I've always thought U.S. toys did amazing minis but that's the first time I've seen a shot of them in packaging. Do they always come in little window boxes? I always see pics of their stuff at shows and in collections loose..... although I bet I've seen them bagged in Japanese stores but they're always so packed to the ceiling with toys maybe I didn't notice?
All the minis, as far as I know, come in boxes. Some come in window boxes and others come in cardboard boxes with no windows. Not sure of the reason for the different packaging. I also love the US Toys minis and the giant Kanegons. The sculpts are great and the vinyl is so heavy and substantial feeling for both. I wish I'd bought a giant Eleking when it came out.
The giants are so nice, I stopped at three Kanegon, I think there 5 or more now but at around $200 each it gets pricey. The Eleking is amazing and i totally recommend one if you can get it. I think those push $300 these days with the exchange rate.
^Agreed. It's hard paying that for a new toy, but someday I'm going to have to bite the bullet for an Eleking.
I wrote u.s. toys hoping i might order direct but no luck.. they don't ship out of country. I did get a nice email back. I've perused all online shops i know of and apart from grumbletoy and 1ban.. i'm finding it hard getting at new releases. I might have to start purchasing via an agent. I would be happy spending my money on a giant Eleking or Kanegon.
A couple years ago, Grumble Toys offered a "second chance" to order the giant eleking for more than $400 (maybe it was like $460). Very expensive but they weren't gouging - the thing is huge and expensive in Japan and then there's shipping. I don't think that many minis have been released in the past few years. A while back, they seemed to be releasing them at a steady rate and you could get them from the usual suspects - S7, Rotofugi, Grumble, Lulubell. Some of the figures were made in 3-4 colorways while others, like the Kanegons, seems like 15 or more colorways (not including the sitting version). And some of the colorways were very limited toy show exclusives or other versions came in boxed sets of 3 so you had to buy the whole thing if you wanted a certain color or a particular figure. Rotofugi even had a special orange mini Kanegon that you could only get if you ordered other minis. Then there was a small run of clear figures with tinsel inside. So altogether there are lots of versions out there and some are legitimately hard to get. I've probably got 50-75 minis (maybe way more - they're in so many places I can't keep track) and am nowhere near complete nor am I even going to try. The Godzilla minis alone - there are probably 25-30 with all the color variations. The main reason I've been able to get so many is that I bought many from Plover when he left collecting. I stopped checking on YJA a while ago but as I recall, they didn't come up all that often. And now, with the exchange rate, the new releases seem very pricey for a mini if you go through an agent. I wouldn't say that most are rare in terms of numbers produced versus the people who want them - but they can be hard to track down.
That is a nice Agira It's sad that we can't support directly since product is available. I know grumble usually offers pre order options on new releases but doesn't seem to carry much surplus to sell in store. I plan on picking one or two up soon and requesting more selection. I would love to see pics of your collection ElvisFromHell Baikin i was looking through your pics and your collection is bananas, from toys to displays great great!
Thank you Pompom! I used to be pretty avid about buying but recently I've slowed way down. US toys is one maker I want to continue collecting but stuff has happened and it's kept me from buying. I always go to his table to say hello and want to buy but the wallets pretty thin these days. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the long tail mini Eleking and they were sold out last time I saw him. He still has tons for sale of older ones, but like you found out, if you don't get direct from him thier hard to pick up. I'm for sure gonna get some Baragon this time though!!!
I don't own many US Toys but what I do own I love: US Toys by Beautification Syndrome, on Flickr One day I hope to get a Giant Glow Kanegon. I really regret not getting some of these when they were more readily available a few years back. Now it's a lot harder to track some of them down. Thankfully some kind members here have helped me out. I could of swore I saw that Giant Eleking on Mandarake recently but it was just a mini version which sold. Here's the only pic I could find online of Giant Eleking. Thing looks massive: http://ameblo.jp/ohagikero/entry-10277992192.html
Please stop flaunting photos like this around all willy nilly. It makes me so sad that I'll never be able to find one of these larger Garamons.
I hope things start looking up soon Baikin. I have to say i'm jealous that you get to table shop and speak to the man Nice toys Lixx good eleking pics on your link 2 i want that king joe kurumonz, really nice
The Giant Eleking was indeed a beauty. Here is a shot I took at SF 57. You can compare him for size with the M1-Go Nakajima in Goji pants behind. Massive and amazing. Equally substantial investment too though.
Looks like the 2nd issue of the giant eleking. The first had blue, rather than black, detail. Yeah, the B-Club giant micrus is fairly easy to find - they pop-up on ebay every once in a while. And it is a great figure - probably my favorite of the B-Club giants.
A few shows back he had sample colors done up too, there was a brown that was gorgeous. I'm not sure how many versions have actually been released as I had to stop looking. I'll try to ask next week.
