Good question. I take it, and it was my initial impression, that it was going to be just the first three. I don't think any unpainted will be on offer, though I could be wrong. Strangely, I think I had the opposite reaction to you Bwana; I saw more intriguing possibilities in the blanks for paint then the colour schemes seemed to reach. They are still completely fantastic of course - but I guess more 'standard' robot appeal, whereas the Buta fan in me probably would have liked a bit more 'whimsy.' I think the latest fella is still in progress, but might be at the event (presumably if he can get enough painted in time). If not though, that might actually be better news for the rest of us, and it could mean a direct public release. Let's hope!

He only has a 1 day license. I would doubt it would ever see a general release. I'd love to be wrong, though!

Hmm, never would have suspected him for a Gundam fan. And apparently a pretty knowledgeable one at that.

I love to see weird stuff like these unused animation models and MSVs produced as toys, rather than everyone just banging out the Gundams and Zakus.

Not sure what the red 'Gundam' design is from.... wonder if it is an unused early design or something.

^^ Thanks!

Looks like we have official confirmation of all four characters making an appearance at the booth. I highly expect they will sell out (and quickly). Still, now that the sculpts/molds are done, we can always hope that this might start off a new line of Buta toys, with more future releases of these fellas. Interesting disclaimers about the sales. Good luck to anyone who can attend the Kyarahobi/Chara Hobby event!

If this starts a new line, I'm guessing it will be an event exclusive line...? Much like the Gargamel's Sunrise-licenses.

I wish I knew more about how the licencing works for them. I mean could they get a licence for online sales for one day from these companies for example. (God knows they OK some tacky Gundam/Votoms stuff for general consumption...) Is there any hope for the gaijin?!?

Can't wait to see what the new header will be like!

Sometimes collecting makes me want to weep...





So good! So not mine!

Pics lifted from oha0884, dgngd and karuruyudetakora. Lucky ducks.

Pure awesome. The header is the icing on an already magnificent cake.

Wheeee!

A most impressive batch.

But first you have to brave through this to get anywhere near to the butas...

Anybody who dealt with that deserves whatever they could get from the Buta table. Nothing says fun like loss of sleep and burly convention lines.

I hope you got everything you wanted.

Anybody except for those that are already trying to get 40k for them on Y!Jp...

But yes, Joe - hope you found joy!

Thank you both!
I was very lucky, just got there in time and the butas soldout shortly after me.
It would have been devastating to miss these as Its the first black butas after the black king joe! Was also great to have the chance to hear what went into the makings of these from the man himself after the feeding frenzy.

Wowsers, congratulations! Indeed, that was a well-deserved score, and I am really happy to hear you were able to land some. Personally, I'd love to hear the details on the full story too (and experience), if you care to share at some point.

EDIT: Daggit, all four have already passed through that shop as well, with the Gundam already being sold. [very sad face]

Nice scores. After market bins are crazy. Wow .
Regardless, cool toys and rad headers . I really like how these turned out.

I would never have imagined Ohashi doing Gundam with his style. Man did he knock these out of the park! And the header art is so good!

Time constraint or intentional, leaving the back of the figure unpainted lends a bootleg feel to the figures.

Looks like the missing #1 sculpt is the one on the bottom left.

So beautiful! Such a perfect old-time feel to these, but so fresh. I'm glad they're loved so much~

I couldn't help but notice that as one sold for 21,600円 after the event, within a day a listing for the next same one (Gundam, which is probably going to be the most popular)) is up to 27,000円. Sorry, but that is just bonkers. These were sold days ago, and within a single day you have upped the price one more, more than the OG value? I guess people will pay it.... wouldn't be the first for a Buta toy, but I am actually a little more surprised in this case, because Gundam merchandise is as numerous and encompassing as say a popular Disney character, and toys alone make up uncountable variations of products. Even looking at just the sheer volume of stuff released at the event on the weekend, I would have thought that these particular toys might have been at the very least lost in the giant crowd of other Gundam mechas, and (perhaps unlikely) but even disliked or ignored by some more traditionalist collectors in the hobby. To see them go bananas in the aftermarket already is kind of wonky - and of course unfortunate for any of us coming in to this from a Buta fan perspective.

Interesting that that article on flipping did not discuss the impact 'retail' outlets have on collecting.

^ My thoughts exactly Steve. I'm really rather surprised by the popularity. I don't follow the mecha scene though.

Might this be some of the first artsy, unconventional takes on gundam...? That might explain something of the fever.

To look at it from another perspective, Butanohana just made the only toys that exist of these particular Gundam designs. The red 'Gundam' is actually called 'Gunboy' and appears to be based on a discarded early design for the RX-78-2. The black one-eyed character is a fairly obscure design from the Mobile Suit Variation (MSV) collection (essentially model variants for the main mobile suits from the first Gundam series) that is supposed to be a prototype for the better-known Gouf (see here http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/msv/yms-08a.htm). And then the last two figures are based on unused animation models as someone noted earlier.

I guess my point is that, for Gundam collectors, the chances of actually seeing these designs produced as something other than fan-made garage kits is extremely low. It's quite different from someone cranking out another plain vanilla Zaku II toy. I was really excited to see these, and my fan level in the Gundam world is probably low to moderate, so I can only imagine how more ardent fans must feel. I'm sure the toys appeal to Butanohana fans as well, so I think the crossover appeal for these is pretty high overall.

Yes, and you are right too of course, Daniel. They are new designs, and Gundam fans are as ravenous as any, with the rare stuff also fetching highly collectable prices, so it does make sense. As far as uniqueness of the designs, I know there seems to have been at least one other version of one of the figures Butanohana released at the event, just judging from what has hit the market:


seems to be the same character as top, centre, in the pic above

But all sofubi versions from the Gundam line are incredibly popular, it is true, and tend to be pricey when you can come across one for sale.

In any case though, I do hope the popularity of these figures leads to a more permanent license for Oohashi-san to give us some more of these delightful fellas in the future. I am sure he wants to share his love for them and the concepts as much as we love to appreciate them.

I wonder who ask who to do this Buta line? Now I need a Buta General Revil!!!

The RX-78 on the header looks like something Star Case could do.

Sorry if this was covered somewhere else, but was this event exclusively robot licences? Or if not exclusively some sort of theme for the event?

I believe it is mainly robot licenses. I don't believe it was exclusively that, since Gargamel had the dig-dug set. My guess is also that the show probably also curates vendors pretty carefully and those not in theme would probably not last long. Doing the show may also make obtaining 1 day licenses for these properties easier, too, but that is pure speculation on my part.