Interview with Peter Kato

The other day in New York, I had a nice chat with toy maker Peter Kato about his resin figures, sofubi plans, and a bunch of other stuff.

Peter Kato Hinomaru Turtle Tetsujin‏

Peter Kato has just released his newest resin: Hinomaru Turtle Tetsujin‏. The figure is cast in a beautiful clear resin with a red resin ball (representing the flag/rising sun of Japan (Hinomaru)) suspended inside it.

The figure, sold through My Plastic Heart, is being made for charity. All proceeds will go to NY Japanese American Lion's Club Charities (JALCC) Inc, with the money going directly to those who suffered from the 3/11/2011 disasters.

For such a beautiful piece, and such a great cause, the price is a bargain: just $25 each. You can buy the figure on My Plastic Heart's website. Here are more images:

Last year, Peter released another set of figures for disaster relief. It was a set of Pocket Powers which debuted at SDCC and was sold through Toy Tokyo. Here's a pic:

Some of these figures are still available through Toy Tokyo.

Kudos to Peter for his creative toy making and generous releases. Shout outs also to My Plastic Heart, Toy Tokyo, and the JALCC. Ganbatte Peter. Ganbatte Japan.

New from Uamou

Shots from my recent store visit to Studio Uamou. As always, you can order on Uamou's website. She ships overseas at reasonable rates.

Peter Kato resins for sale at the studio.

Peter Kato resins

I don't often get a chance to cover resin figures, mostly because they rarely cross my desk. But recently New York-based artist Peter Kato sent over a couple of his super cool figures, which are a ton of fun.

I first met Peter and covered his work at an exhibition he had at Studio Uamou last year. More recently, I posted info about his initial Turtle Tetsujin release.

His figures are 1-2" tall and feature well made resin with detailed sculpts and line work.

Onto the images!

Intial Turtle Tetsujin (with custom lettering by Peter) and Jet Black Fright Night.

 Closeups:

This fellow would make a cool sofubi figure too!

 More after the jump:

Initial Turtle Tetsujin resin figure from Peter Kato

Peter Kato, whose work I covered a couple of months ago at an exhibition at Studio Uamou, has a new version of his 2.5" resin figure: Turtle Tetsujin. This version of the figure is Valentine themed. It's clear red, and you can choose a letter, number, heart shape, or "?" symbol to have added to its chest - kind of like traditional conversation hearts candy (which I LOVE, though the stuff you get in bags and boxes these days is lousy. Fortunately some Tasti D Lite shops in Manhattan continues to stock the GOOD STUFF in bulk. Yum!)

Here are a couple more images:

The cost is $15 per figure. You can place an order on Peter's webshop here. The deadline for ordering a custom initial is Feb 1. You can also e-mail them at: info@peterkato.com