Re: Xenomorph lotto, I just had a nice laugh at the latest M-W consignment listing... ¥410,000 for the MVH custom, lol.
what a bunch of assholes. A webshop posted a toy fs yesterday and m-w concurrently posted an offering for it at a 10k yen premium excluding shipping + their BS "sorry we didn't get this but we've got your money now so buy something else from us later" shenanigans.
Check out the photos from the event: http://sofvi.tokyo/180819_alien/ Looks pretty rad, especially with the prop replicas and extra art sculptures. Wish I could have participated.
Anybody got the latest VAG series (MVH, Jetturre) yet? I'm guessing Medicom have changed factories recently because this new series has a very rough feeling (like powder/gritty), quite smelly, and the glossy Ollies have a tacky feeling. At first I thought the rough texture was the paint, but it is the base vinyl as well - that gritty "western vinyl" feeling. Quite a few out of the ten figures I bought had burn/rub marks on them. The joints are quite rough as well. Pretty disappointing considering the great quality of previous Vinyl Artist Gacha releases.
I got one for $5 in Akihabara, but I haven’t taken it out of the plastic. It’s the metallic orange one.
$90?? For five 500yen figures? Or did you have bad luck at the gacha machine? If it's anything like mine, it will be quite slick to the touch (due to the gloss spray to enhance the metallics I assume) and have a strong smell. I'm not saying this stuff to talk shit on any artists - I'm just disappointed that the quality in this series seems to have taken a huge dive. As far as I understood, every VAG series has been produced in China and I was largely impressed with everything I had received over the past couple of years. Maybe they had no other option than to go with a less than desirable factory - due to other places being tied up and a steady increase in orders.
Well, they sold out everywhere fast so I grabbed a set off eBay unfortunately. That's what they costed. I was really unhappy with the dirty wash on the kikkake monkeys (vag) and am just really hoping the Ollies are nice...because I'm excited for them.
So THIS is why I keep seeing the 2 new color ways of Ymir pop up in Instagram! I’ve been on the hunt for Ymir for years, and was shocked to find 1 at both Mandarake locations I’ve visited in Tokyo. But, both have been the same pink/dark green color, so I keep holding out hoping to find this dark green and silver version with red eyes. Now that I know they are from this more recent Medicom release, the Mandarake prices seem even more excruciating What seems like a fair price for these newer Harryhausen releases to all you experts? I just want the figure, the edition doesn’t matter to me, but it’s hard to swallow paying over ¥20,000. PS: I’m new here and traveling. Was trying to get my SkullBrain account working before I left, but had no posting/reply privileges for some reason. Please forgive any poor Fresh Meat etiquette, thank you.
In my opinion the PIlot Ace Harryhausen line are some of the best soft vinyl toys ever made, all of them, the Ymir, Dragon, and Cyclops variants. 4 years ago or so, I passed on an original dragon for probably at the time 150, I regretted it since. I have bought both ymirs, the pink cyclops, and the green dragon at secondary market prices, they ranged roughly between 220-300 each. I have no regrets. Retail on these in my opinion is incredibly low for the quality and history of the figure. In a market where people are routinely asking 200-300 or even more for standard size new releases—These toys put those figures to shame.
100% agree on the quality and the overall visual impact is stunning. I gotta get this thing, I’m just trying to verify I’m getting the best deal possible (the second shop already had a better price than the first). Or at least find my favorite color somewhere. Yet, the more I look at these blue eyed pink/green versions, the more I question which really is my favorite I wonder if I should try the Medicom store? They seem to mostly have Kubricks though.
You probably already know, but there are several Medicom shops in Tokyo. I seem to recall the one in Shibuya (Project 1/6?) having the most non-Kubrick toys, whereas the Sky Tree and Omote-sando locations were more Kubrick heavy.
@JoeMan Couldn’t agree more, dude. I got the two horned Cyclops, from eBay of all places, for $160 and was elated. Once it got to my house I couldn’t believe just how goddamn awesome and huge of a toy it is. And while the paint app is rather simple, it’s so reflective of the actual monster from the films, and the stance is perfect. I’ve yet to see an Ymir or Taro in hand, but maybe at DCon with the Medicom booth. It is super bad ass to see the Cyclops wielding the club finally getting a release now.
I know nothing I’ve only seen what photos pop up in google results for each Medicom shop and users only post pics of zillions of Kubricks. But who knows how recent the photos are, plus some people may only photograph their personal interests ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Thank you all for the advice and info!
Shogun Warriors Godzilla & Chogokin MechaG in soft vinyl?! (photos stolen from YJA) Also spotted what looks like a new Harryhausen variant:
As far as I know these were both WF releases, which is unfortunate, given a company like Medicom. They have always been more or less about getting larger number releases out to fans, open pre-orders, and even offering some versions of 'difficult to obtain' makers through their channels, which for many was the only way to get them. Seeing them go in the opposite direction, to an exclusive event-only release, is sort of unfortunate. But more so on a personal level because I completely adore both of those figures. I would sign up in a heartbeat for that Goji duo, but alas, at the prices they are already going for on the aftermarket, don't think that will be happening. Let's hope somehow this release was an early 'preview' for a wider distribution later perhaps.
I saw a new, yellow based Pilot Ace Cyclops, too. Beautifully painted, but also the original version without the club wielding hand. The Shogun Godzilla and Chogokin Mecha are so, so fantastically wonderful. I hope those come about in the usual Medicom pre - order style!
Thank you, Mark! WOW. Those are much more detailed photos than what I’d seen on Mandarake! That silver/teal metallic on the back is so nice!!!
