the final mold comprising four pieces.

Here's a pic of a couple of some Shishis and twins:

Next we have the figure's backstory, which fits in with stories for Miles' other figures. In fact, each figure will come with a little book that includes its full story. Here's a synopsis, in Miles' own words:

"The spider squid (Ikakumora) is tied into the story as well. They are the minion of the yet to be released villain.... Takeshi aka Takoshi (octopus death). Shishi is the savior accompanied by twin brothers whom are the only ones who can summon him. Shishi and his counterpart were summoned by the twin schoolboys. During the initial summons Shishi’s partner was attacked and mortally wounded. The only way to save him was for Shishi to combine with him. Hence him being Siamese."

Finally, here are some behind the scenes mold + proto shots (which you all know I LOVE to post):



Shishi will be released at a show at Bwana Spoons' Grasshut shop in March. I can't wait to see how they turn out painted!

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