Bwana did a great job on those Icarus, Almost look as though they could have been a standard Buta release.

I've got the standard green version on the way, so will be able to make comment on the vinyl when it gets here.

Well either they are super soft or I've developed super human strength over night:



I was able to press Zarab Postman's face flat, try this with a older Butanohana toy and see if you don't hurt your hand!

Here's the bunch (Zarab is definitely the charmer of the lot):

Hummm! You mean I have to actually open the baggie and check?
Just got Zazan and Zarabu. I was surprised they were fulll sized, I thought they were a special middle size (so many things to keep track of! ). I do the "charmin" test tonight and report back. I also have a JYA box on the way with the 3 pc show toys-so I'll have to check for softness there too. Thanks for the −CH=CH2 report Chris!

I do prefer the reg sized guys in hard vinyl, and hope it makes a return.

On the blog he writes that he's in some rehabilitation after hand surgery if I got the gist of it right. Bummer. Might make things slow on the Buta front for while...

リハビリ

先々週より、整形外科へ通い
手から腕にかけてリハビリ中です・・


なのに、何十年ぶりにガンプラを塗装。
家にあるガンプラを塗っています。

^^ that's a bummer.. hope he's ok and gets better soon...

so in response to the squishy buta debate, I got all 4 of the new guys and none of them were squishy. pretty hard actually. I squeezed all of them and they only had the average flex that soft vinyl has. soo was it maybe just really hot in your house when you squeezed them Lixx? mine were like any other butas as far as I could tell.

I was totally blown away by these new guys in hand, such a good release.

Ah, well the mystery compounds then. I am not fortunate to have lucked into any of the new guys, but I would definitely be interested to here some reports from others as to how their figures are. Perhaps it was different batches of vinyl that came out differently, or he (or the person pulling the figures) switched something up during production? As much as we call these soft vinyl, I can't think of too many toys I have had from Japan that were really that squishy. But going along with the dinos, at least some Buta figs are.

^^yea I didn't mean to make the mystery worse, or make anyone bummed to have squishy ones when theyd rather not.. but I figured I'd give my input

I personally don't care, but id like to know why. because aside from the dinos there are a few that came out the last few years that are extremely squishy for sure, like the king joe.
Hopefully it was just super hot at Lixx's house that day.

I also meant to say how sad I was when I read that Oohashi-san needed surgery. I am sure his amazing work on all these toys takes a lot out of him, and I know that a great number of us certainly appreciate his mastery and sacrifice. If he had to give it up or hand off the work to someone else, well I would still be happy his legacy would continue, I am sure we would continue to enjoy them regardless provided he was at the helm; not worth ruining your hands for the rest of your life for. It was interesting to note how he was a big Gundam fan too - highly unexpected (if not that all surprising I suppose when you think about it).

I'll echo Evom's sentiment. Mine were initially soft from the mail truck but quickly returned to more normal hardness in a few minutes. Postman Zarab's head is a lot squishier though. The new releases are still definitely not as rock-hard as earlier ones IMHO after further comparison; there is a little more give when squeezed. Doesn't bother me to tell you the truth.

Hope Oohashi-san recovers quickly.

Both my Ikarus & Zazahn are normal hardness, I did not do a direct comparison but nothing made me think they were not the usual from Butanohana. Ikarus is so nice in hand, really happy that I passed on the first release to wait for this Bullmark style version.

Hmmm interesting, yeah I just did the charmin squeeze test again with mine and yep still softer than normal. Oh well what are you going to do?

I wish I held out for this green Ikarus as well. Much better than looking than the original one. Lets see a pic Jared!

I've been a little slack with the photos recently but I'll get some up this week for sure. The Buta shelf is starting to get cramped.

that is kinda weird but I guess not a big deal. I'm just curious why the different levels of softness..

I actually love the original buta ikarus colorway, but am very glad to have both now.
especially cause this new one matches the green postman

It could be something random actually. I remember years ago Joe was convinced there were two variants of the Purple Dust Monster (Gomira) but I think a few just came out thinner/translucent (and maybe softer) out of the mold. Maybe the polyvinyl chloride level was low that day?

