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

Well, it’s that time of year again.. The cherry blossoms are in bloom, the yen’s getting close to 100Y > $1USD and I’ve got the itch. So, off to the land of the rising sun for some toy shopping, toy shopping and drunken toy shopping (accompanied by pill popping if you ask Hillsy).

In the weeks prior to liftoff, I’m filled with hopes and dreams of what I might find in the slim pickings of what’s left of the Tokyo shops. This time around I’ll also be hitting up shops in Osaka, Kobe and several other stops that are off the beaten path in hopes that they might deliver.. If memory serves Roger scored all the Macross mini sofubi in one run in Osaka, so my fingers are crossed.

My over zealous list this year consists of some pretty out there stuff. For starters: Popy combining Golion “BIG” vinyl, mid sized Takemi Gingaizer vinyls, mid sized Takatoku Goshogun vinyl, any of the mid sized Bandai/Popy Robocon vinyls, Nomura “PlaDX” Baldios, Popy Chogokin Robot Jr boxed, Mach Baron Jumbo Machinder as well as a few random pieces that were on my list from last year but were unfortunately never found. Ironically, everything I just mentioned was on my list last year.. Doh!

Let me tell you, it’s god damned frustrating to be heading out with a list chock-full of stuff that you will most likely not be able to score to save your life, but there is ONE thing that is worse.. KNOWING the number one piece on your list is totally unattainable. What is it you ask?

Mange- type Psycho Armor Govarian (サイコアーマーゴーバリアン Psychoarmor Gobarian).

I imagine the odds of finding this piece in shops at this point are nil and none. If it did surface, I feel it would most likely go straight to YJA.

Totally depressing, crushing, debilitating and whatever other adjectives describe the hell that is wanting this fucking piece. It’s like “chasing the dragon”, and from what I hear about heroin addiction, it accurately describes the pain I feel needing and knowing this piece..

I’ve been looking for this masterpiece of sofubi goodness for close to 7 years now to no avail. It goes to show that this hobby takes serious patience, which sometimes I feel totally devoid of.. Anyway, the last MT Govarian I know of came up about 5 years ago but was apparently out of my reach at the time. In the thread/link posted below I mention $800, which I would drop in a heartbeat today if I could, but have no confirmation that the auctioned MT Govarian went for that. If anyone remembers and can confirm the auctions end price, I would greatly appreciate it.

VINTAGE BBS POST

Aside from the pics above, these pics from Masato Shono’s Go Nagai book circa 1998? are the only I’ve seen.

I feel like I can say with confidence that this is “the” rarest super robot / real robot vinyl out there. I will gladly donate a kidney to anyone that can deliver one of these loose or boxed.. Seriously. Hit me up. I beg you.

– Sjoen

If you’ve been following CM’s Corporation’s Patlabor sofubi releases, you should be familiar with the drill by now – ‘Same scale’ as the main Brave Gohkin figures (approx. 1/46) with ample detail but limited articulation. And of course a limited run: MPL96 blue TV ver. (700pcs); MPL96 white OVA ver. (500pcs); SSL96 standard ver. (300pcs). In my case, I opted for the ‘standard’ and ‘TV’ versions because I’d already invested a small fortune to recreate the TV-edition Ingram team.

‘Official history’ tells us that the MPL96 Taisyo was the Mobile Police’s first operational labor, hastily adapted from the Asuka-SSL96 Taisyo, an existing construction model. The front view shows the obvious similarities, but at the same time, I was pleased to see that CM’s used quite a number of different parts to create the two models; the only common parts are part of the upper arms and most of the lower body and legs. The shoulders are different molds, as are the upper bodies, forearms and shins. From the back, you can appreciate the details even more. The MPL in particular has quite a bit of tampo printing for the SV2 emblem, as well as the tiny ‘license plate’ on the left hip.

The ‘frog eyes’ on the SSL96 are very kawaii, and the only quibble I had was the painted-on ‘holes’ on the calves. I mean, they DID mold the holes on the shoulders… Otherwise, that’s it. They look nice on the shelves but they do absolutely NOTHING ELSE. Sure, they’ve got a waist joint but seriously, I was expecting the arms to at least rotate at the shoulders! As the ‘worker’ Taisyo is going to be a pretty rare find in days to come, I decided to leave it be in the company of the other laborers.

Now the MPL96 is a whole ‘nother matter to me. No way could I be satisfied with a ‘Patlabor’ that couldn’t even look like it’s going to arrest a wayward labor. So after a quick examination, I took the plunge and did some surgery to it… and Voila! My MPL96 is now able to carry a battle staff for riot duty.

To begin, I detached both shoulders, carefully prising them away from the body. As expected, the parts are assembled with ‘superglue’, so you will need a tool like a flat screwdriver, and quite a bit of force. Once taken apart, I noticed that the original mold had already included a convenient circular depression right where a joint would go. I pierced it and shoved a spare ballpoint pen shaft through to serve as a simple ‘axel’. Do note that the bit of extra ‘shroud’ hugging the bottom of the hollows are in fact originally part of the shoulders, cut-off and re-attached here.

One of the tricky things about customising sofubi is that the casting is never exactly the same for each figure, and even less consistent from one hollow part to another. Just look at the shoulder cavities for example: The one on the right has plenty of excess PVC around the joint, so that even after slicing the ‘shroud’ to create a rounder cross-section (for easier turning), the joint is still pretty solid. However, the one on the left is a lot more ‘airy’; while slicing the shroud, I managed to cut into the hollow and had to patch it back with putty.

Lastly, I cut apart the arms at the elbows and inserted a custom joint using Kotobukiya’s M.S.G. (Modeling Support Goods – rolleyes) ‘Poly Unit Double Joint D-113B‘. Although the part is a double joint, I simply left out the mid-section to create a ‘single joint’. I also had to carve out a bit of the forearm’s attachment point to accept the thicker pegs, but ultimately it was a pretty simple job. I couldn’t do anything about the wimpy hands, but if you twist them in just the right angle, they CAN exert enough grip to handle a 6.5″ length of plastic rod.

So there you have it, after 2 hours’ work: from what was once a limited edition figure with limited functionality… to one with a bit more displayability…

Well, I did say it had limited appeal, right? ;-)

I have a dilemma. With each limited release of CM’s Corp’s soft-vinyl Patlabor figures, I find myself slowly but surely being sucked down into another dimension… the Lair of Sofubi Addiction! Just what is it about these gimmickless, imprecise and exploitingly expensive figures that could appeal to a collector who grew up playing with Super Real High-Technology by Takatoku Toys? In a word: Obscurity.

If all you have ever hungered for as a Patlabor fan was to own some incarnation of the Ingrams, Type-Zero, Griffon and maybe some of the featured enemies by Schaft Enterprises, you could get a quick fix if you don’t mind settling for Bandai’s 1/60 scale model kits. But for true blue toys of those wonderful blue-collar worker labors, you’re out of luck unless you have the skills to tackle soft-vinyl or resin kits. I guess that’s why I’m all over these sofubi labors, even though they really can’t do much except sit pretty.

My Pickel-Kun is the ‘Red OVA version’ (limited to 1,000 pieces); the rarer ‘Brown TV version’ only had a run of 500 pieces. So far, the colors of the actual toys have been slightly inaccurate compared to the online publicity photos. Overall, I find the colors to be duller than expected… my ‘red’ Pickel was actually ‘reddish brown’ (which makes me wonder what the ‘brown’ Pickel really looks like!) The toy has a grand total of just 1 (ONE) movable joint… and that’s the main turret. Those three clawed legs are fixed pieces – the beautifuly detailed pistons cry out to be customised into real working parts. Even the deep-grooved wheels tucked away in the midst of each set of claws are just a molded detail. Poseability is effectively zero, but then again, it looks fabulous when paired with the resolute Ingram.

So, is it worth more than 5,000 yen each? I certainly enjoyed having both sofubi labors within easy reach around my desk… They are relatively well-detailed and molded, and best of all, they are almost indestructible – a quality I have come to cherish more and more when so many contemporary mecha ‘collectibles’ simply fall apart because of over-ambitious product design. These sofubis? They’re made to last. :-)

Feedback and comments are welcome at the regular CM’s Corp Patlabor BBS thread.

