Recently I got a Clap Monster Zaran, and when I pulled it out of the bag, it had a very nice smell, but I instantly equated it to the same smell of Bemon and Longneck toys from the period. The best smelling toy I ever bought was an Itokin Park Himalan, I was struck by the fragrance when I opened the bag. I hadn't smelled a vinyl toy so lovely, and was teleported back to the smell of vintage my little ponies I enjoyed the smell of as a child. I don't know if this is all Itokin Park toys, as Himalan is the only one I collect. Maybe the bulbous surface area results in a stronger smell. Most new toys don't seem to smell at all, maybe it's a change to vinyl formulation to make it safer. You hear generalizations about vintage toy smells, things like "only vintage collectors understand" but are there nuances between brands and time periods, vintage collectors here can note? Anyway, I thought this could be a fun and interesting topic to discuss. Post your fragrance discoveries here!
I have nothing to add other than that sometimes when I'm having a bad day I'll open my toy closet and just take a few quick sniffs to get my dopamine levels up.
I don't know if I recall any one toy having a distinctive smell, but there is an aroma that comes from my display case when I slide it open. Mixture of paint and vinyl I presume. This is a very interesting topic
The blue draki also has a really strong smell. I had got it from @JoeMan years ago, and you almost could get high from sniffing it Haven't had a toy with that particular sorta smell since...
The older Zollmen stuff does definitely have a stronger smell then most other brands. Don’t know about the newer releases as it’s become to hard and expensive to score
I remember those secret base red GID toys smell awful I always take a big sniff whenever I open a new toy
Literally came here to harp about these. My red glow Obake Dog smelled like straight sulfur when I opened it up. Holy shit, was that unexpected. I love the smell of new toys out of the bags, though. A lot of ‘em have pretty distinctive and different scents, depending on favorites and artists with the paints they use. Shit, I even like some of the western vinyl when it first comes out of the box! There’s also some fun in finding old hunts that’s are still bagged and headered. Got this musty, dirty, haunted house smell to ‘em.
What an excellent topic @JoeMan - especially since the smell of the vinyl toy is one of the ways used to verify the legitimacy of some vintage pieces. Yes, indeed, there are some nuances and things of interest to note. The 50+ year-old Marusan soft vinyl toys in my collection from the late 1960's have the most powerful aroma. There is a heavy, musty smell of vintage PVC that is specific to old Marusan to my nose. I have most of my Marusan collection in the same display cabinet, and the smell of the vintage sofubi from this cabinet will hit the strongest when first entering the room. The heavy smell has become almost synonymous to me with enjoying the toys on display. There are some vintage Bullmark kaiju toys that get close to this smell as well, although they seem to be just slightly less powerful. There are some Bullmark toys that do not have this smell and have a more plastic/sweet smell to the vinyl. I have chatted with other collectors wondering if this could possibly indicate that they were created in different factories rather than pertaining directly to storage or environmental conditions. One example of interest in particular is the vintage Bullmark Mechagodzilla. This toy has proven confounding to me for having a more plastic/sweet smelling vinyl along with something of a strong perfume or incense aroma to the vinyl. I have received toys before that smelled of cigs, spices, or possibly incense, but I have heard from another collector with two MG examples that also both smelled like perfume/incense. I am curious if there are more examples out there that have the odd aroma in the vinyl. What could it mean? As for modern sofubi, I thought most of the modern Marusan stuff in the 2008-2016 era smelled like toxic waste that was killing my brain cells. I am guessing this is more the paint being used, but there has been some modern toys that smell like fresh death out of the bag. I did not notice this as much with M1GO, Marmit or modern Bullmark, but maybe I got luckier there. Most of these toys seem to not smell that strongly now. Marusan seemed to have changed their paint or vinyl factory or formula around 2017 or so and things have been much better since. I do not buy too many modern toys, but most of it does not smell very strongly to me other than mild PVC.
One of my other collections is gig/art prints. Love love the smell of a fresh pulled silk screen. Eau de inks.
When I get a fresh box from Japan, it DEFINITELY has a strong odor. I love it. I can easily identify Japanese vinyl - probably 99% of the time. I love when some new maker hands me a toy, and I get to pop the head/torso off and know right away where they are (or at least aren’t) making their toys ^_^ they don’t always love that
We can all agree that huffing and puffing sofubi off-gassing is essential to any collection appreciation. Glad to read some sommelier comments here from the vintage sofubi collectors. That fresh hit when one opens the case is the stuff of dreams.
