It depends if they are capable of wearing pants. Ok, I've worn that one out. Generally, I think the answer is "no." I consider kaiju toys to be of Japanese influence or origin, especially those influenced by the live-action shows of the 60s and 70s. This is more my take on the term. So, while I guess things like KFGU would fit the literal definition of "kaiju," (that is, mysterious beasts) I don't really think of them in that context. They are more like stylized crossbreeds of Western and Japanese influences. By the same token, I think Horvath's Ugly Kaiju are designer toys that could be considered akin to traditional kaiju. You also have things that are designed in the West, like Kaiju Big Battel characters, that are clearly kaiju, so the line gets murky. I think my definition is sort of inconsistent and self-serving at times. I dunno, kaiju is a feeling, not a word.
Kaiju is big monsters and Kaijin are people sized monsters if you want to be anal about it. You get alot more specific if you want.
Only if it has big ass shoes on. Just kidding. If it's driven by the vision of a designer, it would be a designer toy, wouldn't it? So, an M-1 Hedorah maybe wouldn't be since they're basically just reproducing the Bullmark Hedorah sculpt, but any Bounty Hunter, Secret Base or Real Head figure would be. What about Empire/Emupaiya or Maxtoy? They are doing more traditional style Kaiju, but I think they are definitely driven by the vision of the designers. CCP is doing some pretty non-traditional stuff with their line too that I would classify as designer driven even when they're using traditional characters, like the Chrome Hedorah coming out. I'm not so into arguing these semantics though, but I would feel bad if I came in and just dropped a smart assed big shoe comment and bailed.
"New" would be the main qualifier, as kaiju predates "designer toys" by three decades. Still, the most general answer in my view would be "no," as the inspirations (not to mention motivations) aren't quite the same. There's certainly some arguable overlap but generally the Japanese continuum is pretty much its own, despite the diversity found within. Very few collaborations with western toy designers actually come across as "kaiju" with any authenticity at all, despite the increasing misuse of the word.
To me, it seems "designer" toys are made for the purpose of pushing a designers name and art. As where most Kaiju/Neo-Kaiju, it's more about the toy itself. It's not "Hiddy's Secret Base Damage Brain" or "Mori's Real x Head Chaos" it's not about pushing their names or styles, it's about just cool/fun/unique toys. You don't even know the name of the designer/producer until you get more into it all anyway, it's not slapped all over the package. I guess to me designer = made for the sake of art and Kaiju/Neo-Kaiju = Made more for fun and a messed up sense of nostalgia. Just my way of viewing it though, not like I'm some expert.
yeah, I def. agree the older stuff can in no way fit in. but some of these newer figures painted by artist (kozik runs are an example) I think def. could be considered "designer toys" in addition to kaiju. I only asked for technical reasons, but did think it would be interesting to see how some people looked at it.
what about biskup pollards? are they kaiju enough? if gargamel hadn't done the sculpt and tim had, would it make them less authentic? (as a side note: of all the KFGU, kozik's Ika looks more similar to older kaiju than the rest. I don't love the Ika Gilas, but frank obviously has more reference points in his piece than the others in the KFGU line.)
Gargamel does neo kaiju ... in their case being fight figures, tributes to bootlegs, and collabs with western artists. It gets a bit nit-picky at a certain point (which I think is part of what you're saying) for example, the walking Hedoran would be "more kaiju" than the Pollards because they reference an artifact of what might be called "the classic era," if in a postmodern context, whereas the Pollard is more "inspired by" traditional kaiju, looking not much like it, and with a bigger foot in the "designer" camp. Biskup is a VERY design-y artist, as he's the first to indicate. I know what you mean but regarding reference points, it might bear saying that Horvath's Flatwoods was designed with the classic Japanese Flatwoods in mind. But even the Japanese originals have an "off" context, being inspired by American folklore. It's true that the Ika resembles some of the Japanese kaiju cephalopods but it still comes across as being very western design-y, as does the essentially Godzilla-inspired Usagi-gon.
I feel like the Ika has more of "textural awareness" of what its emulating than the other KFGU tend to have. It's always been funny to me that the kaiju for "Grown Ups" looks significantly more cartoon-like than actual kaiju. but I wonder if knowing and using tradition really makes some neo-kaiju creators different from other designer toy artists. they all have the same formula: create a name for yourself partnered with a boutique style of distribution (limited releases due to cost effectiveness that are sold by specific, small specialty stores. the elitism of the artists matches the elitism of the audience)
