Super Festival 59 / スーパーフェスティバル59

Lots to see from Super Festival 59!

Morning outside sales

There were more than 160 people waiting outside for the morning sales. We all remarked there hasn't been anything like it in years.

And this seems to be what many were after.

250 pics after the jump:

GUUMON x Kaiju Korner preview

New super limited Krunk by GUUMON, with header card art by Irene Fu. Exclusive Kaiju Korner version, set for May 9 release. Pics and details coming next week!

Cronic Pinstripe Set

Five or six years ago, out of the blue, Cronic set up a booth at a show and released a jaw dropping set of figures in a stunning display case. He called it something like the "Cronic Mania Set," and there were only one or two sold at the show. The set included 5 Cronic figures - Maverasu, Zyurai Asu, Dorogami, and 2 Nougakis - in a display case. Every figure except Dorogami had extensive pinstriping. Not only that, but the case's backboard and the front of the case itself had pinstriping and line art on it!

It was back at a time when there was limited information about a lot of indy sofubi makers, so one had to glean pictures and details wherever one could. Only a couple of indistinct photos floated around the Web. And so the set remained something of a mysterious legend for years.

Cronic made a few more sets for fans, but again very little info about them surfaced. I think at least one of the sets was broken apart and sold separately, since a couple of the individual figures have shown up at toy stores on the secondary market.

A little while back, I lucked into a complete set by chance, and I wanted to do the set justice with a proper photo shoot. Here are individual pics of each of the figures.

Zyurai Asu:

Spectacular red striping on a clear green base

 Maverasu:

IMO, this Maverasu ranks as one of the top five Cronic PS figures - maybe at the top alongside the Cronic Deathra.

 More after the jump:

Medicom Tiger Mask figures

At Project 1/6, the Medicom flagship store, there's a cool display of their Tiger Mask line, including the series 2 figures.

The two figures below are from the second series of Medicom releases, and they're on sale now (through May 31) for 6800 yen each here.

Miracle 3

Golden Mask

According to the Medicom site, the preorder ends, the figures are scheduled to ship in July. Unfortunately, no overseas orders.

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:

Refreshment Toys shop info updated

Several weeks ago, Refreshment Toys changed store locations. I just updated my store visit report with all the new info, including the new address, phone number, and new maps to help you track it down.

Popbox show in Tokyo

Currently at the Loft Shibuya store, there's an interesting show going on called Popbox. The show is put together by the folks who run Few Many, a Shinjuku toy store. Basically, Popbox brings together the work of several dozen artists in a very central Tokyo location.

Artists whose work is on hand include Uamou, Devilrobots, Dehara, Touma, Mad Barbarians, and many more.

Besides various types of art (including a lot of toys) on display (and for sale), the event features daily sessions with different artists. They hang out for a couple of hours and paint, sign, sketch, and do crafts with kids, fans, and shop customers. Pretty cool concept.

The show runs through May 6. Here are some snaps I took:

 From the booth layout, the event has a real Design Festa feel to it.

There's quite a bit of indy sofubi on hand!

 More after the jump:

Preview of Bits Show @ LOT F Gallery

From May 4-May 25, the LOT F Gallery in Boston will host a show featuring the figures and customs of a trio of seriously creative and talented toy makers: Bob Conge, Todd Robertson, and Will Long. The idea behind the show lies in its title: Bits.

As the press release reads, "Bits will be comprised of mixed media paintings, collage, prints, sculpture and toys. The idea that everything in our world is made from many components is the basis for the show. These everyday components align and form themselves into bigger and most times different forms."


It looks like it's going to be a fantastic show. First off, here are some preview images that LOT F sent over:

Super cool preview shot from Bob's studio!

Next up here are shots I took during my visit to Todd + Will's studio a few weeks back. (Today is the first public reveal of the pics.)

Group shot of Will + Todd's figures

 More after the jump:

Atom A Armwrestler x Real Head spring 2012 show

Today at Real Heads in Tokyo, Atom A Armwrestler + Real Head teamed up to open a two-day, two-man show. On hand were standard and adult-sized Real Head figures, Atom minis, and a new Sunshine Trooper.

First up, the Real Head figures:

Next up, the Atom A Armwrestler offerings. They quickly sold out.

 More after the jump:

Skullwagon custom by Bob Conge

Bob Conge (Plaseebo) has long been one of the most creative customizers out there. He sent over pics and info on his new Skullwagon, made for the upcoming Playsam 500 show at Super7. Here are pics of the figure, followed by its backstory (click on the image to see its full size).

New from US Toys

Recent and upcoming releases:

Diggler & Doji-san wrap up their Southern tour: Charleston and Atlanta

The dynamic sofubi duo of Splurrt's Diggler and MVH's Doji-san joined us as we wrapped up our travels in the South. After leaving Knoxville, we made a beeline for Charleston, South Carolina, which involved a beautiful drive over the Blue Ridge mountains and a straight shot across South Carolina all the way to the East coast.

First up, some snaps from Charleston:

This cannon was on a ship that fired on Fort Sumter (which is visible from the shore) at the start of the Civil War. Long after the battle, the cannon was salvaged from the ocean.

At the Carter Museum, in the Oval Office. Nice place, though the Clinton library (in Little Rock, Arkansas) is more snazzy.

Carter received 3 medals when he won the Nobel Prize. Here are two of them.

More after the jump:

Diggler & Doji-san tour the South: Nashville + Knoxville

After Memphis, we carried on eastward through Tennessee. First up, a quick stop in Nashville for a bit of music and merry making.

Pretty good country singer

BB King's House of Blues

The next day, we were back on the road.

The IHOP Hunger

 We had a great time in Knoxville.

Masonic mysteries!

 More after the jump:

Collector's Showcase - Knoxville toy show

What can I say - no matter where I am, toys follow me! As we were heading to breakfast this morning in our Knoxville (great city BTW) hotel lobby, we spotted a sign. Well, first we spotted a dude in cosplay, and then we saw this sign:

 So we peeked inside:

 

It was only $3 to get in, so we figured what the heck.

There were a couple dozen dealers - mostly lots of comics and action figures:

 

 

 More after the jump: