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

My man “repairtechjon”, aka Jonathan Riddick, posted a link to this ridiculous auctions end in the cafe..

Godsigma for chump change. $$$

The price of shampoo bottles are going way the hell up and it seems the poor slobs perpetuating this sad phenomenon are idiots like you and I…

Just check out this “hottie”.. Are you into it??

Of course you answered yes.. But $3300USD beautiful??? C’mon..

This is just out of fucking control… The reality is that there were more than 5+ bidders with unique feedback driving the madness, which confirms that people are just that god damned nuts.

I can tell you with certainty, that there are no tier 2 or 3 Jumbo Machinders to be had at a retail level for reasonable prices in Japan. None that I can find at least. I’ll be checking Kobe and Nagoya in the next couple of days and update this post if I find any..

Nakano Broadway Mandarake in Tokyo has a Sun Vulcan (loose) and a Poseidon (boxed c8-)for $1K each and that’s pretty much the most variety you will find in the shops these days.. Every shop has “one”, but that one is either a Maz Z/great, Getter Dragon or Raydeen. Sucks ass..

This will absolutely be my last trip to Japan exclusively for toy shopping. I’m not saying I won’t go out of my way to check a toy store out here and there, but I won’t be going hardcore and be mission toy hunting anymore. There are far more worthwhile things to do here than burn the midnight oil over some lost idea of finding the diamond in the rough..

Everything worthy, with the exception of the elite Mandarake live auctions (ask Alt per Saito), goes directly to the internet these days. Every shop owner that isn’t hoarding their collection over here in Japan does exactly that. They throw it on YJA and let it ride.

Anyway, when I see a sorry one armed Dangaurd A jumbo going for $600 I know it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. So, if you’re going for it, I’ll be seeing you guys on the field. Better bring your JM “a” game…

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.

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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

OK.. I’ve got the inflatable Japanese punching bag blues. This month alone I’ve already got over $100 worth.. That my friends will buy you some serious punching bag love. This specimen in particular is one of my best. A 20 inch 1981 New Tetsujin 28 GO! Not only is this my favorite character of all time, but it’s the second biggest one I have. Second only to a 3 ft Daiojya that will kick your ass..

I’ll be posting a more comprehensive review of my new found obsession soon, but just wanted to give you all a taste of my pathetic downward spiral into the world of inflatable goodness. Unfortunately, the only holes these have are blow holes..

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Well, what better than a punching bag?

See you all in the ring..

Gordian Warrior (闘士ゴーディアン ?) was a popular anime series aired in 1979 to 1981 in Japan. It is also referred to as Champion of Gordian or Gardian.

Gordian was the first DX Chogokin/Godaikin I had as a kid, therefore I’ve always had a strong affinity for this character. It would be safe to say that I’ve been pining over ol’ Gordian since about 1981. It was the whole matryoshka doll gimmick that always had me really fascinated. There was absolutely nothing around that you could compare it to at the time. I recall my grandfather being totally fascinated by the design and functionality. I will never forget how astounded he was that us “kids” had such amazing toys to play with. After all, growing up in post WWI Europe he widdled his fucking toys out of wood. His interest alone just solidified the fact that Gordian was something special. Totally revolutionary..

Gordian vinyls.. Not so much.

Anyway.. Gordian, like many of shows I watched growing up (God Mars, Sunvulcan, Tetsujin28, Dunbine, Dynaman etc), is definitely a major area of my collecting focus. I’m now slowly but surely collecting anything and everything associated with each character/show, no mater how trivial. For example, I happen to own several Tetsujin 28 beach balls, a God Mars pencil box, Dunbine chopsticks and tin Gordian rice boxes. Sad but true. You really should see what I can do with a beach ball a pencil box and a set of chopsticks. It’s AMAZING I tell you!

So, after a year or so of compulsively searching I finally scored the Popy Chogokin Clint GB-13, and in January Alen broke me off the Popy Pla DX Gordian (known as the crappiest Popy toy of all time), so the Gordian bender was totally on. It was go time.

Obviously, I just had to complete the circle with these bad boys..

The full set:

The best part about amassing everything in each series for me is scoring the vinyls. They SUCK!! They REALLY suck. But, they suck in a such a very good way. As much as “sucking” can be good.. These Gordian vinyls are surprisingly far more well done than the vinyl representations of the aforementioned characters/shows from the same time period. With the exception of the Popy Tetsujin “BIG” vinyl, I would venture to say that these vinyls, Garbin especially, are some of Popy’s best super robot vinyl designs and delivery.

Garbin:

Delinger:

Protteser:

Daigo Otaki:

Back sides for good measure:

Overall, these are most likely pretty underwhelming to the average gokin collector who is pimping the DX or the ST Chogokin versions of these characters. They don’t “do” anything, like combine. What they do “DO”, is emit the “funk”. They contain that aesthetic bad-assness that keeps me coming back for more.. Over and over and year after year, I’m constantly finding new and exciting representations of my favorite super robot characters in sofubi form.

Love them or hate them, you’ve got to admit they’ve got charm. These vinyls might not be an example of Popy’s finest hour, but I’m certianly not apologizing for them and neither should you. Call it a guilty pleasure.. Indulge at your own risk.

Gordian Warrior (闘士ゴーディアン ?) was a popular anime series aired in 1979 to 1981 in Japan. That’s the back story!

Well.. I actually had a lot to say about this piece.. The more I think about it the less I have to say. If you’re down with the Popy brand, and you are a completist, well obviously this is for you. If not, well.. It’s a solid diecast panther that was so dissed in the Popy lineage that its only other representation is made out of rubber.. A total cast off. A gem fueled panther. How 80’s. Nuff said..

– Sjoen