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

The end of the year comes closer and it’s snowing here, like hell.
So no reason to leave the house (yes, I already have all x-mas gifts for the family etc)
and enough time for making a Brog. Today’s foto victim is the friendly smiling guy
from above. The little diecast demon from Sakura, called Oni.
Our chairman Mr.Sjoen already made Brogs about this guy, but I thought that
there’s always some room for extra love.

Took some time till I got my Oni. No specimen for a reasonable price
poped up in the last few months. To be honest, took me 2 years or so to get one.
Maybe I missed some auctions, but no my search ended.
…or do I also need a red version?!  ;-)

OK…lets start with the box.
I think I used this phrase a few time in my Brogs, forgive me.
But the artwork of this box is fantastic, I love it. Sakura didn’t make
lots of toys, but their boxes are awesome.

Oni is protected by some cardboard and comes with a battery.

There is a battery compartment in Oni’s back.

Put the battery inside and the Sakura lightshow starts.
Oni has a flashing eye & horn gimmick.

Oni’s weapon arsenal is pretty prehistoric…he comes with a spiked club.

I end this Brog with a little Sakura-box-groupshot.

More fotos in the BBS.

Got a very special package from Mr. C-10 himself and figured I’d document the opening for posterity.
Stage 1: Sturdy cardboard box, well sealed, wrapped with packing paper. 2″ layer of popcorn and newspapers on all sides of inner box!

Stage 2: Under the newspaper and popcorn toy wrapped in a soft cotton pillow case (?)

Stage 3: Within pillow case toy wrapped in another layer of paper

Stage 4: And now we come to the toy itself. Box top inverted to prevent piece rattling around puncturing artwork

Final: Pure perfection <3.

Thanks Joshie, it’s awesome!

The deluxe man cave where Japanese toys go to rest in their mylar wrapping paper, Oba Q rises from the ashes of Ikea cases like some sort of rising thingy.

Hey kids. Did someone say XMAS? Yup. It’s that time of year again and leave it to INCUBOT to make it a bit more festive with some super robot FUNK. Our feline hero NEKOSAUR has decided to “Santa” it up, and get into the spirit of the holiday season. Get yours NOW here:

SANTABOT

I mean, c’mon guys… Who doesn’t need 2GB of space in their life? BID IT NOW!!

The most ironic. I only post this to “TOP” Josh… Ha!! ;-)

This toy certainly deserves a higher quality photo, but I took it minutes before I had to leave for my flight overseas. Like some belated meeting with a long lost relative, I wanted to capture the moment. Savor it like an after school special. I wanted to spend some quality time with the end of the hunt, the man-child giddiness we know all too well. Sadly I had no such luxury. The terrible iphone photo had to suffice for two weeks. So I share my humble (sub par) bittersweet snapshot with you.

But why open ended? I suppose it has more to do with my known condition of needing minty boxes. One many of you will roll your collective eyes at. A reaction I (and my loved ones) certainly empathize with

I completed a circle of sorts when I finally got a Bullmark battery op Ultraman Leo. But it is sans box… *waits for collective gasp*

My standards for buying are one of those things that keeps me grounded, and sort of not in financial ruin, simply because the purchases are few and far between. Patience I have found to be my best friend in the insanity that we find ourselves in during the heights of bidding season.

Leo however, has a hold on me like no other, combining a visual presence with a extreme sense of personal nostalgia. The standard zenmai walker was and is certainly harder to find, and more of a personal grail, but something about the proportions of the Battery op, make it my favorite Japanese toy I own. Period.

The obsessive desire to find the perfect toy in the perfect box, is both a blessing and a pain in the ass. So I struggled when I saw this toy for sale by private owner… simply because it represented some sort of defeat , a lack of purity of focus on my part. But in the end, I could not pass it up, simply because the price was right and the toy, well the toy is magnificent.

This is in fact the first loose toy I have bought in the past 15 years, but at the end of the day, I have no regrets, and my zenmai has a big brother to keep him company… that is until I find that MIMB version.

That circle is still, yet to be closed. When that happens, you can bet your ass I am going to use HD def video to document it.

“Rubber encased tin” Blazer or “super cheap toy” how Mr.Alt said.
How unsexy. Isn’t there an “official” name for these kind of toys…like chogokin, sofubi, etc?

Well, to be honest…this little Bullmark Blazer IS really cheap.
But for a Rockbat & Blazer nerd like me…he’s a must-have.

Own one of these Blazer is enough…NO…better you have 12 of him ;-)

When this Bullmark cardboard with Blazers popped up on Yahoo I had
a mission: Win this auction!

Now I have to find one of these with Rockbats…  ;-)

More fotos in the BBS.

BTW…I think these Blazers are perfect to decorate the Christmas tree.

Took this pic last week, and figured it was time to throw it up. Banpresto just released this sofubi that is FIFTEEN inches tall. Pretty damn bad ass….