Keep the vinyl production in Japan. Keep the #'s low and the quality high. please (I would rather miss out on a rad release than have a dozen low quality releases clutter up my shelves)
My wife and I recently returned from our first trip to Japan. We planned the trip to coincide with several events; the Ultraman Festival, Wonderfest, the Ultraman Legend exhibit in Koriyama, and the Thrashout 3rd anniversary. I thought, “How cool would it be to buy a limited toy from an event in Japan.” We got in line at 11:00 am and were exactly 10 people behind Living Dead. I did not notice any movement in the line until around 1:00 pm (the store was to open at noon.) They were letting 5 people in at a time. Imagine my surprise when Living Dead came out and said all the exclusives were sold out. By the time we got inside it was around 2:00 pm. Everything except the Yamanaya collab clear Pegila and Garamons were sold out. I bought one of each and received the free mini glow Mightin. I was glad to get the minis and very pleased with the free Mightin, but, yes, I was pissed that the clear Zag and the Zag plane were sold out. I met Matt at Wonderfest the next day and relayed my experience to him and told him how disappointed I was at not being able to get the exclusives I wanted. I did go back to Thrashout later the next week to meet Baikin. I also got to meet the Gargamel guys. They were great and even shared a banana-goo filled popsicle with me. What really got to me was on the back table were about a dozen each of the “sold out” exclusives. I asked them if I could get one of the clear Zags (I had given up on the Zag plane because I got the even cooler Mecha Godzilla plane at Wonderfest.). They told me that they were for various store orders. What I don’t understand is why they were willing to disappoint so many people who waited in line to support their efforts when they clearly were able to fill other orders for the same product. This, imo is poor business practice. Many people left that day with a “bad taste in their mouths” for Gargamel. The other thing this does is feed the flipper market. I was in Tokyo ferchristsake but now have to pay a flipper on YJA if I want one of those exclusives. All that being said, I still think the guys at Gargamell are swell guys who produce a great product. I would really like someone who makes and sells limited release toys to explain the low run business strategy to me. Also, come on, if you guys don’t think of your toys as “art” then why do you spend so much time and energy arranging them on shelves and taking nice pictures of them?
it is a form of artistic expression i think. the joking post i put before with the dadas is about right for what i think honestly. it's funny that one of the things that has become most endearing to me is the dada, and the dada art movement (at least in the US) was about the absurd. quirky and strange and a bit different are the pieces that draw me in the most, and my photographing them, writing about them, and arranging them are all a little bit of creative expression on my part then again, i take photos of M.U.S.C.L.E.s and little toys listening to ipod on the beach, so everything i say could just be bullshit
maybe look at it this way, art is contextual (is that a word?) if it is displayed as art... in an artistic setting... then people are going to view it as such if someone opens that skullwing and places it on a riser in a glass case, it is going to be viewed as a piece of art before the skullwing given to a 5 year old in a sandbox would be and those who would get upset at someone who painted over a rare toy, how would you react to see a kid playing with the same rare toy in a sandbox?
Actually your Duchamp is anti-art. a Dada "Readymade" to be exact. At least you didn't buy the "fountain." "What is art?" threads tend to go on forever without resolution. I think the original comments were about how thinking of toys as art in the "objects d'art" sort of way polluted the Western vinyl collecting scene. There is definately an art, or if you prefer, an aesthetic to kaiju. There are conventions, cultural points of reference, linear developments, and above all, human creativity. However, I agree that "they're toys first" even if it's a new way of thinking about toys ... toys specifically made for adult collectors. It's literally a postmodern aesthetic ... reinvigorating "classical standards" (being the vintage toys and the movies and shows that inspired them) in new recombinant ways. I think that thinking of the current kaiju phenomenon this way is more useful as a frame of reference than a codified aesthetic, though. Who wants stuffy curatorial definitions delineating toy boundries? Not me. But I see nothing wrong with seeing the "art" in our toys. In fact I think it's respectful to those who make them to recognize the craft and art and humanity that goes into making them. I think of the toys that come from the small companies as Japanese folk art by another way of thinking, much like how lowrider cars are an American folk art.
I agree with what you are saying. That is why I put “art” in parentheses. I’m an archaeologist and am always amazed that things native peoples used as survival tools, etc end up being displayed in art museums. People need artistic expression and I think that the way we arrange and display and photograph our toys feeds this need. I like the way my toys look on the shelves when I show them to people and I like to play with them whenever I get the chance.
