Strange Monsters: Tug O' War Preview!

I've certainly been covering a lot of Japanese keshi lately, with Wonderfest and all, but that's by no means where the good stuff is.  Well, sure, maybe there is an argument for that.  You all know my absolute love for the new Kinnikuman promotional stuff, as well as the utter heartbreak on missing the Punk Drunkers x Onion Fights release, but still, there's a ton of great stuff being made by artist here at home.

Zectron, of the Disarticulators, has been working on something a little special that I think is worth your attention.  He, along with a few other independent artists, is doing something of a keshi all-stars series, centered around Japanese kaiju inspiration.

It's called Strange Monsters, which is awesome, because that might actually be the exact translation of what kaiju means.  That aside, Zectron has been working hard on his submission for Strange Monsters and I think it's quite the beast.

Take a look at Tug O' War!

Granted this is still a piece he's working on.  It's not the final product, but even with these early photos, the minifigure looks just outstanding.

You can look at the design of this character and see how it would lurk just under water level, waiting for a poor ship to pass him in the bay before leaping up and destroying everything in his path.  The pose is just electric and really gives you an idea of what this strange monster is all about.

Last year, when I was writing about the art in the simplicity of keshi, I had detailed why I enjoy the toy medium over others with less restrictions.  I felt making something great in keshi, even in the face of immense restrictions, showed expert-level design and talent, and I feel this piece is right there.  I can't wait to see this guy completed and hitting the market.

Keshi Weekend Recovery!

Boy, let me tell you, what a crazy week it was for toy collectors and me particularly.  Of course, across the Pacific, Japan was enjoying the first Wonderfest for 2015, and in the States, October Toys was doing their annual marathon, 24 Hour Toy Break.  Not to mention, plenty of keshi were being released all across the globe.

I did what I could, but I'll tell you, the marathon just drained me completely.  Even so, I completely forgot about that amazing Punk Drunkers x Onion Fights keshi that I wanted so much.  By the time I remembered the next day, it was long sold out.  My heart is broken, but now, I have a goal for this year.  I will find that keshi in my collection.

Besides that, however, everything else was really fun.  It felt, even super far away from Japan and even California, there was something of a keshi convention going on everywhere on the Internet.  Instagram was on fire with convention photos and the 24 Toy Break stream was fun to watch from start to finish.  I really tried to stay up for the entire time, but I failed a little here and there.  I even bought a four-pack of energy drinks, but a couple cans of that stuff in and I had a massive headache, so it was working against me.  Soon, I had my eyes closed and turned from the screen just so my head wasn't pounding, and then... I woke up a few hours later.

Even missing a couple hours, I think I scored a fine haul.  Every release October Toys had in limited quantities I was able to snag before they sold out.  I even angrily bought the quasar set I had my eye on, just for missing that Punk Drunker.  And as an even better ending to the weekend, I was able to purchase the new set of Kinnikuman X Georgia Coffee promotional keshi figures.

Overall, it was a great time.  It very much felt like a convention, which makes me want to travel to Designer Con this fall or all the way to WonderFest someday as well.  It was fun, but boy, have I been tired.  Completely wiped out.  Even fully rested, I was overwhelmed by the keshi/toy world, I just couldn't really think straight about adding anything to the website, but I'm certainly fine to go now and I can't wait to do it all over again.

24 Hour Toy Break Drops!

All this weekend, the team over at October Toys is doing a marathon event filled with news, reviews, auctions, and special guest visits.  It's starts this Friday at 5pm PST and will end 5pm PST the next day.

There hasn't been much talk to what will be happening through the marathon, but it's always been a fun time, and for the first time, it appears I'll be able to hang out through most, if not all, of the event.  So, come chat with me during the event - just don't outbid me on auctions!


Some things were announced however on the latest Toy Break.  This month's OTMFG releases will be on sale a little earlier than usual and will be hitting their online store during the marathon.

The releases this month are a clear purple Zombie Pheyden and a dark blue Mini Gwin.  Another cool announcement is the light blue Toy Break Mascot character being released during the marathon as well.  October Toys announced that his variant of this figure is quite limited and if a light-blue character like interests you, you better dive into the events quick.

Finally, a pack of 10 flesh tone Mordles, both bare flesh and flesh with black details, from the fine people at Toyfinity, exclusive to October Toys, will also be released upon their webstore.

Even if you're not into keshi, all kinds of designer vinyl and art will be there, as well as hot, hot, news from some of the most talented artists in America.  If nothing else, come by and chat will all us collectors.




For more news about 24 Hour Toy Break and all of the October Toys goodness and minifigures, check out the link below!

http://octobertoys.com/

Onion Fights x Punk Drunkers Drop!

Collaborations in the toy community sometimes bring the coolest products forward.  There's something about the collision of two different artistic minds coming together that brings out the very best for us collectors and supporters, and really, I think this stranger-than-hell guy is a perfect example of just that.

Slated for a February 8th release, this mash-up between keshi studio Onion Fights and fashion designers Punk Drunkers is just perfect for a collector like me.  Let's be real for a second - this guy, and in particular his facial expression, is just bonkers, but I love that.  His body has that thick, chunky, Kinnikuman-esque form we've come to expect from Onion Fights, but wow, this guy is all about that freaky face that the artists involved executed flawlessly.

If you had a curious house guest looking over your keshi collection, I would have to imagine this minifigure alone would spark curiosity and conversation.  This guy, with that almost serial killer-like stare, is so captivating and enthralling, it's hard to not stare, even as odd as he looks.  If that was the intention, then I would consider it a home run.

If you can't see it in the fine print there, he'll be on sale for 1,800 yen (about $15) from the Punk Drunkers web-store.  Readers here may know how restricted my keshi budget is most times, and usually I would say something like this would be a bit too much, but I think this guy is quite the exception.  I'd hate to say it so early in the year, because it's only February, but I am in just in love this figure and I'm not sure if I can connect to another keshi as much as this freak this year.  I just have to own one.  I just hope they ship to the States.

And you can own one too!  Click the link below for info and more awesome things Punk Drunkers have up for sale!

http://www.punk-d.com/news/

Newtervision Black Karnov Wonderfest Drop!

Recently revealed on their Instagram feed, there is more keshi goodness on the horizon if you're in the Land of the Rising Sun this weekend.  February 8th is the winter-version of the Wonder Festival, and we've already seen all kinds of limited-edition offerings from various artists and studio.  Today, we can add one more to the bunch.

The talented Newtervision will be releasing a new black colorway of his licensed Karnov keshi.  Any retro gamer will recognize this Russian brute and his ladder.  If you haven't played it on the old Nintendo back in the 80's, check out some gamers on Youtube and Twitch that cover Karnov and all kinds of 8-bit awesomeness like him.  They'll catch you up to why Karnov is such an enjoyable character, despite being so obscure.

This won't be Newtervision's only offering at Wonder Fest.  The previously released variants in blue, green, and classic flesh, will also be there, just in case you've missed them last summer.

I honestly wish I can make it to Japan for an amazing keshi trip, but it's just not in the cards at this moment.  It's not all lost though, these great little dudes will be reaching the secondary market for sure.

Newtervision has a blog about his work and stuff going on.  Check it out sometime, and if you can show up and support him at Wonder Fest, I assure you, you won't regret it.

http://newtervision.blogspot.com/

Q&A with Mark Vasquez, Mystical Warriors of The Ring!

Hey, it’s Mark Vasquez, everyone, creator of Mystical Warriors of the Ring! Thanks for dropping in and answering a few questions.  They are all super-serious, I swear, but first, congrats on Goliath, like, instantly selling out!  He’s a neat one, for sure!  I hope you see that sort of success with the rest of your releases this year and on.  So, Mark, are you ready for a few random, poorly worded, questions?  All right!  Let’s do this!

Q1 - Where did the idea for Mystical Warriors of the Ring come from?  Any inspiration from toys you grew up with as a kid?

It come out my love for all things wrestling, I grew up in the 80's when wrestling was over the top, with colorful characters and big long arching storylines. Over the past 30 years that has all changed and the format now is all about realism, breaking down the third wall, and being a heavy soap opera. I also grew up with Kinnikuman which as we know had their toyline adapted in the US as M.U.S.C.L.E. I have always collected minifigures of sorts (Army Ants, Micro Machines, etc) so when you combine the two you end up with the essence of MWOTR.

Q2 - I have to say, the quality of your minis are pretty amazing.  What would you say is the hardest part or stage in the process?

Thanks, we often keep trying to push the limits in terms of detailing. The hardest part I would say is designing the pose, especially with production overseas. I like my minifigures to be able to play with each other, whereas a lot of minifigures are just static poses not meant to really do anything but look great. My desire can be a pain in the butt sometimes.

What you can accomplish in Resin/Urethane/Rubber casting is a bit more lenient then what you can do with PVC. This is not to say you can't replicate this in PVC production, it is just the more parts and the more steel means more expenses. So what was maybe a 1 or 2 piece affordable mold in other material becomes a multi piece expensive piece of steel molding in PVC and makes some figures extremely costly to produce. Goliath was an example of this and why he was not included in Series 1.

