Can I get that on a T-shirt?

Great info on Cronic creaturion, great pics, great discussion! Nice summary meary. Certain figures do cross over to being more than just toys or vinyl figures but wonderful pieces of art, crafted by fantastic artists and that's money well spent.

creaturion where did you write your article about cronic? I'd love to read it.

It will be in the next issue of Playtimes, out in a few weeks.

Caveat: It was written 2.5 months ago, but then Playtimes switched to a bi monthly format and delayed the release of the next issue. So the info in the article will be a couple of months old, in terms of "latest releases" and what not. Nature of the publishing beast.

The arduous learning curve over the past 8 months of producing my first limited vinyl figure ( the Mummy Plaseebo ), has given me new insight to what was a mysterious process.

I hope my analogy may shed some light on the question of Hand Painted.

I have come to view the production process of making a limited edition vinyl as being very similar to the traditional process of making a limited edition print from an engraved or etched copper plate. The print making process dates back hundreds of years and was used by artists like DaVinci and Rembrandt as a means to create multiples of an original drawing or painting. In short it was a way to make their work more affordable and accessible to to a wider audience. That is to say, if an original drawing sold for $500., a print of that drawing could sell for $50. and if the artist made an edition of 100 prints, he could still make his $500.

This is how it worked;
STEP (A) the artist would draw the image on the copper plate BY HAND using engraving tools, painting on the plate with acid resist and etching lines and textures into the surface of the copper in an acid bath.
This step would relate to the vinyl figure designer creating by hand his sculpt in clay, wax, or other materials.

STEP (B) The artist would wipe ink into the etched lines on the copper plate and polish the ink off the surface by hand.
Then by hand run the inked plate thru a proof press with a sheet of paper on top of the plate, thus transferring the inked image from the plate to the paper. He would continue this proofing process, trying various color inks and types of paper, until he had a final proof he was pleased with.
This step would relate to vinyl figure designer creating by hand a one of a kind fully painted 3D master of how the production figure should look.

STEP (C) The artist takes his original plate and his final paper proof print to the local Master Printer and commissions him produce the edition of 100 prints to match his proof. It is the Master Printer who will do the bull work of printing all 100 prints by hand on his press, one at a time. When the the edition is completed the artist would approve each print by signing and numbering each one.
Here the vinyl figure designer sends his original sculpt and his a one of a kind fully painted 3D master to the vinyl factory to have them match in an edition of 100 to his approval. The factory does all the bull work of making the 100 vinyl castings and painting them one at a time by hand.

So while the artist or designer may not have his hands on every piece in every step, he does direct completely the process from start to finish.

I think in this instance, strictly speaking the only HAND PAINTED piece would be the one of a kind fully painted 3D master.

Interesting, but that's more analogous to the way western vinyl is made. Actually, come to think of it very few western designers even sculpt their own figures, so it's even a further step removed. In a sense, most western vinyl is "directed" from the get go, with the designer playing director once the AI file, specs, etc are drawn up and sent to the sculptor.

Of course, this streamlined division of labor allows for a rapid proliferation of new products, which, IMO, is a leading contributor to the current market flood and dilution of overall quality. The "cheap and easy" creation of umpteen superfluous colorways is another factor. But anyway, that's another thread...

In the case of new kaiju (RxH, SB, etc), the analogy of the engraving process holds up until the production of the blank figure is complete. Because at that point, there's another step involved: the addition of color by hand by the artist himself (or the team he works with) not an unseen set of factory workers somewhere. So in this sense, a kaiju figure produced by a RealXHead, Cronic, etc is both "mass" produced (ie, reusing an old mold) and hand painted: the application of paint by the artist.

So at the end of the day, I would still call kaiju by Gargamel hand painted, even though that only refers to the final step of the production process.

With new kaiju, you can choose to send the figures to the painters, or get them all back and paint them yourself. The painters, using a painted sample figure from the designer, paint the figures by hand. I think they are paid per job, so they try to get stuff done as quickly as possible. For more complicated paint schemes, this can mean a sacrifice in quality.

Gargamel is extremely picky about quality, and they've been known to return a whole run of figures to the factory because of a slight vinyl or paint discoloration. For this reason, the majority of Gargamel releases are all painted in house. When painting, they are very careful to get the desired color gradiation and/or color tone. To finsh off, they cover their figures with a clear coat, to protect the paint underneath from chipping or scratching. Most other new kaiju companies do not do this. In other words, Gargamel puts a lot of love into each and every figure they make, and carefully inpspect each one very carefully before packaging them. For "production figures" I would consider this as close to hand-painted as you can get.

All of my Gargamel pieces have really good paint jobs. I love the attention to detail with Gargamel! The Koji customs always rule!