Both the Godzilla tank and Mechagodzilla plane I purchased new from Charactics via TFO did not come with lower torsos.
@HBCoffin thanks for the info! Good to know, but disappointed that lower torsos are not included (boo!). Will have to look for a vintage Mecha Goji tank with torso! @blakewest please post a pic of your Globby plane if possible!
@Mr. Humphreys Mine isn't in perfect shape, but it's a lot of fun. I like the wind trails on the sides. Looks like I still need to make good on that toy goal of dusting. Ahem.
Agreed that they are cool, the new colors of the tanks and planes are very nice! I am spoiled because the vintage ones I have included the bottom torso, to give you a stand-alone toy. It would be nice if Charactics resumed the original design set. I don't have a Mecha Goji tank yet, so if I am lucky enough to find one without having to sell a spleen, then I can adopt a new version with a colorful tank and interchange the torsos . @blakewest THANK YOU!!!! Your Globby plane is awesome!!! . I think it's the first one I've seen with air stream trails. Did Bwana paint it? Green with envy p.s. I have the same blue Globby plane, but I don't remember it having the air trails. I'll double check when I return home this weekend.
I don't personally like having spare bits that I either have to stow away or display oddly off to the side. What I would enjoy is if there was a lower torso shared between two kaiju and you got an entire spare figure, then you could switch between who's the rider and complete monster.
Agree on the "spare parts". In theory, it's cool. But in practice, it's a bother. I have some Star Case that come with different heads - I like the ability to choose which head to use, but then have to find a place to store the extras. For something like these vehicles with just an upper torso, it would be cool if the vehicle was made in a way where you could store the lower half inside the tank/plane.
Very much appreciate TAG making these so easily available for US collectors. Night Fun Baragon is a treat. Oh, and I got a new stool.
Good thing this topic is being talked about, does anyone has a clue how to order from them? I mean directlu, 'ot through a tjord party.
They regularly exhibit at Treasure Festa Online which is held about once every quarter. I think that would be the best opportunity for anyone outside of Japan to purchase directly. If you obtain or already have a Tenso address (https://www.tenso.com/) you can use that to setup an account here: https://tfo.hobima.com/ TFO is an online exhibition. The "doors" open at around noon on the day of the show with early access given to premium and S premium members (30 and 60 minutes before general admission). Once live you can access different vendor "booths" and purchase items accordingly. You can register a credit card, shipping address, etc. to your account in advance so you don't have to worry about rushing to enter information during the checkout process. I wrote up some details on my experiences at past shows a page over and offered a few tips on what to expect. It's been a while since I last attended but I got my ticket for TFO14. I went ahead and purchased an S premium membership for early access because it should pretty much pay for itself after a couple of shows—you get half off ticket prices and no transaction fees (I think it's 6% for basic members, 3% for premium, and 0% for S premium members). Only premium and S premium members are allowed to participate in any lottery (I think previously lotteries were held in a haphazard way and managed privately by sellers at their discretion but I guess now there's an official system for it). Charactics has offered items both by standard sale and lottery in the past. My guess is they might do a combination of both if not strictly standard. Based on aftermarket prices I think the hype has died down quite a bit so chances of scoring something should be fair. Some other notable soft vinyl producers in attendance: • Hikari Toys • PassionTank • Sarujirushi • Shinmaru Sofubi offerings are pretty limited so definitely not a show I'd recommend to a lot of collectors here. It's a garage kit-centric event. That said, Charactics, PassionTank, and Sarujirushi offer some of the best Toho one-day license figures and it's pretty much the only opportunity for those outside of Japan to get them at retail price.
Here's this shows lineup. All are being sold via lottery way so if anyone wants a shot they'll need to sign up for at least a premium membership to gain permission to enter. Submissions will be taken up until tomorrow March 15 (i.e. today if you're in the U.S.) until 12:00 PM JST. The Ghost Hedorah is really cool—I think this is the first of its kind but I might have missed a previous release. • Ghost Hedorah Fighter - 22,000yen • Mother's Day Matango - 12,100yen • Original Hedorah (middle size) - 19,800yen • Original Hedorah (mini size) - 9,900yen • Rockin Hedorah (purple) - 11,000yen • Rockin Hedorah (orange yellow) - 11,000yen • Nightlife Kanegon - 13,200yen
Ghost Hedorah Fighter is so good!! I entered for Ghost Hedo, rockin Hedo (yellow) and Nightlife Kanegon and scored the rockin Hedo and Kanegon. Gotta be happy with 2 out of 3! A huge thank you @HBCoffin for your posts about TFO! They were super helpful for a first time TFO attendee. I hope you and other skullbrainers also scored what you were after.
That's awesome! So glad to see some winners here. A little bummed I didn't win the Ghost Hedorah Fighter. I entered 5 lotteries (max allowance) but that was the only Charactics I signed up for. I was shooting for the Passion Tank MosuGoji and a few figures from Sarujirushi as well. The good news is now that the lotteries are over it seems there are still some items available which should be for sale once the show starts. I thought that might be the case but wasn't sure how things would go down as it had been a while since I last attended TFO.
Well, seems like one has a better chance at scoring some of these figures via lottery. Virtually everything still gets snagged in a matter of seconds once the show starts—a page refresh on the dot and the item goes from pending sale to awaiting cancellation (i.e. all available inventory is now sitting in the carts of other customers). I can only assume bots are involved. I did win one Sarujirushi lottery, successfully added a mini original Hedorah to my cart, and purchased a couple of figures that didn’t seem to be on other people’s radars. Will try my luck again next time. Hope anyone here who purchased a ticket walked away with something!
