September 1999 | Ramble Index | July 1999

8/30/99: Bullmark.com and Kazunori Saito!

I can't seem to connect with these newfangled toys!

As much as I've been appreciating the SOC, the UniFive reissues, and the Banpresto GA01, something's wrong.

I think it's cause the funk is gone.

Yesterday, I received this dirty-looking, aged vinyl Gaiking from Mike Parisi. It comes with a flaccid vinyl cape, and cheap-ass disc magnets too weak to tack coupons to a fridge. The box art is weirdly-drawn and the whole toy concept was probably a mistake. But you know what? That's right.

I love this thing.

Like the nostalgic and sentiment-filled work of surrealist boxmaker Josef Cornell, a toy like this reeks of the ineffable and ephemeral. It speaks of a time and a place firmly situated in the past, both frozen and indiscernible: the fading horizon at the heart of all collecting.

So I'm on a modified mission, and it ain't for the case-fresh. Send me your musty, your nasty, your C-1s yearning to be free. I'll put them on a pedestal or out of their misery.

Meanwhile, enjoy this tremendous interview by Jason Park at Bullmark.com with a master of the vintage, Kazunori Saito. Viva La Funk!

Jason Park of Bullmark.com with An Interview with Kazunori Saito! "Kazunori Saito is not well known outside Japan, but in his country he is regarded as a giant in the world of toy collecting. Mr. Saito is best known for his series of pictorial collectable toy books that he has published in Japan. These pocket sized books have had some degree of success overseas but the books are hard to find since many are not being published any more. "Mr. Saito works for Dentsu, one of the world's largest and most powerful advertising firms. In my estimation, I credit Mr. Saito with bringing toy collecting out of the "closet" and legitimizing the hobby in the mainstream. His books have created alot of renewed interest and a great resource in identifying collectable japanese toys. "Mr. Saito's collection is phenomenal, and spans into every aspect of Japanese toys made in the 70's. He has almost the complete line of Popy's Chogokin series, all the Jumbo Machinders, all the Henshin Cyborgs, and a ton of vintage Marusan and Bullmark vinyls. He also has a huge collection of Takatoku and Nakajima toys, including a number of Valkyries. The man has everything! "His knowledge on the subject of toys is incredible. Mr. Saito has taken toy collecting into another stratosphere, he collects with a passion that is unparalleled in our hobby. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Saito while he was vacationing here in Hawaii, and I was able to obtain an interview for ToyboxDX. " -- Jason bullmark.com: You are known in Japan as the "King of Collectors", what are you actively collecting right now? Saito: Right now I am seeking vintage vinyl kaijus, especially the rare ones. bullmark.com: Which series kaijus are you looking for currently? Saito: I just started the Mirrorman series, and I also need a few Ultraman kaijus, and I am also buying some of the Kamen Rider series villains. bullmark.com: Your books are very well known, even outside Japan, by many Japanese toy collectors. In your Jumbo Machinder series book, you have some great pictures but the later part of the book is filled with Kyomoto series Ultraman toys. What was the purpose for this since they are not considered Jumbos? Saito: Well, If i put only Jumbos in the book, I wouldn't of had enough pages to complete the book since there needs to be at least 90 pages. Since I wasn't making a JM toy "catalog", we decided to add the large Kyomoto series in the back to add to the page count and also balance the book with some of the old and some of the new. At the time we made the book, the Kyomoto series Ultraman was really the only big size toy that was produced since the Jumbos. bullmark.com: Your book on the Henshin Cyborg costumes also has pictures of the newer Medicom dolls in the back, is that the same reason that you did that? Saito: Yes, since there aren't enough vintage Henshin Costumes to fill a book, I also added the new Medicom toys to balance the book with the old and new. bullmark.com: On the subject of Jumbos, what do you think of Uni-5's reissuing of the series? Saito: Very unfortunate, but I did buy the Garada K7... bullmark.com: What Jumbos do you have in your personal collection? Saito: All of them. The Garada was the only one I didn't have but I think that it was only a prototype originally that never made it into production. bullmark.com: Speaking of your collection, your Chogokin collection is legendary. What percent of all the Popy Chogokins ever produced do you own? Saito: Well, I have about 99% of all the Chogokins ever released. I don't know off hand which ones I don't have but the ones that I need are extremely rare. But, I bought the majority of the diecast toys in my collection many years back when prices were much cheaper! I don't think I can afford some of them now... Many of the toys in Yuji Nishimura's Chogokin priceguide were lent from my collection. bullmark.com: What do you think of some of the new reissues like Mazinger-Z GA-01? Saito: That's a funny story, I sold Banpresto my Mazinger-Z GA-01 original and they used it as a mold for making the reissued piece. So I guess I can't complain. bullmark.com: What is the subject of your next toy book project? Saito: I have plans on making a book on Takatoku's Gokin (Diecast) toys. These toys are not as popular as Popy's Chogokins but they are unique and fascinating toys. Unfortunately, the publisher has put a hold on this book project so I have to wait until they give me the go ahead to make it. bullmark.com: Thanks for taking time out to meet me and do this interview for Bullmark.com & ToyboxDX.

