Yesterday I went to the Trance Pop Gallery in Kyoto Japan for the 10th Anniversary exhibition of Naritada Shintani's Elegab toys. It was great meeting him and seeing a lot of his artwork in person. He and his wife are super friendly and I had a complete blast! Trance Pop entrance April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr Satan Killers made specifically for this event; clear and gold with guts! Limited to 5 pieces. Also displayed are signed and numbered prints and a page of a manga Mr. Shintani made in the 90s. April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr A few of the kaiju brought along for display and sale. Many of the sofubis he brought are harder to find ones. April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr Original concept art April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr Also on display are original header art paintings - April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr This is the one I ended up purchasing. It was a really hard decision between this and the first one I posted above. April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr Giving a talk about kaiju and their personal history April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr Showing the official Disk Kappa flying pose! April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr Found in a closet and brought along: kaiju keshi that were painted by Mr. Shintani long before he started making toys. April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr The details on these little guys are amazing April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr The Disk Kappa I was able to get after collection 15 points from headers. #5 of 15! There were 4 other people there who got one as well. April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr The new Kaiju Boy that he made for the 10th Anniversary of Dokuro Taro: the X Robo. He had released another version of this first at the Osaka Doki Doki Sofubi show last month. April 15th Elegab 10th Aniversarry Exhibition by Doug Hardy, on Flickr It was a great time, and I wish my Japanese was better. I look forward to many more years of his creations!
It's so crazy seeing photos of Naritada.. he looks like a teenager! The youth shows through in his illustrations and toys for sure.
Great report! Thank you! Not only have you scored the Disk Kappa, but an original header card painting too. How I wish I was walking in your shoes...
What a great timing to be in Kyoto ! Nari-san is the kindest of guys. You've become quite a hardcore Elegab fan in few months Doug ! Congrats and thanks for the report.
Yeah I'm in Osaka for a trip and Kyoto is only around an hour away so I arranged to go specifically for this show. Originally I was also going to go to his studio on Sunday with my friend who lives in Osaka as well, but unfortunately something came up and Mr. Shintani had to cancel it. Such is life. It's really been a great trip so far. I'm off to Hiroshima this morning, then Tokyo on Thursday!
Doug thank you so much for posting all of this. I have been an elegab fan for about 5 years now and seeing all this pictures was a total joy. A once in a lifetime experience I'm sure. Congrats!
amazing! what a dream vacation =) the artwork has me smiling ear to ear thank you for sharing, the photos are incredible have fun doug!
