Alen Yen's ToyboxDX

	11.22.01-- 01.14.02


RUMBLE INDEX

01.14.02: Those SOBs are back again!

Sean Bonner just sent me this fabulous promotional shot of the upcoming Soul Of Bullmark Series 3 vinyl gashapon goodies. As with the previous two series, you get beautiful mini renditions of the old Bullmark classics for peanuts on the yen. You can't beat these fun little guys for you toy buying dollar.

--Tim

01.13.02: Club Tokyo 2001: The Year in Review

Club Tokyo has just posted their 2001 Year In Review, along with polling results gathered from the Godzilla collecting community. Check it out, Toybox DX got a whopping 1% for their "Most Recommended Resource" poll! You can see it HERE!

--Roger

01.13.02: You built THAT with LEGO?

Lego mastermind Sun Yun has officially launched FoundryDX, a site devoted to beautiful mecha designs implemented in the medium of everybody's favorite building toy. Check out shots Lego models of Valkyries, Zakus, EVAs and more! If you haven't seen Sun Yun's work before, be prepared to be totatally amazed. These are fine feats of Lego engineering and you will see things you never thought possible!

--Tim

01.06.02: W I R E Z O L E R

I found Eric Chan through one of his ebay auctions for one of his creations, a Baltan-seijin. I contacted him about the possibility of making a Bazoler. He happily obliged, and within days it was in my hands... MORE!

--Roger

01.01.02: Votoms am love...

Armored Trooper Votoms was my first love, my re-introduction to the Japanese toys I had loved as a child. In my younger years, like many, my toys consisted of everything from Takatoku Valkyries to Shogun Warriors, Transformers, Dougram toys and GI Joes. In my teenage years I abandoned all the wonderful toys and stories of my youth for, well, some of the softer things in life... MORE!

--Tim

01.01.02: Happy New Year!

Another year passes us by and another year begins. May it bring us all new opportunities, new friends and lovely new (and vintage) toys to fill our hearts and cabinets. From all of us at ToyboxDX, Happy New Year!

--The Rumble Crew

12.31.01 TOTY: And The Winner Is...

It was a close race, a very close race. It has been hour upon hour of laboriously counting votes by hand. We even counted the votes from Florida, but we have the smoking gun, and the winner is...???

--The Rumble Crew

12.30.01: Matt's Mekarobo Mania

I know this is heresy, but I've been burned out on Gaiking for some time now. It's a classic design, sure, but I've never been one to obsess over a single character. Once I manage to procure a "definitive" take on a robot I like, that's it. According to this little philosophy, my owning "number-one son" Jumbo Machine Gaiking meant I had effectively removed myself from the Gaiking market -- or so I thought. After sitting on the sidelines to yet another sweaty, arduous bout of Gaiking appreciation on the BBS (led by the usual suspects of Josh and Mario, of course) I found myself almost unconsciously typing the magic g-a-i-k-i-n-g into the ol' Ebay search engine. Lo and behold...

Read all about it in Eau De Alt!

--Matt

12.28.01: FASTer, Valkyrie! Kill! Kill!

That's right -- Yamato has released juicy shots of their prototpe Super Valkyrie toys, complete with "FAST-packs"! No word on the exact release date yet, but these are shaping up to be some of the most detailed Super Valkyrie toys ever produced. Enjoy!

Check 'em out HERE!

--Matt

12.22.01: Shin Deux

Santa's industrious toy elves over at Studio Half Eye show off their new Perfect Change CV Shin Getta 2. It should be out in May for ¥25,000.

--Darren

2001 ToyboxDXer Of The Year: Joshua Fraser

In my time here with the ToyboxDX community, I have run across many people with a rich diversity in culture, hobby, attitudes and life. There is one member of our community who has consistently touched me with his love of the hobby and almost insatiable generousity to fellow collector and community overall. I speak of the venerable Joshua Fraser. Josh, through his knowledge of all things Gaiking, good nature and sense of humor has contributed above and beyond to the quality of this site and the to Japanese toy collecting in general. Thanks Josh.

--Tim and the Rumble Crew

12.19.01: Gatcha Have It!

This is a toy that I have waited all of my life for. I never had a Phoenix toy as a child (I had to make one out of cardboard, markers, scotch tape and the back end of a Battlestar Galactica Jupiter Probe) so it has been a long wait, and it was worth it. The toy is heavy, oozing with quality, and utterly satisfying...MORE!

--Keith

12.16.01: Precious Cargo

Home from Japan now for three weeks, I've been communing with the toys a little too much. I recently found a note affixed to the lower half of my bathroom door. It read, "Please stop shooting me with your plastic missiles and fists. Thank you." It was signed and dated. By my cat. ...MORE!

--Michael Grifka

12.15.01: Sick Sad Rumor

The rumor is that the DX robots being designed for Hurricanger (2002's Super Sentai) will use parts interchangeable with the current GaoRanger Power Animals.

This may or may not be intentional, as Bandai seems to be settling on a standard type of interconnecting joint for toys in this age group. You might've already noticed this if you've happened to combine any DX Core Module parts from Ultraman Cosmos with your Power Animals.

Now, don't forget to take out a yellow highlighter, and underline the word "rumor" on your screen.

--Darren

--Tim

12.14.01: Belgas...Grinning Evil Doom

For some reason (obsession - pursuit of praise) I couldn't shake the feeling that I had one more custom JM in me before the end of the year. After my last rumble featuring the custom Dabulas M2, I pulled a quick poll to see what Kikaiju (JM villains) folks would most like to see - no clear winner rose to the top but it did seem to lean in the direction of characters never produced by Popy. I put my personal longing for Kingdan X10 aside and set my sights on an un-produced villain ...MORE!

--Walter Harris

12.13.01: Ride of the Doyusha (Bless you!) Valkyries

Macrossworld's one and only Graham Parkes lays down the law about the new palm-sized diecast Valkyrie toys from Doyusha! Give it a gander at Macrossworld.com!

--Matt

12.07.01: Hook me up HLJ!

HobbyLink Japan has updated their site with tons of beautiful pictures of upcoming Bandai goodies. Everything from the new SOCs to Patlabor in Action:

Check 'em out:

--The Rumble Crew

12.06.01: KILLER Kubricks

As if the movie wasn't creepy enough, now you can own two-inch versions of your favorite Tarantino tough guys. Medicom Toy has announced two sets of Resevoir Dogs Kubricks, each retailing for ¥2480. Twenty bucks gets you four figures and accessories:

Set A Includes Mr. White, Mr. Pink, Mr. Brown and Joe
Set B Includes Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue and Nice-Guy Eddie.

--Tim

12.06.01: Godzilla Goodies!

Monster Zero has an excellent overview of all of the Godzilla merchandise coming out soon. Sofubi! Gashapon! Gummies! Canned food? A notebook computer?!? Check it out HERE!

--Roger

12.05.01: More Bandai Bliss...

Anyone remeber a quaint little line of Gundam Chogokins? Anyone wonder whatever happend to the Kadou Senshi Zeta? Wonder no more, Dengeki Hobby has run some spectacular photos of the upcoming Zeta in all its chogo-glory. All I can say is it is pure beauty. Look for it sometime in May 2002.

If you need a fix sooner than May, look for these fine items in the relative near future:

EL Hobby Mascot Robo Haro, ¥3,980, Mid February
Jumbo Grade Char's Zaku II, ¥16,000, also in Mid February

--The Rumble Crew

12.05.01: Viva Las Valkyries!

Final production model shots of Bandai's reissue of the Takatoku 1:55 scale VF-1J appeared in this month's Dengeki Hobby, and things are looking great. Some highlights:

The nosecone is just as pointy 'n dangerous as the Takatoku
The "vents" on the bottom of the chestplate have been painted black (they were left grey on the original)
Bandai has strenghtened several of the joint areas, most notably the ratchet mechanism for the wings.
There's nary a sticker in sight! Everything from Hikaru's name stenciled under the cockpit to the detailing on the legs, arms, and chest has been replicated with a high-tech painting process.
The packaging will look absolutely nothing like the original Takatoku version, and the toy will be packaged in Fighter mode rather than Battroid.

Release date is set for later this month at a retail price of ¥6800 (roughly $60).

--Matt

12.03.01: The Power of Geki

I was consumed by a toy made for collectors by a collector. The Hobby Project Geckiganger complements of Kanzen Hentaro. Let me start off by saying that Josh Fraser RULES! This guy noticed my random BBS posts every month stating "I NEED A GECKIGANGER", and he remembered them. Maybe, because he knows that feeling of desperation we all feel when one of the pieces of our collective puzzle is missing and we can't find it...MORE!

--Erik Sjoen

12.03.01: Fix FAZZ Factoids

As with previous FIX releases, the reaction to the new Full-Armor Double Zeta Gundam toy seems to be mixed in Japan. Although it's been proclaimed "the best of the series" by at least a handful of fans on Japanese toy BBS systems, others have complained that Bandai is still experiencing fit-and-finish problems with some of the armor attachment points (particularly in the rear skirt section). Collectors have also reported seeing marking variations as well: to date, armor with numbers 04 through 06 have been confirmed.

Thumbs up? Thumbs down? You'll know as soon as we get our greasy paws on one ourselves.

--The Rumble Crew

12.03.01: MORE Bandai you say?

Because you need to know. Really, really badly you do.

Gundam FIX ...

#0006 Wing Gundam Early Type, ¥3,680, bottom of February
#0004 G-Armor G3 Type, ¥4,980, bottom of March

Robots in Action ...

MSiA Zaku I, ¥1,200, late January
MSiA Gyan, ¥1,200, late February
MSiA Aggai & Zock, ¥2,600, late March
LiA Ingram, ¥1,700, late March

Soul of Chogokin ...

GX-08 SOC Aphrodite A, ¥3,500, late January
GX-09 SOC Minerva X, ¥3,500, late February
GX-10 SOC Boss Borot, ¥4,00, late March

Microbot Series (5 inches tall, battery operated, walking toys) ...

RX-78 Gundam, ¥2,980, early March
MS-06J Zaku II, ¥2,980, early March
MS-06S Char's Zaku II, ¥2,980, top of March

Other ...

Popinika Dolphin-go, 8.5 inches long, comes with mini-mecha and display base, transforms between submarine and aircraft modes
Reissue VF-1S, ¥6,800, late March

--Darren

12.02.01: Gamera Goodies & More!

Marusan-USA is offering more vinyl goodness in the form of Kaibaark and Baron (figures from their original 1960s monster series), Ultra Earth (from Astro Mu 5), and three small-size versions of Gamera. And for those of you who like their turtles LARGE, you can still order the limited US-Exclusive Gamera figures.

--Roger

12.02.01: Bandai booty

Check out the latest and greatest news and release dates from the corporate toy giant:

Have enough Gundam variants yet? Get ready for the 'Prototype Color' Kadou Senshi Gundam. It will be sold at the Bandai Hong Kong Gundam Convention.
Have enough Goa-variants yet? Terebi-kun Magazine is slated to offer White DX GaoLion prize and Terebi Magazine will offer a Metallic DX GaoLion prize.
GaoPanda will also be given away in prize version to 100 people with an included "activity" CD and special mini GaoRed figure.

December Delivery Schedule:

PA9 DX GaoLion ¥4,000 12/8
DX Chogokin GaoGod ¥7,000 12/15
Mecha Collection Great Mazinger ¥1,500 12/21
Soul of Chogokin GX-07 OVA Mazinger ¥4,800 12/22
Reissue VF-1J Valkyrie ¥6,800 12/22
MSiA Psycho Gundam ¥6,800 12/29
SIC #13 Kamen Rider Kuuga ¥3,500 12/29

--Darren Doggy Dog

12.02.01: The Last Pilgrimage...

Spur of the moment, with a borrowed JR Pass in hand, I hopped an early morning Shinkansen train from Kobe and arrived at Hakata station two and a half hours later. It would be my final visit to Fukuoka, the place where I started my Japanese adventure more than two years ago. Stepping off the train, I felt an immediate sensation of closure. Sentiment aside, I had come for toys!! ...MORE!

--Michael Grifka

11.29.01: New Release Roundup!

Thanks to Japanese website Temus , toy-freaks everywhere have gotten a chance to peek into the "Bandai Private Toy Show 2001" that was held on Wednesday 28th. Hot 'n juicy tidbits abound.

GX-08 Soul of Chogokin Aphrodite A will be hitting shelves in January at the insanely low price of 3,500 yen ($30); GX-09 Minerva X will follow in February at the same price; and the portly yet sexy GX-10 BOSS BOROTT (whoo-hoo!) will follow on the ladies' heels in March at 4,500 yen.

As if that weren't enough, Bandai has announced that they're following up the re-issue of the Takatoku VF-1J toy with Focker's VF-1S, due in March at 6,800 yen. Once can only hope this means that a reissue of the fan-fave Super Valkyrie will be next....

The next Gundam FIX has been announced as well. And unbelievably, it's the "early model" of the Gundam Wing. Transforms into "bird mode," and coming out at the end of February at 3,600 yen.

The next Popinika will be the Dolphin from Cyborg 009. Fully transformable from flying to submersible modes and featuring detachable mini-vehicles, it'll retail for 3,500 yen and come out in February.

And finally, the icing on the cake (if you're a Patlabor fan, anyway): Patlabor in Action! Look for Alphonse in March for 1,700 yen. Yowza!

--ToyboxDX Community

11.29.01: Aibo? No -- ASIMO!

Good news! Honda's now renting their acclaimed bipedal robot ASIMO for the low, low price of $166,000 a year. Expensive, but I suppose it's a step in the right direction of making affordable humanoid killing machin -- er, friendly home robots -- available for purchase to average citizens.

For more info, check out the official ASIMO site.

--Matt

11.27.01: Kaiju Makeover

Club Daikaiju's new web site is up! Order new 2002 Godzilla toys, Soul of Bullmark gashapons, Ultraman chogokin, Reptilici and Rat-Bat-Spiders from the comfort and convenience of your own home! Browse through their new "online catalog"! Innovative "shopping basket" feature! Futuristic "point and click" interface! Make payment with amazing "credit cards"! Go there NOW!

--Roger

11.27.01: Mobile Armor...Pac Man!

Lucky-duck Chris Hunter managed to snag a pair of the upcoming Mobile Suit in Action Zakrello and Bigro toys early at a test-market release in California. They'll be seeing a nationwide release 'real soon now', according to Bandai. Until then, enjoy these photos...

--Matt

11.22.01: DABUL Vision

Pining for that Jumbo Villain that always seems to elude you? Dying to fill in the gaps in that collection of polyethylene abominations bugging the hell out of your wife in the living room? Walter Harris was too, but he upped the ante, he built his own. From the same genius mastermind that brought you the custom JM Goliath...check out his newest labor of love Dabulas-M2!

--Rumble Crew

11.15.01: Umi-Gosh!

It took a long time (and some serious internal questionings of my own sanity) to actually track one down and buy it but, thanks to some unlooked for help from the ever-friendly TBDX community, well, here it is. ...MORE!

--Corey

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