Its just Chance being Chance though, isn't it. He fucking lives for toys and has the energy of a man half his age. If anyone is gonna have the cheek to say they can do better than the Japanese at their own game, its gonna be him. Crazy bastard's gonna burn himself out. Sweet tea, keeps ya goin'. . .
A website template does not a good toy make! The '3P' name reminds me of an old mentors adage: 'Always remember the 7P's . . . Preparation and Pre-Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance' I'm going with 'Piss-Poor Performance' until proven otherwise.
I've always been interested to see if someone from the U.S. could pull this off! ...I'm gonna need to see some proof though. The mold-making part actually seems pretty straight-forward, it's just resource intensive. Lost wax casting isn't exactly new...or unique to sofubi. Electro-plating, welding a frame...it just takes a lot of effort and experience. Even if it's done right a mold can be imperfect or damaged easily. Having the setup / space to pour and pull seems like a big build-out too, but doable. Plastic could be an issue though, Kobayashi is definitely willing to export Kobasol but I'm not sure it's legal in the U.S. - Even if you get the right material it probably will take a lot of trial and error to get the pulls right. Regardless, I've been waiting years to see a collector/enthusiast/toy maker emulate Japanese soft vinyl methods in the U.S and I'm VERY interested to see what Chance can accomplish. It all makes me wonder if it's worth it though. Why not just rotocast using easily obtainable materials local to the U.S. and maybe just leave Japan alone? I'm conflicted for sure.
I agree with The Moog, if there's anyone out there crazy enough to try this again, it's Chance. I would like to see someone succeed at this but I'll believe it when I see products for sale and can sample them to see if they have the same properties of sofubi. I think he posted in another thread, but there is Brutherford Industries right here in NJ: https://www.brutherford.com/ - they were set up at Five Points last year, making stuff right there with their vacuum chamber. Their output isn't like Japanese-style figures, though.
The mold making is the most toxic part really. Electroplating is regulated by the EPA and can and will cause serious serious health issues. I'm curious to see results though, if anything it ought to be interesting to witness. And yeah the vinyl itself will be telling on how it comes out.
Brutherford's methods were exactly what I was thinking of when I made my comment about rotocasting with easily obtainable materials! There are a few makers in the U.S. doing rotocasting for designer toys, I believe Clutter recently added rotocasting as a capability.
I've seen Clutter's giant rotocasting machine. I don't think Brutherford rotocasts, though, I've just seen use small molds and a vacuum chamber.
View this post on Instagram Check the comments for more info! He had this thing at a recent Five Points, it's badass!
Maybe not? I don't remember seeing him and don't see him listed on the website. But to be fair Five Points Fest was a total blur.
I'm betting 3P is going to outsource the molds. It seems like alot of RnD work + getting good vinyl. They're gonna have to get a chemist. I built a rotocaster awhile back, I just need to get my shit together and make some molds.
Hmmm from the sounds of it they are making the molds as well.. as high as my doubts are I'm really keen to see what happens with this. Have there been any updates?
He said orders are stacked up and he should be starting production in November/December during the last livestream. Not sure if that's new info, but there you go. Will be interesting at least. But I like to think that a relatively high barrier to entry makes better designs from more driven makers survive for the long haul. Maybe I'm just being a twat though.
Clutter was also getting some rotocast vinyl figures manufactured in Brooklyn. Those big Luke Cheu bear heads.
Not sure dude, but i was talking to Josh about it at a show, and he told me it was rotocast vinyl, done at a factory in Brooklyn. Because it is articulated and sculpturesque, people might have been calling it acrylic just to make it sound more like a fine art sculpture medium.
It probably is vinyl, That looks like a they have a roto oven. theres a dude in Denver saying he's pulling vinyl as soon as next week. http://milehighsofubi.com/index.html
