Well, this was probably inevitable. The more this hobby moves towards overpriced, overhyped 'art toys' as status markers, that growth both generally - as in overall size/awareness - and in the opposite direction - as in more affordable, accessible toys - doesn't seem to come as such a shock to me. Basically, much like geekdom in 2019, it has almost become so mainstream that fans sort of can define their tastes by separate niches within themselves, while others might just run the gammut (especially those who only see it from the periphery).
Yep, the only thing that surprises me is how long it took them to jump on the bandwagon. They don't look any different to any other kidrob0t series to me. Frankly, I was expecting better.
I really, really dig that @Fig Belly design - will be getting that one regardless. A few of the others are pretty fun.
I never understood Ugly Unicorn as a toy before yet in [expletive deleted] form, he looks fun. The Greasebats all look way too forced on the platform. Which ones are Bwana's ?
Honestly, [expletive deleted] aren't that hot and Kidrobot doesn't sell like it used to at all. Most fans of western toys I know think my sofubi is repulsive. I don't think it's an inevitability of the market, more that it's a small world and both of the companies involved here have members who are also sofubi collectors. Waiting to see if any of the artists will be bringing their squishier toys to the event; if not I'll probably miss it.
@Rich, I don't think anyone is complaining except for you. There is a bit of humor in a kaiju-themed series from KR coming out in 2019... feels like it is 10 years too late. Certainly deserving of commentary on this board, given the history with [expletive deleted] and other KR woes.
I am not a fan of these things generally nor do I like any of these specific designs but I hope the artists involved make piles of cash and use some of it to make cool toys I might actually want. The majority of vinyl toy art people make shit money so I wouldn't begrudge anyone for cashing in with a popular company/platform to pay the bills and hopefully get back to making things they love afterwards.
Some people eat McRibs and think it's barbeque. Some people listen to Imagine Dragons and think it's rock. Some people listen to Vanilla Ice and think it's hip hop. Does not affect me, but I don't know what to say.
“Hohum bullshit” isn’t killing this hobby. Nothing is actually killing the hobby. Oversaturation of subjectively good/bad toys, massive hype to levels of which many decade+ vets have never seen, and major price increases, again, subjectively good/bad, are making things a little difficult, but the hobby itself is pretty healthy. Artists and designs are pouring out everywhere, and there’s a myriad of of options. Do I think it’s bad, or will be harmful to sofubi as a whole? Absolutely not. Do I think it’s worth discussing on a discussion board where people come to express and discuss their opinions? Of course. People are going to collect what they want, regardless of others’ opinions, and no one here is shitting on anyone else for collecting them. There’s clearly both sides of the fence bein’ catered to. To try and say otherwise and shut it down ‘cause you don’t like what it’s doing to your eyes is arrogant and egregious. All that being said, that’s all I see this as: another option. I personally won’t collect these, but I was a big fan of the platform at the beginning of my collecting, and do find majority of these designs fun, and fitting to the platform. Even still, I do see and understand the contention with the bandwagoning from collectors. Maybe that’s TOO much of an opinion, but, hey. That’s why we’re here.
I’d like to think so. I’m sure people who’s first exposure to toys was Funko probably found KR in a search and were able to gobble up similar pop culture toys. And more than likely even vice versa a bit, as well.
I think everyone has. People I know who dig POPS weren't even interested in toys as an adult and these things pulled them back in. Several people who buy stuff I make got to me after diving into POPS and going down the rabbit hole of vinyl toys afterwards. Tons of people here on SB started out collecting those kidrobot kinds of toys. I had a discussion about this with a few friends of mine recently. All but one of them started out by getting into designer vinyl stuff then eventually finding more obscure soft vinyl toys and falling in love. I think that is a really common progression with collectors. People have to start somewhere. The odds that collectors started out with MVH and HXS and Bemon and Izumonster and really fucking low. You have to get there from somewhere else. The more people buying toys and hopefully learning about obscure offshoots like kaiju stuff and neo-kaiju things and vintage vinyl the better it is for everyone who makes toys.
