Here is a new collaboration between Convex and Tomy Takara made by Secret Base. Enjoy! (note I also included some of the shirts they sell which are designed by Hiro Grim). Also note the nice Astro Mu version too!
I actually king of like the "king waltan"/ dokuro king. I wonder if you can snap on the armor. Thanks for the pics.
Wow. I need, like, all of those shirts. Is that King Waltan just a concept, or is it a planned toy line? I remember seeing those images from Wonderfestival, but didn't know they were from Convex. Thanks for the info. I'm ready for that Astro-Mutan. Come on guys!
How odd that there would be a partnership to do those cartoony Microman figures with Secret Base after they've already had versions done by Gargamel already...
I believe they are making them, but I haven't been able to find any actual photos of them. (Waltan's that is) The little fight guys belt actually features the Microman Spirited Boys Club Logo. Yes Convex makes tons of kid's clothing, but as no shirts from Japan generally fit my big ass, it's all the same to me haha. Many collector's in Japan are already under the same impression that Tomy Takara is attempting to Jump into the vinyl game much too late. The price point on these doesn't appear to be cheap either. The guys wearing the shirts are in the $50 range. I am really looking forward to seeing the Microman Titan Vinyl though.
excuse me while i scoop up my grey matter as my head just expoded. these figures are the best thing to happen to microman since gargamel but have their own unique style. i was nervous when TOMY bought microman but where these are a fresh step, the price point seems scene marketing vs. fair retail. i bet these would fly at 1/2 the price. if they do a robotman this way i will pick up regardless & i can only dream of a set of Amazon Acroyear. infunkencredible. thanks AMP
The Jim Phillips shirt is kinda cool. And I kinda like the Astro and Micro "tributes", not so keen on the other stuff.
I don't think its that strange. The Gargamel ones were pretty much straight vinyl versions with a one day license. This is a product with Takara directly involved.
The funny thing is that Takara used to own Tomy and now the roles have been reversed. I'd love robotman and amazons as well, but I'll take whatever I can get haha.
off topic: How does the one day license thing work? Does the company giving the license still need to approve of the product? Or can you just go wild for one day? I wish they did that here.
I may have some details wrong, but as I recall you need to submit your idea, then you pay for a license which enables you to sell your item, at the end they collect a sample of your item which is then documented and later returned. The reason for the documentation step is that with the one day license there is also some clause that either allow the owner of the copyright to either use your idea or option your idea (can't recall which). I'm pretty sure those were the roles for Wonderfest (run by Kaiyodo). I may have details wrong though, so if someone else knows better, by all means jump in and correct me.
I had no idea that all these designs were public knowledge yet. IMO these rule so hard - especially any of teh clear figures and anything Hiro Grimm drawn. I am hoping there will be Convex toys that closely resemble the Dukuro King, Satan King and Plantman triumverate shown on teh shirt - altho HG already produced some a while back from which his shirt designs come. Also hoping for adult size shirts. The Denys Fisher tribute lettering kills too - altho I actually wonder how the licensing works for that, as I had considered biting it for my Muton pins as Denys Fisher long since bit the dust I thought. I kind of wish they had used Muton instead of Mutan - and I wonder if that was an early mis-translation as they used the UK Cyborg typography/name intact.
Everything was revealed this past weekend at Wonderfest, other items like the blanks and flesh colors are already for sale. There are also the other Dokuroking, Satanking, and Plantman versions shown on the display card behind the grey colored figure. You'll also see another interesting thing on that card as it appears they took the old Takara logo and added the convex head in the middle, nice idea. As far as the DF tributes go, it's very likely that Takara never sold the actual rights to the designs to DF but rather retained them as a distributor and seller. (it is a similar case with Micronauts in the US, basically anything created under the Micronauts banner still belongs to Takara. In which case they could do pretty much whatever they wanted with DF/Strawberry Fayre stuff. Mutan appears on the boy type character from Convex, even those that are not related to SF Land properties. So it may be a Convex name that at one point was set up to avoid conflict haha.
