Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Japanorama Short: Japanese Vinyl Toys
This is the new Japanorama short from BBC on Japanese Designer Toys. I thought it wasn't bad and covered some favorites including Bounty Hunter, Secret Base and Medicom. I was a bit put off by the term "Urban Vinyl" cause I don't think anyone really uses that terminology for Japanese vinyl toys. It's also a bit dated. The only other part that annoyed me a bit is the assertation that most collectors keep their toys in the original packaging to preserve the "value". Although Hikaru from Bounty Hunter said he likes to keep his toys in their pristine state and that he views the packaging as part of the overall unit, most collectors take their toys out of the package for display purposes. Otherwise, you can't really enjoy them! Ironically, if you kept all the Bounty Hunter toys in their plastic bags, you really wouldn't be able to enjoy them or the packaging really!
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2 comments:
Yeah, I think some things are good packaged, but with bagged vinyl figures, they tend to be more enjoyable out in the open.
(the Secret Base founder smashing a Skull Bee toy with the other dude's figure would be unimaginable! But I guess he's got money like that, huh?)
So with the popularity of vinyl toys on the rise, does that mean toy makers will raise the already stupidly-high prices? I hope not! I hope that they make larger runs!
Thanks for posting this.
--ji
yeah, it's ok to bang together Japanese vinyl! It's pretty sturdy stuff and the paint won't come off!
I don't see toy makers raising prices, but i've noticed lately a wee trend of slightly larger runs. Crazy prices are a result of too much demand and not enough supply. The toy makers don't benefit really from this since it's the flippers that make the moolah. If they make larger runs to satisfy the demand, toy makers make more $$ and demand is satisfied, but the downside is less hype for that "ultra rare" figure.
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