Alright-y… what’s green, 8 meters tall, weighs over 12 tons and ships in a plastic bag for 5,000 yen? The answer is none other than CM’s Corporation’s soft-vinyl figure of the slightly goofy but oh-so-nicely-designed Tyrant 2000 worker labor as featured in the Patlabor anime. Made to be ‘in-scale’ with its recent Brave Gohkin Patlabor, the lovable green hulk was releasd as a limited edition of 1000 pieces, with a smaller run of 500 pieces for a brown-colored variant. Even at a relatively steep price of 5,000 yen (steep to the sofubi-uninitiated), it must have sold pretty well because CM’s has just announced another run of 500 unpainted Tyrants at the same price. No doubt customisers will have a field day with it, adding working joints and cloth shrouds, etc.

For myself, the Tyrant is a first of sorts: I was compelled to buy my first modern sofubi mainly because I had so enjoyed the diecast rendition of the Ingram, I simply had to give it a shelf companion. Afterall, who knows if a diecast Griffon or Zero will ever be released? The Tyrant indeed shipped in a barebones plastic bag with a printed cardboard topper. I was aware of such minimalist ‘packaging’ for even the rarest hobby-show sofubis, so I wasn’t in the least shocked. Being soft and pliable, the toy is very unlikely to become damaged even if the shipping box gets mangled enroute.

As can be seen, the Tyrant is a hulking piece of machinery, at least a head taller and twice as massive as the sleeker Ingram. The Tyrant is molded in a pleasant shade of medium green, although nowhere near as solid looking as the publicity photos. The level of molded details is pretty good; panel lines, rivets and mechanical parts appear crisp and well defined. Painted details are neat enough but some areas do appear slightly sloppily applied, especially on the white band surrounding the body. One of the grey windows on my toy had a definite fingerprint on it. Not too noticeable anyway.

In the TV and first movie, when a Tyrant runs amok (whether because of a wayward operator or the virulent Hyper Operating System), it can be quite a handful. Typical engagements require at least 2 Ingrams working in concert to subdue the beast. As usual, Ohta provides the muscle while Izumi gives the coup de grace with the stun stick. That is, if the labor doesn’t rear its head again while under the sinister control of HOS.

With its limited, single-plane articulation (shoulders, elbows and hips), the real appeal of the figure is probably its realistic industrial design – a brilliant aesthetic touch seen throughout the lot of Labors created by Yutaka Izubuchi and the Headgear team. One wonders about what could have been if only Bandai had made and sold affordable sofubi figures of these strangely likable work site creatures back when the series was going strong. Today, the realisation of this dream would mean either miniscule gashapons… or more 5,000 yen rarities. I guess I ‘ll just have to take what I can get.

Discuss on the bbs…

Well, I’m sure I can’t be the only crazy fool but I have definitely fallen hook, line and sinker for CM’s Corporation’s Brave Gohkin Patlabors. You know the drill by now: They being ‘small toy companies catering to a specialised collector market’, will always find a way to maximise profits either through repaints and variants (rare or otherwise). In the case of these gorgeous Ingrams, it’s all in the head… literally.

First, CM’s released the Movie Ver. in early March where each set contained one (1!) body with the optional parts for either Izumi’s No. 1 head, or Ohta’s No. 2 head. Then just before April, the TV Ver. comes out with options for either No.1 or No. 3 heads. Hard to understand? Not if you’re a Patlabor fan, it isn’t…

Fans of the first movie will probably buy 2 of the Movie Ver. sets to own both No. 1 and No. 2. However, I suspect many more Patlabor fans love the TV and OVA series even more and would want to have the expanded line-up of all three Ingrams. With the cunning switcheroo on the TV-edition set, a fan will have to somehow acquire a No. 2 head from the Movie-edition, plus another TV-edition set to have the ‘anime correct’ shield emblem and stun-baton. Unless you have a buddy to exchange parts with, you may very well end up buying 4 sets in total. Like me!

