Kind of a lacklustre collection.. https://howtospendit.ft.com/art-philanthropy/207694-most-extraordinary-toy-collection-world
Lacklustre? Fuck off, that's a great collection! You are craaaazy mate. He's doing his own thing and I dig it.
Oops forgot to put it in purple... or did I?? As far as the collector's taste goes.. theres one of those TAG Mickey Mouse Godzilla Ron English things in there soooooooooo Anyway - let's talk about the article and the crazy concept that the Financial Times have done a write up about our crazy little toys. I was expecting more of an interesting read but it boils down to name-dropping Kaws then jumping into a few paragraphs about NNN. No real history or explanation that sofubi is created by individuals, unique characters rather than licensed figures etc... lame
'If my house were burning down the one toy I would grab would be a NagNagNag'. 'NagNagNag toys are something I’ll love forever, obtaining as many as I can, whatever the price.' 'I’m the biggest collector of NagNagNag in China.' Next-level ass-kissing! 'There’s even an unwritten rule within toy groups only to share black-and-white photos because, even if the form is similar to something else, the colouring is unique. This keeps them from being copied.' Is this a 'thing'? 30 years of collecting and first I heard of it!
Judging by the following paragraph - dollar value and status amongst peers are the primary interests. Rather than talking about how the toys are created, the history of sofubi, the artists involved.. he jumps straight into this: "My favourite store for buying sofubi is Mandarake in Tokyo. I sometimes acquire toys through dealers, who I prefer not to name, but it’s not the only way I get them. When everyone knows you collect a lot, plenty of people ask if you’re interested in their stuff. There are also groups of toy enthusiasts on WeChat, where both chatting and trading take place, rather than on specialist websites. At the same time, Chinese toy fans all pay close attention to what’s happening on Yahoo! Japan and Japanese Amazon, where a silver NagNagNag “longneck”, a limited edition of 10, is currently selling for about £3,335. " No mention of any of the non-tangible aspects of the hobby that we all respect and love. Read the article - it just jumps straight into value and hype. But hey, I guess this is the Financial Times right?? Still, would have been good for the journalist to add some context and history to his article about sofubi.
Love ya @The Moog, but I see dude talking (dick-swinging) about his 30 x NNN in a Financial Times article slightly differently!
There's no way to know how much of the interview was cut out of the article. The interviewer probably steered him toward talking about hype toys by asking questions like "what's the most valuable toy you own?" The article also seems to indicate that he has other shelves throughout his house, so he probably has lots of good stuff that never rose above the original cost.
It's a compelling collection overall, with good selections from Dehara and Zollmen, even some LeeeeeeToy and SB floating around there. It meshes well with the action figures and giant dolls he's collected as well. Not really into most of the things he has gone deep into, but I think that's normal when viewing another's collection, and honestly I'm glad it's the case given that this may get some attention from FT readers. I agree with @Smotemotem; so much interview material gets cut, and it seems the writers didn't have someone knowledgeable to provide background. So lord knows how much of the original material was used, and how they went about selecting it. That said, unless there are shelves and shelves we can't see, "most extraordinary" is plain wrong by any measurement. Writers often don't get to pick their headlines, so this seems like the blind leading the blind leading the blind. Anyway, fuck FT
I didn't read the article, I just looked at the pretty pictures full of colours and shapes! What I see in those pictures, is a fun and varied collection. What you guys read in the article seems at odds with that.
Yeah, a lot of the criticism I see here boils down to "you're doing it wrong." The guy talks about how the items bring him pleasure and how they influence his art. He even expresses how not everybody in his life really gets what he finds special about the collection. I relate to that. He also points out that he doesn't remember what he paid for things or what they're currently worth. That information is supplied by the author, and given that this is the Financial Times, the readership probably expects some information about that. If I can fault the article for anything it's that they don't dig too deep into the nature of the objects. For instance, tell me what "Boryuoku Genjin" means and a description or a picture of it beyond simply "grotesque." Not a perfect article but certainly not awful.
If the point of the article is supposed to be about him and why he started collecting, it works. But with the title, "Is this the most extraordinary toy collection in the world?" I think that misleads people and doesn't fit as a title.
Yeah, unfortunately nowadays it's not the author or editor who chooses the article title, it's usually some digital marketing person who is crafting the title as clickbait.
Nah, whatever the haters say is bullshit. imho, he's one of us.. all i kno is now i hafta learn about Izumi Kato.. been without income lo these many yrs! cant afford a new obsession!
Is no one appreciating just how funny it is that sofubi made it to The Financial Times? As for the man himself, he seems genuine enough to fit his own purposes, doesn't seem completely ignorant about the world of art YET isn't the type of collector I'd gel with personally. Going on about paying anything to have every Nag he can and frequenting Wechat? I did appreciate his anecdotes around his friends finding his collection ugly and that he emphasises his sofubi collection is of toys first and foremost without making any grand illusions. Like life itself, his collection appeared to be sometimes good, sometimes shit. 6.5/10 article
