Hey Guys. Not sure how many of you are from the PNW, but if you are you might have seen a lot of the AWESOME work that 'Imps & Monsters' (Justin HIllgrove) does. Justin has been painting, making books (recently released an awesome comic entitled "Sinja" -check it out here: http://www.impsandmonsters.com/booksa.html) and doing art shows for quite a few years now - mostly staying local to Washington state, but also often in CA and OR.

Anyway, RAMPAGE is teaming up with Justin to release a very cool new Sofubi figure - the MANOTAUR! The sculpt was done by Justin himself, and it has already been recieved at the wax/mold workshop here in Japan. The plan is to paint most of the figures right here in Japan as well.

The figure is around 8" tall. Here's the Clay Proto:



And here's a doodle and blurb Justin just sent over to get a feel for the character:



"The Manotaur roams the world in search of something he can’t quite remember. In fact, ever since he invited that fire spirit into his head he’s had trouble concentrating on little other than catering to his countless neuroses and consuming anything with the word “gummy” in the description. In any case, he’s pretty sure he’s forgetting something really important..."

I'm psyched for this release! Production/Release will probably start up this spring sometime. Here's a link to Justin's site so you can check out some more of his art:

http://www.impsandmonsters.com/

that's wicked cool, jon! nice one, looking forward to more of him!

dude not gonna lie i dig it

Wow, definitely into this guy! He's looking great!

Thanks people! I'm really looking forward to painting this guy and working with Justin on the releases. Right now we're discussing masks and stuff like that. The doodle in the first post gives an idea for the paint pattern. Probably looking at a couple masks and some sprays on the painted figures. Justin is really keen on blanks too -he put some solid work into the scales on the torso!

Oh wow, I love this guy! Looking forward to seeing him in vinyl.

Brilliant design...brilliant sculpting, good choice of plugs...so what's the deal? How big is that? Is it going to be hard or soft vinyl? We going to have unpainteds, clears.....spill J!

Justin did an amazing job on this sculpt!! I cant wait to see it after its produced in vinyl.

Thanks Matt, Mike and Dan!

Not many specifics to share right now. I skyped with Justin today, and there are still things left to be sorted out. Nothing major though - just release logistics, colors and whatnot.

OK, wax went out to the mold maker today! We're looking at an initial release of blanks at Emeral City Comic Con (Justin's local con) at the end of March, with leftovers going up on Justin's site shorty following that. I'm hoping to pait a couple one-offs for the show as well, but we will see how timing works out. In april we will be doing a small painted run in my shop, and then a larger painted run to follow.

Anyway, here's wax! This guy is a full size figure - 8 inches of bulky Manotaur goodness!

Looks fantastic....very exciting stuff. Can't wait for any unpainted stuff...maybe...love me some unpainted toys.

Now this is a surprise!

I was trying to find info about this guy last week. I actually saw his studio when it was at Lowell Art Works years ago but his name escaped me. What a small world to think that he's doing sofvi now!

I'm definitely liking the look here. I hope you do some real clean painted versions. I'd love to see a really bright one, say in a bright green like the Gargamel LB Randalls or the Mock Bat green blanks that we recently saw.

No offense, because your a nice guy and all, but It seems like less of a collaboration, and more of a promotion. Where does your work come into the picture, and I'm asking that seriously (no snark intended).

Thanks people!



Masks



Justin and I had been doing shows together, in the Northwest, for a couple years. When I moved to Japan and started working on my vinyl he voiced an interest, and things got started. I'm psyched to see his style turned into a sofubi!



Nice guy? Aww, shucks...

Aside from the promotion/sales/etc., I will also be painting all of the runs of the figure, as well as occaisional one-offs and small runs.

Anyway, promotion is, in part, correct. "Production work" might be a better description. If you need something to compare the collab to, you might think "Monster Worship (in this case - me) and Johnny Ryan's CFF (in this case - Justin's Manotaur)." If you start digging, I think you'll see a whole lot of projects that work like this - not every artist makes and manages his/her own vinyl. Justin, for example, is a father of 4, and a full time artist - leaving very little time to concentrate a lot of focus on a vinyl project...

Inititally I was slated to sculpt the figure, but then I got a bit busy, and Justin wanted to get things rolling, so he sat down and got it done. In the end, I'm happy that he did. His sculpting style is a great connection to his painting style (and I love his painting style!).

That right there is a quick way to my heart!

Yeah!

Looks good!

Looks great, how long before they get released?

Oh wow, he looks awesome! Especially with his arms up like that… Cute and menacing!

Gimme one Jon!!

bat back is awesome, and I've been really into blue vinyl lately. Keep up the good work!

Not long now. I'm getting a small bundle this week, and doing a few one-offs. Those (and blank white and black) will be available at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle at the end of this month. There's also this option that Justin just put up on his site - a little early bird opportunity:

http://impsandmonsters.com/3dstuff.html

Regular painted release - TBD... It depend on the masks. I will at least gave a small batch at the end of April - for SUFESU.

well done, I like the little surprise bonus guy on the back!

white and black, very nice

Got some mail - quick shot here .

Working on a couple HP's today!