Well people come people go, that’s the hobby. I don’t take it personal and don’t really track who is doing what. I just don’t like when people say one thing and do another. So thanks for the heads up. And yeah the prices are insane.
@Rich - Agreed, similar to collecting secondhand vintage, I feel most of us are more interested in verifying the authenticity of these pieces especially with those wacky bootlegs running around. Since a couple people commenting on buying some of these, it might ease their minds a bit to know that they likely picked up some legit pieces here from a known collection.
Totally agree. And yeah after readying and actually looking and knowing where they came from , they are legit. Which honestly price point and what ever baggage is attached to them aside, is good that they are selling real products. Rule or hand, my retail is what I value my stuff at.
Who knows really. A year ago I’d say I’d agree, but with Covid affecting the world in every single way possible who knows what he is going through. If someone was is need or has a family to worry about by all means selling what they can makes sense. But if it’s not the case and he’s buying with the sense of just reselling, he’s gotta go. Not fair to honest people who want a piece here or there.
Exactly. This year when I see people I know getting rid of toys I just hope they are doing okay physically and financially. Times are tougher right now for more people then they ever have been in my entire life. A lot of my friends are chefs or restaurant owners. They are almost all unemployed or out of business now.
We’re just bootlegging everything now, aren’t we? (Totally made in jest, in case that’s not obvious.) My story yesterday: Collector’s post I found today:
@xSuicide Squadx That's interesting, it seems a very elaborate bootleg, even down to the bit of packing foam between the legs. As someone who doesn't know the toy line that well, I'd of put the differences down to the camera/photo itself. I can see the colours look different on both the toy and header etc, and maybe the sculpt lacks a bit of definition, but that could just be the photo isn't as sharp as the other one. Could you elaborate why its an obvious bootleg to the uninitiated? Or are you making a joke about them copying your photo layout?
@The Moog Oh, my apologies! I’m just pokin’ fun at the photo layout! The figure itself is no bootleg at all. Just my cheap attempt at humor with a jab in what felt like the appropriate thread.
Phew, sorry I misunderstood. I was gonna say, if somebody is going to that much trouble to make bootlegs, I'd wonder how they'd make any money!
Just because the guys name shows up a few times here (although I can't grasp why or what the outcome was). I really dug seeing these develop over the months, loved the quirkiness and level of detail that the dude went to and was real interested until he dropped details of the pricing on 'em! I'm sure that they are a quality product and look great, but if $600 outta the gate for a quirky mash-up by an unknown (to me at least) is part of the 'new normal' . . . I'm done! (F)Art Toys!
@Anti Social Andy I agree with you. The price is a little up there. I’ve really liked some of his stuff. There’s also a 3 headed Cookie Monster tank that he has posted that will most likely cost you a kidney, that I dig also.
Interesting to see the photo-formategger (sorry, best I could do after a day of lockdown v3 drama), covered his Wolf Teeth number... does that make him a "collector" or a possible flipper? Personally, I'm glad to see Ken is attempting to stop people from buying to flip and I know this is an age old debate, and I have no intention of rebooting it, but the one thing I took from the photo (other than the 70's inspired shag...) is that the person has, not so deftly, tried to hide the number... My spider sense is tingling...
if the sticker numbers are acurate, I've seen stickers in the 400s, mine was in the high 300s. These are probably runs of 500 figures! Maybe Ken is publishing this info in an effort to deter flippers and hype beasts who might lose interest in the high production numbers.
I pre-ordered a resin "SHIN-COOKIEZILLA" (below) from Bottleneck Gallery a few months back. Is Gabriel Marquez the originator of this mashup and then someone bootlegged in sofubi? Totally confused seeing 2 or 3 really similar Cookie Monster / Godzilla toys appear around the same time. Edit: This article states the early concept art was seen in May 2017 and early sculpts in 2018, if that helps.
I think akamenteshi copied the Cookie Monster head on a non-shin body and is selling it for big bucks with no credit being given to Gabrielle.
Jeebus, that second cookie monster figure actually makes me physically sick to look at. I feel like someone just kicked my inner child in the nuts for a full minute. I can understand why people might dig it and no criticism if you do. Just my honest reaction. Yeesh.
so these are licensed mashups? I keep being super confused that these are so expensive and so much more in the vein of designer toys than classic goji sofubi dunno, I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles with that. and I’m happy to hear runs in the 500s from headlock, that only means more chances of getting one not at flipper prices
Just because they are numbered up to 500 doesn’t mean they made that many - could be a number of ways of doing it, including skipping large chunks of numbers to avoid people faking the stickers. What is apparent is Ken dislikes people flipping as much as genuine collectors do. As an aside, there is already a Wolf Teeth on YJA (and has been for a few days) at 230,000 yen - so there are still people trying to benefit and flip.
Apologies, I should have made my text purple. I don't believe Toho or Jim Henson would ever grant a license to make these mashups.