So Clazy Keshi!

I am always learning something about the keshi world I didn't know before.  Being an American kid in the 80's was great fun, mainly because there was such a big action figure boom then, but since my resurgence as a keshi collector earlier this year, I'm finding, even still, most of us kids missed out.

In Japan during the 80's, candy/card/toy company Lotte released a fantasy franchise called Fortress of Nekurosu.  These keshi were one inch or so, monochromatic, keshis of various medieval warriors and monsters.  There were nine sets, 300+ minifigures in all, released in individual boxes that included trading cards and candy.

Being a kid who came across Monster In My Pocket growing up, I can see a direct coalition between MIMP and Fortress of Nekurosu.  In fact, there is much speculation that MIMP got a lot of their inspiration from them, if even a little plagiarism.  All I know, I wish these were exposed to the States more.  They would have joined my MIMP collection just fine.

They never made it to America, but American collectors quickly discovered them in time.  Because they never received a proper English release, it's translation has been spotty as best.  American collectors found original packaging that called them Neclos Fortress in English.  It's written on all the trading cards, as well, however it doesn't take much to tell they meant to call it Necro's Fortress, considering the storyline of the toy revolves around some sort of nercomantic wizard.  Even still, keshi collectors are a purist bunch and the name Neclos Fortress is what it's most commonly referred as.

I have yet to find any in my collection, but rest assured, I am looking.  I can't wait to cover them in a Toy Haul post sometime in the near future.

Mystical Warriors of the Ring!

I've covered a few mass-produced minifigure lines so far, but this time, I'd like to showcase something smaller and independent.  The guys at Fantastic Plastic Toys have created a line they call Mystical Warriors of the Ring, and really, it's has the potential to grow into something more than just the toy line.

They have created a federation full of anthropomorphic animal wrestlers, all battling for the championship belt.  They have rivalries and character depth.  Even their releases are named after a particular wrestling event their characters participate in.  Records are kept and characters win and lose championships.

You can tell these guys grew up loving Kinnikuman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  The blend is nearly seamless with modern availability.  The fact that you can not just enjoy the minifigures but follow the exploits of your favorite character is something really not done in a lot of toy lines.

So far, they have one PVC release of three miniatures with a few variant colorways, but they have limited-edition resin releases a bit more frequently.  At this time, there has been some speculation that the second release could be on it's way in the near future.  Along with the awesome keshi, they made a plastic ring for your minifigures to wrestle in, as well as ring-side battle mat for added effect.  And if that wasn't enough, they have a wide arrange of clothing for sale too.

In my collection, I have the flesh set of PVC figures with the ring.  They are very high-quality and fit nearly perfect along side my other keshis.  I certainly can't wait to see their second PVC release and grow as a company.

By The Fistful!

Just over ten years ago, Moose Toys released a minifigure line called Fistful of Power.  They were anime-inspired warriors set in a world of ancient times.  It had a gladiatorial setting with a cartoon kid-friendly twist, but still nevertheless pretty cool.

It only saw two releases, with only the first one being sold worldwide, so for collectors, rare figures from the second set are among some of the most valuable minis out there.  Each set got 40 or so sculpts with a few variants of each: hyper, shadow, and crystal.

Hyper variants were fully-painted.  Crystal variants were clear with small amounts paint, and shadow variants were dark smokey transparent ones with no paint.  Of course, as you could guess it, these are the ones with my name written all over them.

But even cooler, there were figures even rarer than the rare figures on the checklist.  Moose Toys are a sneaky bunch.  They released 'secret' figures that only saw a production amount of a 1000 per country the set was released in.  Even ten years later, collectors are still after these secret minifigures, and who could blame them.  They are metallic with some light paint application, but otherwise very cool.

So far in my collection, I randomly received a hyper-version of a pirate-looking character that really didn't spark my interest, but looking into the set more, I am certainly interested in the shadow variants and the secret minifigures like Xar and Seer.

Toy Haul 10/08/14!

