Monday, May 29, 2017

Impressive Konatsu and other sofubi display at Hot Dog Toyz in Taipei, Taiwan


The manager of Hot Dog Toyz is a huge Konatsu fan. She's put together a very impressive collection of Konatsu, T9G, and other sofubi, and it's currently on display at the shop.
As sofubi has grown in popularity in Taiwan, the store has increased its stock. These cabinets are display only, but there are other sofubi toys available.
 More after the jump:

Monday, May 22, 2017

Bootleg Toys in Taipei, Taiwan

In Taiwan, a lot of people buy their produce at traditional markets. They are crowded and raucous affairs, with granny carts and elbows flying, booth owners shouting out discounts on fresh watermelon, and the odd stray dog jostling for scraps.
Sometimes, there are also shops lining the markets. You'll have everything from clothing repair shops to stores selling daily goods. A common type of shop is a 貨店 (zha huo dian). They sell your standard low-cost kitchen wares, household products, etc. They also sometimes have toys.


Quick backstory about why I was there. I was on my way to an old neighborhood, and I had a feeling a neighbor might invite me in for coffee. Well, when you go into someone's house, you remove your shoes first. That morning, I had discovered that one of my socks, bought years ago in Korea, had developed a hole in a toe. Not a good look. As a bit of preventive defense, I went searching for a new pair of socks. Lucky thing I found some, since I did wind up visiting with the neighbors. Embarrassment prevented!

Back to the shop. Here's a look at some of the colorful KO toys they had:
We'll start with an oddly named "Deformation" toy. This Transformers KO has even reappropriated the packaging. Thorough job!

And where would we be without LEPIN, one of the many LEGO knockoff brands? Instead of Ninjago, this is the renamed Ninjag line. Maybe they ran out of letters.

The girls have toys to choose from, too. 

This "Star War" gun may be a sort of Nerf/Transformers KO? Nerformers?
 More after the jump:

Monday, May 15, 2017

Incredible Display of Vintage Jumbo Machinders

I recently spotted a display of some of the rarest and coolest Jumbo Machinders, so I thought I'd shoot some snaps to share.

 More after the jump:

Monday, May 8, 2017

Cornucopia of Rare and Wonderful Tetsujin 28 Toys!

Starting price: About $40,000
I recently had a chance to check out an amazing selection of vintage Tetsujin 28 toys. Tetsujin 28 is one of Japan's most famous characters. He was introduced in manga form in 1956 by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.
I believe these toys were made in Japan in the 1950s-1960s.
Among them are a smorgasbord of rare and amazing tin toys, including fantastic remote controlled figures. In the age of drones and Go Pro, we take toys like that for granted, but 50 years ago, remote controlled toys were a technological wonder!
 Lots more wondrous images after the jump.

Monday, May 1, 2017

On Set Photos of Ultraman and Kamen Rider

Ultra Seven
In the lore of Japanese tokusatsu shows, Ultraman and Kamen Rider, along with Godzilla, are at the top of the pack. We've seen many images from the shows, including promotional materials, posters, photos, trading cards, and so on. But what isn't so much in the public eye are in-house and unscripted photos. They might have been used to see how suits look on camera, to have reference shots of helmets and weapons, and so on.

Here's a look at some stills from various Ultraman and Kamen Rider shows from the Showa and Heisei eras.
Kamen Rider X

Kamen Rider 1

Kamen Rider J

Kamen Rider Kuuga

Ultraman Great (aka Ultraman: Towards the Future). Fantastic set of stills from the Australian show!

More Ultraman Great

Finally, here's a fun photo of TV actors holding Ultraman toys!

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