This is cool, don't get me wrong... but if this is the final product then it doesn't appeal to me as it seems too far displaced from traditional a soft vinyl toy. It looks too good; it looks like one of those polystone statuettes or something. Too... well... polished looking. It doesn't look like something someone could actually play with. I like all the individual aspects, but it looks like something sideshow toys would release, or a high end Medicom release.... not a soft vinyl toy. Does anyone understand what I'm trying to say? Phil
Phil, I am totally with you on this one. I like it, looks good but there is, to me, too much realistic details.
I see what you're saying Phil, and still think it's awesome and will look forward to score one! Mean toy!
I see what you guys are getting at at, but if this was cast in somekind of clear and slathered in sprays maybe y'all might like it a little better...but anyway i'm with Rich on this one: i love me some Yokai more than just about any other monsters so i love this beast.
As a lover of toys, I love this toy! Restore joins Iluiluilu in the ranks of the new wave of bad ass Japanese vinyl
I am really impressed with the decision to go multimedia on this guy, and much more interested in the actual figure now. I agree that the draw for most people here with sofubi is the vintage quirkiness, but I think it's really bold and novel to see a designer want to push the medium and introduce more advanced toymaking techniques in an effort to produce more high end and collector-styled figures. There's certainly room for new ideas in vinyl. The thing that I will reserve judgement on is the potential price for such a complex endeavor.
whats so innovative about this? It looks good, But I have seen cloth and metal used in conjunction with vinyl a million times
Offhand I can think of the chains on the Two Headed Bemon and Yamomark turtle guy, and the scarves on Real Head figs. This Restore guy looks much closer to a multi-media model. A million times seems like a bit of an exaggeration, especially for 'designer vinyl'.
did you honestly think I meant a million literally? yamazakura, Mishka, Nagx3, Mvh, Cure, Anraku are all companies that have also used 'multi media' in there sofubi. Again not saying this toy isn't appealing. Its just not a game changer by any means.
this guy rules. It looks huge, but i am told it will be around 7" tall. This is one sculpt I wouldn't mind in a 9-12" range
Honestly I like that its smaller. I need some diversity in my collection I agree I hope the price tag inst to much, between the amount of parts to the extras there is a lot here. The matte vinyl color and the sculpting style reminds me a little of MuttPop though. I just hope that doesn't dwell on me to much. I wish they went a little cruder with this as well.
Can't we have nice things for once, though? Not every sofubi needs to have an Elegab level of hand sculptedness or a Gargamel level of sterilization.
I also may like it better mid sized. I thought from the pic he'd be huge. Also it isn't so much that I wished he was cruder. I just wish he had some sort of texture and bad skin. What sort of oni has a dermatologist?
I see what you mean. yeah, some bad skin, a few warts, scars, some hairs peeking out. I envy his complexion.
I have to chime in with the people who said that this doesn't look very much kaiju. Sure, it is directly taken from Japanese folklore but something is missing here. It looks too perfect, too much aimed at a Western collector market. I miss the typical Japanese kaiju oddness, texture, etc.
Apparently this is only the final sculpt. Molds are being made now and it will hopefully be retailing around $60! It doesn't look like kaiju but it's offset by a whole heap of oddness!
$60 is amazing for this. I can appreciate the smooth skin argument, but I'm thinking that the smooth skin will provide lots of flexibility for interesting paint. If they can get the skin to look like the fullsize model posted earlier in this thread, it'd make for an incredible looking figure.
I understand that point of view - but for me this just too good to miss . . . it will be cool to see it as a finished production piece. it's interesting that the 'paper' looks like sandpaper to me . . . . . i wonder what 'paper' will be used for the retail versions . . . . .
^^hopefully they use some sort of thin plastic so they cant get bent out of shape easily. This thing is really cool, but I agree about the lack of texture. I prefer the resin over this version. It was more of a statue sort of thing but seemed more interesting with the building.
As well as 7 different colors upon release is turning this into an amazing introduction. I also heard rumor of the next figure and it's only gonna get better. Restore is gonna be a company to watch out for.