But with that said I have an extremely hard working and insanely talented team surrounding me since 2012. Marty "THEGODBEAST" Hansen, Josh and Adam at TrueCast Studio (prototypers for NECA and Sideshow Collectibles), Lee Burbridge of BigManToys, my concept artist Jazyl Homavazir and of course the man who sculpts the minis in the amazing detail they are Simon Grell. Without them MWOTR would simply be a cool idea I have in my head and not what it has become today.
 
Q3 – I’m not sure if you’re a die-hard pro-wrestling fan, but this year’s Royal Rumble just happened.  Of course, as it’s creator, you get the final say in that universe, so who would have won this year’s Royal Rumble in MWOTR?

Die-Hard fan would probably not explain me enough, I own stock in WWE and subscribe to Japanese wrestling video services so probably obsessive wrestling fan would be better lol

I think if we were to have a rumble with the Top 30 MWOTR stars I would have to say the winner would most likely be Sheldon Sabre. To win a battle royale you would need more then just strength and smarts, you have to have experience and patience.
 
Q4 – I think one of the raddest things about MWOTR is the on-going story of its characters and championship.  Does Sheldon Sabre have his title again? And if not, why have you forsaken him?

Sheldon has an unfortunate obsession with being Champion. He is a two time AWF Heavyweight Champion, and lost the title to Widowmaker at the end of Issue III. To be fair he should not have won it back in Issue II but what can you do.

Sheldon is a character you really get to have fun with, an insane amount of in-ring skill and an over the top personality makes for entertainment. Sheldon deserves everything that he gets, good and bad. At the end of Issue IV he will be taking the AWF down a very dangerous path and he might not like what and who is coming.
 
Q5 – If MWOTR could have a wrestling feud with one other independent toy company whom would it be and why?

 That is a toughie, I would say if I had a choice I would want them to battle someone like Onion Fights in Japan (http://ameblo.jp/onion-fights) simply because they are the most like us which is cool and I think would make for a pretty entertaining "when worlds collide" event ala the old NWA/WCW vs New Japan events or the current CMLL vs New Japan events.





Q6 – What can fans of the minis expect to see from MWOTR this year?

They can expect Series 2 to finally be released in the late Spring, we are still working on some of the tiny details on the masters to get them to where I want them. If I had to guess maybe a C2E2 debut or shortly after! They can also expect to see some of the characters that may be released in Series 3. As fans know we tend to show off a variety of characters over the course of a year, some make it in the PVC line and others do not. Fans have seen 1/2 of the Fortune Seekers, will they see the other 1/2? Fans have seen Lapin Loco but not Winged Fury. So there are still plenty of surprises for minifigure fans, the biggest misconception that people seemed to have was that we somehow abandoned that format with Evolution Goliath.

We are constantly playing with new formats and trying to expand "the brand" to new audiences (you will see more neat things on that front in late 2015 and 2016), but none of that ever means we are leaving the 1.5-3" scale. It just means to survive and thrive we want to introduce the characters to multiple audiences. Kinnikuman does that in Japan and thrives more than 30 years after its debut because of it, WWE does the same. It is simply the "business" part of making toys 


Q7 – Will you be attending any conventions this year?  Where can people meet you and see the championship belt?

Currently we are set to be at the following cons, more may be added:

Kansas City Planet Comicon 3/13-3/15 http://planetcomicon.com/
Chicago's C2E2 (At the Nerd City Booth) 4/24-4/26 http://www.c2e2.com/
Wizard World Des Moines 6/12-6/14 http://www.wizardwor...-desmoines.html
Des Moines I-Con (Dates TBD) http://www.iowacomicbookclub.com/i-con
D-Con in Pasadena 11/21-11/22 http://www.designercon.com/

Q8 – Okay, final question! Gamera or Godzilla?

Gamera is cool but I would have to say Godzilla, you can see some influence from Godzilla in Goliath and Godzilla is just so iconic.

Thanks for dropping by again, Mark!  I had fun!  Hopefully you did too! Let’s do this again sometime soon!  And of course, check out more of Mark's offerings at the Mystical Warriors of the Ring website and webstore!  Click 'em and check them out!
http://mystwarriors.com/blog/
http://mystwarriors.com/shop.htm

MWOTR Evolution Goliath Review!

So, the time has come!  I have received the sold-out metallic green Goliath minifigure from the Mystical Warriors of the Ring line today in the mail.  I have it in my hands.  I can smell it with my nose.  So let's do this already and review it, no holds barred!

First off, the color looks great.  It's a very natural and fitting choice for this character, however I never really felt the standard flesh tone took away from the figure.  I was curious and somewhat suspicious to see it launch in this green, but I think it works well.

The details are nice, but maybe a bit too safe in some areas.  Maybe this can lend itself to the Glyos compatibly, because I'd love to see a Goliath head and face that tells us what sort of character this guy is.  Is he cruel or kind?  He's certainly huge, and really that's all he conveys for me.  I do really like his elbow pads, however, which I have forgotten to show, but the gator logo on them is a pretty awesome touch.

He feels really nice in my hands.  There's quite a lot of weight to this guy and even pieces like his tail don't feel like an afterthought.  As a complete figure, he's pretty chunky and spiky, and that's never a bad thing.  Sure, he'd never fit in a gumball capsule, but maybe in some alternate world, you could imagine this guy part of a "collect and built him yourself" set, which thinking now, may be a pretty neat idea.

I know how weird it's going to sound now that I gripe about it's lack of articulation, but don't lose me quite yet.  Sure, I would have loved one hunk of gator, but a good alternative to that, would be a hunk of gator in a sweet pose.  Goliath is full of all sorts of articulation:  head/neck, shoulder, wrists, tail, and legs, but I think it's missing some elbow love.  Bending this guy around, you get a few neat and interesting poses, except when you want this guy to grapple another character of the MWOTR line.  He sort of Frankensteins forward, and I think an elbow cut before or after the elbow pad would have helped him out with that, just that much more, but this sort of stuff should really be the last thing I complain about.

And finally the smell - perfect.

Overall, MWOTR made a really decent figure, and what's strange is this guy is so adaptable, any gripes I had could be adjusted in future releases.  They could release a new, nasty, snarling, face, and some jointed elbows, and he could be a completely new figure.  That could be the most exciting part.  Will there be a hand with a steel chair in it?  Will there be arms with 80's arm tassels?  Who knows, but there's nothing stopping them.

With all the suspicion I gave it earlier, I think it changed my mind on most categories, at least the ones that matter the most.  And as inexpensive as they charged for this guy, he was vey much worth the review alone, but this guy certainly is in the collection, chilling out with the rest of his MWOTR brothers.

For more information, drop by their website and give them some love, and hopefully some greenbacks too.  Click the links below!

http://mystwarriors.com/blog/
http://mystwarriors.com/shop.htm

Kinnikuman X Georgia Coffee Series Two!

Last year, Kinnikuman did a promotional deal with Georgia Coffee, where inside limited edition canisters of their coffee, they received one of six free Kinnikuman keshis.  These strange but cool figures were exclusive to the Japanese products, but they found themselves on trading forums and auction websites pretty quick.  A set even found a way to travel to my own collection, which was certainly a highlight of my collecting last year.

Well, it appears they are at it again, bigger and badder, with a second series!  I don't read Japanese, so someone please help me out on this one, but it looks like these limited edition cans with have a pair of promotion Kinnikuman keshi inside, depending on the character on the bubble.  And with eight bubbles, that brings the total miniature count of this series to a whopping sixteen!

That's pretty rad, if you ask me.  I really enjoyed the last set, so you best believe this set is high on the priority list.  I'll certainly be keeping an eye out on forums and auctions to see if they surface anytime soon, but I wonder, what sort of worth would this series generate?

The first set came out of the gate red hot.  It was getting top dollar for a Kinnikuman keshi, but as time went on, the market found there was more than enough of these guys in Japan to share with collectors everywhere else.  Series One is still very awesome to collect, and I believe you should, but it's not going to be your rare find.  I wonder if the same effect, if not more, will happen to this set.  That effect happened to a set of six.  This set is sixteen.  Are they flooding it or have they build enough interest with the first set to expand?  

Either way, I hope the promotional is successful and they continue what they are doing.  I sure will be looking out for this set, and future sets they release, really no matter how common.

http://www.georgia.jp/chojin/

Winter Wonderfest 2015 Shamrock Arrows!

If you thought the last few drops I've covered were easy-peasy, well I have a challenge for you!

Wonder Festival is a toy convention that happens twice a year in Japan.  It's big selling point, among the sea of vendors, are the one-day license limited editions.  These guys are just that done by the amazing artists at Shamrock Arrow.

These two packs are color variants previously released at the last Wonder Festival, and include some of the more gorgeous keshi in the world.

I have limited knowledge about the Japanese studio, Shamrock Arrow, but I am already a fan.  At first, I had actually confused their miniatures as Zoomoth's, but in fact, I guess I wasn't the only one.  I've seen multiple eBay auctions incorrectly listing them as Zoomoth.  I suppose, if nothing else, it makes you wonder if it's a new studio from a familiar artist or just a team equally as talented.

Wonder Festival is February 8th, and that will be the only time these sick puppies will be able to be sold.  If you can't make it there, you'll may be looking at a giant price increase on the secondary market.  A mule would be the most reasonable option, but still these guys, and getting these guys, are hardcore.

I personally love this quality of stuff.  Zoomoth is one of my favorite studios and these guys rocket Shamrock Arrow right up there too.  I would love to travel to Japan sometime, meet the artists, and throw wads of yen at them for these gorgeous keshi, but at this time, it may not be in the budget.  One day, I hope.  Of course, when I do, I'll cover every bit of it for the blog.

Lil' Gotham Keshi Preorder!

The big talk around the keshi water-cooler is what's coming out of the Kotobukiya camp in Japan.  I have limited experience from these toy manufacturers, but I have a model from their Frame Arms line.  It's a giant plastic mecha akin to a Gundam, but also looking at their website and seeing what they have to offer, I would guess Kotobukiya would be a good comparison to NECA for us in the States.

What's got everyone buzzing is they have a keshi series on preorder.  Maybe this is something new for these guys, and that's why, either way, it's exciting to see something like this come up.  It's even being marketed as a throwback and homage to Kinnikuman, so we die-hard fans can only hope this sparks some interest on a wider scale.

The series is called Lil' Gotham and is an interesting style on the Batman franchise. I personally like the hard-cut, blocky, look of these guys.  They have an obvious anime influence, which isn't a bad thing at all, especially if you want them to match other traditional Japanese keshi more than your Handful of Heroes.

This 7 piece set is looking at a May release and is currently on preorder at AmiAmi.  Keep in mind, they are a Japanese webstore, so who knows how much shipping is and all that.  But, these guys may not find their way near us any other way.  For more information, check out the link below!

Lil' Gotham Preorders at AmiAmi

ROTB Army Green Drop!

Another awesome drop is right around the corner!

The artists over at LittleRubberGuys have been teasing their Army Green variants of their Series 1 Rise of the Beasts minifigures, and now we have a set date and time for their arrival.

Tomorrow, Thursday the 29th, at 7pm PST these guys will be available to purchase, both in painted and unpainted goodness, in what I am sure will be limited quantities.

If you followed the recent release of Goliath from Mystical Warriors of the Ring, you'll know it took only hours after their release on their website for that guy to sell completely out.  That's more common than you expect.  These are independent artists releasing high-quality minifigures in small batches.  There is simply no room in this community to wait.  You have to mark drop dates on a calendar and jump on the opportunity to get what you want before you potentially lose it forever.

These Series 1 figures came out in a variety of colorways the first time they were released, and still, some miniatures in some variants sold out.  This drop is one color way, so you have to imagine, like Goliath, this is going to be quite the competitive release.  These guys may not be available much longer than a couple hours after their initial drop, so make sure you're in it to win it.

Don't let this classic green army beasts pass you by!  Click this link down here and push your way to the front of the line!

http://littlerubberguys.storenvy.com/

MWOTR Goliath Drop!

Get your checkbooks ready for today's super-big release!

Mystical Warriors of the Ring is dropping the first in their Evolution line with a shiny green Goliath figure.

This beautifully-shiny green guy is a sizable bit larger than the rest of the figures made, and he's also Gylos-compatible, which means he comes in a number of locking pieces, all of which interchange with other Gylos friendly figures.

Anyone that's been around here for any sort of time knows of the beating Keshi Drop has given poor Mark and his Evolution ideas, but you know what, things have happened since that Ramblings post.  We picked up some Mutant Mania, some Rise of the Beasts, and we found out some tricky minifigures were multi-parted but glued during production.  If nothing else, we learned that opinions and feelings can change awfully quick when you have the thing sitting in your hand.

It drops today, Tuesday January 27th, at Noon Central Time on their website.  Be there and be square, google the time differences if you need to, because I'm guessing this guy goes quick.  He's new, he's Glyos, he's shiny green - there's a lot to this guy people are really going to like.  You're gonna' have to make sure you're in the front of the line, and for only $6, there's really no reason why not to.

Give Mark and MWOTR some love and greenbacks at his webstore by clicking the link below!
http://mystwarriors.com/blog/
http://mystwarriors.com/shop.htm

As always, thanks for stopping by everyone!

UPDATE:  Goliath has sold out!  That's how it works in the keshi world, everyone!  You gotta' be ready for these drops and on point. Luckily, if you missed it, there will always been more color variants coming out to grab.  Just keeping checking in with the MWOTR website.