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Got my Spookster (aka resin sas cat) in today and man am I impressed with this little guy. He is really cool and I hope the yokai forest line expands. Also won an auction and received a Baby Wananeko a few days ago but was waiting for the pair to take pics  Another cool thing about the Spookster was all the neat extras that got included  Only bad thing is this makes me sad I missed the release of the space cowboy wananeko at comic con as I was not really into the hobby yet
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Nov 13, 2021 00:21
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MechaOctobot posted:Got my Spookster (aka resin sas cat) in today and man am I impressed with this little guy. He is really cool and I hope the yokai forest line expands. Javier is a really, really cool guy and artist and was one of my main inspirations to actually make my Witch Cat Lulu figure. Good gets!
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Nov 13, 2021 01:39
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I want one of these so bad http://trampt.com/platforms/917/miss-mysterious/items Even visited the Secret Base store in Tokyo and they did have exactly one available, but it was in a truly ugly colorway so I didn't buy it. Now I regret it since I've never ever seen one up for sale since then... *sob*
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Nov 14, 2021 01:40
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I'm bummed that I couldn't make it so DesignerCon- there is ONE particular item that I didn't realize was going to be ther at the Medicom booth that I have been wanting. The SSSP Base from Ultraman has been re-released with a new colorway. This one is rare as hell and impossible to find usually. I didn't find out about it until it was too late and I don't want to ask any friends to get in the long line for it. Oh well.  Also this weekend in Japan is Super Festival- one of my favorites. M1 was selling their Giant Bullmark Hedorah in GID! This guy is 18" tall.  And also samples of the newest tricycle riders were shown! I really want to get a Sevenger. I don't have many of these guys but I love them and their weirdness. I have a couple modern ones and a couple vintage.  Did anyone get anything at DCon?
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Nov 14, 2021 17:40
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All three of those are great! The tricycle riders are super fun. How big is that SSSP base? Does it scale with their other releases? Apparently there was also a show in Japan this weekend, so not exactly a DCON pickup, but I grabbed a console from Galaxy People this morning. I tried to get a Drexyl too, but he sold out while I was inputting my info. https://www.instagram.com/p/CWK9JoKPzo6/?utm_medium=copy_link
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Nov 14, 2021 19:02
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GATOS Y VATOS posted:
DCon this year was noticeably smaller but they did a good job spacing things out and overall I probably actually preferred it this way, with a little room to breathe between booths. But the Medicom booth in particular was kind of a drag for a pandemic DCon, creating a smaller room inside the exhibition hall and only letting in a handful of people at a time... it looked cool and exclusive but the enormous line never seemed to get smaller. I feel like it could've been done better. They had some cool stuff this year but I just didn't want to wait in that line forever. I'm mostly a window shopper anyway but I went to grab something on my way out and literally a person who got to the booth .02 seconds before me bought the last one of what I wanted so I ended up not buying anything this year.
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Nov 14, 2021 19:21
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:All three of those are great! The tricycle riders are super fun. Nice! That Galaxy People console is a chase for me; every time it’s come up I’ve missed it. Same with the Drexels. I hope he eventually makes a standard sized Drexel as it would go with all my other cat sofubi. I do have a standard Sensorbat from him though. Yeah there was a Design Festa and Super Festival this weekend, and earlier in the week a 50th Anniversary Hedorah show as well. Lots going on over there. The SSSP base is actually pretty small, maybe 6” across iirc.
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Nov 14, 2021 20:59
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Lol what small fortune is that 18" Hedorah worth?
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Nov 14, 2021 23:05
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DJ Fuckboy Supreme posted:Lol what small fortune is that 18" Hedorah worth? ¥38,500
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Nov 15, 2021 01:47
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Definitely want to pick up a Sensorbat at some point. Those are super rad. I thought that SSSP base was at least shoebox sized, lololol. I've found with a lot of stuff without something else in the picture the scale of these are really hard to judge. Hedora is cheaper than I would have guessed.
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Nov 15, 2021 02:36
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The non-glow versions of those big Hedorah are around $300 if purchased directly. I am kicking myself for passing on the Hawaii color scheme (pink vinyl with metallic green and yellow sprays) back in 2018
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Nov 15, 2021 04:21
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Also a friend of mine was able to grab himself that SSSP base. It’s a little bigger than I thought. It scales nicely with standard sized kaiju Sofubi (which are roughly around 8” tall)
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Nov 15, 2021 04:27
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That fukkin Rodan is 👀
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Nov 15, 2021 04:28
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New Marusan TV video dropped with some history and announcement for international lottery sales for a 450 size GID Baltan with a bright color scheme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGwMyf61xK4
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Nov 16, 2021 04:05
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The colors on that Baltan are great! Really interesting vids with him providing a bit of history there.