Both of my new pink guys have a lot of give as well, but it seems more like it's a matter of actual thickness rather than being a drastically different vinyl formula. Could it be something to do with the contours of the sculpts? The only other newish Buta that I have with a similar level of give is Gebagoro, and that toy is mostly curve-less hollow as well. The green pair is a bit softer than the norm, but they're nowhere near as pliable as the pinks.

Just checked, and the orange Ikarus is both firmer than the green and actually weight a bit more, too. Hmm.

Some of the micros that have come our recently could be described as squishy - the flesh Gs and the Chiba sets, from those I've been able to handle. They, like last year's red King Joe, were cast in what feels like a high quality rubber; a much different material than the latest mid-scale releases.

Grace is now the proud owner of Joe's old Gomiras - perhaps she can give us a more thorough report about the differences between the two.

My ears are burning! Yes, the two purple Dusties that I adopted from Joe are slightly different. One is opaque purple--when you hold him up to the light, he's solid opaque. The other is semi-transparent purple--even when you hold him in your hand and scruntinize him, he's semi-transparent, and much more apparent, when you hold him up to the light. Both are hard vinyl, just like the early releases, and not a bit squishy--definitely no give when you do the Pillsbury dough-boy test.

I forgot to check on the squishy factor of the new guys. My JYA box just came in (shipped to the office), and there are the Rock-Paper-Scissors painted minis inside, so I can check on them too. Have to wait until my boss goes home, as I'm suppose to be "working" Can't wait to open that box, it includes 12 Toygraph Racers and the Gloved Tiger!

P.S. I will try to take pics at some point. I keep misplacing the camera, and will have to have a friend snap some iphone pics...

P.P.S. Ok, everyone went home! Here is the update on the Rock Paper Scissors set:

The Mini Zazan was the only squishy one. The painted micros: Earthtron, Takkong, and the orange Zazan were definitely on the hard side. Hope this helps!
Hummmmm.... not sure what to do with that plastic mug that came with the set

P.P.P.P.S. Get well soon Mr. Ohashi!

it should go something like

squishy....hard....hard.....hard.....hard....squishy....

Catchy tune You should email Mr. Ohashi, and see if he'll put out a line of Buta records! ...er, I should've said CDs (I'm such a ludite ) With bonus figures! Bet the cover art would be so much fun

CDs have been out for years, sis! Shitty-ass digital downloads have been the name of the game, but actual vinyl records are on the rise again. The world has caught back up with us.

Useless facts to add to the discussion:

Orange Ikarus, the stiffie, weighs 38.4 grams;

Green Ikarus, Mr. Softee, weighs 25.8 grams.

Oh that's right! Totally forgot there
Deevis, in addition to weight ranges, you should scrape a tiny sample of each of your figures and send it for mass spectrometry analysis, and add all of that data to the database!

Hmmm a whole 12.6 grams difference. Conclusive enough for me. So it wasn't my imagination then. Part two of the experiment should be how well does the newer lighter Butanohana stand up over time vs the older harder vinyl. Check back in 20-25 years for the result!

Sorry I just came from lab where I encountered my first TA Grad student teaching a class. Ummm it ended not well, with me writing him a stern email on how to make better use of class time i.e. not waste 45 minutes having 25 people try and transfer 100 temperature readings and then leave us 15 minutes to answer with reasoning 30-40 questions, make graphs based on average readings etc from the experiment. Literally you had 20-25 students cussing him out to his face. What's the deal with grad students? How is this idiot teaching my lab? Oh and he started the lab with a quiz on completely unrelated material using advanced calculus which I'd wager no one in the class did well on. Prick!

Yes! That whole 12.6 gram difference could put us all into dizzy spells you know (more likely dizzy spells of joy, if we are able to adopt our most coveted figures ). And for your environmental hazards reading pleasure....

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts20.pdf


P.S. Calculus? I think I forgot all of that!

Hmm...so...you have been weighing your toys?........hmmm. That's ooook... It does happen.....




My orange Icarus' around 36-37g. Don't have a digital scale.

New book: