Dehara's Chibi Menta Sets!!

Artist and extremely limited production toy maker Dehara may be an acquired taste for some. I remember when I saw my first Dehara figure. It was this woman who was cut almost in half and you could see all the bones and organs exposed as if someone with a Samurai sword had sliced her down the middle. It was interesting, very odd, yet colorful. I must have picked up that damn figure another 3 or 4 times to check it out. Another very un-PC figure would be the Morlon who is clearly well-endowed and likes to express his sexuality right on his T-shirt! Finally there is the Yakuza gang member about to take a hot bath in his undies with what looks to be razor cuts all over his body. Possibly an inpiration from the film Ichi the Killer? There is something very unsettling about his work, yet whimsical at the same time. We will prolly do another post on the expanded works of Dehara, but for now, a very easy way to get into his artwork is to check out this set of Chibi Mentas. These guys are tiny, cute, simple and odd. They are probably less than an inch tall, somewhat crudely painted, yet satisfying to hold and look at. $40 for the set. I just bought mine at TokyoCube but they might be out now! Looks like he's released at least two of these little Chicklets sized goodness! Drop me a note if you see any of the other sets for sale somewhere!

EXOHEAD Namesakes

I thought it was so cool that EXOHEAD named his latest Skull Rex figures after Marc Bolan from the 70's rock band T-Rex that it got me curious as to whom his other EXOHEAD figures were named after. So I dropped a note to EXOHEAD and he replied back very quickly to thank me, let me know he sometimes even reads toybot studios, and that his other figures are named after the following:

Man Machine 102 "Greg" is named after Greg Graffin, lead vocals of Bad Religion






Man Machine 102 "Andy" is named after the ill-fated Andy from EXOHEAD's favorite movie Dawn of the Dead






Lastly, Man Machine 103 "Iggy" is named of course, after the iconic Iggy Pop!






I'm still waiting for my EXOHEAD Skull Rex to arrive at Super7 so I'm looking forward to adding to my EXOHEAD collection. Did you know that EXOHEAD figures have naked women embedded in their helmets??!! Check out the sneak peak of an all new EXOHEAD toy. Looks crazy!! I can hardly wait to see more!!

Sneak Peek at Kozik's New Usagi-Gon Figure: Gamera Fucked a Bunny

Frank Kozik was nice enough to let me post up these pics of his upcoming Usagi-Gon figure. Thoughtfully described as "Gamera Fucked a Bunny" by Isaac over at Super7. The first colorway will be due out in around 4-6 weeks from now and then he will release a new colorway every other month for all of 2007. It will be around 5-6 inches tall and be "nice and chubby" as he put it. If you imagine that the figure will probably be at least 4-5 inches wide, this thing is not that small. Imagine a small pineapple... The price has yet to be determined, but around $80 each. The exact colorways are not totally decided, but Kozik mentioned something like the following:

1. Blue and Silver 1954 Godzilla pattern
2. Green and White 1954 Godzilla pattern
3. Glow in the Dark and Orange
4. Three different clear colors
5. Metallic Chrome or Suspended Aluminum

I asked R.J. Reynolds Poster Child Frank where his signature Cigarette was. Nothing could be more fitting than a fire-breathing kaiju rabbit that smokes! Unfortunately, the Gargamel sculpt masters in Japan are apparently part of a secret Non-smokers right group and told Kozik that it would be very difficult to incorporate a cigarette. I dunno, if the guys in China can do it for the one inch Labbits, Gargamel should be able to find a way to make a cigarette for Usagi-Gon!!! Frank told me just to stab a hole in his mouth and put a real cigarette in there and stop complaining.

I'm really looking forward to this figure. The size is just right, although the price seems a bit high. We will have to wait to see what the first colorway looks like. I'm most looking forward to the clears - especially the clear purple!

Super 7 "Birth of Frankenghost" Revealed!!!

Super 7 x Secret Base announce their first full-color Frankenghost figure designed by Brian Flynn himself. Named "Birth of Frankenghost", this new figure is made using grey vinyl with red and black details. Frankenghost will be released this Saturday, December 2nd at 11am. Those in attendance will be the first to buy and after that, phone and web orders will be accepted. As usual, no holds or pre-orders. $60 per figure! See you guys on Saturday!

BTW, check out the pics from last week's visit with Bwana Spoons!!!

Bwana squints from being poked in the eye by Brian's flashing S7 signs



Joe is happy cause Bwana promised him a Steven the Bat if he could finish all the donuts!



Bwana signing Bats...



Yes, Shibby and Locomoco do live at Super 7!!!



Ben and friend showing off their Candy Corn Steven the Bat. Bwana refused to sign until they bought the Purple Nights version...



The Board of Directors from Grass Hut Corporation

toybot studios Toy Vacation!!! Part IV: Little Tokyo - Anime Jungle

As much as it seems my toy vacation photo safari lasted for a month, I can assure you it passed by all too quickly. In fact, all the locations visted so far: Super7, The Cheshire Cat show, Robocon, Happy Land and Chinatown Munky King were all done in just a day and a half! So the journey continues...We left Chinatown Munky King and somewhat on a whim, I decided to drag my family to LA's Little Tokyo. At the risk of getting nostalgic again, Little Tokyo is where my obsession with Japanese toys began...jesus...30+ years ago! Nestled in the heart of the Little Tokyo mall was this Japanese toy store that I would beg my mother to take me to. I don't even remember the name of the store, but since it was clear across town in heavy traffic i'm sure, my mother is a saint for ever taking me there in the first place. Back then, we were into the school supplies: these really cool pencil cases with magnetic lids with secret compartments for those heavenly smelling erasers...you could get all manner of pencils, pens, erasers, cases, stickers and such all festooned with all your favorite Japanese characters including Kikaider, Go Rangers, UFO Diapolon, Raideen and the rest of the Super Robots.





Of course, we wanted the toys as well, but since the toys were very expensive even way back then, we had to quench our thirst for Japanese toy culture with less expensive, yet very practical and useful school implements! The Bandai Popy die-cast stuff was only purchased after tireless begging around birthdays and Christmas. If my memory serves me correctly, my big die-cast purchase one Christmas was a UFO Diapolon robot which cost around $30.00. I'm sure the same one which is now vintage, would be going for several hundred dollars. I would walk into this tiny store and could gaze at the glass cabinets for hours inspecting the details of all the toys that I couldn't buy.





Anyways, enough of memory lane and onto our next Toy Store! I'm embarassed to say that although Anime Jungle has been in Little Tokyo for the last 5+ years, I didn't even know it existed until earlier this year!! Anime Jungle is my kind of store and reminds me of my childhood toy store which was located only a few doors down in the same Little Tokyo mall. A few things about Anime Jungle right off the bat: it's a bit hard to find so make sure to check out their website for a map and directions as it's hidden in a tunnel of sorts off the beaten track. Secondly, it's HUGE for a Japanese toy store! Tons and tons of toys and anime to check out including some pretty rare vintage stuff as well! Lots of vintage Kamen Rider, Godzilla and Ultraman. One of my favorite things about the store is that they sell almost any mini figure gashapon as complete sets! Gashapon figures usually come blind box, but Anime Jungle opens each and every box, inspects the content and then puts together full sets so you don't have to worry about doubles! I LOVE IT and the selection is incredible! They even will sell you the display case! My only complaint is I wish they had more vintage Die-cast from Bandai. I realize this stuff is hard to stock, but that would make my Little Tokyo visit complete! Having said that, Anime Jungle in now on the permanent rotation when I go down to LA!!!