TKOM / Takahiro Komuro Sculptures & Toys

So does anyone have the inside scoop on tkom? Will he ever get back to toys? All his gallery shows have been wild and the new subject matter would translate well to his take on vinyl toys but I haven't seen him mention the medium in ages.

Too much work with not enough return?

 

I too wish Takahiro would come back to toys.

 

He did an edition of 30 of his dragon (Just under 12 Inches) in Bronze. Price was nearly $6,500.

I'd be somewhat surprised if he comes back to toys anytime soon. I agree, would love to see some of his new stuff in vinyl.

 

I saw that. They were great and the price made me shit a little.

I wonder what galleries take as a standard cut. That's 78,000 without their cut. Craziness.

But also good for him. He deserves it.

 

Rocky came out a year and a half ago/two years?

Certain creators have gaps... but I can see why he would want to stop...selling NFT's and statues creates way more revenue.

I still want a demogorgan but refuse to pay those prices.

 

Galleries generally take around 50% for artwork. In this case, Avante Art assisted in the bronze casting but unsure how that changes any numbers.

Tkom did release his little "Rocky" figure as well as Vol.2 of the mini Gerorin figure over the past couple years. Hopefully something soon but most his pieces are very small runs so not feeling great about the possibility.

 

Last week Tkom Factory IG Account showed an image of metal casting clearly implying some sort of vinyl release in the future...TBD

 

What did the geronin sets go for? I can't find anything.

 

283 for first set and 292 for second set. Those are the shipped prices.

 

Thank you!

 

Passed on the Toxic Dragon after being selected and I'm feeling bummed out as it's a beautiful figure, but I just couldn't bring myself to dropping that kind of money...I'll probably regret it.

 

Man… I wish I’d been selected. That thing is huge.

 

What was the asking price?

 

Technically, Takahiro hasn’t really abandoned making toys. He’s been producing these sofubi dragons each year to coincide with every show/event he's in. They’re effectively editions of a much larger sculpture, the same way you sometimes see print editions of a larger painting. He's also made NFTs of some of them, but let's not talk about that.

The prices are steep. Of course, we here would never, ever purchase sofubi for capital appreciation. But TKom's career has certainly ascended in the past decade, and his work does appreciate quite fast after sale. Like any artist in demand, really.

He recently just had a book published aptly titled ‘Sculptures’, which chronicles his gallery work to date.

(And yes, those last three above were done in collaboration with Shig, RIP).

 

Oh I think you are JK! Really have a DOG
dragon!!

 

They're all so great, the NAG ones are total gems. Hope to snag one of these bad boys one day. I love the overall shape and size of the figure, and all the different heads are fun. Right up there with the OG doublethink when it comes to my favorite of his sculpts.

 

Then why did you enter?

$2700 or so without shipping iirc

 

I was giving him a pass but I am a bit bummed he didn’t at least try to offer the win to someone else who would might have wanted it. That’s what I would have done. Gone strait to the For Sale thread, Instagram stories or whatever.

 

You had to sign a contract revoking sale rights for 3 years.

 

Yes, which I do like, and it seems like people generally respect that rule. What I meant above is that, if I'd made the mistake to enter without intent to purchase, I would have tried to broker a purchase with friends or someone in the community that would want it. Which I'm sure is also against the rules too but whatever.

 

How could they enforce it? Ask the buyer to tattle on the seller. Take a seller to small claims court, call the police? Good luck doing anything to someone over seas outside of sending an angry email. He’s been dealing with NFTs too much. Stuff like this instantly turns me off to an artist. Such an ego trip.

 

This is some of the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard with toys. A contract saying it can’t leave my possession for X amount of time? Jesus Christ, the jerking off to self importance from these ‘artists’ is laughable at best. And *if* this is a way to try and curb flippers, 1) It’s never going to work, 2) You might as well just quit if you’re going to these lengths. But I’d wager it’s yet another lame ass move to contrive hype and the illusion of grandiosity of these toys. Artists making collectors feel like they’re the lucky ones to get picked for a chance to drop thousands on a single toy is such a stain to leave on collecting.

 

You can look at it as a toy. Or you can look at it as a “soft vinyl edition” of a sculpture, which is how the gallery billed it. (Yes it’s a large ass vinyl toy). Either way, it’s art.

Resale rules are actually quite common with gallery sales these days, and it doesn’t always come from the artist. This is a good article summarizing the practice, if you care to take a look. And of course it’s ridiculous to think it’s enforceable. No gallery is taking anyone to court or prowling eBay. It’s more a courtesy a buyer gives to the artist, yes, partially as a way of not immediately flipping a piece for profit. Ultimately, you can do whatever you want. Though, in the art world, going against such a clause could lead to blacklisting. The art world is small, blacklisting is bad. (What other sofubi artists does this bring to mind I wonder?).

Anyway, it sounds dumb on the surface but I really don’t mind it.

 

plenty of folks get black listed for reselling, im assuming thats worst case scenario here if the clause is breached?

 

I regret trade my kaws for AA, but I still think a toy you like is cannot count as $$$.

I will going back to collect some toys I liked instead of spending the money on the Chase!! That's