^ indeed i have to say i like target earth's regular craterman over longneck's, but i prefer longneck's moon guy over this one
Even if I get why he sculpted the cosmos aliens I can't absolutely get why he ripped the moon too... The moon doesn't have a "showa smell" either, witch is supposed to be his trademark as TE. Is he trying to copy every successful character to show everyone that he's a better sculptor or what..?
At first I was wondering why the moon is posted on a TE thread, then I realised its a TE version. Maybe TE hopes to deflate prices of popular sculpts by offering alternatives? Anyway, I like the colours on these especially the one on the right.
+1. And what I don't get is he is so talented and his original characters are so good. I don't know why he keeps doing this.
Are TE ad Longneck beer buddies? If not I'm sure a sofubi celebrity death-match is brewing somewhere.
I'm also a Target Earth fan but this moon inspiration/imitation thing is really tiresome. I don't mind him stealing ideas and making something own out of it but the moon head is so specific so maybe he should have let that one pass. I like his take on many sculpts but there's just something about stealing the moon that bugs me. Imitate and improve instead of stealing and spoiling. But what do I know where to draw the line. I just make hundreds of poor iterations of king kong. Having said all that I might buy it if I get the chance since the longneck one is hard to come by...
I think he's simply having fun. When I love a character. New or old, chances are it can be found scribbled in one of my sketch books. T.E. using sofubi as his main if not only artform. So in my eyes these are his sketches. His execution is unique even when "copying" a character. And to be frank I like his versions better more often then not. I would pick up this moonman. I won't be breaking my bank on a longneck version ever. But that of course is my personal tastes. They are both very talented. Plus I'm pretty sure target earth always gets permission.
I will ask yoda next time but i highly doubt he would give his blessing on these or if he was even asked. But you are right that you have to nearly break a bank for the LN version currently. The recent mixed at retail ]is already expensive right off the gate although granted it maybe a one-off. So TE's maybe a cheaper alternative. I think maybe not
T.E. has a track record of riding other's tailcoats and capitalizing by offering less expensive versions, I get that. But how does he get away with it? Isn't there any lash-back from other creators or are most of these creations just sort of considered public domain so it's a free-for-all? I'd be interested in reading if he really does get "permission." I do seem to recall reading about some sort of tension with T.E. and Uzumark (Ilu-Ilu) regarding the character on the packaging of the Uzumark two-headed beast. Uzumark had some faux film stills on the back of the packaging and T.E. sculpted it thinking it was from an actual film?
Most if not all TE toys are rip offs of popular selling Japanese toys. Everyone is cool with it. Now he makes 1 head that is just following in the footsteps of everything else he's done and everyone gets upset.. Every thing else is cool, but don't touch the moon. Either it's ok, or it's not right ? In for a penny in for a pound. If you can accept all the other rip offs, just accept this. I've always saw TE as the poor mans version of what ever. It's never cheaply made, but none the less always seems to fall just a little flat of its rip off. This head is no different for me. I think this moon guy rip off is one of his better rips, for the right price I'd buy it. It will never compare to the LN version, but cool none the less.
Whatever TE's game plan is, it must be working for them, as the biting of popular characters has gone on for several years now.
Completely disagree. Everytime TE puts out a sculpt that's similar to another release people are always commenting. Remember the maza looking thing or the mecha gorilla from a few years ago? I pretty much have zero opinion on what TE does anymore but I don't this is the first time people have voiced their opinion about not liking a sculpt from them.
Everything he's ripping off are rip offs in the first place soooooooooooooooo.....whatever. Bootlegs of bootlegs of bootlegs of blah blah blah. I've gotten to the point where I find it part of TE's charm now. It's so blatant, it's not like he's trying to "get away" with something or be sneaky. Plus, again, these aren't original characters, they're all rip offs anyway.
