MUDA MUDA MUDA! Futile Toys

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FYI the lottery for the Futile Toys Space Dino is live. Really enjoying how fleshy and wrinkly this thing is. Anyone know anything about the maker? Not actually sure if they're Japan based.

 

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing about the maker myself. The dino is cool, would definitely fit in among many vintage sofubi.

 

They’re an American based artist. This figure looks like the red standing and orange crawling Spinosaurus pachi by Miura Toy mashed together. The sculptor did fantastic work with the execution.

 

curious about the size- $120 seems a bit much for a two part toy

 

Agreed. $120 seems to have replaced the comfortable standard of $65 for fight figures and similarly sized toys.

 

For $120, I'm pretty sure you could still buy one of the originals.

Aesthetically, the sculpt is well done in the style of the vintage Miura Toy mini dinos. Philosophically, I wonder why they chose to make something that is visually very similar to two of the vintage sculpts. Why not make something new that would complement the existing toys in the line? Yutani Shoten is doing a wonderful job with their Transformer vinyls that scale with the vintage TF vinyls. Similarly, the Shirahama T-Rex filled the Rex gap in the vintage Marusan dino line.

I'm always happy to see a new pachi/dino vinyl toy, and hopefully the maker stays away from the bootleg of a bootleg of a bootleg pattern that we seem to see these days.

 

If you read his older posts, the dinosaur design comes from a Turkish Star Trek knockoff movie.

It looks like it could be 6 inches or so but I can't tell for sure.

 

I found the movie, it's a classic:



Sorry to disappoint you, though, the dinosaur just appears on the poster:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0182503/mediaviewer/rm124969216/?ref_=tt_ov_i

You'll have to be satisfied with the bootleg salt vampire.

 

I asked him on Instagram, it's 6".

 

Welp, just saved myself $120 bucks.

 

Interesting, thanks. If it's a reference to a dinosaur image from an obscure movie, sculpted in the style of vintage dinos, then hats off to them. That's pretty deep. I wrongly assumed that they were just rehashing vintage dino vinyls.

 

Cool to see the reference, but I think it looks way more like Miura Toy dinos than the source material of the poster. The chin - up angle of the head, the hanging downward hands, the feet, even the curl of the tail all look nearly identical to the red Spinosaurus. Longer, straighter, articulated arms and a more static - y spiked spine would’ve set it closer to the poster. I do get the feeling that Miura’s form was more the goal, and I tip my hat to the sculptor for makin’ that happen so closely.

 

It's a cool looking sculpt. Lots of character.

 

Unfortunately I didn't win. Really love the sculpt, it's a weird mash up of all things I like about toys. Sadly I find anything under $200 a steal now days. Which is why I don't buy much anymore

 

I dig the sculpt, design and inspiration of the toy, but I guess I'm just a cheap skate these days
I can't justify that amount to the Missus for a 6 inch Dino toy.

 

Since price seems to be big caveat, what would be a reasonable price for a 6 inch two part dino? Personally I feel like a maker should price a toy as affordable as possible so anyone can get one.

 

I strongly disagree, this thought basically says an artist/designer shouldn't profit off of their work for the benefit of a toy collector. You would never tell someone in another line of work, they should be making minimum wage or less than to pass the savings onto the customer.
It's really hard to gauge, Japan these days is unreasonably expensive, to the point where it's nearly impossible to recoup and make money unless you price like these. Especially, there is no guarantee this toy will have a long life or collectors will take, you might need to rely on recouping costs with the first run or two in case interest dries up.

 

Yeah, it's impossible to say what a "fair price" is for a low-run vinyl toy. I've talked to some folks who do a 3x to 5x markup on the original cost per piece, but there are so many variables as to how the seller is going to price it:

• How difficult/expensive it was to get the sculpt done, or tooling made, or obtain a license, or if there was a sudden spike in the cost of materials like we've been experiencing.
• Whether or not the seller is trying to live on the income from selling the toys, or if it's a side hustle, or something they're just doing for personal satisfaction.
• Their intentions for the profits, like paying off tooling costs within the first 50 or 100 or 500 pieces. Plus, ideally, you want to start funding the next figure with your sales from the current one.

As a point of reference, you can get an individual Toho standard-sized clear Hedorah from Bullmark for Y8800/$65 plus shipping/etc. or a mid-sized clear Hedorah for Y5500/$42 plus shipping/etc. They are probably making each figure in quantities anywhere from 100 to 500. Obviously small makers, especially foreign ones, can't take advantage of the long-established supply chain or economies of scale that a company like Bullmark enjoys.

So, I would expect to pay more for an individual figure to Small Maker X than I would to Bullmark. How much more? Well, how much burning toy lust does it stoke inside me? That's the answer.

 

This.

 

This is where I live these days. There’s lots of toys I see that I’d like to own. But I’m just a poor middle class laborer… I have to love a toy to justify a purchase.

 

This guy is really cool in hand. A long lost Miura toy for sure. For those that were curious about the size

 

As@animator mentioned above, they have such a great classic approach to the paint applications.

This latest lottery release makes me think of those vintage dinosaur illustrations where every inch of the Earth seemed to be covered in active volcanoes and magma casting a fiery glow from below

.

 

I never meant my statement above to cast dispersions on an artist asking what they want for their art. It is highly subjective what someone feels that their work is worth in this small field. I can't even imagine what it takes to get a toy made, what with sculpting, wax, molds making, as well as all the heartache and troubles that go along the way in the production of these hunks of vinyl.
I was just stating that for me, it would have to really trigger my yearnings to spend the amount in question for said item. While I appreciate some makers keeping items affordable, I would never try to tell someone else what their efforts are worth in the marketplace.

Speaking to this new version, I really like the colors on this new one. The red vinyl looks great with the green and silver sprays. But ultimately I have to ask myself, is this something that you can justify spending the amount on? Does it trigger something in you to want to own it?
And for me, ultimately it was a no, but then again I am not trying to say that the toy isn't worth the amount, it just is not to me at this time.
I wish this maker nothing but success, as it is plain to see that they have a love for these funky hunks of plastic, and they seem to have a respect of the history for what has come before.

 

All agreed on. The toy looks fantastic. Every artist has the right to charge whatever they want. It's their art. For me where it gets sticky is... there doesn't seem to be a lot of history or provinence (oh shit I really can't spell right now) with this piece. When someone like Biskup or Chris johanson charges hundreds for seemingly very simple pieces there are decades of history, and hard work inside each of those drawings. Butanohana spent years where NOBODY gave a sh*t, and although you may pay a hundred bucks for a simple 2 piece dinosaur because they are so hard to get. His retail is still VERY regular. my 1 unsolicited cent.