Michael Evans on the Bandai Xyber Series "Well I was wondering through the vast wasteland of Wallyworld, and I found this guy tucked in on a bottom shelf. It's the new CLOD battle bot from the Xyber series. It's from Bandai, but it sure beats the Power Rangers bots. And it's heavily armed!, always a good sign :-) "Anyway it's kind of like the Iron Giant toys, it's not die cast, but it's only 10 bucks, buy the thing." -- Michael

8/26/99: Bonnerama!

Congratulate Sean Bonner on the successful launch of his brand new site Jumboland, featuring [duh] everybody's favorite roto-molded warriors.

(You'll find a portal link to Jumboland in the Data Files section as well.)

Sean's recent focus in acquisition has yielded a bountiful harvest of new images, analysis, and blather which he's graciously shared with the rest of us. In fact, his enthusiasm has had such an effect on me that I'm sharpening my crowbar and dusting off my O.J. knit-hat and heading over for an impromptu midnight "visit." Anybody else care to help me, um, "view" his collection?!

Speaking of Jumboboy Bonner "I noticed that some people have been asking about this so here's some shots of the wing attachment for the Uni5 Mazinga Z that you can put up. As you can see it's pretty bad ass. "All the stickers come applied so you don't have to worry about aplying them and there's tons of chrome (something I wish was used more on the jumbos!) "It fastens with this crazy locking buckle thing, which I'll get a picture of later but man oh man you need to get one ASAP! Alright gotta get back to working on Jumboland..." Sean

The Infamous Coop with the true story of The Surfin' Ghost Project "Love is a funny thing. You never know when it's gonna sneak up behind you, whack you in the back of the head, and transform you from a level-headed, productive member of society, into a drooling idiot. Well it happened to Yours Truly this past weekend. Please allow me to elaborate. . . "I was in San Diego this weekend, at the big Comic Con. I went down there to try to sell my cheaply-manufactured merchandise to horny fanboys dressed as Klingons. Pretty normal weekend for me, sadly enuff. During a break, I decided to wander around the floor, in hopes of scoring some 'C.' (That's the street name for my particular addiction, CHOGOKIN!) After walking up and down the aisles, it was looking like the pickings were slim, unless I wanted some Jar Jar Binks Feminine Hygiene Products at 70% off. "Then I rounded a corner, and happened to see my pal Storm Peng. I've purchased many fine 'doses' from him in the past, and I expected him to deliver with the goods, as usual. Storm did have some great stuff, and I quickly slapped down the dough for 3 cool Meisaku series guys, and a buncha Robomaru pieces. (Why does everybody hate these toys? ) Then, as Storm gathered up the goodies, boxes were moved aside, a ray of sunlight shone down from the heavens, and I FELL IN LOVE. "Love? At a Comic Con? Was there a girl in a 'Slave Leia' costume at the next booth? Cylon Love Slave? No. no, no. I fell in love with a Surfin' Ghost. ! "Surfin' Ghost? Well , look at the pictures!You tell me what the heck it's supposed to be! Even Storm seemed mystified by this beautiful toy. He did say that there is another companion toy in the series, a mummy. (one can only imagine. . . ) So what's up with this darned thing? Did Sid and Marty Krofft produce a show in Japan? Did Go Nagai fall down and suffer brain damage? I can only say that this toy definitely raises the bar in the 'Totally Bizarre Japanese Toy Design' category. It's an awesome little chunk of surrealist art, molded in zinc and plastic. "Let's try to figger out what's so mesmerizing about this sucker, shall we? Lemme see, we've got a crudely-sculpted blue ghost, with shrimp-pink doll arms, jagged pointy teeth, yellow shoes, and a white fright wig, RIDING A SKATEBOARD, and wearing some sort of cartoon butterfly badge. WHOA!!Like any great work of art, I'm afraid that the Surfin' Ghost defies analysis. . . "All that I can say is that I am now a changed man. I will sell all my worldly possessions, and wander the earth, singing the praises of the SURFIN' GHOST. If I appear in your back alley, don't throw any old shoes at me, please." -- COOP

