New York Comic Con 2013: Interview with Mel Birnkrant

Here I interview Mel Birnkrant, creator of The Outer Space Men toys, which were made by Colorforms in 1968. Click here to check out my report of the OSM booth at NYCC, including lots of still images and back stories about the original and new toy lines.

New York Comic Con 2013: The Outer Space Men

One of the most interesting and unexpected booths at NYCC was for The Outer Space Men. The booth was part history, part sales, and all enthusiasm. It was staffed by Gary Schaeffer (a superfan who affectionately calls himself "The Money") and none other than Mel Birnkrant, the creator of the original toy line.

The sale case

The first series of the line was released by Colorforms in 1968. Featuring seven bendable intergalactic characters, they were meant to complement (and compete against) Mattel's popular bendable astronaut figure Major Matt Mason.

The Colorforms line was popular, selling hundreds of thousands of units. Immediately, a second series was designed and prepared for launch. However, it wasn't produced, due to a confluence of factors including shipping delays and, ultimately, widespread disappointment at the fact that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin found nothing but dust and rocks when landing on the moon in July, 1969.

The early 70s was not a good time for space toys in the USA, but I find it very interesting that on the other side of the world. the boom was far from over. The legendary Japanese toy company Takara went on to produce smash hits like Henshin Cyborg and the Microman line, both extremely creative series of toys. A number of Microman toys were later licensed to Mego in 1976, becoming the Micronauts. Then of course Star Wars came out in 1977 and space became hot again!

 More after the jump:

New York Comic Con 2013: RESTORE's Eternal Cloud (prototype)

The final proto sculpt up close look from NYCC we have for you is Eternal Cloud by RESTORE. This too is extremely complex and is quite a looker. I'm not sure what the final articulation is going to be like, but for now, it looks like it may belong in the statuette category.

Eternal Cloud features a dragon (I had a dream about a dragon last night...) wrapped around a temple. Once again, Abe's work incorporates traditional Japanese motifes.

 More after the jump:

New York Comic Con 2013: Skinner's Lolgolth Gnazgoroth (prototype)

Now here's something you don't see everyday. But soon you'll be able to not only see it, but buy it.

The figure, called Lolgolth Gnazgoroth, was designed by Skinner and is being produced by Unbox Industries. Put one of these in your front window and watch the hordes of unwelcome solicitors dwindle to a trickle.

This is an in-development prototype sculpt, with the figure slotted for release in 2014. To me it's the kind of thing that would give Hieronymus Bosch the heebie jeebies - or maybe he'd put one on a chain and wear it around his neck... The only thing I can compare it to is some of the hardcore resin kits coming out of Japan. I have no idea how they're going to paint these, but the figure is already in a league of its own, and the finished product should be something to see!

  More detailed pics after the jump:

New York Comic Con 2013: Pete Fowler's Rotogirl (prototype)

One of the things I love looking out for at shows is in-development sculpts and other prototypes of  upcoming figures. Sometimes they're tucked away on a back shelf, and sometimes makers place them front and center to give everyone a closer look.

I had a chance to see several upcoming figures. First, there's Rotogirl by longtime toy maker Pete Fowler, who is really one of the pioneers in the scene.

The proto sculpt, on display at the Clutter booth, features some trademarks of Pete's toys. It has a statuette feeling, so it doesn't look like it will have much articulation, but it's still an attractive, dynamic sculpt and should go nicely in a collection of Mr. Monsterism's toys.

 

More after the jump:

New York Comic Con 2013: Indie Toys

Welcome to Kaiju Korner's main coverage of New York Comic Con 2013. Here we take a look at the indie toy booths at the con, which were conveniently located in a section of the Javits Center called The Block.

As per KK's usual style, booths are organized alphabetically. Click on each photo to see its full size. Enjoy!


Clutter and Monster Island

 

 200+ pics after the jump:

New York Comic Con 2013: Pushead

Pushead at NYCC 2013

Gorgeous marbled Hevis

 More after the jump:

New York Comic Con 2013: Interview with Miles of Munktiki

We kick off our coverage of NYCC 2013 with an interview with Miles of Munktiki. He brought over a bunch of his ceramic Yakimon figures, which were really cool to see side by side. Miles took a few minutes to show us some of his toys, talk about his ceramic toy making process, and share some info about his upcoming plans.

Super Festival 63 / スーパーフェスティバル63

Welcome to Kaiju Korner's Super Festival 63 report. We have 175 photos for you from more than 30 toy makers. The photos are organized and sorted, labeled by maker, in alphabetical order, and I'll add info where I have it. Take that IG!

Angel Abby

 170 pics after the jump:

Secret Base Artist Project Devilman release event

Yesterday in Harajuku, a trio of stores sold a new batch of figures in the Secret Base Devilman Artist Project Line - with a chance at a bonus figure if you bought all six.

These four figures were sold at Secret Base:

Original

Secret Base

Pushead

Usugrow

  More after the jump:

Rockin' Jelly Bean x Erostika 9th Anniversary Super Foxy Event

Today at Erostika, Rockin' Jelly Bean, a bunch of staff and fans, and a pair of models got together to celebrate the store's 9th anniversary. Congratulations guys!

Most of the items sold were related to Super Foxy.

Cool length-wise poster - edition of 100.

 More after the jump:

Osaka Sofubi Toy Factory Visit (with video)

Tokyo isn't the only place in Japan with sofubi factories. As I recently discovered, toys are also being made in the heart of downtown Osaka, in a toy factory run by Jungle. It's in the Nipponbashi district, which is home to many toy shops, maid cafes, and more vending machines than you can throw a stick at. Which you should never do, because vending machines are lovely, and sensitive.

Jungle has a very big toy shop nearby, and they put on toy shows once in a while.

This is a working factory, but they let me shoot a short video, which was cool. Here it is:



If you want to get in touch with them, there's contact info here. In the past, they've had folks working there who speak English, so it may be easy to communicate with them via e-mail.

Pushead x Secret Base Flesh Skull Hevi

Released today at Secret Base.

 More after the jump:

New Rumble Monsters figures (international orders OK!)

The other day at Erostika (Rockin' Jelly Bean's shop in Tokyo), I spotted three new Rumble Monsters figures, which I had previewed in a previous post.

Here are images of the actual figures. They can be ordered from Erostika's online shop.

 More after the jump:

TCJ50: Tsubaraya Creative Jam 50 - Ultraman toy + merch extravaganza!

To mark the 50th anniversary of Tsubaraya, the company behind the Ultraman franchise, Tokyo's Tokyo is holding a two-week event at its shop in Harajuku.

 

TCJ50 doesn't so much celebrate Ultraman per se, yet rather its licensing muscle. There are a huge number of products for sale at the shop, including toys, clothing, stationery, jewelry, kitchenware, posters, original art, and even eyewear. The good news is there is something for every budget, though prices lean towards the higher end for most products. Even better, there's no admission fee.

So, let's take a look at the fairest of the fare, starting with toys:

Lots of releases from Medicom, in addition to figures from indie outfits like Sunguts, Uamou, T9G, PP Pudding, and more.

 More after the jump: