Cruising through VinylPulse a few days ago, I came across these sick pics of Thomas Han's painted prototypes of his upcoming "Pusher" toys being produced by Munky King. These things are completely insane! I ran into Thomas at the "We Are All Mad" show at Gallery 1988 last weekend and asked him about his new toys. He said that there would be 200 in each colorway and there would be 4 or 5 colorways. They would similar to the painted prototypes. He mentioned they would be out hopefully in early 2007 and even a slight possibility of year end 2006!!
I first met Thomas at SDCC earlier this year with Patrick Lam of Munky King. I have to say that both of these dudes are sincere, genuine, down-to-earth guys. I grew up in LA near Chinatown and spent a lot of time in the plaza where the original Munky King is today. It's nice to see Chinese American artists like Thomas Han and Luke Chueh get into the toy business with the help of guys like Patrick Lam. Although I didn't grow up on the Eastside like Thomas, I hung out with a few guys that did, so here's a shout out to the boys from MPK!!
I first got a look at these little gems at San Diego Comic Con in July. My jaw dropped and I was in awe! Square Enix is releasing an entire set of vehicles from the Final Fantasy Universe including these two motorcyles. Although they are highly detailed and painted, they are pretty small - only around 4 to 5 inches long. Mini figures are white hot these days for a number of reasons including a lower price point, collectability and space considerations (you can get a lot of mini figures on your desk). I think Square Enix is doing the right thing by going in this direction with this series. It competes very favorably to the popular Takumi Damashi series from Bandai.
I've got a thing for toy motorcycles. Generally speaking, if it's a Japanese toy involving a motorcyle, i'm usually buying it. Check out my Toy Motorcyle Gallery. I'm not even into Final Fantasy, but I sure dig the bikes! I have the larger Fenrir cycle which is very cool, but I believe this will be the first toy featuring Kadaj's motorcycle.
Check out this video showing off one of the bike battles from the admitedly awesome movie Final Fantasy Advent Children. I have to say, even if you're not into Final Fantasy (like me), this is a great movie with unbelievable animation, graphics and action. Highly recommended.
Although I'm a certified video game junkie, I don't review video games. There are too many other sites like Gamespot which do a much better and thorough job than I could ever hope to muster. So I was a bit surprised when the marketing muscle behind Capcom approached me out of the blue and asked if I wanted to review Ultimate Ghosts N Goblins for the PSP. I guess someone saw that I had a PSP playlist on the blog and thought, hey maybe he'll write a review for us. So they sent me the game and I had the pleasure of checking it out last week. Being an old geezer, I remember the original Ghosts and Goblins. It was a pretty cool game back in the day when 2D side scrollers were all the rage, so I was a bit concerned how this updated version would fare on my PSP competing with the 3D likes of Tekken Dark Ressurection, Syphon Filter Dark Mirror, Tomb Raider Legend and Def Jam Fight for New York.
The first thing I noticed as Ultimate Ghosts N Goblins started up is how beautiful it is on the PSP. It looks better than it ever did on any previous system including Arcade! The graphics really popped and the colors were rich and vivid. I learned that while GNG is a 2D side scroller, it actually utilizes an all new 3D graphics engine which makes the universe come alive! The new engine also allowed for greater control over movement and actions allowing for more ways to jump and shoot. I also enjoyed the new selections of weapons including this kick-ass boomerang axe thing!
The downside to this game is that it's damn hard! One bad move, slip or shot not timed properly and you're dead. It can be very frustrating to play. To address this issue, Capcom luckily added a new feature which allows you to play on easy, normal or hard settings. Also new is the ability to get extra lives to start off where you died as opposed to lame check points.
If you're an old skool 2D side scrolling type of guy, than this is a definite must have for your PSP. The game format is perfect for those bus and train rides into school or work. If you're not into side scrollers or don't even know what a side scroller is, Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins is still worth checking out. Don't believe me? Check out this game trailer and decide for yourself!
Lastly, you know I had to throw in the toy reference, right? Well, check out this Ghosts N Goblins set released several weeks ago at Wonderfestival in Japan from Gargamel! Notice that the box says Capcom on it!
All hail the return of Sir Arthur as Capcom
announces Ultimate Ghosts ‘n GoblinS™ for THE PSP ™ (PlayStation®Portable) system
E3, LOS ANGELES ¾ May 10, 2006 — The beloved armored Arthur, with his renowned boxers in tow, charges onto the portable gaming scene as Capcom® today presented Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins™ , an exciting side-scrolling action adventure game for the PSP™ (PlayStation ® Portable) system. Created by members of the original Ghost 'n Goblins team, the long awaited fourth installment to the favored franchise sees the triumphant return of valiant knight, Sir Arthur, as he must save the princess from the clutches of evil. Specifically recreated from the ground up, witness the evolution of the series with the inclusion of exciting upgrades and new gameplay features, all the while retaining the legendary qualities reminiscent to the property. Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins is scheduled for release throughout North America in Q3 2006.
In Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Arthur's heroic battle with the underworld was finally over and the entrance to the realm was sealed. So he thought. Time passes and unknowing to mankind, the dark lord has awaken from his slumber and kidnaps the princess in an effort to conquer the human world. Arthur must set off for the evil forest, the gateway to the underworld, to save the princess from imminent doom and keep the devil as well as his minions at bay. The excitement and intensity of the forerunner continues as our armored hero takes on this new challenge for the sake of humanity.
With the use of a 3D graphics engine , the Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins world comes alive as effects, cutscenes, backgrounds and animations are given more depth and richer detail. Retaining the classic design of the series, several new facets have been created including a broader range of motion and control techniques. Now our hero has the capability to dash, double-jump, shoot up or down in a vertical fashion, grab onto ledges, etc. A new leveling system allows gamers to build up Arthur's skills for more powerful magic abilities and attacks. With the addition of extra lives, death doesn't mean starting from a check point but rematerializing where they left off. Also new to the series is the inclusion of three difficulty modes that will suit every experience level: Novice, Standard and Ultimate. With the introduction of these all-new settings, a wide range of players can now fully enjoy Arthur's daring and unique world.
No longer just a linear experience, Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins has plenty of branching sub-missions that will encourage players to explore their surroundings for a more open-ended experience. Gamers can save their progress along the way and revisit cleared stages at anytime to expose unexplored paths, concealed items or weapons to help conquer the challenges that lie ahead.
Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins boasts the following features:
New features and upgrades for the series –
New 3-D characters and environments enrich the side-scrolling adventure! New weapons, magic and armor help Arthur overcome difficult challenges New and improved moves for the heroic Sir Arthur: Double-jump in mid-air, grab onto ledges and much more New save feature allows gamers to revisit cleared stages at anytime New level-up system for more powerful abilities and attacks New difficulty settings that provide their own unique challenges for every gamer: Novice – An easier mode for those not familiar with the series Standard – The default setting for those wanting a challenge Ultimate – A setting reminiscent of past Ghosts ‘n Goblin titles Extra lives mean starting where players left off and not at check points Expansive environments – Five main stages, each with multiple sub-missions, hidden paths and bosses to conquer
Capcom is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment. Founded in 1983, the company has created world renowned franchises including Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Mega Man, Breath of Fire, Devil May Cry and the Onimusha series. Headquartered in Osaka , Japan , the company maintains operations in the U.S. , United Kingdom , Germany , Tokyo and Hong Kong . More information about Capcom and its products can be found on the company's web site at www.capcom.com
Man, the Votoms onslaught continues! I LOVE how CM's, Max Factory, Yamato and Takara are just pumping out more and more awesome Votom's figures!! Looks like they are all ganging up together to deliver the beat down on Bandai's Gundam Universe!! I'm all for it as competition is good for the mecha consumer!
So check out this upcoming release from CM's Corp which is this awesome 2 pack Calamity Dog Red vs. Green! It's due out in Japan in November and will set you back $85 before overseas shipping, but you get TWO mechas! Personally, I'm feeling the red guy cause he reminds me of the Juggernaught! I'm also digging how the cockpit opens to reveal the Chirico pilot. Pre-order it now from Hobby Link Japan
Japanese Toy Maker Secret Base throws the Japanese vinyl toy collecting community for a loop by releasing this preview of their upcoming Alien Mantis figure. If you happened to catch this earlier post on Secret Base's Masked Ranger series, you saw the following picture from Secret Base's retail store in Japan. It shows a grey silver plushie figure with two heads. We have learned from Brian Flynn of Super7, that this Alien Mantis is a super limited figure and not officially part of the Masked Ranger Series. All the figures in the series comes with a plushie inside the vinyl. I assumed this two-headed plushie was the very popular two-headed Ghostfighter, but Skullbrain member, LivingDead reminded me that it could be the two headed Madball or Mantis figures as well! I have to say after seeing it myself, I really like the Mantis! Previous versions were in this ugly green color. The silver Alien version rocks!! Mystery Solved!! There will be two more figures in the Masked Ranger series. Experts have determined that they will be a Yellow Pumpkin Brain and a Green Death Barbarian both with the signature plushies inside. I can hardly wait! Thanks LivingDead for allowing me to post these awesome pics!
Paul Kaiju's amazing custom vinyl figures from his solo "Toxic Coated Customs" show at Super7 earlier this year have been immortalized in a feature article in PlayTimes Magazine including photography from yours truly!! Congratulations Paul! Well Deserved!! If you want to see more of Paul's awe-inspiring customs from the show, Click Here!! Thanks to Creaturion for posting these pics!!
About PlayTime Magazine:
PlayTimes, a Singapore toy publication that is produced and published monthly reaches designers and collectors across the globe in 20 countries with its timely updates.
Get the scoop of the latest developments, the “what’s hot”, as well as toy-related events, toy concepts and character designs within the urban vinyl toy landscape.
PlayTimes delves into new trends, technology, events and advancements within the urban vinyl toy scene worldwide. At the same time, the publication is a mouthpiece for the toy community, and aims to cultivate understanding among companies on the role of designer toys in marketing their products and profiling their brands.
Each issue of PlayTimes is a collectible in itself, featuring a customised cover uniquely conceptualised and illustrated by a popular designer.
Showcasing exclusive interviews with celebrated designers each month, PlayTimes is available in 2 languages – English and Mandarin.
For any of you reading this post that are not already subscribers to Super 7, you're missing out!! Go...Get on it...Suscribe now!!
SUPER7 ISSUE 14: KAWS DISSECTED
Issue 14 of Super7 is our hottest issue yet, bringing you the best in toys, art and design! With a massive cover feature on graffiti, gallery and toy artist, Kaws, plus six jam-packed features, news, columns, music, and more, you can’t afford to miss this issue of Super7. Now with more pages and a slick new cover style!
A sneak peek at Super7 14’s contents:
Cover Story: Kaws has risen to legendary status in the past few years among street kids and the art elite. Beginning as a graffiti artist who manipulated major advertisements in NYC, Kaws has parlayed his misfit approach into a multi-platform attack encompassing fashion design, gallery installations and vinyl toys. Get the story from the man himself in our in-depth interview focusing on his influential toy works.
Features: Japanese punk band Balzac is back with a new US album and an army of toys--hear all about it from Balzac front man and toy designer Hirosuke Nishiyama!
The world’s first giant robot, Tetsujin 28, gets a live-action DVD release. Super7 sounds off on this lavish 2004 production bursting with CGI robot battles.
Change is healthy, especially for robots. Discover why in our inside look at the classic toys based on the Japanese ‘80s cartoon Macross (known in the US as Robotech.) Plus, a featurette and interview with Macross designer, Haruhiko Mikimoto!
What happens when a giant bug from Atlantis named Megalon picks a fight with Godzilla? Well, he gets his butt kicked and a gaggle of great toys made in his likeness. Every Megalon toy that was ever made appears in this feature. Nerd core at its finest.
Bang your head! Nakajima Nodding Toys are the greatest gimmick vinyls to come out of Japan and we give you the complete breakdown and collectors checklist. See. We do love you.
Columns: Creator of the Kubrick, Oka Narue, talks twelve-inch figures. Vinyl savant and Japanese punk star, Take-shit, gets misty-eyed over metal monsters. Super7 owner and creator Brian Flynn gets nostalgic over the early days of Japanese toy collecting. And, Hiddy Kinoshita, owner of the Secret Base boutique in Harujuku, explores his crazy collecting habits in print!
No one is quite sure how many were produced, but suffice to say, not many. There are two versions. The regular version has a gold head with black trunks, but there is also a super rare chase variant with a clear yellow head and yellow gloves. Frustrated toy buyer LivingDead on Japanese vinyl toy board Skullbrain reports that he got up at 6:30am to get the chase variant but they literally sold out as he was in line. He surmises only 50 of the figures were made available. All the exclusive figures from Cronic and Real x Head also sold out within minutes apparently.
If you notice the pictures above, the first set are the two production figures in the bags. The chase variant has red eyes, clear yellow head and maroon trunks with yellow gloves. In the picture beneath which was shot by Datadub in Japan at Wonderfestival a month or so ago, you can see that the prototype chase looked much more like the normal version. I think because they were so similar, Astro Zombies and /or Secret Base decided to vary the colorway of the chase. I gotta say that I much prefer the prototype chase colorway compared to the production version...I'm not feeling the maroon trunks or yellow gloves. Having said that, it's not preventing me from spending an arm and a leg on it!
Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, both versions of the Skullwing are fetching some pretty high prices on Yahoo! Japan Auctions right now. I personally have a bid in for the rare chase variant at close to $170!!! Retail on these things is only around $40!! Being addicted to Japanese vinyl is hard on the credit card...
