Hirota Saigansho: Gorilla-ju, Mecha Gorilla-ju, & Others

I'm still good for the next lottery right tho??

Hey man you came at me first in a HxS thread, replying to my post with some kind of attitude already... sooo y'know. Ah well fuck me then

 

The only way to really know is when people openly admit (as a means of flexing in a way, but certainly as a proud statement) that they only collect what is the freshly baked popular. They do like the toys, but only to the degree of their popularity. A lot of the same people seem to rotate out their toys fairly often, which makes sense considering the buzz for them is the popular new new.

I agree that (and I didn’t mean to remove that part of your quote dang it) that you cannot know this by what one’s collection looks like or how they show it off. Rabid fans may look like hype beasts due to what they colllect, but it could also be because they genuinely are really into what they collect. So I try not to make judgements on anyone based on what I see necessarily , but rather what they say and how they act. Sometimes it’s just out & out the obvious statement they’re trying to make in their images. Something that would apply, for example, would be if Logan Paul puts up an image of himself in a hot pink lamborghini with “gucci” written across it in gold and he’s in the Caribbean and riding co pilot was 1 of the giant fiberglass Mockbats with Logan’s logo painted on it. Haha, although that toy’s probably seen more than I ever will. Nothing against Mockbat (I heart the guy) and hopefully in a situation like that he eventually ends up in someone’s hands who truly appreciates him and not a garbage can.

 

What are you talking about coming at you first ?

I made a post, just talking about my feelings on the whole posting thing on IG. I specially said the general “you” to avoid anyone taking at them. But you commented on it quoting me. I responded to you, then like usuall you made an attack on me and my brand.

Replying to your post with some kind of attitude, who are you acting like the boss here ?

Man, is that what SB is now ?

I came to talk about a topic i saw interesting. I’ve been wanting to get back to talking toys and have a conversation. But I guess I can’t. Somehow because I make toys as a living to support my wife and kids I have to eat shit and can’t say anything without someone tossing in my face. Fuck me right. You keep making this shit about me.

 

Thank you !

Yeah that’s my point. After collecting these toys for over a decade I kinda buy and put into storage. But that’s just me. I take some out of bags some I prefer the way the over all package looks. But over time the way I enjoy my collection has evolved. How can I say someone else is wrong for what they feel is how they enjoy it. I’m sure there are people doing the IG blitz to score and flip. But I bet a lot more are holding on. I mean they do have older drops to take these photos for new drops. Hell, even Hirota does shows in china and does well. He seems like the dude to openly call out BS. He’s seems ok with what’s going on, and so are his fans that are happy. So who’s to say what now.

I can’t afford his toys, but it’s nice to see someone who has been doing this for years elevate to a higher level.

 

I'm surprised you haven't just blocked Glen at this point. You don't have to read his messages at all.

 

I don’t know, I always hated that, felt silly. But I guess it’s an option I should just take. Because it’s obvious it’s pointless and I’m looking like the fool.

 

Can an admin change my handle to "MVH Bully" because apparently that's my reputation around here now..

 

It isn’t that someone’s got a huge collection of a particular artist, or that they often display said collection. That’s what it’s there for. I guess for me, personally, it’s the types that almost exclusively only post these collections during lottos, or when they win. And it’s usually accompanied by some shitty “Hope I win this time” comment(as if that’s supposed to garner a sympathy win), or prayer hands and/or crossed finger emojis by the truckload. Admittedly, I’m a pretty cynical piece of shit at times, so maybe it’s just an irritability factor for me that gives me the impression. But I also know I’m not alone in that thought process, by quite a bit of similar thinking minds.

Shincartoon went in hard on WHY he loves this recent set, and I’m sure many more of HxS’ works, and unflinchingly states he’s fine with the price tag. I think he’s part of a collective minority against the rest that can’t say why they covet these toys so bad, or why they pine so hard at the chance to throw hundreds and thousands of dollars at pieces of plastic. Ultimately, like anything else, they’re worth as much as you’re willing to pay. But I think the line that gets drawn is between people who can say why they’re so eager to own it and what they appreciate about it, versus those who can’t, other than because everyone else wants it. And I personally find that void of any legitimacy, as well as undermining the artist and artistry of it.

