I get what people are saying. But truly, which company can be said to be "evolving"? I'm curious, because the only direction and change of style I've seen in the last few years is when companies do collabs with artists (s7, Gargamel...).

Playing devil's advocate a bit here. There are exceptions, but I really think most companies would rather stay on safe ground and put out more versions of sculpts that sell.

Its funny how people are saying they are unoriginal when half of Kaiju is rip offs of other kaiju. It seems ripping off in Kaiju is fine, but western toys are it is the end of the world. And Kathie and Brandt have there own style. That is fine you don't like these and you don't have to, but I am just sick of the hypocrites on this board. Go outside enjoy life and stop being bitter old men.



Oh and Sofubi is not sacred (Definition taken from Skullbrain)
Here is a definition
In Japan "Sofubi" usually implies "nihon-sei sofuto biniru" = Soft Vinyl produced in Japan.
Whether its a monster or a kewpie - the material and the process are "Sofubi"
So whether you say Japanese Vinyl or Sofubi - you are saying the same thing - its a matter of geography and context.
You are referring to the material and process.

Also its kind of like a brand, they sell out shows all the time. They just had a show in Japan and almost sold out the whole show to locals. So sticking to what you do best pays off. People complain about my work, but hey I pay my bills and rent ($2200/month) on art. So the collector world is small, so by sticking to what you do you always get new people who buy your stuff. This year 40% of my buyers are now Japanese.

I'll give my opinion on this since I commented on it before. It's hard to explain in words because an artist can have a really unique style where everything looks cohesive but is not always the same.

RxH is the best example that is constantly changing and adapting. I'm not a huge fan and don't collect them, but appreciate what they do. They started with a solid line of figures, went to minis, and in the last few years went to standard size. They started with 4-5 similar but still distinctly different characters and are constantly making new characters(not including all the collabs they do).

Since you mentioned Gargamel, I think they do a really good job of having a unique look/style on several different monsters. Their most recent Standard size Deathra is a figure they already sculpted but they took the character, kept it similar, but also added to it making it feel new and unique. If they made a bunch of monsters that looked like the zag, then I'd be saying the same about them and call them out on their repetition.

As for S7, which you also mentioned, I feel like they have become a place where different artists can have vinyl made. This is something unique on it's own. I hate to compare them to Kidr*bot, but the 1 good thing KR does is get a bunch of toy artists names out into the world. S7 just does it with their friends, has much better business practices, and does it in Japanese vinyl.

I can even use Kozik(I can't stand his toys) as a good example of giving us something different. He even has a repetitive platform Labbit toy. However, all his other toys have branched far away from that. Sure, he has a line of smoking toys, but he offers a lot more too.

so Brandt and Kathie make the skelve...
then he created the stingy jack...
he also did the servo matics....
and his trouble boys with ferg...
All those seem like very different things to me...
Stingy Jack is a fun carnival esque character.
The Skelve is supposed to be like a japanese trickster spirit idea...
the servo matics are based on old worlds fair robots...
and the trouble boys harken to different time periods and crime ideals in them...
sounds like a lot of original ideas to me.

^ Very good point, I should have mentioned that my focus was more targeted towards Kathie's work.

Isn't skelve by both of them? It combines both their iconic pieces that appears in most of their work, the cartoony skull face and pajamas.

I should also repeat here that I think both artists do really good work, I just get bored by the similarities in themes and imagery that keep coming up in their work.


I think this line is what bothers me . I know it is out of context from what else you wrote. I also know that giving fans what they want is a good thing, but I also believe in giving fans something new and surprising. If you have a strong and solid brand they will support you in everything you do.

Yeah but they will be a huge success in their book.

^ possibly even their book.

and i guess everyone already forgot about this guy...



so i'm sure that these, too, will pass.

I didnt mean it as doing the same exact thing, but more like keeping to your style but slightly evolving. Kathie's toy is a different piece then any of her previous toys, she also does a lot of 1-off pieces which are different.

Ha, did I say the word we don't speak of? I meant platform as in a good place for them to start, although I am sure there would be those who would like it as a platform toy. Not that I really give a damn either way.



Oh, are there hard vinyl Skelves?! Well if they're already here than they're already here. Could've sworn they were all resin.