^^ Agreed I think the issue is the timing of the releases. It's like here's a new hxs sculpt and then BOOM TE knockoff Here's a new longneck sculpt, then BOOM TE knockoff
The the more I think about it the more I feel like its maybe not such a big deal. I mean the craterman is just a 4th iteration of Ooze-it anyway and as Rich said if I'm fine with one ripoff I should be fine with them all. It would have been fun to see TE put the Shinkansen in the moon's eye instead of the rocket though. Well anyways I'm off to make a King Kong head with a banana in his eye.
How am I not surprised you disagree with me I'm not saying there has never been any complaints what so ever. I'm just saying I think it's funny this seems to be the last straw for people.
"Who killed Mr. Moonlight?" afaik this was comissioned as a collab sofvi explained on TE blog.. Yoda-san, Sato-san, Honda-san & Hirota-san and quite a few others you may or may not have ever heard of are all the same generation while its predictable for the cycle of jabs at TE to spire up when he drops a sofvi that another maker has already adapted, keep in mind how few are made; it can only be for love of monsters not fortune besides that anyone can choose their own adventure. after all this while i am never let down by TE or Longneck, both of their offerings continue to inspire me & more silent era sofvi monsters are coming imho the TE looks more like the version in the silent film, while the Longneck is a majestic Moon Diety. both unique yet neither were original. i would also love to see a mini Moonman from Hiddy & SB lets start a checklist of Target Earth dolls: (please repost with spelling/names) 1 Gebora 2 Baby Zagoran 3 Smogon 2 Go 4 Bagun 5 Faceless Bull 6 Turkey Phantom 7 Ball Eyes Fishman #1 8 Ball Eyes Fishman #2 9 Ball Eyes Fishman #3 10 Kusogon 11 Geboru 12 Robot Kong 13 Pollution Monster #1 14 Pollution Monster #2 15 Pollution Monster #3 16 2 head Monster #1 17 2 head Monster #2 18 Gaiychan 19 Dokugarasu 20 Grotesque Monster 21 Haji Ghost 22 Craterman 23 Cosmic Fishman 24 Robot Invader 25 Gate Gaurd Karakk 26 Moon Knight Alpha 27 Gamerudon 28 Dr. Who 29 ? 30 ?? 31 ??? 32 ???? 33 ????? the ones list on bold are also made by other sofvi makers a very small margin in reality. on top of the TE stufs there are many Marmit sculpts by Mr. Sato, he loves MONSTERS
Yes, we know they are "ripping-off" other figures, that's old hat. When you say "everyone is cool with it?" do you mean the other manufacturers in Japan? If so, can you explain further? We've discussed the "rip-offs" plenty on the board and not just with T.E. but what I'm more interested in hearing/reading are the thoughts from the manufacturers in Japan towards T.E. regarding his appropriation of the figures they produce. Is this the norm in Japan? Is it a cultural thing? Does T.E. license the right to use these designs? etc… EDIT: @ kichigai; Thanks for the insight regarding the Moon Man John! I'll have to get on the T.E. blog, that sounds like an interesting read!
I think this is even more blatant that usual because it's the whole idea of putting the head from Voyage dans la Lune onto an Ooze-it body, which is a DIRECT rip-off. He could have made the moon head stand-alone, or put it on another body, and people would still like it, but he used the exact same concept as Longneck, and only a few months later too.
Guys I'm just talking, it's just my opinion on TE. In the grand scheme of things my opinion is meaningless. Much like all opinions. When I said everyone I was just speaking in general collecting. I don't have peoples names or makers or have any clue what Japanese makers really think.
Another factor to weigh in is if the other makers loose any business when TE makes the same figure that someone else already made. I dont know but i wouldn't think that that's the case.
Without going into the whole thing and just focusing on the sculpt...I like it as much or even more than the Longneck version. The proportions just work really well for me.
Hey everyone's entitled to an opinion, that's the point of this board! ; ) And, I value yours Rich, especially since you're in the the thick of it producing toys in Japan. I was more curious of the sentiment makers in Japan might have regarding T.E. so I thought you were alluding to that instead of generalizing here. John's provided some info so that's fed my curios appetite for today. ; )
