February 1999 | Ramble Index | December 1998

1/31/99: Shin Getter 1

Connoisseur Josh Fraser dropped me off a thoughtful present he picked up during his recent Tokyo trip: the new VAF Shin Getter Robo1 by Kaiyodo. Meanwhile, BBS regular Harvey Kung sent in this great Ramble:

"This particular figure sports about 15 points of articulation although its knees and elbows only swivel and do not bend. Its only accessories consists of a killer battle axe which is actually taller than the figure and an extra fist to hold the axe. Especially notable is the jet black bat-wings that open and close using a similar mechanism as the SOC Mazinger Z."

"But it's the detail of this baby that makes it stand out: the traditional Getta 1 red, white and green scheme has been modernized with brown rust (dried blood?), colored shoulder and knee pads, and the overall paintjob is accented with a realistic, battle-weary finish. Even his silver pointy 'ears' are lightly slapped with some black detail to give it a more realistic look. And the killer spikes on the forearms!!! This toy would definitely not pass any US safety toy inspection! Finally the detail in its face is also amazing: this guy is one mean-looking badass!"

"Of course this toy is not perfect. Although solidly built overall, the legs do come out of the package wobbly, and the wing attachment likes to fall off whenever it is handled. Unlike Miracle Action Figures which were clearly designed to be played with, the Kaiyodo figure seems to be more suited for your collection display shelf. But what a great addition it would be!"

-- Harvey Kung

1/30/99: New Stuff During one of the recent Cafe Chogokin chats, Tom the Greek sent in a pic of this tremendous toy table from a recent convention [click to see bigger.] DMammer4442, the owner of the pic, has other great cool pics and links; click here to check out his great site. Finally -- the cool "I made it" section Werkshop DX is open for business! Soon to feature customization and repair information, as well as anything else nifty we can share. The kickoff features another butt-kicking rendering from 3d-Smith Duncan Hsu. On the cusp: custom VF1s Stealth Valkyrie and, um, Dental Bleaching! Link now to the Info Library...

Minister of Information Matt Alt pens some moody narrative whilst on the streets of Tokyo. Check out his new piece Magic Box Blues in the Eau De Alt. Jump to the Info Library...

Sean Bonner in a Getta Freak: "I'll let the pictures speak for themselves for the most part. But essentially I've finished my "jumbo shogun warriors" collection and moved into the world of "jumbo machinders", a transition not unlike jumping from caffeine to crack. Now its safe to say that I'm totally obsessed, much more than I can afford and now that I've gotten a taste there's no turning back." "The first one for me to chalk off the list is the Getta One. As with any toy that you've never held close up, only seen in pictures, once you finally get your hands on it it's usually much more overwhelming than you could have imagined. This was the case with this piece, except that I also made a huge discovery:" "This jumbo can combine with Getta Two and Getta Three. WHAOH!!!" "I can't believe that no one ever mentioned this before: not a picture of it in the 'encyclopedia of jumbo machinders,' not an article, nothing. And why not I have no idea." "Either i'm just a total nerd and think this is much cooler than it really is or there was a serious gap in the information flow. Look to Matt Alt soon for more information on this as he's researching it further. The toy is amazing, perfectly symmetrical (read that as all the arms the way they were intended to be) and so much better than I imagined, vinyl cape and everything. More news from the frontline of geekdom coming soon..." -- Sean Bonner

Louis checks in on the Bull Taurus DX: "just picked up the bandai bulltaurus dx chogokin (gd-12) for 59.99 (not to shabby...if you want one, they have one more.). for a sentai show toy, this one is not too bad. the "bull" robot is made in japan. the only area which uses die cast is on his feet (the silver part of his foot which is only about .03 mm thick) and chain links, everything else is plastic. the "taurus" driver is made in thailand. he is made of 50% die cast 50% plastic. very articulating little guy, and you can fold him to fit inside the bull." "i'm happy that bandai japan is still releasing chogokin, but i wish the amount of die cast used was more (like the soc series). it's also interesting to see these toys now made in different countries and repackaged in japan. i'm also curious to see if the power ranger version uses die cast on the figure or replaced them with plastic parts??" -- louis

1/21/99: Barrage O' Ramble!

Check it out: Planetclick.com has rated ToyboxDX as "Most Beautiful Site" under it's Recreation & Hobbies channel. I guess we've peaked and should just quit while we're ahead! (Kidding, kidding...)

Here's a pile of great Ramble; hope you're having a good week!

