sooo i've been thinking about this topic for awhile and trying to judge for myself what constitutes a super deformed toy.

i guess it came to a head for me recently when i was checking out the mini SD Rodan figs in the new super 7

i'd been eyeing the silver ones for awhile now since i haunt YJA Marmit auctions...

so i guess, what constitutes an SD toy?? any general definition? does anyone know what some of the first SD toys were????


peace!
J

This is a really good topic, I want to see where everyone weighs in on this.

The earliest I remember the term "Super Deformed" being used was by Bandai back in the mid to late '80s, when they were putting out tons of SD pencil-top erasers like these:

http://yu-yuz.hp.infoseek.co.jp/gunfu.html
http://nama.takezo.co.jp/~chaos9/galler ... index.html

The characters at those sites are robots from Gundam and other shows. I believe some of the SD Godzilla candy/capsule toys go back to that time period. The SD "Ultraman Kids" show featuring SD kaiju was also released at that time, and I'm pretty sure they made toys of those.

As far as what makes a toy SD? Wow, that's a toughie. Just looking at kaiju toys, the old Marusan/Bullmark vinyl designs of the 60s and 70s were sometimes deliberately sculpted to be different than their on-screen counterparts, primarily so that they would stand out on a shelf, but also so that they wouldn't be too scary for kids.

However, back then, toys weren't expected to have the level of detail that they do these days. Compare the old Marusans/Bullmarks to the modern Ultraman vinyls, or vintage Star Wars figures to the current ones. There wasn't as much "realism," but at the same time the toy companies weren't shooting for that. They were just trying to make something that was 1) recognizable as a licensed character, 2) reproducible using molding and casting techniques of the day, and 3) able to get to market within a reasonable time frame.

Back to the question: if the toy says SD, it's definitely SD. If it is sculpted to have exaggerated features, it would qualify as SD, but if it's specifically trying to ape the old Marusan/Bullmark style, as many modern kaiju vinyls do, then I think it's more correct to say "vintage style."

Wanna see a cool set of SD toys? Go here...

http://clubtokyo.org/listings/itemListi ... tentID=665

...or if the link doesn't work, search Club Tokyo for "Tsubaraya Festival Finger Puppet." They change color when you hit them with a hair dryer or run them under hot water.

And here's my favorite SD toy so far, a Choro-Q Scopedog from VOTOMS:

thanks roger!!! i'm far from a toy geek about this (meaning a lot of it is very new to me) but i'm fascinated with the idea of SD toys.
From the absolute realism of Bandai replications to the retro appearance of M1 namegons. talking out my ass for sure since i don't know what i mean

thanks for the links and i hope everyone weighs in on this topic!!

I always just thought it constituted smaller, squished, cuter versions of a character.

I thought it meant cartoony looking giant head and tiny body...

I've been collecting the Kamen Rider and Godzilla SD's for a long time; I’ll try and get a pic up. (at work right now, bleh!)I'm really addicted to the SD candy prizes, not good living next to a Japanese Grocery store, but gets me busy while waiting for the next SB release!

In some cases, there are actually degrees of super deformity. I read somewhere about how Kaiyodo's animal toys are considered 10-20% super deformed, and I remember certain Gundam toys being described as sticking to a "strict 2/3 super deformity ratio" or something like that. Like everything else the Japanese do, there is a lot of thought put into the whole deforming process.

Love em'

It's almost impossible to collect Japanese toys without owning at least a few.

me too! I've been collecting "nitoshin" (2 heads tall ie body and head are equal propoartion) sized figures ever since I got to Japan. They are also often called "Yubi ningyou" (finger puppets) - that is if the have a hole in the bottom. Something abut them I find quintesentiallly Japanese. No matter how hideous the creature if you give it a big head it suddenly becomes kawaii! (cute)



I think this guy is technically "santoshin" (3 heads tall) but SD and cute as hell.

datadub, is that one of the M-1 resin kits? And what was your opinion of these vinyls (if you got them)?

http://www.hlj.com/product/GSC96217
http://www.hlj.com/product/GSC96228
http://www.hlj.com/product/GSC96218
http://www.hlj.com/product/GSC96229

nope this is a little figure that I picked up quite a few years back at an exhibition of Alien props.

that one is a very cool one, Roger!

some of the SD toys i'd like to get are this kind (type of pencil toppers - eraser type of figs):



i like the fact that they are just cheap looking toys. plane and simple.

i think Paulkaiju has those ultras with the removable masks

Wow some of those are amazing subterranean! Here are a couple others that I like as well.

oh man I love that first guy that you posted Plover!!!!!!! I want this regular, nonSD, version of that guy!!!!!!!!!!





oh and I want this version too!!!!! do you know the name of this character?????

I think this is Jaiger. Bunch of examples at Club Tokyo. Very cool.

thanks everyone!!

really cool examples of what is out there...
in total agreement about the Kawaii factor it may have acid for blood, but its so cuteee!! hahaha

i'll definitely be picking some up over time

spotted this giant SD Godzilla kiddy ride out at hakejima today....





pay no attention to that man standing inside the giant godzilla kiddy ride...

Here's a really poor pic of some of my sd Riders,




http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g179/ ... SBF003.jpg

Some of the coolest SD toys were the Bandai Cloth Gear System toys. Basically it came with a human character that you built a robot or hero around. There were several Gundam ones, but there were also Kamen Rider and Ultraman ones. There are pics of a few of them here:

http://toyboxst.inwards.com/phorum/read.php?4,147696

dang these are way cool... I really love/hate this board
one more thing to keep an eye out for at the shows..

// d

haha!!! i'm still laughing over datadubs pics...

love all the SD toys.. kind of irresistably cute.

i'm reminded of why i liked ci-boys when i first saw them (still do) but these are way cooler