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Hooray! The collector's forum is here and now it's time to show off my favorite passion: SOFUBI! What are sofubi you ask? It is a shortened slang for "Soft Vinyl (toy)" from Japan. I'll explain below the process of production. In the meantime, I'll start showing off! Sofubi are mostly known for being used for Kaiju! Godzilla is probably one of the most known sofubi subjects. But the real sofubi boom came in 1965 when the science fiction show "Ultra Q" came to Japanese television. The show involved many strange creatures, kaiju, and was hugely popular with children. An employee of Marusan toy, Saburo Ishizuki, decided to push a gamble and proposed that the company make soft vinyl dolls of these kaiju. Hero figures had always been around, but no one had really thought of making the villains as toys. He hired a well known folk artist who made sculptures of animals in a friendly, round manner to use his same aesthetic on the Ultra Q Kaiju so they would not be as frightening and more palatable towards children (and probably for the parents so they would purchase these ¥350 monster toys). They were a huge success, and the following year when the next Ultra series debuted, Ultraman, the market was hungry for more. This is where I came in- Ultraman was on my radar as a child as it was dubbed in America and I remember watching it since I was 5 years old. In 1973, my father went on a 6 month trip to Japan to study art, and when he returned, he brought me back a sofubi of the new Return of Ultraman kaiju named Takkong. The bizarre monster hypnotized me with just how WEIRD it was and how unlike any American monsters looked, and I've been hooked ever since. The Bullmark made 1973 Takkong:  I'll post more of my collection ITT as time goes on. I have a LOT to talk about, including how I am now producing my own sofubi of my cat as a witch. I look forward to other people posting their own sofubi as well! Let's get this thread going!! GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Oct 12, 2021 |
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Oct 12, 2021 17:16
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"But Gatos! How are sofubi made? How are they painted?" Glad you asked! Sofubi are made through a process called slush molding. Liquid vinyl is poured into metal molds, then placed either in a centrifuge or a vacuum chamber to get out bubbles and making sure that the vinyl gets into all the nooks and crannies, then from there put into a heated chemical salt at around 400ºf for long enough for the vinyl to cook and be thick enough to be a viable figure before excess is poured out of the mold, then the figure is then pulled out of the mold with pliers. The vinyl gets soft when heated, so in the original heated form it is more like rubber than hard plastic. The timing is really important here: if you cook the figure too long, you can potentially make it too thick to actually be able to remove from the mold. This irreversibly makes the mold useless. And with many small time makers, the mold is one of the most expensive parts of the process and there is only ONE mold made, so if it gets destroyed, the toy is no longer made. You can also lose a mold to corrosion from the chemical salt, or just rust and damage over time. Here's a video of a small time soft vinyl factory. You can use this term loosely because by factory I mean "old guy and his wife". These were the majority of soft vinyl makers since slush casting is a deprecated method that was brought to occupied Japan in the 1950s by the west so they could make toys in a cheaper environment. Most of the equipment used in this process is actually from that era as almost no one makes these devices any more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qUJ7TPKSns The next part of course is painting the figures. Most of the time a specialty paint is used because soft vinyl is just that: soft and flexible. Most paints like lacquers are stiff, and would easily crack and flake off the PVC vinyl with softeners that is used for sofubi, so vinyl paint is needed as it bonds with the vinyl and can flex easily. It's very scratch proof and dries SUPER fast. The downside is that it is a xylene based paint so when atomized in an airbrush, it is highly toxic and of course super flammable. When I paint sofubi I try and do it outdoors and still use a full face respirator with the appropriate filters, nitrile gloves, and tyvek sleeves. Of course, many painters in Japan simply do it without any of these, they smoke like chimneys, and are 80 years old. So hey, maybe they are blessed by the gods. Goto-san has been painting sofubi since the 1960s and still goes at it. I really hope to visit his studio one day and have him paint some of my figures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_toNm6bYdDU The other thing to use when painting them is paint masks when you need precision. Kaiju usually don't use them as they are loose and weird, but for sharp lines you'll need those masks. They are incredibly expensive to produce but indispensable. There are some used in that last video but here's some more about them in this video as well. Javier is a friend of mine in Spain who makes the great Wananeko sofubi. He's been really influential to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJo7AEwx3NA Edit: here's a video that I was involved in from a few years ago where I debuted my sofubi figure Witch Cat Lulu in Harajuku for the Kaiju Paint Party! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeVcoAoQ4tw GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Oct 12, 2021 |
