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

You like that? The longest “Brog” title of all time.. As much as you might think I’m wasting your time, I’m really not. I’m going to reassure you of the fact that the magic does still happen, and when it does it’s unimaginably nice..

So I’m sitting around watching baseball waiting for my friends to show up from Hiroshima.. I just sent off all my shit to Shinjuku, Tokyo via Takuhaibin, so I’m left with nothing to accommodate my ADD.. I decide to get drunk as I know that there is a Hanshin Tigers game (I am in Osaka) tonight starting at 6:05 vs. the Chunichi Dragons. It’s about 5pm at this point. What the hell am I going to do for the next hour or so? I’m reminded of something I saw the day before at a local shop that’s across the way that I would really like to get for my traveling partner whom I haven’t seen for a couple of days, so I roll over there in hopes of putting the “own” on it.. I throw an extra 10,000 in the coin purse just incase..

Super Position, which is directly across from my hotel and literally 25 paces from my floor level elevator, is a massive toy store with a 50/50 approach of old and new. 3 MASSIVE stories of literally every genre of Japanese toy goodness. I don’t know the address, but it doesn’t matter. If you go to Osaka and hit “Den Den Town” you would will not miss it..

So, I head up to the 3rd floor which houses the Tokusatsu toys and make it a good 40 feet down the isle to the item I’m looking for and I see something calling me in my peripheral. It’s a fucking KING JOE POPY CHOGKIN GA-94!! What the fuck is that doing there I think, as all the good stuff is locked up behind glass? Well, as it seems some unassuming retail worker made a mistake. I throw it in my basket and walk on..

That’s right… A fucking Popy GA-94 Ultraman King Joe for 2000Y C8 in C8 box with accessories and paperwork. I walk up to the attendant, who is in her early 20s and she looks at me slanted.. She triple takes the Joe and proceeds to throw it in the bag and let me walk.

Honestly, at this point I’m more concerned about catching the first pitch so I run upstairs, crack a Suntory Reserve and start breaking my score out. As I take pics to share my experiences with you guys my batteries run out so I only get a couple of pics in. I hope you appreciate them suckers…

Believe it or not, the deals are still out there. How, why, when and where will always be suspect, but fear not, they will happen..

Baseball is calling.. Later! Over and out..

Sjoen

West of Tokyo that is..

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Dinner:

You’re in a desert, walking along in the sand when all of a sudden you look down. You look down and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling towards you . . . You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can’t, not without your help, but you’re not helping.

Update 4/20:

Compliments of my good friend Kenichi Hanaki of:

Psychedelia
2F MINAMIKAN NANBACITY 5-1-60 NANBA CHUO-U
OSAKA 542-0076 JAPAN
TEL & FAX: 06-664-2660

I love blow up character toys made by Popy.

I got lucky and picked up these inflateable bad boys at Gojira Ya, Koenji, today, Kaibutsu-kun and Kamen Rider Super 1. Both are ring toss inflatable retardation,manufactured by Popy Japan in 1980. Pictured here you can see them shot from a 15th floor studio in Shinjuku..

Gojira Ya is a great Tokyo shot. Hit them up as follows:

Godzilla Ya (Gojira-Ya)
3-67-1 Koenji, Suginami-ku
(phone) 03-3336-3178

www.plala.or.jp/godzillaya

Hours: 2pm – 9pm, closed Wed.

Check the bar downstairs if you are balls enough.

Yes.. She’s actually holding a Takemi Machine Blaster Sandaio mini machinder at 0:30 seconds (first video). Believe it. Throw some boxed vintage DX chogokin on top of that and you’re looking at an afternoon well spent. If you get your sorry ass over to Osaka you will need the following info:

HERO GANGU

Hours: 12pm – 7pm

Telephone: 06-6641-7776

The “hero” brings a Shogun Great Mazinger Jumbo Machinder to the counter.. Fucking sick!!!

It does not take a genius to figure out I have an obsession with windup walkers. And it seems even the medium of tin is not an exclusive prerequisite in this case.

Ishinomori Shotaro’s inept but lovable creation has made its way into many subgenres of toy collecting, but this plastic Popy zenmai was one I had not seen in a long time.

The first time was (again) in an old Ray Rohr catalog from the mid 90s. It was not readily apparent what the walker was made out of. For all I knew it was either tin or vinyl. The former always seemed like a perfect fit material choice for the character, though after realizing it was a plastic based toy, my former daydreams of a possible Battery Op tin of this character existing were dashed by reality. (Though if OTTI is listening, it would be a perfect tribute)

The toy is brilliant in its simplicity. It walks forward at the turn of the key, but also has the added function of the back propeller spinning in time with the walking. At about 8 plus inches, the entire toy is made from a quality plastic, with gold-chromed hands and mimics the Chogokin version in proportion and detail. Like its smaller brother, it has both the heart sticker and the tin control panel, under his Volkswagon Beetle-like hood. The eyes however are white plastic with painted pupils. Perfectly caffeinated and strung out looking cuteness abounds.

The box is the standard Popy fare, but falls somewhere between the traditional Popy walker boxes and the Chogokin counterparts. The weight of the cardboard is seemingly closer to the previous, but also reminiscent of the talker packaging as well.

Overall, this badass little walker served to disrupt my tin snobbery and remind me, its is not the medium, but the message that matters most. Respect the plastic.

-Josh

From his secret underwater base in the sea of Japan Minister of Information Matt Alt chimes in on some hot, hot chocolate..

“Black Robocress” sounds like a ’70s blaxploitation film!”

Per Minister Alt, this is some kind of grey-market, unlicensed thing that came out a long while after the show aired. The manufacturer is someone named “Sunny”.

Not a huge fan of the “black” representations, but this fucking rocks. Wanted: professional “gunpla modeler” who’s into black love and not afraid to get their hands dirty. Send resume to.. Psych! Hero’s Club is down the street from my house.

Pics compliments of “Hohenstaufen”:

Hohenstaufen’s Blog