@ungawa222 Consider it done! It’d be pretty rad to see a green Yummiela! Other than a red test paint I’ve only ever seen the standard red release, until I found this grey(or lavender?) one last night. @qquuiidd The Mecha Kong have been generally pricey, usually around the $250 mark. But it is odd to see this one go for so damn high for what’s the visual equivalent to a blank, since it’s all painted solid. And, as you mentioned, is missing the doctor omake! Even still, some very interesting one offs to make the jump onto Manda’.
@nothisisluke They're pretty damn huge. Maybe 10” or 11” tall! Most of TE’s full size figures are between 8” and 12”.
@patrickvaz A MAN OF THE PEOPLE!!! And, Luke, you should follow his page ‘cause it’s filled with immense amounts of cool shit and awesome shots.
They are certainly lovely, but damn, it is sort of crushing to see the prices these are listed (and selling) for. Since TE was sort of always modelled as the 'accessible' version of these toys, since they have been jumped on by the hype train, it is just ridiculous. I don't care how alike these are to the burgeoning fugly and ape toy markets, seeing them being absorbed into those camps is sad, frankly. I am happy to ignore them and wait for sensible toys to appear; these have now been shifted into full-on ignore, because of this. Just go digging around the same sites for some Hukkokudo for example, and you can see some unbelievable toys for a fraction of what they're demanding for these. I don't know what back channels have blown the TE thing up (but I can imagine), if it was speculation around Sato-san, or whatever; and I don't care. I just think these toys were meant to be fun and appreciated as such, and not held as objects for personal status. Anytime a 'brand' gets absorbed by such thinkers makes me sad.
@ultrakaiju I’m right there with you, Steve. It wasn’t even that long ago really that you could find a Lowbrow Golem between $150 and $200, which is retail and $50 above, respectively. Now...Jesus Christ, $500 for painted and $300+ for blanks is just bananas. I think it’s been a few factors, though. The general scarcity of Target Earth, but also the likes of Instagram introducing the toys to the amounts of new, eager collectors. “Oh, this looks like so - and - so!” I also think people might hashtag toys like Golems and Mecha Kong with Nag and Hirota, so it causes a weird sense of warped interest. I do agree these more or less bastardized versions of popular toys were more geared towards the common collector, so it is odd to see them on the same pedestal with some hype toys, to a certain extent. I can appreciate Sato - San’s works garnishing more, deserved attention, but could clearly do without much of the price tags. But then again, it’s hard to argue with a constant influx of test paints and one offs.
Oh definitely, and I didn't want that to come off in any way as me undervaluing Sato-san's, the farthest from it; and especially the investment for an artist (if it is him, or someone else) doing these 1-offs/painted samples. The toys deserve the recognition they are getting, my only hesitation if you will, comes from the fact that I the instant chasers who seem to be actually the ones mainly driving up these prices are ones who may not actually appreciate the work of the artist or these as the fun toys they were meant to be. When you start to see them as status symbols instead, you are actually, if anything - and this is my own opinion - disrespecting the artist and the intent. And especially in the TE situation where many toys were, I think, sort of offered up as a counter-argument to this very situation, that is sort of where it hits the most (for me). This is all just silly toy ranting at the end of the day. Ultimately - I hope - it is a win for TE. I sort of hold a hold that the release of these waves are funding further projects more on point with the brand.
The high prices are also more likely due to Sato wanting his retail when supplying to Mandarake (as I understand their mark-up is quite high? they probably add at least 100% of their cost-price on top). Could explain why some things are relatively cheaper (cratermen for 150-200) and others are more pricey (golems for around 300) - Mandarake figure the latter are more hyped and in turn Sato can afford the 'loss' to keep cratermen a bit cheaper.
