The Tripus is up for pre-order over at Max Toy. I've been really waiting for this one...amazing figure!

How is the vinyl quality on MTC toys? I must confess that I've never owned a non-collab.

looks awesome...!!! me like...

I have Kikaida, Capt Max, & Eyezon...all MTC exclusives. The vinyl quality is superior. The Eyezon is especially thick and heavy...though it retains some pliability.

I really don't believe Mark would ever allow a release of poor vinyl quality.

I believe these are made in China like the other Max toy figures but I have not seen one in person so I am not certain. I think Cronic sculpted it so maybe he is making it for him too.

Looks wicked sweet to me. I think Mark is great in connecting the figure to the process. He's super fluid that way.

Actually Mark sculpted this toy...I think you are thinking of Tripasu, which I believe was sculpted by Cronic. It is probably made in China as his previous toys are though. Still great vinyl quality.

china is the new japan.
if a 10" toy that looks like this is 70 $ and 6" ojo is 100 $ i vote for china!
...and will be missing japan quality.

I will wait to hear back about the quality before purchasing. I didn't like the Eyezon's cheap feel at all. Otherwise, both Eyezon and Tripus are awesome toys.

when I saw this at sdcc I thought it was great but since then it just reminds me too much of pirates of the Caribbean

The quality is excellent. From what I hear, the only true difference lately between China-made and Japan-made toys is found in those made with clear vinyl. Apparently many of the complaints found with Chinese made toys have gone away with the past couple years. Interestingly, Mark Nagata told me that he saw some major brands being stamped "JAPAN" while being manufactured in China and purposefully mislabeled. Many of you who have toys made in Japan may actually be holding Chinese made products. Regardless, you need not be concerned with the quality of Max Toys Tripus.

Thanks for the input guys. I definitely trust Mark's judgment in production, but was curious about the feel of the material after hearing that they were produced in China.

Just speaking for myself, everything I've gotten from Maxtoy has been amazing, quality-wise, and I have no reason to believe this will be any different. I've been looking forward to this for quite some time, and I'm glad it's finally come to fruition. Not to sound too much like a fanboy, but Nagata's paint schemes are awesome, and I can't wait to see this in hand.

Cronic (Naoki Koiwa) sculpted the Tripasu, which is made in Japan, painted with V color, etc. Some of the versions are painted by Naoki, and some by Mark.

This is a different figure, the Tripus, which is made in China, I believe. I'll get the details from Mark.

In general, Maxtoy figures are outstanding quality.

Yes!!! I've been waiting for this one too!
Tripasu was okay I suppose ...
but always struck me as an ARTIST'S INTERPRETATION of a toy.
THIS is the TOY ...
and I agree - it's a great figure.

I'm afraid I'm NOT always a fan of Mark's color choices,
but I think he's done a stellar job on this.

The 'legs' (if that's the right word?) look a little odd in the pics to me,
but I've seen the real thing too, and it's impressively eye-catching -
he's going to look just fine with Boy Karma standing in front of him anyway.

And I don't think you guys need to worry about the quality.
I'm also a fan of the sometimes maligned Alien Xam,
and one of the things I love about him is all the points of articulation.
The feet rotate, and his claws even open and shut.
The packaging was pretty cool too.
I think my only complaint would be that the actual BAGS were a little flimsy.

i just placed my order for this. i have been trying to keep this thing in mind when i first saw it, but it totally slipped from my memory. thanks y'all for reminding me, just in time for the pre-order.

as for the quality of MTC, the Eyezon's are great, i've just never really dug the paint apps for the regular releases. alot of the 1-off's look great though, just can't afford the price tags attached to them. i've also had a few of the kikaidas, and the quality of those are pretty classic style.

my one complaint was the booska. the material was way too hard for my liking, but that might have had something to do with the collab with the company that owns the booska character or whatever...

The paint app. looks amazing on this. Regarding the vinyl quality, I have one eyezon and don't mind the feel of the chinese vinyl on it. It has a different feel to it, but is still is on the softer rather than firm side.

Interesting to hear this about the Booska. I haven't heard much about the quality at all and wondered myself.

Some info from Mark.

Mark designed Tripus a while back. Naoki saw the design, liked it, and came up with his own version of the figure (Tripasu), which became a Cronic/Max Toy collab.

So, Tripus was originally going to come out a while ago, but the way things turned out, Tripasu made it to production first.

Tripus was made by ThreeZero (out of Hong Kong), with the figure produced in China. The paintwork was also done in China, based on Mark's paint master.

Thanks for the info Andy!

A glow version of this toy would be scary !

There was a time when I was really big on finding a Japanese factory to do a vinyl project with. Mark Nagata has shown that you can do pretty well indeed with a good Chinese factory. I have a couple of the Eyezons and the Booskas. My two centavos says they look every bit as good as thier Japanese counter parts. I'm very happy with the Chinese factory that I work with. You don't need a special intro, decoder rings, or a secret handshake just so you can talk to them.

I never liked the feeling of the material for my Eyezon or Alien Xam to the point I am also apprehensive about MaxToy releases, but of course the collabs tend to really shine. The paint app is amazing! I like the sculpt, maybe a little overworked.

Mark's painting is off the charts. He's one of those rare painters who doesn't just "design" new paint apps but brings figures to life with a kind of organic painting style. I can't wait to see some custom Tripus's from him. Here's a Nagata custom Triapsu I picked up at Pachisummit:

this kills and I gotta get one....

he definitely knows how to blend colors well. i mean, if you take any given custom by Mark, and pick out all the different (and most the time contrasting) colors that are involved in one figure, you can't believe how well he made it work!