Actually, it just proves they don't care. They don't understand the attraction, just like non-collectors don't understand the collecting of vintage toys. And I can see why. To be honest, the only "neo-kaiju" I collect, is Gargamel stuff that reminds of vintage Japanese characters (Microman, Dokuroman, Thrashman, Cig Corps). I don't get the Secret Base stuff, nor does it appeal to me. I don't see the appeal in Pushead stuff. For what you folks spend on hand paints, I'd rather buy vintage Bulmark or Marusan. Doesn't mean I don't think anyone should collect it...just that I don't get it. I think that's all Matt is saying. But hey, I guess I'm just a "fucking idiot", too. That's real class, guys.
Huh? Did someone insult you for your taste? >>confused<< Without "vintage" kaiju there could be no "neo" kaiju. Given that there are blurred lines the biggest dichotomies I see are a) mere age of the toys and b) the fact that many neo-kaiju characters/creatures have no antecedent in the media. Otherwise, they're all part of the same broader continuum. I need to re-read the article, but my strongest impression was that it was about artificial inflation of perceived value via controlled hype techniques e.g. only letting five people at a time into BAPE or by keeping editions intentionally small. The use of living dead's complaint appeared intended to illustrate how subsequent frustrations might represent a backlash against such approaches.
check the original blog entry comments. some poster practiced their bad ass foul mouth persona which was rendered pretty lamez due to anonymity.
I'd also love to hear a response from one of the creators/companies to this question. Especially when you consider how often a toy with a run limited to say, 50, is re-released a couple months later with just a different paint scheme. At the end of the day you've still handpainted 100 vinyls so I don't buy the handpainting reason. It seems to me logical that these companies just know that they are dealing within a niche market and therefore create just enough that they know will sell and then turn around and crank out more in another color to essentially the same people. Seems like an effective form of risk management to me, (especially for a smaller company that may not have the capital to invest in the process like Bandai, etc..and who needs to make sure that every dollar put in is recouped in sales.) 10 different runs of 50, being sold to the same group of fanatical collectors each time seems safer than just running off 500 that are all the same and hoping you don't get stuck with a massive overstock. I hasten to add that I'm just thinking out loud here and I have no idea how the business works. But I do know that selling 100 of something is better than 50 from a profit standpoint so there must be a reason for it. No company in their right mind would choose to sell a smaller number than a higher one. Maybe that's it. Maybe their just crazy!
For some entertaining reading, read DAMON KNIGHT'S story THE BIG PAT BOOM. Essentially it is about the percieved quality of an item and how people respond differently in certain cultural situations. One man's trash is another man's treasure. For industry, diamonds are great for crushing stone, but it took a DeBeers genius to make a killing from them. I think that applies to all the current "collectibles" markets as well. You can at least drive a Shelby or a Schwinn Krate, but a $200,000 comic is a lot less useful for even casual use. Good thing Tiger Woods buys Yachts and not Gargamel.
While I agree there are certainly elements of playing it safe and cranking out colorways in order to protect their investment and make a profit, I think many of the neo-kaiju companies deserve a little more credit. First, I know you just picked some even numbers, but I think in most cases they are too high. Certainly many newer Secret Base figures are made in quantities greater than 50, but some RxH releases seem to just be reaching this number. As we all painfully know, when RxH first started runs were more in the area of 10-20 if not less. The same seems to be true with the early blobpus stuff, S+W Chicken Fevers. I think it probably took those guys a couple years to make any sort of profit. Thus in a very "real" way, different colorways were essential to testing out new ideas, see what people wanted, etc. It's not like these guys have a big R+D facility like Bandai probably does. The other point I want to highlight is that while colorways are still coming, I think companies like RxH and Gargamel have done an excellent job of parlaying some of that popularity and money into new sculpts. And not just safe ideas but pretty daring stuff. As has been pointed out many times, few really cared about the IKB hedorans before Gargamel put their polish on them. Also I don't remember too many people betting that RxH would be producing a series of figures three times larger than the tried and true mutant zone series (Bigaroid, Shintosan), or that one-eyed neko cats would be all the rage. I think Secret Base could learn a little bit from some other companies and take a few more chances (or maybe not if we get another king skull brain).
I think some of you have spent more time writing your responses than this blogger spent researching his article.
I think you need to reread the article, because there isn't any griping and what he's writing is backed up by firsthand accounts from collectors. You're the one who sounds like a Grumpy Glenn.
Yeah...good for a decent magazine, too. Check S7 #1. Full of good articles from "grumpy old vintage collectors".
I stopped reading when I came across the word "otaku." I refuse to read anything mentioning that word, and refuse to have this hobby / culture looked at in such a way.