In another extremely anticipated release, here's a super sneak peek at Super 7 and Secret Base's Halloween tour de force. As some of you might know, head honcho Brian Flynn over at S7 is a HUGE Halloween fan. That's why all the S7 exclusive toys are the signature orange and black. Just like last year and not unlike this recent 4 week Gargamel orgasmatron, Super 7 will be releasing a Super exclusive Secret Base figure every Saturday for four consecutive weeks. If you can get all four figures, you are treated with a fifth super secret bonus figure free! I love it, but I didn't make the full set last go around. This time it will be different damn it! So feast your eyes on the sneak peak showing 2 of the 5 figures: Rare and elusive Pumpkin Head and Obake Sheet in yummy, translucent orange vinyl!!!
If you haven't been over to Kaiju Taro, it's definitely worth a look. They focus on Japanese vinyl monsters (Kaiju) and have quite a wide selection including hard-to-get figures from all those cool Japanese toy festivals. You have to be check the site regularly cause new stuff is added daily and be quick on your toes because they don't get that many exclusive figures in, and when they do, they go very, very fast. The only thing that matches the speed of their inventory selling out would be their service. They are located in Japan, but I must have received a figure I purchased two (2)days after I ordered it. That's fast service!! The other really cool thing about their site is that they offer an english version so us folks stateside don't have to copy and paste kanji into Babelfish to get a description. Very nice!
Once you register on the site, you also get sent their "Kaizine" which is their email newsletter. More importantly about the Kaizine is that exclusive toys that are not sold on the normal website can be pre-ordered! Now this is what we really want!
My first opportunity to take advantage of Kaizine's exclusive toys came the other day when I saw that Kaizine is offering for pre-order three exclusive figures! The first two are exclusive colorways from Gargamel featuring a pastel sky blue Zagoran and a easter pink mini zag. The last figure is from Rumble Monsters and features a baby Pharoah whose eye pops out! There is a rumor that Frank Kozik is going to be doing a few custom baby Pharoahs in a few different colorways!
All I can say is check out Kaiju Taro and subscribe to "Kaizine"! Do so quickly and you can still get in on the Gargamel and Rumble Monsters exclusive figures! Pre-Order ends on October 26th!!!
This is the Tale of Two Skullwings. Two Skullwings customized. One for the love of a best friend. One for the love of the Skullwing itself. Both amazing examples of dedication to the niche genre of Japanese Vinyl toys. Wait, what the hell are Skullwings? They are fairly rare Japanese vinyl toys made by Secret Base in collaboration with San Francisco artist Pushead. You will probably recognize his artwork from those Metallica covers you used to gaze at while ditching Chem class in your parent's basement getting stoned, gobbling Cheetos and rocking your head back and forth. I would say this particular design is one of the reasons why I was attracted to collecting Japanese vinyl (that and my high school flashbacks).
The tale of the first Skullwing is all about the passion for the toy and the Red version of this toy that has eluded this dedicated collector. Skullbrain member Locomoco is pretty serious about Pushead toys. So much so that he patiently waited in line very early to grab two very, very, very rare handpainted figures from the man himself at this year's San Diego Comic Con. With the money Locomoco spent on these two toys, he could of purchased a small (albeit used) car. Luckily for Locomoco, he already has a car. It's a bit ironic that Locomoco actually scored two custom figures, one of which is a Skullwing, that are more rare than the Red Skullwing that eludes him. So what did Locomoco do? He busted out his trusty airbrush and customized a Red Skullwing for himself! Seeing his other customs and actually having the priviledge of owning one myself, I would say that his custom Skullwing is MUCH cooler than the actual Red Skullwing itself. Awesome job Locomoco!!!
Here's the production Red Skullwing for comparison. What do you think? Which one is better?
Now the tale of the second custom Skullwing is a tear-jerker and is a perfect example of what friendship is all about. Skullbrain member "HavingMySay" took his best friend to this year's San Diego Comic Con. She apparently came home with a love for all things in pink vinyl. (see pink Gargamel Hedorah below).
She then asked HMS for a pink Skullwing, which does not exist. So in what could be the most elaborate Birthday gift any friend, toy collector or not, could offer, HMS recruited fellow skullbrain members MutonisMyFriend and PaulKaiju to help create the Pink Skullwing that did not exist up until now.
First of all, getting a Skullwing period is not easy. They are damn expensive just the way they are and not easy to get for under $100. Muton helped out with this part and i'm sure at a very reasonable price as well! Next up was getting this Skullwing painted pink. There are a few artists that could do the job, but Paul Kaiju is definitely the right choice as you can see. Knowing Paul a bit, i'm sure he was touched with the idea and happy to help! The crowning touches were done by HMS himself which include this amazing custom header card and buttons!
We understand from HMS that his best friend was indeed moved and tears came out as he presented this wonderful gift! HMS, as I've said before, we should all be as lucky to have a best friend like you. Well done.
