toyboxdx toy blog brog: is graceful art of daily expressing japanese toy  

I wrote about my little restoration project some time ago on robot-japan,
but I thought it could be interesting for you guys too.
Some Bullmark robots like Apolon Header & Trang DX and Robo Daibaron ST
often have tarnished metal parts.  I also had a few Bullmark robots and wanted
to give them their “bling” back. I needed a guinea pig for “operation bling”!

I found this loose Apolon Header DX on ebay-spain (original ebay auction foto)

He looked perfect for a cosmetic restoration project:
typical heavy tarnished arms, legs and horns. But otherwise complete.
Nobody bid on him (strange), so I got him for under $60.

I wasn’t disappointed what I got him. Header was in a good condition.
So I could start “operation bling”!
What you need is metal polish paste (I use aluminium polish paste),
some beers and a lot of time.

You could easy disassemble the arms (only 1 screw).
So you could polish them better without breaking something.

I also polish the horns of Header.
They are made of copper (I think) and got dark over the years.

The whole restoration took me a few hours and some beers ;-)
But I gave Header his “bling” back.
What Do you think guys, is this guy worth more than $55?

I did the same polish job with my other Header and the arms of my Apolon Trang.
Et voilà. Here’s my complete Diapolon gang.

Greetings from germany!

Apropos germany: Are here any vintage-super-robo-collectors from germany?

more bling: http://toyboxdx.com/phorum/read.php?4,198125

Flashman Flash Titan

So yeah, Flashman Flash Titan. An interesting toy with loads of nice features. Rubber tires, some diecast in the cab, freaking huge trailer, chromed bits:

Mighty Truck

Furthermore, hook up the trailer to the front hole of the cab, fold in the wheels on both cab and trailer, flip out the tail wings and main wings, and we have flight mode (also pictured at the top of this article):

Fly!

Aside from this, the toy is characterised by some neat little features that add some realism to this decidedly futuristic truck. The trailer has opening doors at the rear end that may also serve as ramps:

Rear doors open

…and small flip-out wheels at the front of the trailer so it can stand on its own:

Parked trailer

The cab is based around the same design as the Machine Robo Tough Trailer cab, with a few tweaks. Of course, it shares the opening doors (required for the transformation), clear windows and minimalistic interior with its Machine Robo twin:

Cool cab

The cab changes into Titan Boy, a fairly bricky but nicely detailed robot. The arms are articulated at the shoulders and elbows, while the legs are at the hips and ankles (required for the transformation). The upper legs are made from diecast metal:

Titan Boy

Titan Boy has a dual missile launcher hidden in his belly:

Sadly I’m missing Titan Boy’s Radial Cutters, so you’ll have to imagine those. It looks like a cross between a shuriken and a truck wheel chromed silver.

The Flash Titan trailer also changes into a robot, which then combines with Titan Boy to form the Great Titan. Here Titan Boy is shown next to the Flash Titan in robot mode:

Titan Boy and Flash Titan ready to combine!

Gattai on the toy works by opening the back of the Flash Titan and inserting Titan Boy into it:

Flash Turn! Great Titan! step 1

Flash Turn! Great Titan! step 2

Titan Boy’s head telescopes out to fit into the Flash Titan’s helmet, and then looks out through the holes in said helmet:

Helmeted Head

Great Titan:

This guy is Titanic!!!

Without Titan Boy inserted in it, the Flash Titan’s robot mode is somewhat loose, and the legs tend to collapse on their own. Combined, this problem is entirely gone. The combined mode is impressively solid, large (over 30 cm tall!) and very, very bulky. However, this all has a drawback, as Great Titan only has shoulder and elbow articulation, like Titan Boy. No waist joint ‘ere, folks. Also, Great Titan’s only gimmick is its size. No flip-out missile launchers or other fun stuff. This makes the Great Titan a bit of a let down compared to the other modes.

Conclusion: While not having an equally sophisticated transformation as the Flash King, the Flash Titan certainly is a fun, worthwhile toy.

I had to do it.

Recently I’ve become a father, and although it sounds horribly cliche’, I think I have the cutest kid in the world (like all fathers should). It’s everything they tell you it is: Bliss, terror, peak human emotion, peak human experience… it’s all there, and it is most definitely miraculous. I love it.

Modern fathers have a new role these days, one that I personally relish: Documentarian. I take more photos & videos of this kid…poor ‘lil guy, his whole childhood is going to be readily available for historical review. However, sometimes it just seems right to alter reality a bit, especially if it involves Japanese robots!