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Nov 16, 2021 14:46
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Friend of mine is lusting after this GID mechagodzilla inside a clear Godzilla. Apparently it’s about three feet tall.   E- LUST Snowy fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Nov 16, 2021 |
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Nov 16, 2021 15:14
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Yeah Secret Base makes those. Amazing thing. Expensive as well.
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Nov 16, 2021 18:11
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These probably aren't sofubi really but I think they fit within the spirit of them. I've been collecting some Tokidoki Unicornos, which primarily sell in sets of different blind boxes. The last three I've gotten have all been great:
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Nov 16, 2021 22:00
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Got my Salamander Kaiju today. Looks like they sold out too, so I'm glad I was able to pick one up. Also showing off these adorable Momoco x Gatchaman mini figs that I got recently. I love Momoco Studio so much, I have so many of their toys. They just put up this collaboration with Ghost Fox Toys that I'm really digging.  https://www.strangecattoys.com/products/bio-shark-weapon-by-momoco-x-ghost-fox-toys
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Nov 16, 2021 23:08
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Pork Fried Wrighst posted:Got my Salamander Kaiju today. Looks like they sold out too, so I'm glad I was able to pick one up. That Salamander is a great figure. Real nice get! Those Momoco x Gatchaman are super cute and look perfect around the salamander kaiju
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Nov 17, 2021 03:42
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I only own a couple vinyl figures- some ultraman monsters from japanese bargain boxes, some unbox industries stuff. I'm an animator and an illustrator though and I'm way more interested in actually having a shot at making them, so it's great to have someone like you start a thread, gatos, who both collects and makes figures. I've got a good handle on the process of sculpting, molding and pouring resin or regular vinyl, but japanese soft vinyl, to me, is just...way better. You can mold more complex stuff, I love the feel and look of it. regular vinyl just isn't the same. I've watched all the videos I can find on the process and it seems like everyone interested in doing a run sends away to japan for production. I'm a bit curious as to why essentially nowhere else seems to produce them? To anyone who has done their own run of soft vinyl figures- what minimum order are we looking at, generally? Is the mold crazy expensive? Obviously production depends on complexity, size, number of parts, but, for a minimum order size, what costs would someone be looking at generally speaking? Super cool to see these deep cut collections, that elegab dude is wild! bitmap fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Nov 19, 2021 |
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Nov 19, 2021 13:02
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Well one of the main reasons why a lot is done in Japan is that they never stopped doing slush casting over there. A friend of mine who has his own entire setup for it in Japan makes his kaiju, sure, but he mostly makes things for other companies, like display mannequin heads and such. Most big production is done in China (Bandai's sofubi are done there) but Japan still has a lot of smaller makers. One of the main reasons the vinyl is so good is because there has never stopped being a demand for it, so the company that makes the good vinyl is still going strong. Kobosol vinyl is tops. you can even have them put different levels of hardening agent in is so you can even have 'squishy' soft vinyls. The other thing on why a lot of it isn't done in the States anymore is that the molds are made through an electroplating process, and that is incredibly toxic and highly regulated by the EPA. Even places in the US that do sofubi production like Mile High Sofubi have the molds made in Japan and then sent here. Minimum orders depends on the company you work with I guess. I've put in orders for like 12 Lulus before. The cost of the mold really, really varies. That's kind of a question like 'how much is a bag of groceries'- it can't really be answered without a detailed list. I know of guys who stick with making really small figures (Like Science Patrol) mostly because the cost of the molds on such things are far cheaper. For my Lulu figure I actually had 3 molds made- the first mold which had all 4 parts on one frame (body, left arm, right arm, head) then later I had 2 more molds made so I could get 3 figures per mold as it becomes cheaper to produce them this way. I also waited to have the paint masks made until after the multi-molds were done because you need them to fit precisely, and since the multi-mold produces figures that are slightly smaller than the figures from the original mold you would't be able to use masks made from the original figure. The paint masks are easily more expensive than the molds usually (my Lulu paint masks cost as much as all three of my molds). Here is a pull I had specially made from my multi-mold that holds the body and head parts  edit: here's the original mold for the Lulu figure:   GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Nov 19, 2021 |
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Nov 19, 2021 19:08
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Those pictures are fantastic! Got any of what the paint mask look like? I’m really curious about the painting process
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Nov 19, 2021 19:14
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Sure- here's some of the masks.   And here's my favorite of the masks- for coloring the main part of the hat. I love the gimmick.       
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Nov 19, 2021 19:19
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I love these info drops. I'm listening to Brian @ Super7 explain the Turtle van manufacturing while I'm working and just hit toy manufacturing info nirvana, hahaha. It's all so fascinating. The hardness of the vinyl was something that I didn't realize could vary. Do the Japanese have a standard or preferred hardness? I have the Funko Hikari Metaluna Mutant and it is noticeably harder than everything else, but I sort of chalked that up to them being a huge manufacturer. I personally prefer it softer, but don't really have a reason why. Do you know how the paint masks are manufactured? I've seen some that make a cage, but also some that look like a hammered sheet of tin. Are the flat tin ones just as expensive? Edit: ^^^ Yeah, you've got both types!
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Nov 19, 2021 19:19
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:I love these info drops. I'm listening to Brian @ Super7 explain the Turtle van manufacturing while I'm working and just hit toy manufacturing info nirvana, hahaha. It's all so fascinating. The hardness just depends- they are called soft vinyl because they are supposed to be slightly flexible, and if you heat them up with a hair dryer, they become very malleable (you heat them to put them together), try it! Also, as they age, the vinyl definitely becomes harder over time. The paint masks are also done through an electroplating process- so for the lulu I had to give the mask maker a single head for each mask (or body or arm). The head or whatever is painted with a conductive paint and plated, then once the thickness is right, the mask maker hand cuts the mask patterns you order and welds them together. I've seen masks from China that work just fine but are far, far cruder since they haven't been making them nearly as long as the mask makers in Japan have been doing it. It's an incredible artform in itself. edit: notice the eyes alone for my Lulus take 5 masks. I was talking to the president of Marusan a few years ago about masks and he said the Mashu figure that was just coming out at that time took 30 masks.
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Nov 19, 2021 19:25
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GATOS Y VATOS posted:good posts thankyou for taking the time to answer! fascinating stuff regarding the masks particularly, I had no idea. I wonder if something like the pressure form mayku thingy could shake up the process.
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Nov 19, 2021 19:29
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Very interesting; and yes thank you so much for the insight! It's funny as I learn more about this I've been mentally noting all the skills involved in in manufacturing / producing a single toy and it's really wild for something that a few months ago I thought was such a simple thing.
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Nov 19, 2021 19:38
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bitmap posted:thankyou for taking the time to answer! fascinating stuff regarding the masks particularly, I had no idea. I wonder if something like the pressure form mayku thingy could shake up the process. The molds are filled with liquid vinyl then dipped into a liquid industrial salt that runs 400ºf, so unless that thing makes iron molds then no.
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Nov 19, 2021 20:26
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GATOS Y VATOS posted:The molds are filled with liquid vinyl then dipped into a liquid industrial salt that runs 400ºf, so unless that thing makes iron molds then no. oh no I meant for the masks
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Nov 19, 2021 21:13
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Ah- well the other reason masks are made of metal as well is that the vinyl paint can be washed off. Plastic masks, not so much.
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Nov 19, 2021 21:30
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GATOS Y VATOS posted:Ah- well the other reason masks are made of metal as well is that the vinyl paint can be washed off. Plastic masks, not so much. Thank you for those mask photos!!! I like seeing stuff like this even more than the finished product. GATOS Y VATOS posted:
Goddamn I love it!!! Makes me want to make some homebrew masks somehow, maybe sometime when we make silicone molds at work
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Nov 19, 2021 23:16
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Those mold/mask pictures are very cool Gatos. Thank you for posting them. Add me to the list of people who dream of one day producing a sofubi, so the pictures and your knowledge shine a light on the whole process. And sorry for a picture dump. Been real busy so I was unable to get a post together till today. First new addition is a Racoon Seedlas by Shoko Nakazawa. So shiny and cute.  Watched some popshop live Sunday morning which resulted in these; Milky Way Negora, cool sherbet colored Nyagira and an awesome red and black Godzilla 1999 by CCP.  Last just came in today (mostly). Picked up these two wild RealXHead guys since they are weird and look great under black light. Also Got a Halloween Shibara last week or so.  
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Nov 20, 2021 00:13
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Nice pickups! I especially like the sherbet colored Nyagira. Blacklight stuff is always fun.
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Nov 20, 2021 02:44
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nothing not already covered by the videos from the japanese vinyl workshop upthread but heres a more deliberately paced, better quality and more recent video of the sofubi process by a guy in colorado for anyone interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wreObbG9XPk
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Nov 20, 2021 13:30
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That video is great. When Japan finally opens back up I must visit the factory where I have Lulu made; last time they were doing a bunch of projects for other people they were under nda about so I couldn’t go.
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Nov 22, 2021 02:23
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So not directly sofubi related, but figured there's probably enough interest here... Toho has licensed a bunch of Godzilla stuff recently and there is now a landing page on amazon for all things Godzilla: https://www.amazon.com/godzilla
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Nov 24, 2021 15:26
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:So not directly sofubi related, but figured there's probably enough interest here... Thank you for this. I will soon have a Mothra shirt and tote.
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Nov 24, 2021 22:15
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:So not directly sofubi related, but figured there's probably enough interest here... Oh that’s a neat little shopfront. Definitely will be picking up some stuff. Thanks for finding that. Also Gatos any better preview of that new Lulu? The sparkle purple is looking nice!
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Nov 24, 2021 22:48
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Sure! I got a late start today so didn’t finish them as planned. But here’s a sneak. Clear pink over silver glitter
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Nov 25, 2021 03:34
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