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Oct 12, 2021 17:17
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This post is going to be used for links of makers, news sites, and shops where you can get sofubi! I am mostly interested in Japanese sofubi and those are what I mostly know, so if you come upon a neat maker or anything let me know and I'll add it into this thread! It will be constantly evolving, and because of that, it will probably start a bit small.  NEWS SITESOne great place to learn about the latest releases and pre-releases from Japan is Sofvi Tokyo! Although in Japanese, it has a constant feed of upcoming releases from not only larger companies but also smaller sofubi makers. Basically the guy who runs it, Sofubi Michi not only goes to events and such for the latest news but also aggregates tons of sofubi announcements into his awesome website. On the bottom of his site is a big area of links to many of the aforementioned makers. You can also follow the Sofvi Tokyo Twitter account if you kind of want more of a feed to follow. . Kaiju Addicts is a great site with an eye on the more 'realistic' style X-Plus made premium kaiju vinyls. X-Plus are usually suit-realistic more statue like soft vinyls. Usually in static poses and sometimes absolute gigantic sizes (and accompanying gargantuan prices). I love more goofy Showa-era style sofubi but I absolutely have a few X-Plus figures as well because holy poo poo they are great. Kaiju Battle. A GREAT site for all kinds of kaiju news but it is always on point for the latest collectables. If you like kaiju, this site should be a daily check up for fun. More soon!   YOUTUBE CHANNELSYes there are great sofubi channels out there! Some are new, some are channels by makers, some are just for fun! Collect All Monsters! This is a group of super collectors that have a monthly live feed where they discuss the latest news, releases, and general kaiju sofubi talk. They are more of a slant towards X-Plus style sofubi but it's all open. They also have a great Facebook group as well! Marusan TV. This channel is run by the president of Marusan Toy, Eiji Kaminaga, has announcements of the latest releases, news segments, history of Marusan, and interviews with makers! Many of the videos are in English with Japanese and Chinese subtitles. Super worth the subscription. Browse through the old interviews! Bullmark History DVD. This is a dvd rip of the history of Bullmark Toy. Bullmark was the primary maker of sofubi in the 1970s after Marusan had gone out of business (before it's later revival). It was created by the aforementioned Ishizuki san who was the driving force of Marusan's kaiju soft vinyl toys. No subtitles whatsoever but a really fascinating look at my favorite company, including a visit to their factory! The beginning of this video has vintage Bullmark television ads, including one for the Bullmark "Big Shot" shooting gallery toy which actually bankrupted the company. Bullmark went out of business around 1979 iirc but Bandai revived a bunch of their sofubi kaiju in the 1990s and this lead to it coming back to life by it's original president later that decade. They still make sofubi! Making Toys. This is the channel of Stickup Monsters creator Javier Jimenez, creator of one of my favorites, Wananeko! I linked a video of him in the 2nd post about his painting technique, but you should really check out all of his videos. He's super inspiring and a great creator! Tokyo Toy Bastard. This is the channel of a collector and soon to be maker of Sofubi who lives in Tokyo. Lots of fun finds and news. Sofubi Vision This is a neat new channel that is much more about the art of sofubi and making those into an art channel. Lots of fun and you gotta check it if you like these stupid plastic creatures! More later!  SOFUBI MAKERSOk this is going to be a huge ongoing list of links but I'm going to go eat dinner now so I'll start putting them here as I go along. GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Oct 14, 2021 |
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Oct 12, 2021 17:17
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Reserved.
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Oct 12, 2021 17:30
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I love the sofubi monster figs. I have a few Ultraman ones. I recently got this though.  it’s fan made but it came out so cool. Since the first actual pro wrestling figure line in japan were sofubi the dude who made this decided to make some new guys who he feels would have been in later lines if it continued. He actually got permission from Bruiser Brody’s family too.