Anyway, no regrets. The toy is really wonderfully realised with an abundance of diecast content and more than sufficient poseability in the cloth-shrouded joints. The inclusion of working patrol lights, opening cockpit hatches, slide-up seat and hatch-actuated revolver-cannon compartment are everything I have hoped for in a DX Patlabor toy.

I could never have as much satisfaction with any of the old Bandai toys from the 90s… Not with the brick-like 1/32 ‘lights & sound’ Ingram, and certainly not with the frustratingly pose-limited 1/60 Cloth-Gear series. The current Patlabor output from Kaiyodo’s Revoltech is mighty sweet for action figures, but with the CM’s Ingram I have found an ‘SOC worthy’ incarnation of one of my favorite Yutaka Izubuchi mecha designs.

What else is on the horizon from CM’s Corp? Well, I have already been induced to purchase my very first sofubi because of the excellence displayed in the Ingram: The limited edition ‘in-scale’ Tyrant 2000 worker labor.

Judging from the multiple re-stockings of the Ingram here in Singapore, I certainly hope CM’s continues with a Brave Gohkin of the badass Griffon. That’s the version with the wings right? Or the underwater one? I’ll take ’em all, thank you!

[Talk about it in the BBS…]

OK — I was too hung over to get this stuff in here before, but here’s my Wonderfest preliminary report as first published in the BBS. More photos coming later; it was an interesting show.

1) As Roger mentioned in the BBS, CM’s is releasing a fully-transforming Legioss (Alpha) and Tread (Beta) fighter set. Looks to be about the size of the Toynami Masterpiece version, but with really different proportions, particularly around the intakes on the chest. Beta/Tread looks amazing. The Japanese site Yacolog has great photos posted already, but here’s one I took from an angle that shows some of the transformation mechanism. They’ll be releasing three color variations, starting later this year.

2) Yamato is releasing a fully-transforming Bubblegum Crisis Motoslave in 1:15 scale (same as their recent Megazone 23 Garland). Interestingly, and a little sadly, the late Taku “Professor Robo” Sato was involved in its production, apparently one of his last projects. (Fewture’s also releasing his Mazinger 1969, the very last design of his that went into pre-production before his unexpected passing.) It comes with a “Hardsuit”-wearing Priss and is about half the physical size of the Garland.

3) Also on the Yamato front, they’re releasing a DX-sized, fully-transforming Bryger from the “J9” series of shows. Could a perfectly-transforming Sasuraiger be next? One can hope.

4) Yet MORE on the Yamato front: a fully-transforming, ultra-realistic Groizer X is in the works. Who’d a thunk it?

5) The One Million Yen Evangelion: made of fiberglas and standing 2 meters tall, it towers over the average person…. Got a spare $10K to blow? It’s yours. The scary thing was, there were no shortage of people dropping by who seemed to be actually considering it.

6) A built-up resin kit of the Manon Type Gorg. Garage kits like this are really what WF is all about.

7) Desslar sofubi!! Nearly anything’s fair game for garage soft vinyl figure makers these days. These Gamilas baddies from Space Cruiser Yamato were being sold as completed items, not kits. If more “urban vinyl” looked like this I’d be happy.

8) A huge 1:48 Blizzard Gunner from Dougram. This was a very limited-edition, one-day-only amateur model kit production. I wish Takara had made a Dual Model (or even a 1:144 collection series version) of this sucker!

9) A new manufacturer by the name of “Honkytonk” has announced their plans to release “the largest Votoms product in history.” No pics yet, but the guys behind the table said it would be a 1/6 scale Scopedog made out of FRP (fiberglas-reinforced plastic) and retail for… Wait for it… Somewhere around $3000. Ouch. Release date: this summer. Or so they hope.

It’s true, sometimes wanting is better than having.

After seeing Matt’s post about these vinyl Scopedogs at Wonderfest, though, I had to have one. A sofubi-style Scopedog was too hard to resist, and I figured if it was rendered nearly as well as Denjin’s vinyl mobile suits, I’d be a happy camper.

