Kaiju Korner

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Superfestival 55

Superfestival 55 was so intense I'm going to skip the regular intro and narrative and go straight to the pics.

More than 175 pics after the jump:

New from Secret Base

Secret Base dropped a few really nice releases today.

First up, the Skull Champagne Brain. This figure has so much going on. The inner head is clear vinyl with gold and white spray on the teeth, while the outer head is clear vinyl with multi-color glitter mixed in and white spray. Most of the white covers the protruding brain lobes/folds, making the head sculpt stand out in gorgeous defining relief and letting the clear glitter base vinyl provide the accents.

The arms are clear vinyl with shiny silver pipe cleaner inserts. This classic touch nicely complements the glitter head. The body looks like white base vinyl with black + gold spray and mask work. All in all, a nice color balance on a complex design.

More after the jump:

More IP resin finds

Itokin Park blog post updated with new finds and more pics!

Click here for the original post.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Up next: Superfestival 55!

Coming this Sunday Jan 9. Should be tons of great stuff there, with Real Head, Ilanena, Velocitron, Billiken, US Toys, Marmit and many others planning to attend. Kaiju Korner will be there, camera at the ready, SD card prepped to be filled, and extra battery at the ready!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Itokin Park rare resins and sofubi

Sometimes when walking into a toy store, you get lucky - especially if they just put out a collection or set of figures. I had some good luck the other day in Akihabara, where I picked up a couple of Itokin Park resin Kawadoujis and a sofubi Nano.The Kawas are complete, with boxes (one signed and dated by Kazu in 2007) and backdrops. Nano's also all there, with the original box.

I don't often feature my collection in blog posts (maybe I should more?) but since these figures don't see the light of day often, I thought I'd throw a spotlight on them. Please click each pic to see the original hi-res size.

Rest of the write up and lots of pics after the jump.

Super Clear vinyl post updated

More samples using super clear vinyl are coming in. This new vinyl could be a game changer. It's as clear as glass!

Click here for the original post with the new pic added.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Blobpus Inner Monsters show @ Kaiju Blue

Kaiju Blue is running a show (goes through Jan 19) featuring the work of Blobpus and friends. This is not your everyday custom show. The toys themselves have been altered using materials and techniques rarely seen in the sofubi scene. On top of that, there are so many mediums on display (including yarn + multimedia!) that the exhibition feels more like a fine art show at a modern art museum.

At the very least, Inner Monsters takes us out of our comfort zone, stretching the bounds of what a "toy" is and showing us the work of artists you're not likely to see at, say, Superfestival.

OK, let's get to the pics. (Click each image to see the full size.)

Many more pics after the jump:

Secret Base 2011 X-Ball

Today, Secret Base released a large grip of X-Balls, which are basically lucky bags, for 10,500 yen each. Along with things like a T-shirt, towel, and cup, there are Secret Base toys in each bags. Some lucky few got marbled Pushead Pirates. The rest, well...

Besides the X-Balls, there were 4 or 5 large bags for sale, ranging from 20,000-40,000 yen each. They went to the first few people in line. Looks like there were some interesting toys in them (GID Pushead Captain and various Bogeymen, for instance). Sorry for the not so clear pics. Everything was happening fast and furiously!

More pics after the jump.

To mark a fortuitous start to the new year, Real Head and Uamou held a show at the Studio Uamou in Akihabara. Along with some gorgeous new mini fortune cats, there were Uamou Happy Bags for sale. Also, the adjacent cafe is now open and in full swing, selling hot drinks, beer, and Uamou inspired snacks!

New figures:

More after the jump:

Coming up at Superfestival 55 from US Toys

Superfestival 55 is just around the corner! US Toys will be there with plenty of new figures in hand!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Chaos Next 1 and 2: Side by Side

Chaos Next is one of my favorite new Real Head figures, combining the Mirock Chaos Head with the Nextman body. Both the scale and overall look go really nicely together.

The two December releases were shown in this month's Hyber Hobby. The first (green and metallics on flesh body) was a Shinto Gangu store release. The second (metallics on black body) was released at the store's Dec 26 four-man show).

Here are some side by sides for a comparative look at both figures. (Click on each hi-res shot to see the original size):

Monday, December 27, 2010

Super clear vinyl

Luke of Lulubell Toys clued me in on a new type of clear vinyl that seriously ups the ante and opens the door to even more amazing possibilities with clear figures (which are some of my favorites.)

Here's a test shot of a mini Fortune Cat in super clear vinyl. Mori says s.c.v. Real Head toys are in the testing stage, and hopefully we'll see some releases using this amazing vinyl in 2011!

Here's another test shot of an incredibly nice super clear vinyl figure. The figure is Max Toy's Lady Maxx. Photo courtesy of Mark Nagata:

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Group show at Shinto Gangu

Today, four designers - Real Head, Atom A, Cord Viper, and Skulltoys - got together in Aoto for a group show hosted at Shinto Gangu. Besides a ton of releases, it was a good chance to hang out with fellow toy nerds.