Blitzkrieg Toys, part of the Creature Bazaar collective, has made a few toys over recent years, including the DeepDwellers(chibi sharks), GrimHell, Skulls, and these Yokai Tombstones. These are the first toys of Blitzkrieg I’ve come into, and boy do I regret not getting the grey Halloween versions he releases last year. These are pretty spectacular. Haunting, but fun, and keeping what I’d consider pretty close to the chest when it comes to the yokai aesthetic and lore. And while they have enough personality to stand on their own as characters, think GiGiGi No Kitaro or even The Real Ghostbusters, they also make for awesome cemetery props with other toys. Check out @ blitzkriegtoys on Instagram for more of Brandon’s works! Header art by Bang Ganji of Three Tides Tatoo in Tokyo, Japan. Spoiler
@The Moog I’m glad you’re into these! The Halloween versions he did last October are so, so perfect. Hopin’ I can find those at some point. Pretty much all yokai sofubi go the way of traditional monsters, so it’s pretty cool to see someone imagine an inanimate object like tombstones be possessed by yokai spirits and come alive!
New from Blitzkrieg comes the Goyjin, a very classic lookin’ yokai monster. I’d love to know if there’s any sort of backstory elements to this beast, but I best describes it to Brandon as an Americana yokai. Somethin’ about the design just has inherent American traits to me, though I can’t exactly say what. Almost like American fan art/appreciation for Japanese yokai. I’m also a big fan of it bein’ a two part figure. Just seems to fit. My apologies for the quality of the images. I screen capped turnarounds from Brandon’s post. Go to @ blitzkriegtoys on Instagram to not only see the video, but to hear the creepily fitting music by none other than Skullbrain’s own @michael, aka Putrid Marsh.
had a chance to see the new head in person and its an absolute game changer for blitzkrieg. humanoid without being derivative of something currently hyped. true yokai while still being its own original silhouette
First painted release of Goyjin revealed today for Creature Bazaar’s booth at DCon next weekend. Shirahama Seikei’s masterful, signature double pour outer clear and inner grey - ish blue, with red blood drip marble. Yellow painted eyes and white teeth. Pretty goddamn fantastic representation of classic yokai imagery with these colors. Can’t wait to see one in hand.
The marbled version of Goyjin, as shown above, makes its debut at DCon 2021. This two part toy is just fantastic. Amazing design, wonderful sculpt, and the marble pours are just…wow. Everything about this ensemble comes swingin’ for the fences, all the way down to the print with original artwork by Ganji of Three Tides Tattoo. Brandon’s original design really shows his appreciation for traditional yokai and doesn’t stray very far from original inspired source material, but also has something distinct about it that makes it “American”. I can’t wait to see a first painted version. Hopefully the blank photographed gives a little more visual depth to the sculpt details. Spoiler
I ll say this once, but it counts for all the dcon updates: I love all your pictures and the presentation you do. While I love that double pour, I had missed all the little details on the face of that guy. It’s great to have the blank photos as well.
This was pulled by Shirahama right? The guy out does himself every time I see a new figure pulled by him...
@nico000 Thanks so much, dude! The kind words and appreciated are very much appreciated in return! I just want to try and start dialogues. I always hope that presenting what I enjoy about the toys I collect will spark anyone to chime in the same. Even what people hate about a toy I love is more than welcome! Most importantly, though, I want to keep the visual archive and information alive. Both were such integral parts for me before joining this board. @Urk Pulled by Shirahama indeed! He is a master to the craft and stands out wildly from everyone else!!!
So how does a double pour work? The first clear vinyl dries, and then a 2nd round is poured inside it? Is the blood painted over top or is that inside? I haven't seen one in person myself, but they look really interesting. The bleeding effect on this really isn't my thing, but it looks well executed.
@Horsefeathers Clear vinyl is poured into the mold, cooked for X amount of time, the red and grey - ish blue marbling is added, and the mold dipped back into the chemical bath to further cook. Once the timing is right it’ll be taken out, excess vinyl will be dumped back into its container, and the molds placed back into the bath one more time for curing!
@xSuicide Squadx Thanks for the info! Does the double cooking result in one fused piece of vinyl or are the pieces separable? ...the more I look at it the more I like it, heh.
@Horsefeathers Definitely all melded together and cohesive as a singular piece! If you’re likin’ it in photos you’d definitely love it in hand! It’s such a great combination between both the figure and the vinyl.
This is interesting! I've assumed that's the key way it differs from a marbled pour. My assumption is: while the double pour is cooked and set before the next color goes in, a marbled seems to be accomplished by filling the mold, dumping out the majority of that first color to the point only a thin layer is clinging to the inside details of the mold due to the viscosity, THEN the new color just gets added with no cook in between. That's why there is more unpredictable color mixing occurring in marbled vinyls? Or maybe there is a cook in between, but it's all set extremely thin? Either way, I'm curious: a true double pour like this seems like it's effectively a double thick vinyl, right? Toy must get weighty.
@SpectralNight When I mentioned one, cohesive piece I was under the impression they thought the pour was assembled, rather than molded! That’s why it’s worded rather weirdly, now that I look back at it! As for the pour itself it basically goes like this: pour clear vinyl > cook > pour out excess > pour in red drips/blue > cook > pour out excess > cure overall marble pour > pull vinyl @Russblue11 Dude, Joe’s one off was spectacular. Very unexpected to hit his shop, and I was sad to miss it, but still great to see another painted version! Hopin’ we overall see more Goyjin comin’ out soon!
That dcon release is the perfect example of how a double pour with clear on the outer layer can really help accentuate details of a sculpt that might otherwise be lost in the marbling.
Making its debut at Summer Slime is Blitzkrieg’s Hell Robo - 13. A robotic assault from the fiery abyss, Hell Robo comes equipped with dual sword arms, chest missiles and horns that’d make Satan’s meanest demon feel inferior. The torso and legs themself bring me reminiscence of Mazinger Z, which I find a nice nod from an American artist. Given the name this red vinyl base is rather suiting. Very bad ass addition to the sofubi mech category! Spoiler
The newest Goyjin is beyond stunning. Returning, is Shirahama Seikei’s signature and beautiful double pour marble. Outer clear shell and two tone green vinyl, with Blitzkrieg hittin’ on top with bloody red sprays and some gold, highlighting accents. Every release of Goyjin just gets better and better. From what Brandon told me(that I can remember) the backstory is a fisherman that was swallowed by the sea and transformed into this creature. I get a grandiose sense of pain and despair in the face, and I love it. Spoiler The Boggler!!! A simple, two part, 3” figure that gives you a warm, 80’s, nostalgic cartoon hug. It’s like Cousin It came from outer space to feed on the immense amount of garbage this planet exudes, both in the form of trash and humans. There’s been a few releases thus far, including a release of one offs painted by Bwana Spoons. This is easily my favorite version. Spoiler