Well, camp is here, and the pudding cup that I got is warm and rancid. This figure stinks. The vinyl is thin and soft, never a good sign, but the worst aspect is that the thing stands like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Sure, it’s big, and it’s articulated at the head, shoulders, elbows, waist, and knees, but the way the feet are molded, the only way you can get it to lean properly is by turning the toes inwards. The result is a mecha that looks like it has club feet.

Overall, I give it a D. Great concept, lousy execution. (See? Sometimes I give a VOTOMS toy a bad grade.)

It doesn’t look like there are going to be more of these. Matt told me when he tried to get more information out of the makers at Wonderfest, they said the nightmare of producing this toy would prevent them from ever doing something like this again. One can always troll Yahoo Japan for one, though, although the price tag will sting (I paid $120 plus $10 shipping from Rinkya).

Here’s hoping that Denjin gets tackles this project themselves one day…

“Review”? Huh? C’mon. If you’re enough of a freak to be reading this, you’re enough of a freak to have already seen the photos on Japanese fan-sites like Yaco’s Log and the Toy Warehouse. You’ve already read the endless news-scoops and speculation and bitching on the BBS. Now you’re just going to have to take my word for it: pictures simply don’t do Yamato’s massive 1:12 ScopeDog toy justice. To wit: just BUY it, you hobo.

Not since the hallowed Jumbo Grade Zaku — yet another giant-sized toy I never expected any company to be crazy enough to produce — have I been so completely wowed by the physical presence of a product. This is one piece your thoroughly-whipped self won’t be able to sneak onto a crowded shelf in the hopes that your wife/husband/S.O./dominatrix/etc. doesn’t notice you’ve just dropped a week’s grocery money on (another) plastic robot.

The big difference here is that rather than a big-ass sofubi statue, you’ve got a big-ass “full action” toy that puts a lot of smaller and cheaper renditions to shame.Then again, size means weight, and that does introduce a new set of problems. ScopeDog’s Achilles heel — no pun intended– is a pair of precariously weak ankles that send it lurching forward or backward with the slightest finger-touch, particularly if you’ve posed it with the rifle pointing forward. (If this sounds familiar, it’s because Yamato’s Queadluun Rau suffers from the exact same affliction.) And the unrepentantly boxy design limits the number of natural-looking poses it can take. C’est la vie, I suppose.

In a world of companies that toe the line with blandly engineered “action figures” and the like, I’m glad someone had the balls to step up to the plate with such a luxurious representation of a relatively obscure robot character. I suspect nary a focus group played a role in the decision to make such an insanely, obsessively “luxe” plaything. Good for them.

Will it sell well? At close to $200 retail in Japan, even minus any sort of pilot figure (the sort of oversight that sends legions of “serious” collectors into a teeth-gnashing, panty-twisting conniption fit), perhaps not. Then again, perhaps Yamato’s onto something here with this finger-flipping, who’s-the-mack-daddy-now approach to toymaking. More power to ’em. “Kado Senshi”? Nice try, but now there’s a new king of the real-robot hill, and it wasn’t made by one of the majors. Make all the excuses about “no diecast” or “Yamato QC” that you want. Even if you don’t actually shell out for one, this is the must-see robot toy for 2004.

Another year, another Tokyo Toy Show.

Not much to report this time around. Although there seemed to be a lot more people this year — last year, the organizers actually told people from China and Southeast Asia not to come because of SARS concerns — there wasn’t a whole helluva lot of “wow” to go around.

About the biggest surprise — well, to me, anyway — was the announcement that the next Shin Seiki Gokin toys will be a 1:72 APC and Dropship from the film “Aliens” and a 1/48 scale rendition of “Airwolf” from that ’80s TV “hit” of the same name. SCRAPE THE BARREL, BABY!

On the Bandai front, buncha chunky Dekaranger stuff. Some random SD figs. Some decently detailed plastic toys from the upcoming Thunderbirds flick. Also, a Kado Senshi Zeta Gundam in black-and-blue “Titans” colors was on display. Alas, alert security men tackled me as I tried to photograph it. I also had my first view of the new Soul of Sofubi figures, which turned out to be the exact same size and quality as standard Bandai Ultraman vinyls.