 

It also doesn't help when many of those same people with DM you offering those toys they just "prayed" they won to get something else

The amount of hype toys collected by Chinese buyers exclusively for their hype factor is astounding. I had a dude offer me 2 TKOMs for 1 of another maker.

 

Afaic, this hobby was expensive enough ten years ago, these days it's utter insanity. Once you set prices beyond $200-$250, you're clearly catering to people who have thousands of expendable income to throw at "toys" to flex for the gram along with their Supreme/Mastermind/Vetements "clothes" and don't care, so why not just go full Shig and charge $800. Justifying drastic price increase by saying people are happy to pay up is like saying this is an alright shoe:




But frankly, why should a maker care when people are lining up with fucking flower bouquets?! In the immortal words of the great Udo Kier - take the money and run.

And take it to fucking pm ffs.

 

Not to derail but fuck those are some ugly sneakers. I'm not into the sneaker hype scene. Is "looks like it has been sitting in a goodwill since the early 90s" a sign of value?

 

I love ugly shoe culture, its like jordan culture, but the shoes actually look decent.

I unloaded most of my toys that were part of these brands that got super hyped. It just isnt fun to collect something that was fun and it has soul and was relatively inexpensive, only to have it become a head biting arena. Yeah, the money you get is nice since most of us arent of very many means, but at the same time it pangs a bit when you see yourself walking away from something you and the maker truly love. Its good riddance to all the makers that are killing it and I hope the hype continues for years to come, making sofubi is hard work. We'll just have to continue investing in the things we can afford and enjoy the pictures of all that other stuff thats unattainable.

btw, one of those Chinese buyers sent me a toy once (i lost your DM, bud!), out of his own volition and I never have been able to repay the favor back. They're just collectors, with different cultural markers, and just because they got boatloads of money to throw at a hobby it doesnt mean theyre terrible humans for doing things their way. They just play the game and thats how that region of the world does. welcome to kapitalismus.

 

Those shoes weigh like 10 pounds I handled one up at a store because of the oddity. You could chuck one at someone’s head and legit knock them out.

 

Although China has the name of communist, this is only in theory in reality operating under the logic of capitalism, they are the new rich of the world. China has approximately 1,400 million inhabitants of wich approximately 300 million have a socio-economic level above the average, we are talking about it is almost the size of the population of the United States (330 million inhabitants) with a high income to demand anything. One of the characteristics of this new Chinese society is to demand items that reflect its social status and for better or for worse many of the collectible toys of today fulfill that function. Not for that reason they should be classified as bad people or bad collectors is simply the socioeconomic situation of their country, it is very simple if as collectors we do not like the direction that a certain artist is taking or how certain pieces are being valued we simply move away from that we do not like.

 

@Alebrije Well put. What remains to be seen is whether these collectors, who are driven by status as opposed to love for the culture will stick around or just move on to the next hypey symbols of ostentatious wealth a few years down the line. Which could have interesting consequences either way. As the old saying goes: If you wanna stay underground, you gotta dig deeper. Nothing like getting an unexpected omake from a maker with "old school" pricing who seems genuinely stoked to sell outside of Japan/Asia.

Not just value, "luxury" even. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Socioeconomic and cultural diversification aside . . . the needy comments, posturing and bro'down make me wanna barf!

 

Quoting because this is what irks me the most too.

Whatever the reason is that got you into collecting a very hype line of toys, have some self respect for christ sake!

 

Too much entitlement around here these days.

 

I had to do a double-take, I thought this was a Nag for a moment.

 

I used to like collecting HxS. Times have changed. Thankful I’ve got a few pieces. Damn near impossible now.

 

I need to learn Japanese. I usually check the blog often but it looks like HxS has gone the way of IG lottos?

Sucks appreciating certain toys (ala the Mr X Set) that will *seemingly be forever out of reach..

 

unfollow, unfollow....

 

awesome toy, not an awesome price.

 

Wondering how many folks got the Big Daddy Roth homage in the Izu illustration. I know the toy is close to Rat Fink in the first place, but this one could have jumped out of his art. Would be sad if that got lost in a sea of "WANT!" is my point. Although there are plenty of tokusatsu and kaiju influences in my stuff that I'm still learning about, I suppose.

 

What was the price?