Roger Harkavy on Cold Turkey Beast Wars "Those on the BBS and in the Cafe have watched me as I've crossed the line from hobby into mental illness, going 'cold turkey' at the end of May when I bought what I said would be the last toy of the summer. Well, the streak has been broken. For my birthday I treated myself to the new Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Megatron, and it was worth it! "Besides its challenging transformation and impressive size, a mix of chromed and translucent parts combined with excellent sculpting make for a truly fearsome looking toy! "The most interesting thing about this toy is a cockpit-like sphere that was originally planned to hold a small figure. Strange how this resonates with the original Diaclone toys that included pilots, eh? (This information courtesy of Ben Yee's Beast Wars site) "What are you waiting for? Hit your local TRU and plunk down the $20 for this bad boy. I'll gladly pit my Megatron against your Kargosaurs any day. Bring 'em on!" -- Roger

Matt Alt hails from Paradise Isle NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! "Matt Alt here, taking a break from my richly-deserved vacation in Japan with TBDX Secret Press Agent Hiroko to bring y'all some news. "BANDAI: Contrary to what dealers would have you think, Gold GA-14R Robocons are all over Japan - and seem to be sitting on the shelves at the arbitrary mark-up to 12,000 yen that most dealers have given them. "On the Chogokin front, interesting things are afoot in Bandai's reissue division. The 'reissue' of the Raideen chogokin (which is slated for an October release) is actually a completely new sculpt. It's noticeably larger by almost an inch and shares more in common with the HCM Raideen proportion-wise than the older diecast. The legs are much longer and wider; the backpack is now molded in red; and the feel is a sort of retro-modern hybrid. The retail will be a paltry 4,500 yen ($40.) And according to Dengeki Hobby, all signs point to an updated DX Gaiking-and-Kargosaur being next, although no official announcement has been made yet. [Pass Mario and Josh the valium. -- A.Y.] Yummy! "The GD-17 'Complete Self-Transformation Daitetsujin 17' is due out very soon, and the shots of the final prototype in the October issue of Dengeki look great. Although it's technically called a 'chogokin,' there's still no word as to actual metal content. Look for it in late September at a retail of 12,800 yen ($115). "MARMIT will be releasing a jumbo, 60-cm (two-foot) vinyl toy of Giant Robo 2 to complement their GR-1 figure. Also keep an eye out for their new Sho-Go-Kin ('mini-metal') diecast robot series. They're tiny (only a few centimeters taller than a 35mm film canister), their bodies are metal, with PVC arms and legs, and they feature four points of articulation. In keeping with the fabled Japanese toy-tradition of flogging a dead horse, kicking it, pumping several rounds from a handgun into it, and then setting it aflame, Marmit announced that the first two characters will be Mazinger Z and Jeeg. They're due out in late September. Marmit plans to release another character every month thereafter, including (be still, my heart) Great Mazinger, Grandizer, and the six Getta Robo characters. "TAKARA: a really cool set of Microman reissue A-301 Acroyear diecasts have been released with capes. They're Toys 'R' Us Japan exclusives and limited to a run of two zillion. At 3000 yen retail for the set, you can't really go wrong, though. Takara's also releasing a Henshin Cyborg costume of the totally-obscure live action hero Thunder Mask as well. Look for it in costume-only ST and costume-and-cyborg DX sets in October. "ZOIDS are back! In preparation for the upcoming Zoids TV series, 12 of the old Zoids characters will be re-released. The colors will be different from the ol d pieces, however, and feature a fair amount of chrome-metallic colors. Up first are Gojuras, the large-size T-Rex; Gaisakku, a scorpion; Barrigator, an alligator; Goldos, a stegosaur; and a bunch of others I got too lazy to read. A recent poll in Dengeki Hobby demanded the liberation and release of a reissue Ultrasaurus, the giant-sized brachiosaur toy. Only time will tell if it's actually going to hit the shelves, though. "That's about it from out here - time to throw back a few beers at the local watering hole and spend the rest of my money on obscure diecasts. Look for a 'on the point' report in a few weeks!" -- Alt

8/15/99: Bannerama!

Sunday morning in Cambridge, and I'm admiring the peaceful quality of my pint-sized Summit-exclusive Scopedog. Combining it with my bonsai has managed to fuse together two personal meditations into a single soothing experience.

New updates have taken all week and include an all new Ramble Index and browsing scheme, which *should* make browsing the old stuff much easier.

Meanwhile, in the Info Library, check out Matt Alt's newest installment of The Annals of the Unrespected! Alt's new piece UFO or Die covers the obscure but comely 1970's UFO products by Nakajima and Shinsei, all wrapped in the Info Minister's crispy home-fried prose.

Finally, ToyboxDX is now displaying banner ads. While busting our asses exhaustively for love has been its own reward, getting some cash to cover the cost of hosting won't suck. So if you feel inclined, please visit our advertisers and help support the site. If you're interested in buying an ad, drop me a line.

(At left, my scrappy new 12" 'Thunder Tom' Machine Blaster knockoff, courtesy of Todd Stadtman's Fantastic Character Collectibles. I found it cause I clicked on his banner -- no joke.)

Ranma with some Getta Cardboard "Here are the pics of that cardboard Getta Robo I told you about, made by Banpresto. I also provided the scan of the box so that people would know what to look for in case they get interested in this kit. I've seen it on ebay twice. "It's around 10 inches tall, and looks just perfect sitting on top of my monitor (don't mind the gorilla). It's built from 25 pieces of square cardboard, patterned and colored. All you need is an X-acto, some glue (I used super glue) and a lot of patience. Regards," -- Ranma

Tom the Greek on the SOC Black Great Mazinger "I just received my SOC Black Great Mazinger today and thought I would do a quick ramble. First off, the toy itself looks awsome. It has a menacing feel to it. He looks like he is ready to kick some A. "He comes in the traditional flat black finish. The accessories come in a gold and black color. "The wing is all black and the other wing thing is black, gold, and a shiny chrome gold for the exhaust ports. It really sets the wings off nicely. "In a nutshell, the piece looks great!!! I like this one much more that the Black Mazinger Z. For some reason the Great Mazinger looks cooler! This is definitely a must have for chogokin fans." -- Tom

Master Animator Marc Raley goes to Ikea "What better way to illuminate your Chogokin, than in the soft red light of this exquisite yet understated fixture? Available at your Local Ikea retail outlet for the equally understated price of just $14.95, this lamp will look right at home in the company of Robocon, 8 Chan and Robo Maru. "Don't allow your prized collection to go unnoticed on a dim, unlit shelf..." -- Marc

Info Minister Matt Alt with the News "Takara just can't be stopped. Hold on for more micro-mania: Takara's releasing Microman cellphone-straps and Zippo lighters this August. Also up for later in August: a dramatic surge in housefires. Nothing like providing kids with character-festooned firemaking implements. "And be on the lookout for a clear version of the Lady Command reissue figures, done in 'colored clear' (just like the clear Jeeg reissue.) They'll hit shelves in November. Aren't you getting a little tired of this?" 'The limited-edition run of gold-plated Robocon Reissue Chogokin sold out in thirty minutes at the Tokyo Toy festival last weekend. In fact, according to one Japanese toy website, scalpers were selling them outside of the convention-hall for a whopping 12,000 yen just scant hours later. Mmmm....hype!" -- Matt

Mechaman Roger Harkavy on the Info Minister Hisself "Speaking of the man, Toyfare #26 has hit the stands, containing not one but two articles by kaiju-meister Matt Alt. "Pick it up and watch him preach the magic of Henshin Cyborg to the masses. The issue also features an overview of the Robotech line by Dallas Middaugh, as well as a pithy ramble by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon5. Go check it out!" -- Roger

08/04/99: Lemel Rocks!

Cafe Chogokin regular Lemel42 helps kick-off the new Data Files with an awesome interactive movie on Sprial Zone!

Meanwhile: YT [that's me] gets a new email address to help lighten the load: AlenYenDX@aol.com. Keep sending it in!

Superpatron Schwartz on the Iron Giant "I JUST got back from a Mass MOCA preview of The Iron Giant. It's every bit as good as reported, opens generally on August 6, and along with the retro look of the Giant hisself, has a secret which I would call a 90's transformation surprise waiting for the troops when his welfare is threatened. "In a development which seems to forecast either artificial intelligence or the potential existence of life based on something other than carbon life forms, this movie moves along the discussion Re: robots as either mechanical creatures under human command or humans 'wearing' or manipulating mobile suits. This hunk-a-junk has a heart and soul, and looks like it will make a bundle for Warner Bros. The Iron Giant is gonna be BIG. Is it Japanese? No Way - but resemblance to the 'Soul of Tetsujin' is hard to dismiss. Hey WB - Get working on a DIECAST!" -- Warren

Leonardo with a pic of ANOTHER insane Italian Goldorak Ride "Here's a nice and unusual toy I found here in Italy for your news. I'm not the pilot (unfortunately...). It's electric and works! "I guess it's quite larger than that next S.O.C. Grandizer..." -- Leonardo

Info Minister Matt Alt with some Uni-Five Controversy "Even at this early point in mid-summer, it's safe to say that the Uni-Five Garada K-7 was one of the most eagerly anticipated toy-releases of 1999. Thus, you might be surprised to hear that there's a controversy brewing around the cuddly little robot of destruction: apparently quite a few Japanese collectors are calling his lineage into question. "The discussion has finally spilled over onto the Japanese-language Kong Tong Town BBS. According to the first salvoes fired in this rough 'n tumble debate, Figure-Oh magazine recently reported that, in spite of Uni-Five claims to the contrary, 'nobody, including Go Nagai's office, was able to uncover even a single sample [of the original Garada]. Thus, the molds were built without seeing an original and totally based on the catalog shot. The back side was created entirely from imagination.' "Another point is that the catalog-shot is of a prototype, anyway: the production model, if it ever existed, would undoubtedly be completely different. The poster goes on to say that 'this kind of irresponsible "reissue" serves no purpose other than to stir up fan-mania. Uni-Five should be ashamed of themselves.' Ouch! "Stay tuned for further developments!" -- MAlt

Evan and some Canadian (?!) Grandizer Action "What's happening? The ToyboxDX overhaul looks good. Hey, I was in Montreal a couple weeks ago and I saw this poster. "It's some asian film fest (Fantasiafest.com).) I tried to peel it off, but the best I could get was a snap. Gotta love that 'screw pressure punch.' Regards," -- Evan

September 1999 | Ramble Index | July 1999