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Oct 12, 2021 18:26
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The_Rob posted:I love the sofubi monster figs. I have a few Ultraman ones. I recently got this though. oh MAN that thing rules! Somewhere in storage I have a Marusan made Mil Maskaras sofubi that I bought at SuperFestival back in 2001. It was limited because it came with a sombrero. edit: If you really like classic wrestlers and sofubi, you should really get on the Project 1/6 by Medicom email list. Medicom makes a huge amount of toys (very well known for their Bearbricks) and on the sofubi side they make some interesting licensed figures in the classic sofubi style of celebrities (such as Keith Haring, Muhammad Ali, Elvis) and some really great werstlers. These are always limited and usually pre-order only. You'll have to use a proxy purchaser like ZenMarket.jp or Tenso to get them for you and then forward it to you. Check out this Great Muta they did recently 
GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Oct 12, 2021 |
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Oct 12, 2021 19:55
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^^^That Bruiser Brody is super cool! I think I still have some of my old LJN wrestlers in my parents basement. ^^^Edit: That Muta is awesome. I would looooooove one in red facepaint to go along with a 90s surfer Sting. GATOS Y VATOS posted:He hired a well known folk artist who made sculptures of animals in a friendly, round manner to use his same aesthetic on the Ultra Q Kaiju so they would not be as frightening and more palatable towards children (and probably for the parents so they would purchase these ¥350 monster toys). This is really neat. The more I look at stuff (especially vintage), the more I find I'm drawn to the softer (or friendly / round) stuff. There's a real charm to it. I got a few things in the mail this week. I'll post up my small collection soon. S.W.O.R.D. Agent fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Oct 12, 2021 |
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Oct 12, 2021 20:07
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:^^^Edit: That Muta is awesome. I would looooooove one in red facepaint to go along with a 90s surfer Sting. They've done Sting in the past as well! They are no longer available but if you check out the Project 1/6 Sofubi page here you can go through the pages and find the various wrestlers in there. I mean, check out this Ultimate Warrior they did! 
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Oct 12, 2021 20:18
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Oh, nooooo, haha. That Ultimate Warrior is a beaut! I am going to have to look at all the old wrestlers now. That's not a hole I was prepared to go down.
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Oct 12, 2021 20:28
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GATOS Y VATOS posted:oh MAN that thing rules! Somewhere in storage I have a Marusan made Mil Maskaras sofubi that I bought at SuperFestival back in 2001. It was limited because it came with a sombrero. This muta is so good drat. Junk shop dogs next line after Brody I think is going to be Bull Nakano and Dynamite kid.
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Oct 12, 2021 21:02
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Shiiiit, they did a red Muta. https://item.rakuten.co.jp/project1-6/4530956589688/ I need both so I can swap the red facepaint onto the black pants. Edit: Here's a collection pic.  I've added a Funko Metaluna Mutant (do people take these seriously? It's painted well and seems quality, haha). Two different Sunguts Prodigy Academy Collection dudes I got on one-up. I really like a lot of the Sunguts stuff I've seen online. Will probably grab more of these, as well as try to find a few of his other releases. and lastly thanks to Mr. Gatos, I now have a MaxToys Tripus! Who doesn't like a Chthuluian squid Kaiju!? and the paint is incredible. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for more Tripus and an Eyezon as well I think. I've also got a few more things on the way too, but it's probably time to pump the breaks a bit and enjoy. S.W.O.R.D. Agent fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Oct 12, 2021 |
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Oct 12, 2021 21:25
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I saw a cool video on Facebook of old Japanese people making sofubi on old rear end machines. Now they’ve been immortalized in their own sofubi Don’t worry it’s just a tribute, they didn’t encase him in vinyl, Han Solo style If I bought one soft vinyl toy it would be that one. For now I just go check out my friends insane collection, he specializes in glow in the dark versions and has tons of fun weird custom airbrushed things for me to gawk at
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Oct 13, 2021 00:48
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Snowy posted:I saw a cool video on Facebook of old Japanese people making sofubi on old rear end machines. Now they’ve been immortalized in their own sofubi That's the Max Toy Co "Sofubi Man" that my friend Mark Nagata makes. That's his video in the 2nd post itt and yep, that's Shimizu san in the video itself. Shimizu did Mark's vinyls for years and retired a few years ago. The sofubi man is really a great figure. Summer of 2019 Mark had a "Sofubi Man Custom Show" online event and he asked a bunch of toy folks to customize their own sofubi man and I came up with "Yoyogi Park Rockabilly Sofubi Man" picturing a younger version in the 80s where his passion was doing rockabilly dance in Yoyogi Park on his off hours. EDIT: I don't know why 2 of the photos were cropped but now it's fixed.   
GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Oct 15, 2021 |
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Oct 13, 2021 02:39
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GATOS Y VATOS posted:That's the Max Toy Co "Sofubi Man" that my friend Mark Nagata makes. That's his video in the 2nd post itt and yep, that's Shimizu san in the video itself. Shimizu did Mark's vinyls for years and retired a few years ago. The sofubi man is really a great figure. This is so cool. I love this.
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Oct 13, 2021 02:47
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I just missed his last painted release of Sofubi Man. That custom owns!
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Oct 13, 2021 13:03
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Hi. Total lurker here. I’ve always really liked the look of vinyl toys/kaiju. I mostly just kept up on posts in the action figure thread, but aside from that never really knew where to start. Last week I went to New York comic con and could not pass up on this guy.  Konatsu Daioh Negora Bengal Tiger Definitely found my first artist to collect as there is just something about the Negora that make me smile. Already made a few small orders and have been scouring the internet for information. Are there any other forums/communities for sofubi or good sources of news? Just trying to feed my obsession:) So glad this thread came around at the perfect time!