It was this randomly captured pose that sparked my robo-inclined creative impulse. Even without the PS work, he looked like he was shooting to win an Astro Boy look-alike contest. I could not resist. And a whole new way to embarrass my kid was born….

Sometimes…sometimes you just come across stuff that is so mindblowingly insane, deranged, and fanwanky that you just have to have it. A toy so marvelous, a figure so crack-tastic, something that makes you wonder just how much, and possibly more importantly, exactly which drugs its designer has been smoking, injecting, or actually breathing ever since his or her conception by mommy and daddy.

Ladies (if there any here) and gentlemen, I bring you Fei-Yen the Tiger.

Fei-Yen the Tiger

Now first a little intro on the Fei-Yen mecha series:

Fei-Yen is a female mech from Virtual-On. Originally based on the Magical Girl genre, dual pigtail Tsundere type to be precise, she quickly evolves into a Maid in the later games. More crazily, her later designs include fanservice such as panty shots and various bust sizes. Makes you wonder what Hajime Katoki, the Virtual On character designer, (of Gundam fame) was smoking, eh?

Fei-Yen the Tiger is how he could, and did, make this mindfuckery worse (or better, depending on your point of view)…let’s have a look.

The packaging is deliciously striped in the proper colors, and it suggests her to people 14 years or older:

This. The figure has all the proper attributes:

Color scheme: check.

Tail: check.

Ears: Will do.

A near-perfect catgirl. The MOE fans will appreciate.

She comes with three optional hands and includes a heart-shaped base, upon which she can be stood:

Or kneeled:

Rowr!

Or put in whatever pose you fancy:

All hail Sofubi monsters and their mecha catgirl girlfriends!

Be aware that these toys are notoriously fragile. I bought mine unbroken, but it broke in transit, despite being packed well:

Ouch!

Nothing some super glue can’t fix. The PVC parts are also somewhat sticky, as if the chemical used to make them flexible is oozing out.

Sadly no diecast, and the waist joint is asymetric.

I must simply praise Hajime Katoki for designing a character (and Kaiyodo/XEBEC Toys for releasing it) that seems to be 120% fanwank…

Sanjeev recently dug up this pic from an old BBS post. Hobby Project’s Kanzen Hentaro’s masterpiece Gekiganger 3 diecasts from Nadesico circa 1998. Feel the love..

Nodders are lame. Unless, they are decades-old Japanese super robots. Then they pretty much rule. From Nakajima, enjoy.

My parents really like Boss Palder.
They dont had a clue who Boss Palder was,
till they got a painting of him as
a x-mas gift from me. Now Boss Palder
is part of their lives, hanging in the
their living room since ’95.

I made a little “gathering”.
Painting meets robot.

My painting was heavy inspired by the
Astro Robot Box Artwork…ok, a copy of it. ;-)
Well, the Astro Boxes dont look very spectacular,
but I always like the little portraits of the
Blocker’s on the side panels.

Hey, only a few months and we have X-mas!

Cheers guys!

more: http://toyboxdx.com/phorum/read.php?4,197879

With apologies to Chris, I know you loves the amputees. But hey, every amputee was full bodied at one point, so consider this a “before” pic.

An absolute must-have for the discerning collector. Gimmicks gimmicks and more gimmicks. Surprisingly, these are not super expensive….yet.

I became intrigued with Big Scale Pla Bases upon seeing the small photo of the Thunderbirds base in the Popy Datafiles. I made it my mission to create my own ‘datafile’ with pics of these things, since there was no other info on them that I could find. I didn’t see any on ebay, but once I discovered YHJ they came rolling in.

My first discovery was a Getter base.

It was loose and cracked, so I naiively thought I could grab it for a couple of hundred. WRONG! Damn thing went for over a grand.

I had seen several Getter G bases after that, mostly loose, and then this showed up.

Saw it within an hour of listing. It was a BIN so I probably paid too much, but no regrets as I have yet to see a better boxed version come up, and is the only four figure toy in my stable.

For just over a year now I’ve been gathering photo’s of these things and discovered big bases from the likes of Bullmark, Takemi, and Takatoku. Some are rarer (and much more expensive) than others, but all are cool looking.

If Pla bases are your thing or want to know what accessories came with them (where possible to this point), come on by to my photo album for more pics. I think I have the Popy ones covered with the exception of Combattra and Raideen Bases.

Oh, and if anyone has other, or more complete pics of these things, please shoot em over, as I’m constantly updating this. Thx.

Big Ass Bases