The tricky thing about collecting 80's/90's minifigures, is that you can't readily get them in stores anymore.  Amazon may still have products mint on card, but the price of those sort of items never appealed to me.  Ebay is a good secondary market site, and you can certainly find some awesome deals, but just the same, you can find that same old Ebay strangeness and stigma.

I tend to be dealing a lot more with a couple community forums.  These are great!  They are full of other collectors, artists, and all other sorts of enthusiasts.  Forum members are generally infinitely better to deal with, have a better idea what certain pieces are worth, and aren't just trying to make a quick buck like some resellers on Ebay, for example.

One thing great about these communities is that everyone is very generous to everyone.  I learned quick that generally every trade to make, you add some extras.  This means you also get a few random goodies in every package you get in the mail.  It's a great way to be introduced in keshi lines you may never knew existed or maybe didn't consider collecting until then.

Today I received one such package.  The trade was for extra October Toys minis I had extra, so I was quite happy with getting anything I didn't already have.  Real quick, let's go through the haul and see what makes the cut to go in my main keshi collection.

The first three (orange, green, and red) are Monster In My Pockets I don't own yet.  The orange Bishopfish in particular was something I traded for.  I remember having a pink one when I was a child.  Classic line and virtually the top American keshi.[in main collection]

The aliens on the side (blue and green) are familiar American figures to me, but it escapes me from where.  They are soft and flimsy, with the green one having some tears, here and there.  They could actually be erasers [not in main collection.  will be sent out as extras]

The yellow guy is a figure from the Snailiens toyline.  Snailiens were awesome!  They are single-mold figures that came with armor and other goodies.  I was just sent a random solo figure with some wear.  Very cool to see him anyway.  [not in main collection]

The mutli-colored figure is a miniature of Tomahawk from the Megaman franchise.  A very neat figure, but doused in paint.  [not in main collection]

The last two figures (purple and green) are small, hard plastic pencil toppers, I think.  They are halloween themed, with one being a monster and the other a witch.  Surprisingly cool, although I have doubts they are worth much at all.  A good thing to mention they are virtually paintless accept for a little in the face. [in main collection]

Following Limiteds!

I think one of the biggest surprises about the keshi collection scene now, is how it's so alive and full of excitement.  This is something of  a comeback in the States, with there being more independent artists and toy lines popping up all the time.  There are companies making keshi variants for their existing products, and every convention seems to have a little more exposure to the art toy collector.

We in the States still have a long ways to go, compared to Japan, who have museum-like store fronts exclusively selling Kinnikuman and other keshi figures.  Even other Japanese companies, some from videogames, release limited edition keshis of characters in their franchise.  I've seen many of them on Ebay now, from Bomberman, Megaman, Mario, Kirby, and Dragonball.  For the most part, these are pretty expensive and hard to get, however I do wish to have a lot of these in my collection someday.

One thing I enjoy a lot about the toy scene right now is following all the limited edition releases that come out now.  Whether it's a Instagram-exclusive 3D Retro robot or a limited-run Z.O.M.B.I.E. color variant, I can't get enough.

The most anticipated limited release I've been able to get into lately was a Japanese release of Kinnikuman figures.  As a brand deal with Georgia Coffee, limited edition coffee cans came with a special little keshi inside.  What was even cooler was they were completely new sculpts, and not just color variants.  The set was six figures, all a different color, and themed to all be doing a different job.  Buffalo Man was brown and is positioned to be a cellphone stand.  Wars Man was blackish-grey and could keep your headphones from tangling.  Robin Mask was blue and Terryman was yellow.  Both of them could hold small objects up for you.  Kinnikuman was orange and could prop up a business card.  Ramen Man can sit on the edge of something.  Not much of a job, but it looks like he's busy making soup anyway.

Getting this set wasn't the cheapest, but it was really fun to be a part of the buzz when they were released and I certainly look forward to more releases.

Purist Ramblings: Resin!

I know this isn't an issue for most people, and really, I can't wait for it to stop being an issue with me.  I just don't know.  I understand how awesome and available resin is for people, especially for start-up artists that don't have the funds or hook-ups for a PVC line.  I get it that there's a million and one reasons I should like resin figures more.... but I just don't.  Yet is the word I hope to finish that sentence with very soon.

I think it all falls back to my purist beliefs on what is/isn't keshi and what would make it in my personal collection.  I went through it briefly before. I think it was my first impressions on Mutant Mania.  I think all collectors have certain guidelines on what they collect.  Some are looser than others, and that's completely cool.  I know I can't say I have the strictest.  Even I have some odd exceptions, but still, I think my unreasonable opinions on resin are based on that.

It ultimately is a nostalgia thing, I believe.  For me, if I can look at a keshi line and immediate think, 'yeah, that could totally pass as a 80's/90's minifigure line' then you're likely to be collected.  For me, things like size, paint, and articulation are things I look for in keshi, but material is not far behind either.

One thing that is attached to my nostalgia, along with the other things I mentioned, was the give in the plastic or rubber.  Most if not all of the classic lines were made of a softer material than you find in your standard action figure hard plastic.  So soft sometimes they were often nicknamed eraser figures.  Resin figures hold every other standard of a perfect keshi, but that.  Resin is rock hard and brittle.  If dropped from the right height, it could even shatter.

It really does pain me to admit this, which is why I hope I have a change of mind soon, because I know there are a lot of awesome artists with really great ideas.  I am more than excited to see what they come up with and to follow their exploits.  Resin figures is the first step of making it as a toy designer, and supporting them here is what will ensure they'll see a proper PVC release.

Right now, I am lucky to have some really rare resin minifigures from some independent artists.  The sculpts are awesome and the craftsmanship is topnotch.  Even still, they are kept in a different collection - separate from my keshi.

One day, resin.  One day.

Grossed-Out 3 Revenge of the Goo!

Oh, I should have never brought up sweet minifigure lines that have ooze and/or gross humor.  I blame Slimy Sludge and how I am excited I am to finally find one someday.  They blinded me to what I can only describe as a deluge of gooey and gross minifigure lines.  I have opened Pandora's Box.  The dam has sprung a leak.  It's all over now.  Now and forever, I have been cursed to recap all gross-out minifigures - all billion of them.

Moose Toy's Trash Pack is pretty awesome.  They have a lot of sets out now, maybe going on ten, and they don't look to be stopping.  Each set seems to have a particularly cool and different gimmick or theme.  One they did a while ago is, you guessed it, figures in ooze.

I can't say I was too surprised. Aside from GPK Minikins, they are spearheading the disgusting-factor in minifigures nowadays, which what seems to be every figure they do leaking or drooling some gross green liquid.

Love that stuff, even though there are certainly factors that twitch my keshi elitist nerve.  They are a bit smaller than I'd like, softer, painted, but the extent of all that depends on the exact figure.  Some are plain, and they even came out with some "hard boiled" models that were harder plastic, so I can't really broad stroke this brand.

As much as I resisted it, both looking at the immeasurable amount of models to collect and the fact they made so few qualities I look in keshis, I started to get into them anyway.  There's something special about Trash Pack and I'm glad to see they are a healthy line and growing strong even to branch out to many other things like clothing and video games.  They even came out with another minifigure line called Shopkins, aimed at little girls, that are cute grocery store products and stuff like that.  Not my cup of tea, but I say that now.  Moose Toys know they have mystical powers over me.

More Than Outlandish!

While their Kickstarter for Series 4 is still up and running, I wanted to say a couple things why I think October Toys' OMFG line is so awesome and why now is great time to jump aboard.

Fans of old Monster In My Pocket and MUSCLE, October Toys look to recreate some of that nostalgia.  Oozing of 90's radical attitude and gross humor, OMFG would have been a perfect fit on the shelves of  KB Toys and Ames right next to the minifigures that give the inspiration to this line.

What's even better is that it's not all their creation - it's everyone's.  The designs that turn into the figures are submitted and voted on by the community that supports the line.  That means anyone who joins their forums and throws in at least a dollar towards their Kickstarter can have a say who makes the cut in following releases.  This is an unbelievable opportunity for any designer - aspiring or otherwise.  Even if you don't make it, it's still very awesome to be a part of it nevertheless.  Most companies wouldn't put it in the hands of their fans, and for that, October Toys gets my seal of approval.

I bring this up because their Kickstarter still has 12 days left and $6,000 more to fund.  Now it a perfect time to join the community and help build Series 5.  Submissions are still open on the forums and are currently still be tweaked and discussed.  The easiest part is coming up with the dollar for the Kickstarter.  The hard part is designing the perfect minifigure, but still, I suggest you look into it and see if it's something you have the creative knack for.

For more information, check out their Kickstarter here!

That Number Game No One Played!

Do you remember when you were in elementary school, and you sneaked a bunch of Monster In My Pockets in your backpack for recess?  There, you could battle your monsters against everyone else's.  Remember that?  Nope.  I don't, and I would be surprised if anyone really did, but that was sort of a thing for a while.

To my knowledge, it started with Transformers Decoys, you know, the robots without disguise, before Monster In My Pocket did it.  Decoys were unpainted keshi figures that came as bonus with other retro releases.  In the west, the Autobots were a plain red rubber and the Decepticons were purple, but in the east, they came out in a variety of other colors.  Yeah, figure that:  Japan gets all the awesome stuff.

Decoys had a set of 50-100 figures, and they were received really well.  Even today, people value Decoys on average a little more than your normal minifigure.  I suppose the only drawback they would have in the eyes of your normal Transformer collector is that they did not transform.  They were single mold rubber, and eternally locked in robot mode.  Personally, I have no problem with that, but I'm a keshi collector.

On the back of all Decoys was a number.  This number was to represent the strength of the robot, so when kids on the playground would reveal their single minifigure or their team, they could compare numbers to see who won.  That's the idea, I suppose, but again, I never heard of anyone doing it.

Furthermore, Monster In My Pocket followed suit.  They too put numbers on the back of their figures, hoping it would spawn a secondary need for their toys as game pieces, but at least in my childhood, I found it only created confusion.  Was it a set number or the rarity?  Growing up, we didn't really know, so it's really to no surprise, to my knowledge, the game ended there.  Pretty funny to look back though.

Night of the Keshi Dead!

As part of October Toys' 10 year celebration, they promise to fill this month with all kinds of news and releases.  I'm certainly anticipating a lot of neat stuff from them.  I enjoy following them and they have some really neat products.  They do receive from flack from the rest of the keshi community, most of which is a mystery to me.  Hey, everyone is different and entitled to their own opinion, but that's besides the point.  Today, let's cover a couple awesome zombie minifigure lines!

The first line are Z.O.M.B.I.E. (Zillions of Mutated Bodies Infecting Everyone) minifigures from October Toys, and particularly this orange/black glitter limited release.  These guys are single-mold, unpainted, zombie minifigs, cast in a translucent orange with black glitter inside.  They are perfect for the Halloween theme, and only sold for the month of October.  Once November hits, they are done.  Right now, they are exclusively on sale at Zombies & Toys webstore, so pick up a set while you still have the chance. $5 a set, how can you go wrong?

The other zombie line I really enjoy are S.L.U.G. (Scary Little Ugly Guys) Zombies.  S.L.U.G. is also a great term that references the origins of keshi collecting as well,  A slug was a term used for figures that was cast in once piece, using a single mold.

These guys were released a few years back by Jakks Pacific and saw four sets before being canceled.  They had green zombie figures portraying all sorts of characters and parodies, and flesh tone human survivors in the vein of famous action heroes.