And that’s about it. Enjoy a random-ass sampling of shots from the show. Highlights include some nice shots of the Yamato’s upcoming Koenig Monster and Scopedog toys (and lemme tell ya, that Scope Doggy Dog is biggie big. A good 12″ tall, easy.)

Bear in mind that the toys photographed represent my frighteningly short attention span and in no way indicates the complete range of stuff on display at the show.

I’ve known and liked Kamen Riders since I was kid growing up in Taiwan. However, aside from picture albums and a few toys, I’ve never actually watched any Kamen Rider on TV. That changed with Kamen Rider Ryuki last year. After finishing the Ryuki TV series and buying many of the Rider & Monster sets, I looked forward to the next Kamen Rider show, Kamen Rider 555 (Faiz), and its accompanying toys.

The S-RHF Faiz was the one Faiz toy that I was extremely interested in owning. I liked most of the Ryuki R&M sets and really liked the idea of having a posable Rider and his bike in a boxed set. In Faiz’s case, his bike even transformed into a robot, so as far as I’m concerned it’s even better.

The Faiz figure itself is constructed basically the same as the Riders in the Ryuki R&M sets. The only real difference in construction is the double jointed knees present on Faiz. This knee joint is similar to the chogokin Agito/Kuuga figures and allows Faiz to kneel. The big difference between Faiz and the Kamen Riders figures that came before him is the size. The Faiz figure is made to the same scale as the sofubi RH figures (or about the same as Marvel Legends figures), which means he towers over the previous Kamen Rider figures. This can be good or bad depending on how you see it. On one hand, bigger is usually better and in this case, since it’s the same size as the sofubi monsters, you can finally have your Kamen Rider fight (kind of) a monster. On the other hand, it looks out of place among the older posable Rider figures. Personally, I love the new size.

All of Faiz’s weapons are included in this set, which includes the Faiz Phone Blaster (no, it doesn’t transform), Faiz Shot, Faiz Pointer (doesn’t combine with Blaster), and Faiz Edge. The Faiz Phone Blaster, Shot, and Pointer are all oversized so it looks better when Faiz is using them. I don’t have much problems with that but the Faiz shot does lack detail for something so oversized. All of the weapons are made out of soft PVC, and this causes the Faiz Edge to warp easily. The PVC is fine for all the other weapons though.

The Autovajin is a bike that transforms into a robot. In bike mode, the Autovajin is a good looking dirt bike. It’s got some engine details and has “Smart Brain Motors” and “SB-555V” clearly printed on it. A kick stand allows it to stay upright with ease. Kamen Rider Faiz rides well on it and for a bike that transforms into a robot, it looks very sleek. The transformation is fairly involved and I would say it’s complexity is about the same as any similar sized Transformers (think Armada Red Alert or Car Robots JRX Trains). In robot mode, Autovajin is a head taller than Faiz. Although it does have joints at the hips and knees, they are actually used for the transformation and when they are bent, it’s very difficult to keep Autovajin standing. The functional joints are the swievel joints at the neck and shoulders. Even though it’s basically a brick in robot mode, Autovajin looks reasonably good and looks better than many Transformers in my opinion. There are even some diecast on the Autovajin. They are located on the shoulders and the hinge that moves the rear wheel during the transformation. I really like the Autovajin, especially in bike mode, and about the only thing I wish it had is some sort of readout between the handle bars.

As far as bad points are concerned, besides the soft Faiz Edge I’ve already mentioned, the only other one I can think of is the lack of red outline on all the “Phi” signs present on the weapons, belt, and Autovajin. As you can see in the pictures they are all just a solid yellow circle without the red outline. Other than that, I like this set even more than any of the excellent Ryuki R&M sets. In fact, for me this might even get the Toy of the Year over Dancougar and MMM Strike Gundam (I have both).

In conclusion, if you liked the Ryuki R&M sets and don’t mind the larger size of this set, I would highly recommend that you pick it up. I hope there are going to be more of these S-RHF sets released this year.