@ultrakaiju Youre essentially saying everything I wanted to say, but tiptoed on not actually wanting to, for fear that it’d be interpreted wrong. However, now that we’re on the exact same wavelength, I wholeheartedly agree these are simply being bought up for social media collection fodder. Personally, I won’t even buy a TE sculpt that I’m interested in until I at least get a sense of where it’s derived from, and further gauge my own interest. Now that’s not at all to say this practice should be standard; it’s simply how I choose to approach it. Even still, the idea of collecting anything without any sort of appreciation for what it is, where it comes from, or what it’s influences are is just mindless to me. And that’s where the disrespect can come in. This, to me, can apply with any artist. And you’re very right, in my opinion, about much of TE’s purpose in countering the hype and almost punching certain toys in the proverbial genitalia by harping(“ripping”) off qualities of the original toy. I didn’t at all take your words as diminishing to Sato - San’s work in the slightest, but rather in fully agreement that the price hikes are heavily due to the blind buying. ALL that being said, it still brings a twinkle of joy to see TE toys in collections, regardless. When I’d first gotten into this maker the thread was a bit of a war of words between some believing he’s a rip off artist(coattail rider), versus a middle finger to the hype machine. I’m inclined to side with the latter. @badteethcomics Obviously we’ve gotten no concrete answers, but I’m with you on the personal speculation that these are coming from Sato - San himself, either by way of his hands or a trustee. I personally see it being a lot easier to offload these all at once to singular locations, as opposed to online sales of any sort, having to deal with packing and shipping. And none of these appear to have headers of any kind. As Steve mentioned, I can only hope that it’s a mean to an end for future projects to see light. It’d give me immense hope to even just see an actual, new photo of a production run being painted. More than a single test paint in a grainy, yellowed shot.
Continuing what Robert thankfully started and sharing some more TE beauts that was just made available:
@C E Ugh. That Yummiela is simply fantastic. The Eyeball Fishman is super nice. The lavender base with minimal purple and silver some how brings out everything in this sculpt. The Medama Hangyojin trio series is one I gotta buckle down on and get a hold of.
Agreed. Beautiful. Hope the fantastic paint-ups on my fave TE sculpt keep coming. (Green... greeeeen... greeeeeeeeen...)
Yeah, if only that lavender beast had popped up after payday... Was $100 and of course went quickly. Hoping for a re-encounter in the "What you just got in the Mail" thread.
¥60,000 for a standard Robot Kong, missing the scientist, is a level of craziness for TE I didn’t think I’d ever see!
Yup. Not surprised here though. If it is either ape- or ugly caveman-based (or now, robot), this stuff just swarms up that same crowd of buyers. That's fine, just a shame we can't appreciate these toys anymore as toys.
In a way that is exactly what we can though. Having to save up our pennies for those coveted figures, just like in the olden days #desperatlytryingtoputapositivespinonthis
Man, really love that Pink Hackberry Monster! Here are a few photos of my Cannibal Monster Yummiela: Spoiler: Click for some more photos
You know, I gotta say, it’s very aggravating for me to see all these new, amazing one offs pop up while people are still waiting on a four year late pre - order. There’s photos of a painted test pull. I can’t imagine a single, legitimate reason, outside of the molds being destroyed, that it hasn’t been fulfilled at this point. And none of those people are gonna get their monies back, I’d wager.
Came here to edit my post but looks like mods can delete things as they see fit! I forgot there's "No Personal Attacks Allowed" rule in this la-la-land of over-priced toys. I have had my hand-slapped red raw by the holier than thou grand council of sofubi. So very sorry, please sir I have learnt my lesson never to speak ill of anybody for fear of hurting their feelings in this sunshine-filled land of kaijoo. The plastic may be toxic but lemme tell ya, there's no room for my 'toxic behaviour' on these boards.. the stern PM from the mods just made that clear oh yes yes. If this is the end and I get banned again for being 2 real 4 ya let it be known that all I ever wanted to do was bring some joy to skullbrain by sugar-coating everything and replying "nice score" to every post in the What You Got in the Mail thread in an effort to keep the peace.