Roger Harkavy checks in on the HCM Oww-Gee: "One of my biggest faults is not being able to take people at their word. So for the last ten years, when asking folks about the Auge High Complete Model and being told 'it's nothing special, it's just rare,' I continued along on my quest to own this toy, undaunted. "Now that I own one, I can say with conviction that there's nothing special about it, it's just rare. ""But this is an HCM, after all, putting it a few notches above the rest of standard toy fare. Detailing and poseability is excellent, and the color scheme is really nice. The only deficiencies are in the accessory department, giving the Auge only a couple of measly un-ignited beam sabers to harass L-Gaim with. It's a shame that the scythe-wielding 'commander' version of the Auge wasn't produced instead instead of the standard one that we got. Does it sound like I'm complaining? I know, I shouldn't be, and I'm really not. Maybe the underwhemling nature of this HCM is what will keep it on my shelf. Full scans of this goodie will definitely be appearing in a future update to the High Complete Models entry in the Library. "Thanks go out to Mike Parisi for the picture and Matt Alt for letting me know that it's pronounced 'O.J.', not 'Oww-Gee.'" -- Roger

Matt Alt reports on the new Tetsuwan Atom: "One of Medicom Toy's most successful products has been their economically-priced Tetsujin 28 action figures. Here's a shot from Medicom promotional material showcasing the newest addition to their "Miracle Action Figure" series, Tetsuwan Atom [click to see larger.] "Known as Astro Boy in the English-speaking world, he's one of the most famous Japanese characters ever created, and this particular toy looks to be the most detailed portrayal to date. Accessories include a pair of translucent jet-exhaust pieces that attach to the soles of his feet to simulate flight. Other details include seperate facial expressions and an opening chest compartment, complete with mechanical detail inside. "Planned retail price is 2,480 yen ($20.)" -- Matt

August Ragone sends in some corrections: "I was cruising through the previous "Toy Rambles"... and I came across some stuff in the December '98 section:" Dengeki Hobby Magazine: "Dengeki is the Japanese interpretation of the German military term Blitzkreig (lightning attack). The publishing company, Media Works, has been using the 'Dengeki' moniker for years. It was the label on thier Dengeki Entertainment Bible book line (which took over from Bandai's Entertainment Bible series) and they also are the publishers of Dengeki B-Magazine (which replaces Bandai's B-Club) They also produce all of the excellent Chronicles series, such as The Super Robot Chronicles..." Mazinger Z LD Rerelease: "This is just the first of two single discs, which are documentaries-style films encapsulating the entire Mazinger TV Series (Z, Great, & Glendizer) as well as the theatrical featurettes, with emphasis on Z. The Mazinger Z premium is a mail-away item, obtained with coupons clipped from the LD insert." -- August

Tom the Greek sends in an Orguss Ramble: "With the latest Orguss craze sweeping Ebay, I just thought I would send in a Ramble on what some may say is the rarest piece from the Orguss line. It is the Orguss Standard Nikick MBG-24A. " "As far as statistics, Matt Alt told me that for every 25 regular Nikicks, one MBG-24A was made. As far as the toy itself, it is similar to the 24C, however it has a different color scheme, head, gun, and markings. The color scheme is mostly yellow and a turquoise blue/green. Very cool looking for a toy." "The head is much sleaker that the 24C and the gun is blockey in comparison. The differences are few, but striking enough to see when compared side by side. The 24A also has a slightly different transformation than the 24C. Specifically in the flight mode. " "Anyway, just thought everyone would be interested in getting a look. If I understand my history correctly, this was one of the last toys ever produced by Takatoku. What a shame." -- Tom

1/13/99: Round of Updates

I recently got back from LEGO Media in Denmark and am 2 weeks behind on email. Apologies to everyone contributing content for the lame lame lag time. Here's a round of updates to spark the catch up:

[At left, a completely unrelated story connected to the incident submitted by the SOG himself...]

Link now to the World Collector Gallery in the Gallery of Love...

1/12/99: Uni-Five Arrives!

Minister of Information Matt Alt acquires "Invincible Champion No.1!" Envy him!

1) I received a completely unexpected and unsolicited check in November from a collector who -- upon hearing I was auctioning toys to help subsidize the site -- wanted to show his support for ToyboxDX. He's one of the many many people who have expressed their desire to support and assist with maintaining the site. My gratitude was -- and is -- beyond ramble.

2) Professor Jordan Sand at Georgetown University added ToyboxDX to the syllabus for his Japanese Mass Culture Class this past term. Matt Alt was invited to lecture and, believe it or not, young men and women took notes. He held up toys, babbled about the Soul of Chogokin, and, bless his heart, answered questions about "G Force" while techies projected ToyboxDX on the big screen behind him.

3) Between October 1, 1998 and November 30, 1998, the ToyboxDX server logged 914749 hits -- a record number for us. Our current average is steadily approaching 500,000 hits a month, with all stats on a one way rise.

4) Finally, the 1st Northeast Tristate Chogokin Summit hosted by SOG Roger Harkavy was a great success, and represented the 1st and only [real-world] massing of collectors directly resulting from a Java applet that I can think of. [Picture courtesy of the infamous Ted Terranova.]

What does all this mean? Well -- I'm not sure. But I *suspect* it means that this tremendous collaborative effort between all of us has resulted in a phenomenon: the birth of a seriously cool community!

What the hell am I rambling about? Well, I'm still not sure. But I *think* I'm saying that the world is a better place when we continue to share our information, engage our enthusiasm, and participate in the making process. It has been so cool to exchange email, photos and stories, and to work together to make this site a reality.

So I'll end it like this: In the next few months ToyboxDX will be sprouting its next evolutionary limbs. I hope all of you will be a part of the thrilling, um, mutation..., and that you and your families will have a spectacular year, filled with good fortune.

Happy
     Happy
          Happy
                Toybox New Year!

Best Regards,

Alen

February 1999 | Ramble Index | December 1998