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

If you live anywhere near the Louisiana State University, and even if you don’t, get yourself to the Shaw Center for the Arts. A new show entitled “Invasion: Japanese Robots from the Collection of Warren Schwartz” is open to the public through October 7, 2007. It showcases more than 200 robots, “about one tenth of Schwartz’s collection” (!) and many of which were used in the making of Super #1 Robot.

For those of you who live in Tokyo, Sunday, May 6th is Japanamerica night! The Pink Cow in Shibuya is holding a special event for author Roland Kelts’ book on the otaku phenomenon, which featured interviews with people as diverse as Japanese fashion mogul Nigo, Studio Ghibli producer Steve Alpert, “Japanese Schoolgirl Inferno” author Patrick Macias, and some guy named Matt Alt.

The festivites start at 7 P.M. on the 6th, hosted by Kelts and featuring both live music and guests including journalist Leo Lewis, “Tekkon Kinkreet” director Michael Arias, and Studio 4C founder Eiko Tanaka. Check it out!

If you’re into Japanese toys, chances are you’re at least passingly familiar with the Japanese-language Toys And Models And Things… website, one of the most thorough and widely linked-to sources of new toy reviews on the web.

In what is quite probably the first effort of its kind, the host of Toys and Models And Things has actually opened his collection to the public. His new members-only “toy club,” dubbed The Toy Warehouse, features no staff, no service, merely a coffeemaker and soft drink dispenser in a corner for refreshment. Instead, it’s a veritable shack o’ toy love with private “toy appreciation cubicles,” photo booths, and a chance to get to play with the collection of one of the most enthusiastic toy bloggers in Japan.

The system’s simple: pay by the hour to fiddle all you like. The catch? It’s located in Osaka and membership is restricted to people with proof of residence in Japan, meaning tourists will miss out on the fun. (The guidelines are here, for those who can read Japanese.) Still, it’s a cool concept and it’ll be interesting to see how it develops.

— Erik Sjoen

Still some of the most beautiful renditions of the Valkyries…

Thank goodness for Youtube. Please enjoy Yattaband and their reggae version of the Geeg opening theme song. The hardcore know of course that the Italian version kicks ass over the Japanese original. Here’s Yattaband’s website…

— Alen

Attention toy-nerds: Robert Duban is back, and this time, he’s out for justice. Justice for the long-neglected manufacturer ROBIN, whose profile is the latest to grace the ToyboxDX Datafiles. Heavy drinking, hookers, firing squads, and bottom-of-the-barrel toys. It’s all here, just how you like it. Tune in, turn on, and party hearty “Robin” style.

Thanks to Robert for sending in this sweet auction. Ain’t it the truth…