the feets aren't big enough + they should come with a dope accessory like a spraycan or microphone

You make some good points. And I do think there are folks who gravitated towards sofubi purely on the basis of exclusivity/rarity. I started out collecting KR western vinyl, but got hooked on Japanese makers years ago when I started getting the toys in my hand, because there was a very obvious difference in quality. Not because I wanted to be in some exclusive 'club'. I love open runs, big Medicom releases, etc. because of the stress-free purchase experience. But I think that everyone subconsciously or otherwise likes rare, hard-to-find items to some degree. If you don't agree, try collecting
nothing but open runs and stuff that is easy to come by. It's not nearly as much fun.

I am not anti-Funko by any means. I am not even on IG so the deluge of Funko posts don't bother me. I just find these to be an obvious and poorly executed cash-in on a trend. But yes, there are MUCH worse toys to be had.

They leave me fairly indifferent (but I agree they look lots better than many indie and "pro"-produced sofubi), but I do find it hilarious some are PAINTED to look like unpainted marbled vinyl.

"Unpainted marbled" paint apps are all the rage, don't you know? Takes hours per eye.

total avant-garde.

^ Ha! Yes, very.

I, however prefer the "painted marbled" paint app that folks like Cronic were doing years ago (and to much better effect, I might add):

http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en/it ... 75100.html

I got into sofubi because it oozed originality, whereas KR and Funko just churn out tons of licensed figures. I'm a bit weird and have never been able to latch onto a fandom... I just never like anything enough to start buying merchandise of it. (Okay, I do have a few World of Warcraft figures sitting on my shelf, but that's about as far as I've gone. )
I loved the whole concept of collector toys when I first discovered it, but just hated the influx of licensed subject matter. Sofubi really appeals to me because more often than not, modern sofubi artists create things they've made up themselves... crazy monsters and creatures that either come straight from imagination or have some kind of mythological background to them. I'm not into collecting Godzilla or licensed stuff like that, but at least that makes sense. It's a Japanese franchise being created in a Japanese medium.

That's my main gripe with Funko. They're bringing their tired, licensed crap into the sofubi world.
I mean, I'm glad that some people are discovering the hobby through Hikari, but it's still a drag.

devils advocate here, we condemn these licensed releases but applaud bootlegs & tribute paint apps?

See? These aren't complete shit! I'd like them a whole lot better if these were actually unpainted vinyl that looked like this, and not a freestyle, or as Mike Drink said, "painted marbled".

I think they are definitely marketed towards the "what will this be worth in 10 years??" crowd of collectors. These are the types who will start buying up toys purely based on hype and not based on the artistic merit or the toy's personal appeal.

That's assuming they will make the jump from buying easy to swallow "Hikari Limited Edition" Ninja Turtles to buying Butanohana or Paul Kaiju. It's much easier to talk about toys with your friends about a well known licensed character than it is the latest UAMOU RxH release with swirled paint on the inside of clear vinyl.

I don't think this crowd being exposed to "sofubi" through Hikari is a good thing at all. I'm sure some of the more cashed up Funko freaks will start entering MVH and Nag lotteries purely to hold them on ice or even flip them the next week. I don't want to see that, I'd like to have the chance to buy these toys (when I can afford them) and keep them on my shelves in a prime spot.



Because for the most part those tributes are still made by somebody spending a week painting them in their garage in very small quantities - it's art. These Hikari things are not even close.

Just spent some time looking at video reviews of these to see if I was missing something. Nope.. these toys suck. It's actually making me angry.. but maybe the 35 C degree heat here in Brisbane is contributing to that..

Have you ever seen somebody wearing a cool shirt.. Maybe you recognised the artwork or the brand and you say "Hey man nice Pushead shirt!" and you just get a blank stare and they say "Huh? I just bought it because it was a black shirt"... That's the target audience for these hunks of plastic. That's my main issue besides how unappealing they are (not ugly because sometimes ugly can be really appealing!) It's not about Chinese vs. Japanese vinyl (even though its shitty that they are being misrepresented as Japanese vinyl) it's about taking advantage of clueless toy collectors.

Here's some members of the Funko Cult (just look at the background of this video) stumbling their way through this video review.. I don't even think they know why they like it besides the brand name "Funko". They keep complaining about the price and would rather them be $20 instead of $40 or near $70 for the limited "limited edition" versions of they already limited editions of 3000

Watching this video I was reminded of a little tidbit that is written on the cards attached to the figures - apparently "no Hikari vinyl is alike and they are all individual unique pieces". Give me a break.. what a joke.



And this guy seems to be more taken with the spot gloss (I'm assuming seeing as he talks about feeling the print) artwork on the back of the box than the actual figure.

