[DESIGNER VINYLS] Hot or Not?

That's also by Marmit, right Matt? I dig it...but I don't think yokai toys (or ANYTHING by Marmit!) qualify as designer toys...even if they *are* unlicensed!

I try not to get hung up on definitions. They're sofubi.... they ain't made by a major manufacturer.... They ain't based on a pop character... they're "designer" in my book.

Well, I'd normally agree that the definitions are stupid and arbitrary...and almost meaningless when you look at the actual toys! Aren't they all just stupid rubber dinosaurs at the end of the day??? But as soon as you take a look at the communities collecting these things, I think it becomes pretty apparent why the distinction is there! :P

Oh, and Marmit's HUGE. I'd say they qualified as "major", no?

How do you define "huge"?? They're nowhere on the scale of Bandai or Takara or even Yamato, from what I can tell.

Marmit's definitely bigger than most of the other JP vinyl companies; they've also been around longer than most of the other companies except for maybe M1 and Yamanaya. Definitely no Takara or Bandai, though.

They've started to cross over heavily into designer territory with side projects like Skull Head Butt, Karz Works and Wombat Toys. A year ago, I'd have firmly stated that Marmit is not a designer vinyl company; now, I think they're one of the few companies that could be considered both designer and traditional.

I agree that Marmit doesn't warrant the label "big," from what I'm told it's an operation of just a couple of people like M1GO, Marusan, etc. Even when Marmit was doing Star Wars licensed items, they were actually being made by Hasbro Japan.

You could call Medicom "big," they actually have a retail store and do the Kubricks and such, as well as designer vinyls.

Oh, for shizzle: Marmit’s hardly Bandai or Takara! But then again, who is?? Comparing Marmit to Yamato, though? Hmm…

I don’t claim to have any special knowledge of their structure, but it always seemed to me like they’re pretty damn big. On top of their Japanese vinyl releases, they had plenty of "mainstream" (slush-cast?) vinyl toys made in China (FLOSRs, for example) and even a appreciable number of quality diecast releases…from their decadent Daigokin offerings to their Mini-Metal robot series. Sure, these toys aren't nearly as complex as a Yamato Valk, but at least they were executed well with no epic QC issues.

But getting back to vinyl, it was my understanding that Marmit also encompassed a *bunch* of other companies, not just SHB, Karz, and Wombat. Gigabrain…Target Earth(maybe?)…and several other small outfits I can’t seem to recall now. That seems pretty big to me! But yeah, I guess you’d have to call them traditional and designer at this point because of all those side ventures.

I just can’t imagine only a handful of people (like at M1, Marusan, and others) being able to wrangle all the diverse stuff they put out. But as for Medicom, I agree: Medicom definitely seems a lot bigger than Marmit. Beside Kubricks and their other myriad brands, I know Medicom does a ton of collaborations with other designer vinyl toy makers, but do they actually make their own sofubi kaiju toys? Just curious...

You're right, Marmit did make a bunch of diverse stuff, and it's hard to forget those Daigokins. On the other hand, it was easy to forget those VOTOMS figures.

A sampling from HLJ:

[www.hlj.com]

A lot of items listed there are over 10 years old. Do they make anything other than home-grown vinyls nowadays?

Also, these sub-brands like Hukkokudo, Target Earth, etc., I think that each one of these is a co-production with someone else rather than something Marmit owns themselves.

Shit...how could I forget Hukkokudo..? But yeah, if they're just co-productions, I could see how Marmit proper may not need to be that huge.

Well, anyway, it sure seems like the whole industry is suffering pretty bad right now. I doubt Marmit's doing too much non-vinyl stuff these days...but then again, other companies' releases appear to be slowing down as well. :/

Do people still make vinyl toys?

Introducing Prometheus Rising Studio.
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Do people still make vinyl toys?

The Chairman will be so proud! His work is done.

LOL

You motherfuckers...

There isn't really any way to determine the actual size of Marmit relative to other companies, but to me it's a designer operation mainly because the guy who runs it appears to call all the shots as regarding what gets made (which is why we see obscure yokai and sci-fi characters alongside the Toho and Dynamic stuff.)

Speaking of which, remember that series of translucent blue versions of Godzilla and Gigan characters they released back in the mid-90s? I'm surprised nobody's thought of stuffing these with guts. Always liked that blue tone.

It's probably terrible that I can't remember...but I coulda sworn I had that translucent blue Mothra...and at one point had filled her up with glow gravel!

Ah....all that seems forever ago...

Time Traveler's hazardous job. 1 million B.C.
Hey, lookit these dorky artsy-fartsy cyclops dinosauruses....."RaaRgh! mange mange!"




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2013 01:14PM by repairtechjon.