They are resin

I don't doubt this will sell out also.
They are still boring, tired and cliche. I don't care what they are made out of.
This is a continuance to me of toys that should cost 5 dollars if mass produced but hailed as art and people drop 40 bucks for a mini (or more).
And I thought almost all of the s7 monster family sucked too so I'm not just hating the KR fanbase they rose up out of. Her work is the same kids with tentacles I recall on the old KR board, which wore out quickly in my opinion to begin with.
More power to them for raking in the cash. I love when people acknowledge they are sell outs at least Dril.

No not sellouts but happy at what they do. I love selling my work doing what I love. And like you said you were tired of them long before this, which you were never their market anyways. You have your opinion and taste and so do I. I can't stand most Kaiju, but I respect the history and the artist who create it.

So then your saying every artist is a sellout for making money to live?

I think massively doing the same thing over and over across multiple platforms because it sells is selling out or being a whore. More power to them. From your other statement I'm not sure why you would be here. And overall I don't buy toys from artists so I don't care what they do to live.

Its not the same thing they do over and over, maybe in your eyes. I am done with this any way as I don't have to put people down to feel better. Enjoy your day...

Look, I'll be the first to admit that with regard to all the arts, no one said you had to be talented to make it...

However, true relevance will only be determined by time. I equate work like this to bubblegum pop. There were plenty of people doing this type of work looooong before these two/three and do it a thousand times better. But as I mentioned before, I don't have a problem with this being posted here. It fits right in. I also haven't a problem with them or anyone else using Japan as a source for production and calling it sofubi. However, if someone is going to post info and images of the stuff here or anywhere else and encourage comments, I'm gonna shit all over it because in my opinion it deserves it. Be it their so-called artwork or the products pulled from the work.

You must not own any toys then... or really anything for that matter.

Don't read so far into things.
I just think these toys suck.

Not everything with a Super7 foot stamp is a good toy.


Because they do. They're the epitome of KR triteness in Japanese vinyl form. That point can't really be argued, but whether someone likes them or not is entirely subjective.

I think the sculpt is really tight. The wrinkles and the form is really well sculpted.

Painted up like a detailed model on a little set, it would look great.

Or at least shaded and nice Halloween colors or scary circus colors smoked over.With stripes and stuff.
It would be a fun challenge.


Love the blue vinyl. would love the get Boss in that baby blue. It's gorgeous!

If they asked me to paint one, I would TOTALLY do it.

At least it isn't cheapo primed Chinese vinyl. That stuff always looks like shit no matter how many clear coats you pile on.

It's a fine balance between creating a "brand", a style that will be recognized by everyone at a glance, and actually evolving and changing artistically at the risk of alienating your fans (and source of revenue).

David, I don't know much about RxH so I won't comment on that. I agree that Gargamel do some variations (though I'd argue a lot of it is due to collabs, different sizes of the same sculpt, or different heads to a same body). S7, again, do a lot of collabs, but artists they work with often seem to stick to recognizable patterns. It's the same for colourways. The same ones are used (recycled?) over and over again.

My comment wasn't meant to diss anything. I believe there isn't much evolution, but I'm fine with that. I mean, I totally have a comfort zone: I like some colour patterns so appreciate when new sculpts use them, for example. I'm a huge Sleeping Killer fan, and I love that they're all basically plain, with dots, or with stripes, and that I can get standard, pockets and micros. I'm not a huge fans of customs that go outside those schees. But let's not kid ourselves that there's a whole lot of evolution in having 20 versions of the same sculpt using a standard colour scheme, then switching the head and having another 15.

I won't be buying these toys, and a lot of you (obviously - based on reading this whole thread) won't either. However, I have no doubt these will do well.

Reason - I was with Skulltoys and Mori in Tokyo a couple weeks ago. They were carying one of the clowns around. I told them it wasn't my thing (I don't like clowns AT ALL), but no matter - they think it's legit, they like it, they will promote it, and they think it will sell. That alone speaks volumes for the project. Japanese don't distinguish between "Americans or Europeans making sofubi" and "Japanese making sofubi" - it is all sofubi after all, and it's all handmade here in Japan. I'll quote Paul to sum up:

Oh I'll agree that blue is a beautiful color, its just on a horrible side show toy.

its all about marketing.