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

(Walker Machine “Gallop Type,” made by Clover circa 1982.)

The good news: as of April 28, 2007, the Bandai Museum will be officially back in business. It has relocated to “Omocha no Machi” (“Toy Town”), the site of Bandai’s now-dormant domestic design and manufacturing operations. (Not to mention the location where the third specimen of Garada K7, the world’s rarest Japanese character toy, was discovered.)

The bad news: it’s located in Tochigi prefecture, roughly 2.5 hours outside of Tokyo, and apparently only open on weekends and holidays, meaning it won’t be nearly as accessible as the former location in Chiba.

The weird news: in addition to displaying some 7,000 items covering the “history of Japanese toys,” it will include a number of the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison, a super-deformed rendition of which appears to be the museum’s new mascot character. What would the famed American inventor make of seeing his creations displayed alongside Jumbo Machinders and a life-sized mockup of Mobile Suit Gundam….?

P.S.: A sampling of some of the toys displayed at the former Bandai Museum in Matsudo, Chiba can be seen here.

Legendary plastic model manufacturer Aoshima has announced that they will be selling Toynami’s Masterpiece Collection “Alpha Fighters” re-branded as “1:48 Shin Seiki Gokin Legioss” toys in Japan. The blue Eta, red Zeta, and green Iota will hit Japanese shelves in late July at a retail price of 10,290 yen each.

Hardly unexpected or earth-shattering news… but wait! Japanese toy-blog Yacolog reports that there’s a twist. Rather than simply importing, Aoshima will be manufacturing their own improved versions of the toys under an OEM license. In an interview with Yacolog, Aoshima described the changes as including “strengthening the joints” and “introducing new versions with different weapons.”

Details are sketchy at the moment, but scuttlebutt on Japan’s infamous 2ch forums reports that these “different weapons” may include missile pods for the left shoulder and a chest-mounted three-barrel missile launcher. It goes on to say that Aoshima is currently investigating the possibility of releasing the Masterpiece Collection “Beta”/”Tread” Fighter toy in Japan, but there is no guarantee that it will happen.

With the CM’s Corporation planning to release their own versions of the Legioss and Tread in the near future, it’s shaping up to be a big year for Mospeda fans. Stay tuned for more info as it comes in.

Some of the robot toy collection of Warren Schwartz (known around Toybox DX as the “toy Yoda”), will be on display at Louisiana State University’s Museum of Art beginning April 19th. Read all about it here.

The Marusan Toy blog reports that Wataru Masuda, former president of legendary toy and model maker Nitto, has passed away.

Nitto is perhaps best known as the manufacturer of Kow Yokoyama’s “SF3D Original” (now Machinen Krieger) model kits. A formidable presence on the Japanese toy scene in the ’60s and ’70s, their “Gamera” and “Gappa” soft vinyl figures (shown above) are considered classics of the art form.

The “Real Color” version of the Soul of Chogokin Xabungle, sold as a mail-away premium in Bandai’s Project The Soul of Chogokin book, has finally hit the streets.

I haven’t managed to get my hands on one yet, but there’s a great review showing the differences between it and the previously released version at the Japanese-language site GanHoo. Another brief review can be found at Yacolog.

For those who can’t decipher Japanese, the big changes are a brighter paint job, inked-in panel lines, and the addition of a handful of accessories (a missile launcher and three pint-sized “Walker Machines,” to be exact.) Bust out them credit cards — they’ve already hit the online auctions, going for a premium of from 25% to 100% of the original 6,200 yen price.

[Talk about it in the BBS…]

Check it out: the latest edition of USA Otackers, the column I co-write with Patrick Macias, has hit the stands in issue 110 of Japan’s Figure Oh magazine. This month’s column, titled “Otaku de Eigo,” gives readers a quick rundown of English language collecting terminology (“MIB,” “MOC,” “punched,” “unpunched,” etc., etc.)… And a peek into the heart and soul of the only collector worthy of the title “Mr. C-10,” Josh Fraser. I quote:

Matt: The C stands for “Condition” and goods are rated C-1 to C-10. C-1
would be like a toy that has passed through a dog’s digestive system
while C-10 is something that only the hand of God has touched before.

Matt: Speaking of which, let me tell you a story about this hardcore collector friend of mine from Boston. His name is Josh. His nickname is Mr. C-10. He’s obsessed with Gaiking. And so his life’s mission is to find the world’s cleanest specimen of the GA-51 Gaiking Chogokin. He’s got this glass case in his bedroom, and it’s full of identical, never-combined Gaikings, all in pristine condition. Perhaps the sight of them lulls him to sleep at night… We’ll never know. Anyway, he’s got this strange ritual of hooking up a vacuum cleaner to the case and sucking all the air out of it. To preserve his collection in a perfect vacuum. That’s Mr. C-10.

Josh posted a much clearer shot of his Gaikings a few weeks back, but I was happy to give him a shout-out he so richly deserved in Japan… Now he’ll be even more mobbed by chicks than usual when he arrives! Just make sure you bring that Gaiking vinyl man-purse I saw you secretly buying at the Tokyo Toy Show a few years back!

[Comment in the BBS]

Legendary God Giant Patrick Macias sends this shot of Bandai’s upcoming Soul of Chogokin Ideon, snapped at the Tokyo Anime Fair. It’s due out at the end of this month at the low, low price of 23,100 yen (around $200). Lotsa other pics at Bandai’s Tamashii Web site, too.