That sucks for whoever bought that without a header card or omake. I’m sure the gallery HxS is selling out of could help authenticate toys before folk fall for a bootleg. Even if a decent one.
I am not saying I disagree, but the saddest part is probably actually that there was more than one bidder to take it up to this level with some logical questions around it. Granted I don't have any clue what Zheng charges for a KO, but does this now mean that even bootlegs are being used to flip for quick cash? (and what has this come to?) Let me sales to you bro my original rarez Air Jardons for excellent price of just $6k.
Highly doubtful, you could message him and I’m sure he’d make the same toy for a few hundred. I’m guessing it’s the case of people thinking it’s legit or rolling the dice. Probably easier for non English speaking overseas bidders to make the mistake. I guess people can buy a bootleg and turn around and sell it with a disclaimer they don’t know if it’s real or know what it is. But that makes them a dickhead and I’m sure they’ll be quickly ousted. But if you see that in a listing just have the brains to not bid.
That's exactly what I was postulating could be the case here (or, fair enough, with whomever this ebay seller 'bought' it from)
So I’m curious, there’s a bemon and two flying freaks up on eBay. None of them are confirmed real by the seller. Fake or real?
To the best of my knowledge I’ve yet to see any of Bemon or Headlock’s toys be bootlegged. If it’s the root beer clear 2HBeast I’d say it’s real. That color has popped up multiple times on YJA and it’s not out of the realm of possibility it made its way to a US collector.
yup. Frank mysterio and pendragon on IG seem to work with a maker down there. Looks fun, I can’t find the name of the IG but these two I mentioned tag the factory here and there. I’ve worked with some of those factories for some of my large sculptures, not blow molded but injected and usually recycled plastics (pvc) and have asked in the past about the blow molded stuff, I just didn’t have any use for it. Anywho, yeah. There’s still factories back in the homeland that do this work.
Draculazer released some large figures in soft vinyl that were done in Mexico. Not blow molded. There were thick, heavy and squishy vinyl.
yeah i havent found anyone who is doing blow molding explicity, but products are still being made that way. my mexico vinyl is like a mix between soft vinyl and squeaky toy. ive got a couple other toys in the works down there as well- i love working with my guy in mexico
[I'm late, but I had issues getting into my FTP for a while where I host images.] I knew the eBay auction page would eventually rot away. So, just wanted to post the images from that bogus auction, as future reference for anyone who may run across this fake (or another) in the future: Forgot how bad the paints were on this
The vinly is obviously Chinese, less shiny, a bit more squishy in that early unbox industries way. Headlock and maruhachi gang use chinese factories and the vinyl is not squishy and is vibrant. Just saying.
I got a PM from these guys at the Garden State Kaiju account today: http://yixingplastictoys.com/ What a lovely Godzilla for only $5.76! https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...tml?spm=a2700.shop_index.82.16.63401750vS87u8
@eleggua Skullbrain was born out of a felt necessity to escape the Kid Robot Forum crowd, as much of that since didn’t share communality with most sofubi collectors. Just a lot of clash and annoyance and, admittedly, a lot of stuck up outlooks and treatment between Eastern/Western vinyl. So Isaac Ramos of Real Fan Shit Only opened this place up as the hub sofubi heads and we still gather here today! Most certainly is a dig at the ol’ devil bunny.
In that early unbox industries way. it’s been a decade, I’m sure headlock et al. Have found factories with QC that matches their product. It is after all how manufacturing in china works. Go, find your guy, get your stuff made. I’m just sayin’.
@useless toys Oh, I encountered plenty of my own within my first week of joining. I solely spoke on the reasonings I know of for this board’s existence. I’m sure it was *heavily* a “you had to be there” experience before my 2013 join date!
Quality greatly varies in Japan, especially these days, as you can read directly from Gargamel. The wax and jointing through the typical channels has become especially bad. They can't even scale down parts uniformly anymore. You see all these new figures coming out and they have a wide ridges where joints connect, instead of being flush like the figure was sculpted to be, because of ununiform shrinkage. Aside from scale issues, they do weird shit like just grind things down and erase detailing in wax without consultation, around joints. Things that don't even need to be changed. Depending on who is pulling your vinyl, Shirahama and Cory do great work if you can be fortunate enough to get them a mold, but most of the time it seems like the job is done quickly and rushed because of the high volume, and you pay a high premium for it. Obitsu is the standout, but they are an island and do everything, and their own molding. Again you pay a high premium but at least the work is always quality. And most gaijin probably don't have an in there. There are plenty of Chinese factories that have surpassed typical Japanese quality. They are a fraction of the cost, do things the Japanese factories aren't willing to do like marble and small quantities in various custom colors, and deliver superior quality. The world changes, you can hold onto the past or say only Japan matters because they've been doing it for 50 years. Or you can accept that it's a rather simple manufacturing process and plenty of other places are able to do it just as well if not better.