They're probably made like that on purpose. Though I still see bobble-head too.

My hope is that with the introduction of the Hikari line (which in it's mention is indeed intriguing), and Funko continuing to veer more towards what they're attempting to imitate, that it will "click" that quality can only enhance their products.

Yeah, the thought process may start by believing it will bring them more $, buuut who knows where it will end?

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful in what we pretend to be" - Kurt Vonnegut (Mother Night)

I don't think Hikari is killing sofubi or hurting it. I've met plenty of guys who collect toys like funko and I think it's safe to say 99% of them don't care about indy toys and just don't get it. They are perplexed that the characters aren't from a licensed franchise and don't know what they are, and as mentioned above, also can't understand the price.

I don't get the war against these, even if you don't like the aesthetic or the term sofubi attached, at least these are made by pros, the sculpts are clean, the paints are clean. Hell Toy Tokyo had these sitting next to a Siccaluna Tetsujin and the paints they had on display held their own against Siccaluna.

In my opinion what's hurting kaiju and independent toys are all the crappy lumpy pieces of resin and even vinyl that spam instagram and all social media networks tagged with shit like #kaiju #sofubi #vinyltoy #designertoy. There's no separation in this, anyone with a bucket of silicone and resin can declare themselves a pro toy maker, be a cool dude on instagram, follow, like, and comment on everyones streams and end up with a 1000 followers. You guys should use your energy to tell the guys hurting the perception of the quality and artistry of toys making crappy lumps of plastic with sloppy tool marks that took an hour or two to sculpt, spamming them with the same tags that they are harming this industry.

MY DAUGHTER LOVES SOFUBI! (Sorry, I had to do it. Her name is Hikari so this thread makes me giggle.)

Gawd knows I try

This was great for me - I was able to pick up a regular Raphael and a gold glitter Batman (I think one of the "limited" ) on ebay for my 4 yr old for under $10!

I actually think these are factory rejects (paint defects, scratches, etc) since the ones I have found are openly listed as having defects or missing parts. These are about the only way my kids get to play with our kind of toys that interest them (batman, TMNT, etc) without letting my 4 yr old destroy an $80 Medicom/Bearmodel figure!

Funko would do just fine IMO marketing these to kids with a reasonable price tag - $10 to $20 tops but the hype machine is currently well oiled and finely tuned with Funko at the controls

I have my own opinions on Toy Tokyo after visiting a couple weeks ago... They're a collector toy store, not a Japanese toy store.
I think the main point that has to be made is that someone is putting their love and devotion into painting sofubi toys, while Funko is churning out thousands of pieces with the same paint job done in a cheap assembly line fashion.



I half agree with you, and half disagree with you... I do get pretty annoyed at resin pieces being advertised in droves on IG with obvious flaws, like poorly cut flash, cracks, and bubbles (quality control, anyone?). It makes it hard to search for real artwork.
At the same time a lot of people have to start somewhere. We're not all born artists... a lot of people start out crappy and work their way up through experience. Sure it's annoying, but I sure as hell won't stop sharing my resin work on IG for anything. I know I'm an amateur, but I do the best I can, even if that means sanding for hours to get toolmarks and flash off my pieces. Sharing and getting feedback keeps me motivated and (hopefully) that'll help me improve.
Just my two cents.

I cant believe this is still going on.

and yeah CMON Funko get with it and quit doing all these licensed characters. Start doing it like the OG SEWFOOBEE and make unlicensed characters that were DEFINITELY meant to attract only art toy collectors like.... Godzilla? Ultraman? Barom-1?

I wonder if there is a psychological term for the negative fixation on someone elses taste?

I love the Jiangshi line. Don't care one way or another about the rest. Soft vinyl. Paint scratches way to easy.

I joined the Funko boards just to find out release info. Here is what I noticed. They don't like the $50 price tag for large toys but they had no problem with ToyTokyo charging $150 for those "rare" Halloween marble additions. They have no problem with flippers and praise each other for paying high amounts on ebay. They feel bad for corporations loosing money because of those trash bin/ fall of the truck Chinese ebay dealers.

But that's their thing and I don't care. I like my Jiangshi's and plan to get one or two more.

Wow that's just gross, but then there are members on here that will throw money and not care as well.

I think the Jiangshi line is the only sculpt I can tolerate, to be honest. At least it's not another bobble-head-looking super hero.

There are so many double standards going on around this.

I can't even, guys...

Hey, I said I can tolerate it, I certainly don't want it...

I wish this forum allowed folks to critique instead of be called "a hater". As said, I'd much rather have these on my shelf than 70-80% of stuff that's being made in Japan for no apparent reason.

People are letting the hate flow here because they would be trashed by fanboys for disliking most of what is discussed on the rest of the board.