Coming out of lurk mode for a sec guys. I'm currently experiencing long radio silence with my good bud Velocitron. No word since mid Feb. and needless to say am very concerned for Ricky. Anybody out there in internetland or in the realworld seen or heard from him? Would appreciate any info
I expect you've thought of this but try messaging Necronomidol on their English Facebook page, maybe? They've been touring recently, so maybe he's on tour with them and a bit out of the loop?
I run into him in Tokyo by chance once in a while. Ran into his wife and little girl in IKEA a couple months back. Not really in touch these days besides random encounters. AFAIK everyone's OK.
OK, from the stuff I've gathered from credible sources, it seems that I wont be hearing from Ricky anymore. I'm not sure where my molds are and who has them. There is a kind soul that is currently tracking it down and I'm hoping that that person will be able to secure it. I understand that there is some rules and etiquettes in Japanese factories that may complicate the process. From what I hear there are a few people out there that are in worse position than I am. Those guys will never see their toys see the light of day. I'm real surprised honestly cause I've treated Ricky with nothing but the highest regard and respect. I've been more than patient through the whole process and it seems that was my misfortune to do so.
It seems like a lot of faith was put in the wrong people and it has lead to a lot of wasted time and pre madonnas leaving people in the dark on there projects
@Robert DeCastro That's a major pain in the arse mate, sorry to hear about that. I assume he's quit the toy game for good? Its weird because Ricky was always a total gentleman, it seems out of character of him to leave people hanging. He always seemed really dedicated to sofubi and toy making.
I heard he owes a lot of money to the Vinyl producers. Basically they are holding the molds and wont release them till his debt is paid.
I also feel like he bit off way more than he could chew. I remember emailing back and forth with him a bit when I was still in the brainstorming stage of my Asphaerius toy and he was all ready to throw out numbers for production cost and yadda yadda. That stinks. I hope everything gets sorted out on his end quickly. Being in debt sucks hard.
Yeah this is all a big surprise for us. We've always held him in high regards and never had cross words with each other. We pay our bills early to the point where I'm practically buggin him to send us an invoice for services rendered. He seems heavy into (I heard) some Japanese idol group he's managing. I've been emailing him saying that it's totally cool if he doesn't want to do the toy thing anymore and I just want the molds either sent back or transferred to another outfit. No words still. We've already lost the molds for our robots in China. I'm praying that our molds wont end up the same way in Japan. At this point Atomic Mushroom toys and myself is dead in the water. We're looking for a new producer/factory to make toys with so far nothing really solid. I've asked fellow toys makers but,,well i'll just say I totally understand the reluctance and no hard feelings.
I want to state up front that I am not victim-blaming, but I'm wondering, why did people use Velocitron? Did he have a good track record before he disappeared? Why would he have been selected over someone like Don Kratzer at Fig-Lab or Eiji Kaminaga at Marusan? EDIT: I guess this thread is worth linking to in case people didn't follow it: http://skullbrain.org/bb/index.php?threads/huexólotl-•-chauskoskis.48463/
So does that mean I can buy my mold out of hawk? I have been trying to get the creep mold back and it’s been nothing but dead ends that whole side of things is beyond frustrating. I’ve had sculpts sitting in limbo for years.
Do you know which factory has the molds? If so, how would you prove to them that the design is yours?
Seems like the only chance at finding a solution to this maddenly widespread problem is banding together - in public and/or in private we should try to find as many victims of this crime against art as possible --- compare stories, etc. Perhaps a well-translated group letter to the factory could come out of it and open up dialog a bit between here and the Great East. Also, we should tell his mom.
I like the part about telling his mom! Are there any SBer's in Japan who could be delegates for retrieving the lost molds?
Ricky stepped up to the plate several years ago and offered to help me produce my Parasight figure. At the time I had no one I could turn to to help me. Things where good in the beginning but slowly I noticed that his communication was slow in the response dept and progressively got worse. It took a long time to get the wax/tooling done but I just thought that's how long it usually takes. I'm still waiting for orders for blanks that was supposed to be done last year. No money was sent but all I get are promises that never get fulfilled. I'd contact those guys you mentioned but experience has shown me that you just dont hit these guys up out of the blue without a proper intro from someone who's "in". I did that with Obitsu several years back but since I'm not big like MVH I just got cricket sounds,lol.
Do any gaijin deal directly with Obitsu? I can imagine there's some sort of middleman involved. The prospect of a "rescue mission" sounds like a nightmare: trying to find out where these factories are, what they have, and how to contact them, then trying to prove to them that the designs are yours, and negotiating the release of the tooling. I think you're better off trying to find his mom.
Any movement on this? Any and all info would be GREATLY appreciated!!! After the custom Picklebaby show I saw real traction and had six different parties put down deposits for runs. Thankfully I deposited that cash and was able to return it, but damn that was a crippling personal setback. Worse yet I'd hate to think some tiny mom & pop operation is out the coin and thinking I screwed them!!
This whole thread is a fucking nightmare. So many people who made toys for the fun of doing it and probably never came close to making their money back all getting screwed by one guy who everyone trusted. Scary shit. Regardless of how this place feels about Frank Kozik his brand of showing up at your house to get some justice sure is missed.
Everyone who used Ricky, your molds are at Maruyama factory. If you haven’t done so contact Cory Of science Patrol. The first step is him locating the mold. Once he finds it he can likely step in and help you get pulls. He’s posted about this before. You’re just wasting time trying to get a response from Ricky. There is hope, he has helped me and several others.
Cory is the "kind soul" I spoke of earlier. You're right the molds are in one of the factories controlled by Maruyama. Which one is not certain and there is also some rules/etiquettes that are getting in the way that prevents Cory from taking over another one of Ricky's abandoned projects. Cory right now is our only light in a long dark tunnel and we're crossing fingers hoping for the best.