Alen Yen's ToyboxDX

	1.15.01-- 1.28.01


RUMBLE INDEX

1.28.01: Full Armor Fashion Plate

Eternally timely toy fan D.Kei brings us bigger, better pictures of Gundam FIX figure #0001. Gosh, with all those zeroes, can we expect thousands of FIX figures? Take note of that ankle. Perhaps FIX isn't quite as poseable as MSiA?

-- Darren

1.28.01: Beikoku no Tetsujin

A couple of months back, we announced that upstart Japanese toy company Toy'sworks was going to produce a line of Japan-only Iron Giant toys. The end of February should finally see the release of their 1:35 (43cm) and 1:76 (20cm) scale vinyl figures. But we'll have to pay a premium for the detail (and movie-exact porportions) of these toys: Y4,725 for the smaller and Y13,440 for the larger.

-- Yappy

1.28.01: Beer Googlin'

Just a brief note: MSiA Pepto Gelgoog is on the shelves.

-- Darren

1.26.01: Are You Fixed?

The Full Armor Gundam, first in the Gundam FIX line, is on the shelves! Japanese toy fan RYOU has got the very first pictures on the web.

Designed by Hajime Katoki, the over-sized, over-detailed, over-tricked MSiA-type toys are looking VERY good. In fact, this may be the first take on Perfect Gundam (due next) you've ever seen that actually looks attractive.

Check out the packaging! What a great way to display the 19 accessory pieces this figure ships with! With a box like this, you might not want to open the darn thing! Go, go, Gundam FIX!

-- Darren

1.26.01: Takara Two Thousand One

Takara has released a mysterious silhouetted picture of what they're currently calling "A New Hero for 2001." It hints at some sort of robot that combines from 4 vehicles: a plane, a train, a car, and a hovercraft(?). Could this be a first glimpse of a new Transformers line? Or better yet, a new Brave robot?

-- Yappy & Darren

1.26.01: Biotron Mk. II

Robotman is on-track! Takara is aiming for a late spring release, the retail isn't decided but should be in the 10,000 yen range, and it will have decals, accessories, and come in packaging that perfectly replicates the first-edition release of the product from 1975. The only parts not being included are several joint parts for use with the Henshin Cyborg toys, for some reason.

Takara says they're planning to re-release the drill accessory set, which allows you to turn Biotron into a drill-tank kind of thing, as well.

(Ignore the funky neon sheen of the protoype...)

-- Matt & Darren

1.25.01: Holy Kurosawa Batman!

Once in a great while a toy so spectacular is released it gives you cold sweats just day dreaming about it. Vintage toy collectors know this syndrome well, The Holy Grail Syndrome (HGS). Few new toy collectors ever really experience this phenomenon, as new toys are generally readily available and generally not too pricey. I thought I had experienced it in full last year with the release of the Marmit Daigokin, but boy was I wrong. Ever since I heard a rumor that Alfrex was going to release a figure set of the Seven Samurai, I started laying into my wife about how I needed them to fulfill my very existence, etc, etc. Well needless to say the Y120,000 price tag was very dissuading (to my wife :-P ). I sort of resolved myself to never owning them and just worshiping them from afar.

Due to an extremely generous bonus and a nice salary increase, I have had the wonderful opportunity to purchase these fine figures. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the figures, they are top notch Alfrex from head to toe. For anyone who doesn't own one of these gems they are the most accurately articulated (in my opinion) doll bodies out on the market. A good mixture of ball in socket and hinge joints puts them above the rest. The clothing is beautiful (and aggravating to get on correctly). The accessories are beautiful and the head sculpts are...well I will let the pics speak for themselves. [ Set 1 | Set 2 ] Of the Seven there are three different doll heights and they all come with die-cast weapons, except for Kikuchiyo's long sword which is chrome plastic :-(

The only criticism I have gotten about the figures is about Shichirouji and his ugly exposed jointed knees. I purchased the figures from Mitsu at J-axion. Mitsu was great, the figures were shipped immediately and expertly packaged, I got the box in mint condition.

-- Tim Brisko

1.25.01: Let There Be Valks

Studio HalfEye is preparing yet another Valkyrie for their Perfect Change series ... yes, it's the VF-11. Valk Mania. Valk Obsession. The Year of the Valk.

Heck, with Toynami, Bandai, Yamato, and Studio HalfEye all putting out transforming Valk goods, who needs Takatoku anyway?

-- Darren

1.25.01: Tangled Web of Valkyries

Kevin Lam of Valkyrie Exchange was recently invited to chat with George Sohn, president of Toynami. The resulting interview answers some questions, but raises a gaggle of others. Read on, true believers...

-- TBDX Rumble Crew

1.25.01: Soul of Getta?

People on the Toybox BBS have been whining for a Soul of Chogokin Getta Robo toy for months. They may get their wish. Bandai is busy designing a diecast, magnetic, combining Getta Robo toy. So, you draw your own conclusions.

Having a heart attack yet? The magnetic combining gimmick won't be perfect -- there will probably be a sack full of body components involved in properly assembling each robot. However, this arrangement will yield the best aesthetics, proportions, and poseability possible.

Plus, you'll see nifty things such as articulated snake-arms on Getta 3, rubber treads, and other such goodness. Understand, this is NO OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT of Soul of Chogokin Getta Robo ... just chalkboard chat and concept work over at Bandai. Stay tuned.

-- Darren & Crappy

1.25.01: Daiku Hako!

Here's a teensy-weensy peek at the box of Bandai's upcoming SOC Daikumaryu. It'll be around the same size as the box of the SOC Combattra V. One more tidbit: Daikyu will come with a stand to hold all your Space Dragon accessories and Gaiking spare parts. Yay!

-- Darren & Yappy

1.25.01: Acceptance, Pulling apart, and Transparency

I, like the rest of America acknowledging the other election of last year, accept that the SOC Grendizer is "our" Toy of the Year. But I must admit that I still think about the one that could have been.

Ol' Yellow (or red) eyes himself, Reptilicus... MORE!

-- Joe Buck

1.23.01: Kill It Before It Breeds

Move over, kitty -- there's a new cat in town. The product of five years of hard research in the bowels of Bandai headquarters, the "totally autonomous" BN-1 robo-kitty is set to hit shelves on February 21.

Dubbed "cute yet cool," the 50,000 yen ($500) BN-1 is poised to give ol' Aibo a run for his money at a fraction of the price. Featuring multiple body sensors, a PC link, a "gesture recognition system," and the ability to either walk using its legs or tool around using wheels built into its feet, the BN-1 looks to be almost as fun as a real kitty without peeing all over your collection like Alen's cat does.

Update 1.25.01 - BN-1 won't be hitting shelves on Feb 21, that's the deadline for online orders. Bandai's selling the initial batch of 2500 over the 'net, with more to follow if sales are brisk. Expect delivery in March.

-- Matt

1.23.01: I'm Really, Really Sorry...

...But I'm vibing on the design of Bandai's new DX Imperial Dramon toy. This homage to Mazinger Z (Look at the colors! Look at the wings! I'm not insane!) transforms from 24cm tall humanoid "fighter mode" to the 20cm long "dragon mode." It'll be available at the end of this month for Y3200.

(Yes, this is a Digimon toy. I'm really, really, really, really, really, really sorry...)

-- Yappy

1.23.01: Viva La VALKYRIES!

Sick of Valkyrie news yet? It's the second straight day of Valkyrie scoops, with no signs of letting up in sight. This time, the ball's back in Bandai's court. As you may recall, we printed an unconfirmed rumor that Bandai would re-release their semi-loathed Macross 7 Valkyrie toys.

Looks like the rumor's true. Although the release date hasn't been announced yet, the VF-19kai "Fire Valkyrie" and the VF-17 "Stealth Valkyrie" will hit shelves shortly. The amusing thing? At a 6,800 yen a pop retail, the Macross 7 toys will be competing head-to-head with the similarly-priced Macross Plus Valkyries from Yamato. Will customers prefer Yamato's clunky yet obsessive diecast designs, or go for the Playskool-esque, all-plastic Bandai versions? Only time will tell, but now's your chance to load up on the Macross 7 valkyries you passed up the first time around. (Or not.)

Thanks a zillion to Graham at Macrossworld.com for throwing this scan our way.

-- Matt

1.22.01: Mama Mia, MORE MACROSS!

Macrossworld.com Valkyrie-maniac Graham Parkes visited the Hong Kong office of Yamato Toys. The precious intel he managed to score will make even the most jaded Valkyrie fans drool with delight.

Not only does he disclose plenty o' detail about the upcoming "Fast-Pack" versions of the VF-19, YF-21, and VF-11 toys, but describes the loving detail that Yamato is lavishing upon their upcoming VF-1 series of toys.

Long-awaited by fans, the VF-1 toys will come with Super Armor, detachable missile units, and gunpods that can be properly slung under the Valkyries in "fighter" mode -- just like you remember them from the original Macross television series and film. Think of 'em as HCMs on steroids. But don't take my word for it. Check out Graham's report for yourself!

-- Matt

1.22.01: Valkyrie Variations!

Yamato released "official" shots of their upcoming VF-11 Thunderbolt fully-transforming Valkyrie toy. Set to hit shelves in April, it has a suggested retail price of 6,800 yen.

-- Matt

1.19.01: Marmit on Toast, Mate!

Thanks to the Dynamic Action Figure Getta Dragun, Marmit will release a full set of Getter Robo Gs for its Mini-Metal line. Dragun's due this month, Riger/Liger/Lyger/Ryger will follow in February, and Poseidon's release date is TBD. Each one will retail for Y2800. Thanks, Javier, for the news.

Marmit's also released two exquisitely detailed Galaxy Express 999 electric train sets to ride the wave of primo Leiji Matsumoto merchandise coming out this year. The TV and movie versions come with slightly different paint jobs and different mini-figures of protagonist, Tetsuro Hoshino. Each N-gauge scale (1/144) set retails for a whopping Y24800.

-- Yappy

1.19.01: Robotech Revival

Love 'em or loathe 'em, Harmony Gold is at it again! The same guys who tussled with "Toycom"/Yamato over diecast Macross Plus toys are jumping the gun and licensing a set of Valkyrie toys themselves.

Amusingly enough, the toys are being produced by none other than TOYNAMI, a splinter-company formed by George Sohn, the ex-president of Toycom, in the wake of the "Harmony Gold / Toycom Valkyrie Holocaust of 2000." What a tangled web they weave...

Although keychains and figurines will be available as well, the most interesting release for toy fans will be the "Morphers," which seem to be re-worked versions of old Takatoku super-deformed pull-back action toys. Look for Focker's VF-1S, Hikaru, Max, and Miriya's VF-1Js, the ubiquitous VF-1A, and the elusive VF-1D later this year.

-- Matt

1.17.01: Hiropon Hijinks

No, I'm not talking about the Bill S. Burroughs cut-up-speech spouting protagonist of Gundam Wing. The Hiropon Factory is a collective of Japanese artists who specialize in what can best be described as "deconstructionist otaku art." Their leader, Takashi Murakami, has both homaged and criticized modern Japanese pop graphic sensibilities with his bizzaro-cute mascot, DoB, and his grotesque/erotic life-sized S.M.P.Ko2 cyber-girls.

What does this have to do with toys? Well, Hiropon makes nifty little DoB plushies, and Kaiyodo will be co-producing S.M.P.Ko2 resin kits and statues. But more importantly, Hiropon's mission is to legitimize the banal and the mass-produced as art... something a certain collective of webheads here in the U.S. is also trying to accomplish...

Hiropon Factory's Super Flat exhibition just opened at the MOCA Gallery (Pacific Design Center) in Los Angeles and will run until May 6. Left-coasters, please drop us a report!

-- Yappy

1.17.01: The Last Word on Gundam

Behold the king of Gundam books: Mediawork's massive Gundam Archive. Tremble at the weight of this slip-boxed, hardbound tome that covers every, EVERY bit of design minutae from the original Gundam (0079) series. Gasp at the wonder of 392 pages of heavyweight archival parchment paper. Drool over the early Gundam design proposals, especially the first "Gunboy" dated September 1978. Thrill to the fact that the book also includes design elements organized by episode-- juicy tidbits like the microphone tooth from episode 17 and Char's briefcase from episode 38. Gawk at the prohibitive price of Y10000. Shiver at the thought of the 6lb shipping rate. Lose your sanity as you try to track down ISBN #4840212112...

-- Yappy

1.15.01: The Wild Toys of the Films of Kinji Fukasaku

I am flipping through the L.A. Weekly looking for The American Cinematheque's showing of Wim Wenders' Until the End of the World when I see that they are doing an entire retrospective on the films of Kinji Fukasaku. Your Buckster puts 2 and 2 together and realizes that this man was in a way responsible for some of the oddest toys to come out of Japan... MORE!

-- Joe Buck & Yappy

1.15.01: O.G. Read More!

Here in New York on a gig and having heard so much about the action here on the East Coast (compared to our 'scene' in the midwest) I decided to pay a visit to the local Asahiya on 45th and Vanderbilt over by Grand Central Station. While there I picked up a copy of the new Chogokin Damashii/Soul of Chogokin II, a companion volume to Roman Album Hypermook 2, which contains several pages of pix and features on the new BPX-01 Yamato and the GX-05 Daikumaryu. The book is probably just worth the $25 for the pictures alone.

As for the rest of the content in the book, it's a testament to how much work you all have put into the site that we've pretty much seen everything already. It covers a number of chogokin, notably the eponymous SOC series, has some interviews with designers, looks at some sentai toys and action figures that came out since the last book in '98. Still, good for reference...

-- Gino

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