It is very weird to see this other side of artistic creation from someone who has been so long respected for the style of the bulk of his body of work. I go so far as to say these are the exact opposite of the stuff we have all come to love and appreciate. One wonders if this new style had been the original offerings, would folks have appreciated them? Also, on that point if folks would not have liked them and AA started making the crude textured dolls now, how folks would react to the change in style; especially if harsh critisism had been expressed? I get what folks are complaining about paints being off with the Medicom releases, these days and for the prices folks expect to get solid products. I know it must sound odd to younger folks but to me part of the appeal of vintage monsters is just how carefree and loose paints were applied back then. I have some vintage dolls that look like a blind man painted them yet that is what I cherish about them. I had 27 vintage AHI Frankenstein dolls and each one looked unique the way they were painted. I have a few kaiju that look downright weird with mouths and eyes painted far past the sculpts. I guess for me that keeps them in an almost kachina doll or folk art appeal. Like I mentioned tho, I do understand folks being dissatisfied with bad paints on recent dolls. I put the blame on the sense of urgency to deliver the products as soon as possible. "Slow and steady wins the race."
The animal sets are classic molds from the showa era. AA did them before. Its not a new style. I guess kawaii is not for everyone but I do love 'em!
Lulubell has done all 3 of the animal molds before too. I'll post a picture later. The panda set is really cute. Not what I would expect or think was Anraku, but I'll consider buying it.
That's what I thought. Or well at least that it was an homage to old vintage toys (I've seen them in ceramic form more often I think, though). Also , if anyone receives their mini gogas and doesn't like them do please PM!
I was talking about this guy not the other ones. Were they released prior? Never saw them. Wasn't there a resin kit AA did as well as long time ago?
I don't know about the resin kit, but this character has been interpreted via Anraku's animation long before it was released in vinyl visa vie his roll cake song. And it's not too different in terms of "cute" characters as compared to, say his older glutamine sculpt. But even that one is wackier. But I hear you, there is an overall departure of style from the earlier stuff without a doubt, with the licensed characters and the cute factor ratcheted up. EDIT: Hastur, thanks for reminding me AA had used those showa era molds before. I had completely forgotten about those!
Those classic sculpts are being sold as part of 2 sets : Not sure when the release date is, but I'm curious whether these were put together with the holidays in mind (think vintage Christmas). I wonder how many artists have put out these old squeaky sculpts now. Off the top of my head, there's also Kikkake, Paul Kaiju, and Grody Shogun.
Looks like the drunk boys finally hit the domestic retailers. Received my yellow fellow from Lulubell this week.
If anyone was unsure about the green and blue Gogas or wants one to customize, Amazon keeps shifting the price all over the place. It was ridiculously low the other day. Not sure if sharing this is taboo or not, but this is such a readily available toy by the looks of it, that I'll take the risk. PM me if you want this taken down.
It was the US site, but the prices have already fluctuated again. They were almost $100 on the Gogamezillas when I looked this morning.
Just wanted to let you guys know that I will be posting some extra Drunk Boys to the TAG store. If anyone is interested, let me know so I get them to you guys.
Yep, the prices keep going all over the place. I checked yesterday and they shot back up to $236. I'd say keep an eye on those Gogas, I'm sure the price will drop again before the holidays as shops try to clear old stock.
Just got a bunch of the Anraku VAG figures and for a true "mass-produced" item these have got to be the most sample-accurate paint jobs I've seen of all of the Anraku x Medicom releases. Probably because the paint has been brushed on similar to how AA paints his samples. However I have noticed some of the paint is peeling off very easily like a skin off the vinyl.
Oh yikes. That's a bit disappointing, I usually take small toys with me on trips and such. I wonder if they didn't clean the pulls properly and they had some kind of residue on them when painted?
