Blobpus x Splurrt show at Rampage studio

New show featuring excellent customs and releases by Blobpus and Splurrt.

Blobpus:

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One Up April Pandemonium Custom Show

Pics of the latest custom show at One Up Akiba, featuring works by Todd Robertson, Blobpus, Dream Rockets, Dol Roffo, Sunguts, Gumtaro, P.P. Pudding, Uky Daydreamer, Click Crack, and Monster Factory, and others.

Todd Robertson

 

Monster Factory

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Mechavirus Show at Rampage Studios

 A new show, featuring customs by Todd Robertson, opened today at Rampage Studios in Tokyo. It was a really fun show to cover - thanks Todd for making toys that are so fun to photograph!

Customs by Todd:

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Blobpus x MVH Death Sludge Demon

Amazing Blobpus x MVH collab

 

I love the Blobpus metallic pallet. Also, with this release, Kaji-san used more of a gorgeous mother of pearl silver spray, which works really nicely with the GID base vinyl.

Looking forward to seeing more from the dynamic sofubi duo!

Here's an indoor look which brings out the metallics more.

Mandarake exclusive Enmas

MVH x Blobpus Enma Ollies -  handpainted by Kaiji-san (Blobpus). Released today at Mandarake.

Regular version:

 

 Secret version:

January '13 Pandemonium show at One Up Akiba

One Up Akiba's monthly Pandemonium show is becoming a staple on the Tokyo sofubi circuit. With so few big shows left, small shows like these help makers ply their trade while providing a platform to try out new things. Pandemonium is the only custom show I know of that's held every month.

At these shows, you're more likely to see new or experimental styles, maybe because the numbers are so small. The figures are mostly one-offs or super-small runs. Also, the selection isn't limited to sofubi. You can also spot resin, plush, and mixed media pieces.

There are often figures that clearly involved a huge amount of work, and some of these lean towards the fine/conceptual art side of the spectrum and are less toy-ey than other works. But you've got straight out toy toys too, if the idea of art toys sounds too hoity toity.

Today, the January Pandemonium show opened, with works by Del Roffo, Blobpus, Todd Robertson, and a few others. At the opening, the Monster Factory toys were especially popular, but with a bunch of folks lined up, there was plenty of love to go around.

As always, if you see something you like, send One Up an e-mail to see if it's still available. They will ship overseas. Tell them andy from Kaiju Korner sent you. Here's their e-mail: oneup.webinfo@gmail.com

Show pics:

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Blobpus x TAG Alien Argus blind bag release

Here's a cool release. Legendary sofubi maestro Blobpus is teaming up with the Toy Art Gallery (TAG) on a run of Alien Argus figures. Alien Argus was originally designed by Mark Nagata and is produced by TAG.

There are a number of variants, including one-offs and two-offs, They'll be sold blind bagged at a price of $125 each.

The figures will go on sale Wednesday Aug 22 at 12 PM PST, both at the store and online: shop.toyartgallery.com

Akiba Daisuke Festival

Now this was something different. Tokyo has quite a few toy shows (though a lot fewer than in previous years). And there are shows for video games, idol shows, and other elements of geek culture. But it's rare for many of these elements to not only come together under one roof, but to do so in an atmosphere of fun, high energy, and comradery. That was my impression of the Akiba Daisuke Festival.

The weekend show was held, appropriately, in the worldwide center of the otakuverse: Akihabara.

A note about the naming of things. Akiba is short for Akihabara. "Daisuke" means "to like" in Japanese.

I went for the toys but had a great time checking out everything else. But we usually headline with the toys, so let's start with a look at the indie sofubi on hand.

Real Head

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GUUMON x BLObPUS x Lulubell "Toxic Pink" Daigomi

Welcome to the third post in our Leap Year quadruple header.

Tomorrow (March 1) at high noon PST (GMT - 8 hrs), Lulubell Toy Bodega will be releasing a super-limited BLObPUS x GUUMON x Lulubell collab.

For the release, Kaji-san (BLObPUS) painted 10 GUUMON Daigomi's. Each one is signed on the foot. The figures are expected to be priced under $200.

This is a collab in the real spirit of the word, as the figure features a signature BLObPUS paint scheme (with a splash of the classic Hawaii palette) on pink vinyl, one of Lulubell's signature colors.

Here's another look at the figure:

Blobpus x MVH GID Enma 1/1 custom chase revealed

Many Blobpus toy releases are sold blind bagged. That means there's a 1/1 custom figure inside one of those bags.

Recently the GID Blobpus x MVH GID Enmas started shipping. (Click here for a look at that figure next to the first release.)

Lucky collector J.ME (check out his awesome blog here) received a 1/1 GID Blobpus and was kind enough to send us a photo:

For comparison, here's the standard version:

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.

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Blobpus x MVH x Medicom Enma Ollie

Today, pre-orders opened for the latest Enma, which features a head sculpted by Blobpus on MVH's Ollie. This version is on a blue base vinyl with gold, black, red, green, and silver spray. Though it's a Project 1/6 exclusive, pre-orders are up online, starting today and continuing through February 10.

The cost is 13,800 yen. The good news for overseas fans is the release is open to worldwide orders! However, the order page states that buyers will be chosen by lottery in mid-February, which suggests that this is not an "open" pre-order but rather a limited run.

Click here for Japanese ordering instructions.
Click here for English/overseas ordering instructions.

New Blobpus x Yamomark figures

Blobpus continues his run of Yamomark collaborations with two new figures:

Nikulu Kamen

Chulantara

The figures will be sold via lottery, with entries accepted from January 25 to January 29. Ordering details will go up later on the Blobpus website.

Blobpus x Yamomark Umi Poodle

The Blobpus x Yamomark Umi Poodle was just released, and I love everything about it. This is a Kaji-san masterpiece, with a truly exquisite paint job. It features the classic Blobpus palette on GID base vinyl, with rich metallic colors brilliantly paired with subtle undertones. Free spray is complemented by fine details, and intricately designed individual sections work together across the figure to create an organic, perfectly balanced whole.

It's one of those figures that you expect to step down from the shelf and engage you in small-talk (or, you know, deep talk, if you're into existential discussions with kaiju seahorses).

Here's the figure from more angles, followed by closeups:

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