Officially licensed 2-Headed Giant from Justin Ishmael (Ex-Mondo) and Monsters of Filmland

https://softoyhobby.com/2016/07/13/justin-ishmael-x-fmofs-jack-the-giant-killer-sofubi-teased/

SoftToyHobby broke this news which I think is pretty huge, especially for those who wanted a Bemon 2-headed giant such as myself but didn't want to evaporate their bank account on the aftermarket.

 

Sweet.

 

This is a really cool accurate sculpt! I really dig that it is sculpted/produced by Handsome TaroM..

Although I can't help but wonder if this would have ever been made if the Bemon toy (and many versions after it) hadn't planted the idea of dollar signs in people's minds. Even though chances are this will be relatively affordable (I'm still expecting a higher price point than a no name sofubi toy of the same size/joints) it definitely smells of a bit of a cash in for the character and the current sofubi scene in general.

 

I've been following Mondo for almost 10 years now, pre and post Justin running it. Justin brought Mondo to the next level and then some. He lives and dies for his passions and is not by any stretch "looking to cash in" (if he was he would have stayed with Mondo, those guys fucking print money nowadays). No one really knows why Justin quit Mondo, but the highly speculative rumors are either 1) Hollywood was trying to exert too much control over Mondo and/or 2) he wanted to do more stuff with professional wrestling and no one else at Mondo was really interested so he quit to do his own thing.

So yeah, I can guarantee this is a project out of love, not cash. There are FAR more profitable hobby markets to be involved in, including the markets Justin basically almost created from scratch with Mondo.

 

yeah, what he said ^^^

justin is an insanely passionate person, one of the nicest in the nerd biz

 

Sorry - I didn't mean it as an attack on this guy. As cool as the toy is, the sculpt looks top notch - I just couldn't help being disappointed and rrolled my eyes at yet another version of this same character. More just commentary on this character being cast over and over again to death.

 

I'm trying reaaaaaally hard to not talk shit about an artist, but yeah @badteethcomics, there are some artists (1 in particular) that have flooded the market with shitty versions of this sculpt. I don't get it. At least this will give people an alternative to buy something official and much better quality.

 

I pretty excited about this! Looking forward to his project and future. Perfect rendition from the teased photos

 

I actually had the distinct pleasure of meeting Justin when he came through Lulubell once. I didn't have any prior knowledge of him, or really any of Mondo, either. I noticed and commented on his Harryhausen Cyclops and My Pet Monster tattoos and the introductions flowed, etc. Super, super, insanely nice dude and a lot of really cool background stories from him and his previous works! Still very curious to the price point of this beast, but it is without question the most accurate and greatest interpretation of the original FM cover artwork. The official licensing is some pretty rad added flavor, as well.

 

Sell off those SX Toys now while you can

Interesting he worked with Famous Monsters, since we were all under the impression the character was unlicensed. I wonder if it was really necessary.

 

Ha. This is cool to wake up to. Thanks for the support and sorry for being so quiet about things.

So, this will all be explained later but I'll just free-style let it flow from my brain right now and explain WHY this is happening.

Basically, this toy lives as THE BEMON. More recently, THE YABANJIN. They're both awesome. I also have neither. BEMON because of price/ it's hard to get and the Yabanjin I don't have because I haven't won a lotto yet. ha So, this is not to shit on either or say they're better or worse... it's the opposite... I LOVE THEM BOTH. I just want to do mine differently. And by different, I'm going to explain the history of the creature. Why was it on the cover of FAMOUS MONSTERS in 1968? Who illustrated it? Where is the original art? And so on.

My goal is to tell a story. I want to tell the story about WHY this monster existed and also try as much as I can to show how magical Luke at LuluBell is and how I wouldn't want to do this if he wasn't helping. I love collaborating... and even better if it's someone that I've liked and admired from afar and always had a million plans that never panned out.... this was the one for me and him.

Not trying to double dip/ cash out/ steal sauce.... just thought that I was in a unique position to focus a light on this beautiful beast that hasn't been before. We'll have the first version out soon and then the variants will come. Sure, we'll have color variants, but I'm trying to line up crazy talented people that are actually MONSTER KIDS (those that grew up during the time when Famous Monsters was originally being published/ obsessed with the RealArt re-releases of Universal Monster movies, etc.) that have went onto win Academy Awards and have also created your favorite movie characters. Hint. ha

I'm just a dude wanting to have fun. I've made an 1/6th scale toys, statues, records, posters, etc. but never worked in Japan with sofubi and it's been a goal of mine FOREVER. I respect the craft. Respect the sculptors. Respect the mold makers and the dudes that hand cut fucking paint masks. It's fascinating and I want to bring fun projects to it whenever I can.

Luke and I are working on more coming up. Hope you save room for MORE BRAINS after FAMOUS MONSTER 1968 comes out. *wink*

-Justin

 

well said justin! put me down for tarman when the time comes !

 

What's Tarman?

 

Do you have any other info you can share, @JustinIshmael? Really curious to see how big this is for one.

 

That sculpt is excellent, and it's great to get more news after the initial pictures that I caught floating around Instagram. It's really cool to see that a great sculpting artist like Handsome TaroM is working on this. The cross-discipline/world (art posters to vinyl toys) is really awesome!

Thanks for all the great information on the background for this guy Justin, it's always great to get the history on a character.

 

I'm really glad Justin weighed in to shed some light, because I'm all for engaging story-telling for a sculpt that has history. Having passionate people attached like Luke and Handsome TaroM means that this will be revered for years to come. I can't wait for more details.

 

Always cool to see background/history applied. Looking forward to seeing more, always great to be able to finally get into something you've been eyeing for a while too! Hope you have fun with it!

 

Rather than another version of the character. Wouldn't this be the definitive version of the character as made by the creators and owners of the image?

 

Thanks for the post Justin - it puts things in a little more context for me and I'm sure lots of other people on the board I remember my initial reaction was "oh great another one" when I saw an image of the sculpt a few weeks back on instagram. That was before knowing anything about who or why it was being produced. It sounds like you really love the character and probably had that magazine cover stuck on your wall as a kid long before all of this 2 headed crazy came about.

Excellent choices in HTM for the sculpt and Luke on the production.. I'm pretty interested to see what kind of information you can dig up about the character and the story behind the iconic Famous Monsters cover as well. I'd really like to see more illustrations by that artist - if there are any more out there? Could have been a one-off freelance job.

 

I thought the exact same thing, looks like a damn identical match.

 

See discussion re: Gargamel and Hukkokudo circa 10 years ago...

I think it's cool to have a licensed version of the figure. But I don't see it as an equivalent for the earlier Bemon 'tributes'.

 

This is so awesome, you can really tell how passionate you are Justin. All the best to what you're doing, really stoked for this release!

 

Please bring back Harryhausen toys!