The sculpt in the picture is painted clay. They are getting ready to go into the wax stage.

yeah, considering that is a painted clay proto that was just finished yesterday, i would say he was definitely aware of the other "hot" version being put out by the gorilla-ju guy. with that being said, i have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. maybe if hirota made it even slightly possible to score one of his figures here it would be different, but with the only way to snag one being dropping 60K yen on YJA, i say go for it TE. this way maybe those who want a mecha gorilla can actually buy one

it would be different if this were an original character, but considering TE licensed it properly, i say no foul

and hirota shouldn't be too salty because his version looks way better. still cool to have an accessible take on the character

This is my take too (although I do think there's a bit of a "foul" just based on TE's history). If people find this to be an acceptable stand-in then great for them. Personally I think the sculpt is bland - beyond bland. But it fits right in with everything TE has done - it's a poor "rip off" of a character that's recently become popular due to someone else's vision. Mecha Ju or nothing for me.

I think it's funny that we accept vinyl toy makers that basically rip off other folks' artwork and/or vintage toy designs without any attribution whatsoever. But when T-E (or another Marmit sub) comes along, actually licenses (presumably) the same work and produces their own toy, people call foul.

I understand the sentiment, but it's kind of a backwards way of viewing the process.

And I'm sure the artists appreciate the acknowledgement and (maybe) royalties from Marmit.

From the translation I also got that there will be two mini sofubi parts included. Hmm interesting, wonder what those will be? I had my agent pre order it.

A aboriginal and missile(Packaged in a net).

Mad Scientist FTW!

Mad Scientist would be pretty cool, or a victim....

I certainly can see your point.

Please let me clarify. My opinion on this is just based on my feelings as a collector.

I appreciate a maker, HxS in this case, digging up an old gem and bringing it to life in vinyl. As a collector, I am unconcerned with the legalities or ethics behind the toys production. I don't care if it's licensed or bootlegged or whatever. I'm a remorseless vinyl hoarder with no conscience. Blood vinyls FTW!

I can only speculate about what has gone on behind the scenes. I have no clue who is holding a license for what.

I do tend to root for the guys in the black hats though. In fact, two of my favorite APE toys were bootlegged by an infamous unofficial Marmit subsidiary. I'm sure the folks at Toho don't feel as good about those toys as I do.

are we saying toy makers actually get rich doing this now? I don't understand the hate. Maybe the TE dude just gets inspired seeing other cool toys and wants to make his own version? How do we know the 2 makers aren't friends and had discussed each making a version of the gorilla? I don't think this is as shady as it may appear. TE is one of the best toy makers out there.

The way I see it, though obviously the law might disagree, if you find a toy from 30+ years ago you're free to copy/bootleg it however you'd like. I'm making the assumption that the anonymous dudes who worked at IKB/Daikyo/etc. got paid for their work and moved on to other things or retired (I guess Mr. Goto would be an exception). Someone is getting royalties for the Hukkokudo reissues but they don't seem all that interested in claiming credit or going after Gargamel.
To me it's a little different when a toy maker who is actively participating in our "scene" or whatever is getting their stuff ripped off. It must be a huge financial risk for some of these guys to get their toys made and having a similar (cheaper) toy on the shelf next to yours just months after your debut must really take the fun out of it. It doesn't matter much for HS because at the moment he can sell everything he makes, but if he's in it for the long term he needs every customer he can get, especially if he really just built his own factory.

wasn't it Hukkokudo who did all the, "bootlegging"? I always thought that was just kind of what they did as a company. I thought it was public knowledge that they were buying up old molds to remake toys? Either way, I don't see the crime in any of it. There are other companies who have done similar things by making their own version of a classic character. I guess I just think of it as a way of celebrating the hobby.

Well the thing is it really is a big Marmit extended family for both companies right?

It was rumored (a long time ago) that Target Earth had a connection to Marmit, either Sato worked for them, did some sculpting, something. Hukkokudo came about strictly AS a reprint toy. Their name actual means reprint toy I believe. They bought the original molds and reproduced older IKB, Daikyo, Miura toys. I for one am thankful they started this because I'd never be able to afford or find vintage toys in that great a shape. Target Earth in the past year or two TOOK OVER Hukkokudo and started cranking out older molds by Yonezawa & Daikyo such as Uchugenjin, Ceratosaurus, Gamegon etc. It's still under the name Hukkokudo but it is being done by Target Earth's Sato. That's why the original Hukkokudo runs were easier to find. Target Earth does pretty limited made to order runs.

Target Earth's original sculpts are hit and miss. I mean Gamerudon? Gebora? Remember they did the Gate Guard Karakk? That was cool. Sometimes not- Bemon etc etc. Well that really was like this, original character- their interpretation. I do like this one though. I mean I have a ton of different hedorah in my collection, different mecha kong will be fine by me.

Well I remember way back when Hukkokudo announced that they were doing a Smogun 2go/bemon. I got pretty excited, thinking that they had found an old mold or something. Eventually it moved over to being a Target Earth project I assume to keep Hukkokudo strictly for reissues, pretty disappointing but at least they tried something new with the sculpt.

It actually says "２５センチ" = 25 senchi = 25 cm. So it's 25 cm or approx 9.8 inches.

YES!

painted full size kusogon looks awesome kichigai , super cool !

i love how the eyeballs are totally petruding out of the head

Full size kusogon is fucking amazing !!!

It's probably 25cm, which is standard sized. Either way, looks awesome.

Big K looks amazing Kichigai, They nailed the sculpt and I love that paint. Congratulations.

Not into their MechaKong, don't hate it just don't love it. The Maza-type thing is cool, nice and chunky. That Kusogon biggun though, ugh, AWESOME! Makes me crave some original versions too to go with it.

Those 2 heads are cool too, thanks for the pics/info kichigai!