I would just like to say thanks to all of you

I'm a Fresh Meat here and I've learnt more about Kaiju here in the last week than I can really say. This is clearly a great place full of people who are very passionate about their art/toy collecting.

Thanks especially to those members who have generously answered my ignorant PMs. (no-one even derisively called me a Fresh Meat!?)

Anyway enough sucking of collective cock

I also have a couple more questions:

1. I hear the term "rare" bandied about a fair bit. Is there any agreed upon terminology here in relation to production runs and what constitutes "rare" or "common" or "uber-rare" etc?

2. I know Kaiju is a specialist area, and rightly so as it is very different from a lot of stuff out there. But how do you classify the "Kaiju for Grownups" series for example? And what if a "western" company wanted to produce Kaiju style figs (say S7 on their own)? What I'm asking is: Is the cultural divide really necessary or have we moved beyond it?

thanks again skullbrains

Rare is a subjective term its application changes based on the company or even between different figures from the same company. For example Secret Base rare would be 50 or less, for RxH 20 or less, Cronic 10 or less. Uber rare basically means your going to have to get lucky or pay up for it. Most of the toys we buy are made in runs of 75-150 or less but actual numbers are almost never made public.

The west vs east distinction is getting more blurred all the time. Basically as long as it is made in Japan who really cares so long as it is a cool toy. Toy's made in China are usually a much poorer quality and they can't do clear vinyl very well.

I think the Kaiju for grow ups brand is an interesting example. These toys are not really inspired by vintage Japanese toys and they are more Artist driven than Brand driven. The fight figure company's are marketed as monolithic brands (with some exceptions). Most people buy SB figures because they like SB not because they like or even know the artist that made them. Pushead is of course an exception to this rule for some people ( on the other hand I had no idea who he was before I bought my 1st skullwing).

The Kaiju for grow ups figures are totally driven by the artist behind the figure. The is the way western vinyl companies develop and market their products. This leads to a bunch of figures that don't really have any cohesiveness, they don't tell a story or even exist in the same world. Secret Base figures compliment each other and seem to follow a story line (obake dog excluded).

I hope my rambling helps.

Says it all . . . great post GP!

I agree. Even though I'd never really thought of it in that way before (at least not consciously) the comments re: cohesiveness ring very true.

I wish the cultural divide would remain, but I can't control events.

Well, look at the term "kaiju". It's a Japanese term that basically translates into "monster". For the longest time, we only knew it as a term for Japanese monsters from the movies/tv and related product (Bullmark, Popy, Marusan, etc). At some point it was appropriated by Japanese "boutique toy" companies, and now Western "boutique toy" companies. I guees it's evolving (devolving?) like the term "otaku" seems to have. I'll still always view "kaiju" as a Japanese term for Japanese monsters, though, thus seeing a "divide".

>on the other hand I had no idea who he was before I bought my 1st skullwing).

Blasphemy!

Pogue's response should go in some kind of FAQ section

Great writing!

Totally!!!

Pogue drops knowledge....

great questions and great response by glenn ^^

I'm always a bit curious about edition numbers, but in a way, I"m glad that the kaiju companies don't typically broadcast them. I think that if edition numbers were known, some people would use the data to justify high resale prices. This certainly happens all the time in the Western vinyl scene, where ironically, edition numbers are much higher than in the JP scene.

why? your not japanese. taken to its logical conclusion your desire would mean you yourself would be prohibited from owning any of those toys, since your not Japanese.

Two words ....

Self loathing

He is like Clayton Bigsby of kaiju

j/k liquid

I can't speak for liquid, but I took his comment to mean that he takes issue with the cross-hybridization currently happening in kaiju ... in other words, he'd prefer that kaiju not be designed by non-Japanese, and that Western influences not unduly adulterate kaiju creations.

Is that roughly correct, liquidsky? Sorry if I made a mess of your meaning. That's how I read it.

If true, that would mean the entire Kaiju for Grown Ups Series is an Abomination!!!! like a kaiju Frankenstein!!!

wow, Liquid you really are a purist!

my impression is that kaiju for grownups looks to collectors of other japanese kaiju the way my high school spanish sounds to native spanish speakers.

That's how I understood it too. And if that's what was meant, I feel similarly. Of course there are exceptions.

LOL well I felt that way for a brief time. Then when I got my clear blue Usagi-Gon, I remembered that sometimes cross-pollination yields tasty fruit, so to speak. And let's be real ... since when has post-WWII Japan been culturally isolationist? Too late for that. The world is still shrinking. Global toy village.



Quote of the year!

Yeah, in that case we'd have no Pushead SB items, Ghostfighter and FrankenGhost both based on Brian's designs, and Killer and the other Gargamel/Bwana and Biskup team ups would go too. I guess it's just a matter of tastes though.

On a sidenote, Pogues speach should be included in a Mook somehow, awesome!

this should be printed on the inside of the header cards. Warning! kaiju for grownups looks to collectors of other japanese kaiju the way my high school spanish sounds to native spanish speakers.

I guess it's a two way street.

Japanese........ Western..........hybrid of the two........ it really doesn't matter.

If you like it, you like it.............if you don't, you don't.

There is no rule that says if you collect Japanese vinyl you can't like Western.

I collect Japanese vinyl but love, Jarvis, Nathan & Horvath.

I thought that was why it was initially kaiju for "grow ups."