They were quite popular and well-received, but between the fourth set and the release of the fifth, they pulled the plug on the line.  This isn't particularly strange in toy lines, even so in niche lines like keshi figures, but what made it odd was that both fifth and sixth sets were rumored to be complete and ready for shipping.  Pictures on the internet exist of the figures and of the set lists, but that's it.  To this day, none of the figures have surfaced, so S,L,U.G. Zombies are truly in a situation where they could crawl out of their graves and walk the earth one day in the future.  Only time will tell.

Grossed-Out 2 Electric Boogerloo!

Moments after posting my first blog about slimy minifigures, I couldn't believe I forgot one of the all-time classic in slimy, ugly-looking, toy lines.  How could I have ever let Miniboglins off my initial impression.  Wow, such a slip up there, but maybe I was speaking more of my personal experience growing up.

I had one of the regular sized Boglin puppets growing up, and it was a great toy.  I would have really enjoyed the minifigure line too, but I think that kept close to Europe for the most part.  I do have a small bit in my collection, but I'm always looking for more.

Although not slimy, Boglins and Miniboglins were mutated-looking swamp monsters that had a Gremlins look to them.  They had the perfect look for scary yet cute monster characters.

While I am here, I did forget to mention a couple new lines that also should get a mention.  The first is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Mutagen Ooze from Nickelodeon and Playmates.  The canister for the ooze and minifigure is exactly what the ooze containers look like in the cartoon, so it's very cool you can bring home something that looks like a life-size prop.  Inside, you get a nice glob of various colored ooze, primarily metallic blue-green, with a random tiny pre-mutated ninja turtle figure.

The minifigures are cool, but there are not too many to collect.  A complete set is only four, one for each of the brothers, but I suppose that makes sense too.  It would have made sense to see a bigger collection, but I suppose it's best for the younger crowd to get all the turtles the easiest.  I'm also not sure what they could have done to make the set bigger, aside from chase variants.

To close out part two, I want to make mention of the Marvel Test Tube Goos that are hitting stores now.  Now, I do understand Marvel might not be in the keshi scene, so I shouldn't expect too much.  Even so, these fall really short for me.  I do have some random Marvel minifigures in my keshi collection, and I would have loved to add some more American characters into the lot, but these guys are not making the cut.

It's okay that's it's not necessarily random.  Inside the Hulk tube you get a Hulk figure, and I'm okay with that.  In fact, the metallic gold goo is pretty impressive, but the figures have one enormous flaw.  For whatever reason, the figure inside the tube is connected to the inside of the cap and cannot be removed.  This leaves the figure always standing on a giant unattractive figure base, unless you feel confident enough to start hacking it with a knife.  Even freeing it with a knife or something, doesn't that immediately ruin any sort of value between collectors?  They could have easily used the same material on both the figure and the cap, but refused to use more than one mold.  That is unfortunate, because I feel that would be a giant deterrent to classic keshi figures, effectively making it a product just for ooze fans.  So, then why make the figure at all?

Beam Me Up!

I haven't seen them in person yet, but I'm sure they are invading toy shelves around the country as we speak.  It's the Crashlings from Wicked Cool Toys, and I admit, I really dig these guys.  In their initial set, they have 150 minifigures to collect, from aliens to monsters to dinosaurs and insects.

They come pseudo-blind bag form with a blister package revealing a one or two minifigures to set your collection.  The rest are hidden inside rubber meteors that function as a popper for your Crashlings.  Separate your meteor in halves,turn one half inside out, place a Crashling inside, and watch it fly through the air.  Cool gimmick, I suppose.

The big draw for me is that haven't gone overboard with the Crashling minifigures themselves.  They are almost fully unpainted, which is a plus for classic collectors, and they look to be the right 1-2 inch size.  They do have paint applications on eyes and tongues and such, but that doesn't kill it for me.  If paint was covering them, then maybe.

There are also rare variants that are molded in a metallic silver or gold plastic, which is always a welcome addition to a set.  Chase figures are always fun to pull from a blind bag, box, or in this case meteor.

I certainly look forward to collect these little guys when they crash land in my area.