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Oct 13, 2021 16:46
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Nice Big Negora! THe MaxToy version of the King Negora was what really pulled me back into collecting Sofubi around 6 years ago. I have an original painting by Konatsu that I bought when she had a show in Los Angeles. My favorite for the absolute latest release news is Sofvi Tokyo. Although in Japanese, it is pretty much the main source of newest figures coming out. There are also a lot of links on the bottom of the site to the different makers. They also have a twitter @sofvitokyo if you want more of a feed to watch. I’ll try and make a big list on the third post of this thread with lots of maker’s social networks and various websites. It’s good to get on the mailing lists of the makers & shops that you like if they have them, otherwise it’s keeping an eye out for release announcements on their social networks. Many are interesting to follow because some will put out photos of their works in progress. In the meantime since this is the collector’s forum, here’s a photo of a recent acquisition: a MaxToy King Negora with photosensitive color change vinyl! It’s cloudy here but this material is really wild- you take it into direct sunlight and the vinyl becomes opaque and changes color. There are a few figures being made like this nowadays. I’m not sure if I’ll try and get more but it is a neat gimmick. 
GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Oct 13, 2021 |
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Oct 13, 2021 17:31
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Really nice King Negora colourway! Thank you for putting together the info and for this thread! Your posts have definitely been an inspiration. I’ll check out the links and hopefully be able to broaden my collection/knowledge on the subject (and I know my collection will include a Witch cat eventually!) I’ve followed a bunch of vendors and Konatsu on Twitter/Instagram and will hopefully know of any future releases. Do you have a recommendation as to where to purchase previously released items? (eBay etc) Edit: Lol just got a tweet from my plastic heart that the Halloween Negora goes on sale at 2pm. Edit: wow those sold out fast:/ MechaOctobot fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Oct 13, 2021 |
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Oct 13, 2021 17:58
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I mostly follow places in Japan, so Mandarake (go to the “Earth” section for outside of Japan) is a good place as it is a second hand collector’s market. Do a search for Negora but sometimes it also helps if you can paste in the Japanese of the item you are looking for. Mandarake isn’t always the cheapest place though. But when it comes to Negora figures, they are a really strong collector’s item so you rarely ever find a good deal on them. The other place is of course Yahoo Japan auctions, which is like their EBay. I have an account with Buyee which allows me to check items on there and have a forwarding service for them. Yahoo Japan is much better for searching with Japanese instead of English though. It’s not too difficult though as you can look up the Japanese for the item name you are looking for easily enough via google (sometimes there are wikipedias that have the translations there) and you can copy and paste that way.
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Oct 13, 2021 18:07
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Found that video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL8R5woxyAY
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Oct 13, 2021 19:09
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get off the forums and paint me an anguirus!!!! I'm j/k you can do that and be on the forums at the same time, I believe in you. Super cool history on sofubi, thank you for sharing! Do you have a sofubi of Tyrant from Ultraman? He's replaced Gigan as my favorite nonsense kaiju.
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Oct 13, 2021 19:11
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I don't even know if i ever owned any soft vinyl toys growing up. Maybe i did? Had no idea! Been meaning to buy one off ya, OP but i keep forgetting and when i remember I'm broke lmao  Very cool stuff
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Oct 13, 2021 20:00
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Those King Negora are awesome. Mr. Nagata posted a video of the color change one on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSFpvvYhh7E/?utm_medium=copy_link Incredibly dumb question here, but on the link to the Project 1/6 store, if it's not listed as sold out can you still buy it? Also, any insight into Marmit Godzilla figs? Are they just super collectible? I found a hashtag on instagram (#desugoji) searching for a Green Godzilla and found exactly what I was looking for (https://www.instagram.com/p/CI2dFCqHFI4/?utm_medium=copy_link), but most of these are many hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
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Oct 13, 2021 20:52
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Yeah special drops like that get snatched up and unfortunately a lot of flippers try and turn them around for ludicrous prices. :/ As for the Project 1/6- lots of their Sofubi are pre-order with a time window that when it is closed you cannot order it anymore. You could always create an account with Zenmarket and then see if they can get it for you from the site but if it’s out you’ll have to rely on second hand to try and get it
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Oct 13, 2021 22:14
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Gotcha thanks. I was surprised to see stuff from 3-4 years ago "in stock'.
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Oct 13, 2021 22:56
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Yeah usually pre-orders stay open for a month or so. Now the thing is that these are MONTHS out usually. I just pre-ordered 2 figures I’ve been waiting for them to re-release (it’s been 6 years since the first go of them) and they aren’t even scheduled to come out until February of next year. This past March I pre-ordered another figure I had been waiting on that was supposed to be released in late August but due to COVID things are behind and apparently it’s been rescheduled for release in mid December.
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Oct 13, 2021 23:27
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Ahh, that's basically the action figure game at this point. I pre-ordered Mezco Conan like 14 months ago, haha. As long as I know what I'm in for, heh.
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Oct 14, 2021 00:17
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my cat is norris posted:
I missed this; no unfortunately I don’t. Tyrant is a favorite as well but I’ve never had any luck. But Max Toy is licensed for Ultra Kaiu and those pocket sized Pico Pico sculpted things are some of my absolute favorites. Great size and detail! But I do have another weird Ultraman kaiju that I had been wanting since I was a kid: YAMATON! This weird battleship kaiju was designed and planned for an episode of the original Ultraman but budget restrictions prevented it from happening. Kind of a precursor to Ultra 7’s Dinosaur Tank. But in thr 1970s Yamaton made his debut in the Ultraman manga and that is where I first saw him. He’s probably my favorite obscure kaiju ever. He was finally made into a sofubi in the early 2000s and I was able to get this guy at a SuperFestival in Tokyo in 2016   
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Oct 14, 2021 00:25
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And yes I will slowly post more of my collection- but I really need to reorganize it quite a bit. This is mostly from my one favorite maker, Elegab 
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Oct 14, 2021 02:12
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THAT GUY RULES.
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Oct 14, 2021 02:48
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Yamaton kicks rear end, holy poo poo. I don't have a collection per se, but I love these, so I love these pics! I have a question though; while sofubi are soft vinyl, not all soft vinyl figures are sofubi, correct?  Baragon is sofubi, but  not Godzilla? Godzilla's a soft vinyl, but that one is a mass produced one, so that just makes him a figurine, I'm guessing, do I have that right? And not officially part of my collection yet, this Marmit Audrey II is on her way. 
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Oct 14, 2021 19:53
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No that little goji is definitely a Sofubi. Generally any little soft PVC figure like that made in Japan are considered Sofubi by collectors. It’s gets fuzzy when you include more realistic types like X Plus figures or ones like this Acro Fake Ultraman figure coming out soon- it’s a vinyl figure but I’ve heard of fans in Japan just calling it that or “PVC figure” instead of “Sofubi” I guess to differentiate. There is a whole debate among some fans if any soft vinyl toy made outside of Japan should be considered “Sofubi” at all, but honestly I think that’s really splitting hairs with a dash of other crap. Sofubi is just Sofubi.  
GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 11:15 on Oct 16, 2021 |
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Oct 14, 2021 20:29
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6 Godzilla Ultimas that I painted on commission went off to their new owner! 
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Oct 15, 2021 01:35
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All 6 to the same person!? Lucky!
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Oct 15, 2021 03:37
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:All 6 to the same person!? Lucky! Yeah she's bought a giant Godzilla I painted and another Ultima as well a couple months back. She's turning into a patron of mine almost haha. She's the writer artist of the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics as well (  )
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Oct 15, 2021 03:46
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why is that ultraman so fkn scary
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Oct 16, 2021 02:44
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I gotta get some decent pictures of my vinyl. Nothing awesome, but I have some of the early glyos vinyls, various monsters and robots and 3A robots
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Oct 16, 2021 03:18
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my cat is norris posted:why is that ultraman so fkn scary He's from the "Kaiju Remix" series by Acro. Vinyl figures designed by Yasushi Nirasawa (RIP) which are more modern horror infused versions of Ultra kaiju. He's Nirasawa's version of the Fake Ultraman which was the Alien Zarab in disguise to make humanity think that Ultraman had turned against them. This was what he looked like in the episode The Brother from Another Planet.  The whole Kaiju Remix series is a mixed bag. Here's their Bemular which I really like  compared to the one from the episode  Edit: here's my favorite Alien Zarab/Fake Ultraman figure. A garage kit that I saw at Tsubu Con in 2019. One day I will have one!  
GATOS Y VATOS fucked around with this message at 11:16 on Oct 16, 2021 |
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Oct 16, 2021 11:13
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GATOS Y VATOS posted:compared to the one from the episode This dude rules
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Oct 16, 2021 13:18
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Snowy posted:This dude rules Goddamned space criminal!
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Oct 16, 2021 16:01
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