Pretty cool so far. I'm really curious what ever happened to the Baphomet design he was working on. I just checked the old blog and all of the entries about it are gone.
Oh my! That is a really nice mecha gorilla! Now I know everyone is going to chime in and say this is being made because of the Gorilla Ju/ Mecha Ju popularity BUT this sculpt has merits all on it's own. Maybe it might be more 'available' than the Mecha Ju?
Yes. However, TE has a proven track record of being the "me too" company. Like their "take" on Bemon (KK). Why don't they dig up their own stuff to bootleg? Seems like they just specialize in riding coattails.
They could be. I had always assumed they did these with the artist/company approval. Target Earth did this sculpt based on Maza and later Garimpo released this Maza based on Target Earth's paint ap.
not that it needs said but these folks are all in the same Nakama. they all dig old sci-fi and vintage plastic dinosaurs etc. All these artists are friends, they all make kooky monsters i love and hope to see more. sadly tho very few companies make old time monsters these days. aint no shame in making a great likeness of a vintage character but maybe folks not know that.. mecha jyu is vintage in origin and species. is it a rip that so many company had done takes of hedorah? glad that aint true for me because the Sofvilife is my #1 favorite. Target Earth has many original sculpt of lost characters, Gaichan, Faceless Bull etc. Mosugon 2 is from IKB so Honda-san made his minds eye, Sato-san made his own plus the mini mosugon 2 rules. TBT, there are 1000s of ancient moribund creatures waiting unborn. if not for Sato-san, we would never be enjoying IKB reissues or any other old time space monster or weird kaiju via the output of Hukkokudo. its fine to have an opinion but please respect those who deserve it. i wanna see mini go-jyu and mechagorilla
Good point you're making here Kichi, I'm not really diggin' what I'm seeing in these shots but that's just my personal opinion and tbh I can't think for a second that Sato-San is ripping off someone, the mecha jyu is like a jazz standard, a bit like a hedorah or any of the other popular characters that inhabit this world.
I enjoy seeing other companies take on the same monsters. There are parts of this I like, mainly the stance and the arms. However, HS did an all over better job with making the shapes more appealing and more cohesive. Mainly the body on this guy feels like a generic robot body, not a gorilla body turned into a robot. I'm also not digging the colorway where HS use of color is usually simple but perfect.
How long has the HS one been out? Sculpting, getting the licensing worked out, and then producing a toy takes quite some time. In the past figures like Puckey were released at almost the same time by multiple companies. I wonder if the maker actually would be informing companies that they can license there figure or something... The more I know about toy production in Japan the more things I'm scratching my head about.. ha ha
Agree on the body. I love the HS paint apps but keep in mind the above figure is painted clay not vinyl.
I actually like the Target Earth Robot Kong. Sure it is not as detailed as HS version. But TE has it's own style and feel. And instead of trying to make judgement comparisons of two totally different sculpts based on the same character, if you want to really enjoy it you'll just have to accept it for what it is. For me in my opinion I like the simplicity in the TE version as it is more of a throw back to the cornball chessiness of how vintage toys where design. Though I would have love to seen some extra added detail like rivets along the body. The color and look seems to pay slight homage to the Bullmark Mechanikong, don't you think?
I'm well aware of the origins of Gorilla Jyu and the Mech-Gorilla dissected illustration. I've been hunting that vintage bootleg mini Kong since before the Gorilla Jyu came out. This is the same controversy that surrounded the release of the Hedoran reissues and the Zag . I'm sure they have the right to make the toys, maybe even the correct licensing from the original illustrator but it still strikes me as lame that they seem to always have these great ideas after someone else drums up interest. To me it's more a question of timing. Perhaps it is just as kichigai has suggested and all of the makers agree to these different TE versions. Or perhaps it's even as Chris has suggested, and the illustrator is selling the license around to whomever is buying. I don't really know but my opinion is still the same, as a collector I find it boring and uninspired. There are indeed many great obscure monsters that have yet to be made. I would prefer to see TE use their considerable talents bringing something yet unseen in vinyl, to life.
I mostly agree with you except I count the IKB Hedos, Sumogon and Zag as "repro's" since (rumor has it) they used the original molds. Even if they didn't they're much more in line with a reproduction vs. something like "the artists take on it." I think those are "Hukkokudo" though technically and they're only about repros.
Would we even be talking about these toys if Bemon, Zollmen, etc. made big runs and the vintage versions were cheap? It's pretty obvious at this point that Hukkokudo/Target Earth/(Marmit?) guy is looking around at what's selling and making his own versions, and some of them are really good but it's a shame that the inspiration isn't coming from a more personal place.
how many different companies have made Godzilla figures? I understand the timing seems a bit close on these but is it even possible to have a toy licensed, manufactured, and ready for distribution that fast? Didn't we just see the first version of the Hirota mecha ju less than 2 months ago? I do not believe anybody is riding any coattails here.
Have to agree, those guys would be moving at the speed of light, to get this toy out so quickly, it usually takes a few months to get through wax and get the mold made and get protos. Take into consideration the time needed to sculpt him... I'm also thinking it's an unfortunate coincidence.
