...but I actually like the repros better t han the originals. I can appreciate the 'rarity' factor...but I just like the toys and the repros are like...nicer looking to me.

I kinda agree. Beat up and faded bugs me a little.

I don't know, I kinda agree... I like "clean" toys - stuff from Gargamel look nice and polished compared to the more organic looking source material that they borrow from, and I like the streamlined look and feel of that type of toy more.

I say mix it all up. Vintage and repros and contemporary.
Just no customs.

An obvious advantage of repros is that they make having what's basically the exact same sculpt available to successive generations at reasonable prices, frequently with new colorways that enhance the old toys in new ways.

In other words, agreed.

I would love to collect some vintage figures. The "beat up" aspects are part of the charm in context. However, budget prohibits in my case, and thus the repros are a real joy. Some of the recent Yamanaya reissues of old Bullmarks have been so great! The collaborations with neo-kaiju companies on the colorways are a nice generational bridge.

im not talking abot customs you fucking douche. move that post over to the CUSTOMS FORUM before I call the hippo police.

Flynn told me they actually use "higher quality" vinyl in Japan these days.

Im really liking the rainbow vinyls lately.

I think I prefer to buy repros because of my OCD problem. I can't handle dirty toys.

I think the two pieces I would want, if affordable, in the OG would be a kanegon and that 10" or so Doublas.

But then again, I dont have any sort of deep sentimental aspect to Kaiju, like some people do, I just really like how they look.

Im sure the 'originals' where as cheaply made as possible...appealing in retropsect, but at the time basically crap...kiddie fodder for 70's japan.

I like the repros and vintage equally. I don't mind a little wear and tear, but if the vintage is too beat up or missing/broken parts, I'd most likely pass. I suppose it all depends on the toy and how bad I want to have it.

Take a fucking valium with your beer. It wasn't a dig at your work.

Beat up and faded looks nice mixed in with new. Just like a room decorated all in contemporary is boring to me. Just like not mixing entrees at dinner is boring to me.
OCD types would obviously disagree.

while i do like what the figures look like, there is something about the charm of the older toys that i appreciate. it's like knowing that i have the originals is part of the allure for me.

pretty much the only vintage vinyl i own are tiger mask toys, and i am not sure i would have bought them if they were repros.

HIPPO POLICE!

with stuff like old ultraman figures and kaiju, i would have no problem buying repros though. go figure

maybe it comes down to how much personal connection you have to the particular toys. if you grew up with a lot of godzilla toys, then you may prefer to have the originals.

while i knew nothing of tiger mask when i was a kid, i did grow up with pro wrestling, MUSCLE figures and lots of wrestling toys, so having the older ones appeals to me more.

To me, there's an undeniable charm regarding vintage vinyl figures. Vinyl toys were the bottom of the barrel, the cheapest and quickest way for manufacturers to capitalize on the character toy boom of the 60s and 70s. Their low price and durable nature made them popular choices for younger children, who really put them through the paces at the playground.

As a result, not many of them survived due to rough play and the perception of them as cheap throwaway items. Unlike more intricate and expensive tin and chogokin toys that were more likely to be cherished and preserved, vinyl toys usually just ended up in landfills when those kids grew up and space became an issue.

So every vintage vinyl toy you see now is a survivor. It has endured through the last three or four decades through love or luck. When I see one, especially one that has a kid's name on the foot, I see it as special.

Repros are great, though. Having the same toy for 1/10th of the price of a vintage one is too much to resist, but I have special respect for repros that build on the original toy, such as:

- The Giant Baragon reissues that fixed the bowlegged problem with the feet.

- The Gezora reissues that fixed the stance and breakability issues with the tentacles.

- The Hedorah reissue that was painted to look like the unreleased version in the Bullmark catalogs.

- The Hedorah reissue that was clear with tinsel and pipe cleaners, or the "Space Titanium" version of the Mechagodzilla reissue, or the "black and white" Ultra Q vinyls (as seen on TV), pushing the visual aspects of the figures to the next level.

And then, of course, there were the unproduced Bullmark Ultraman kaiju from the Bullmark Story Book that were produced using previously undiscovered molds. They never would have surfaced if the reissue phenomenon hadn't gathered so much steam.

So I see the value in both.

and i think it's really cool that the old style zags and smoguns were released. i have one of those repro zags

I was told once that Yuji Nishimura was really pushing Mommy Doll to use the same type of vinyl that's used in artificial hips in their reissues. You can hammer nails with some of those.

From what I've been told, Japanese vinyl factories still use the decades-old rotational molding machines, whereas the Chinese companies use something that's more of a vacuform process. I've never seen the latter in action, though.

That's a good point that could almost be another discussion by itself. There are people like me who had kaiju toys as a kid and loved the movies and all that. It definitely has a lot to do with my own pursuit ... it's been like re-activating part of boyhood in an adult context, BUT there's nothing wrong with finding this culture later in life and embracing it without all the nostalgia.

It also helps if you like Japan.

thats probably why I yearn for vintage SW over the new stuff.. brings back so many memories.

lucky for me cardboard boxes, sticks and bootlecaps are still cheap and widely available so its no problem reliving the glories of my childhood.

what if they made exact replicas of the old SW figures?

They never will!

or we would feel the shreiks of terror from thousands of geeks from across the galaxy. a major disturbance in the force!

The nerds would know...