That would be cool....I’d love to see Yoda do a full size version of the bird sculpt too. He could add even more texture and really make it his own. There are a lot of winged kaiju creatures out there too to draw inspiration from, so it could fit in nicely with his penchant for vintage homage paint jobs on pachi kaiju. The Bemon space monster and sea monster sculpts have really grown on me over time, I enjoy them both now.
This auction just ended a day or two ago. I’ve never seen this version anywhere, be it the posters or online in photos. The listing describes it as a “very precious colored sample” and that it’s on very thin vinyl. So this has to be one of the earlier pulls, and sounds likely to be a test paint. Goddamn awesome.
@xSuicide Squadx I actually won this version, surprised as hell it went at a decent price honestly given recent Kougai prices and the fact that it’s a color sample one off . The thinner vinyl probably explains it partially, they do feel cheaper in the hand compared to the thick molded Kougai, but with a paint job like that, who cares?!? The seller has been posting these color samples about every 2 weeks or so recently that I haven’t seen anywhere else; I have a feeling they are newer paint jobs and the seller has a personal relationship with Honda, but I could be totally wrong. Maybe @maxaltoman can shed some light on the recent steady stream of color samples.
@Michael Beverage Very nice!!! It could very well be a recent paint, but the last two times I was in Japan I saw a couple one offs unknown to public eye in person, and a few in collectors’ photos of their home displays they showed me. I’m definitely not at all against the thinner, vintage feel of vinyl on a Kougai! Honda’s outreach is pretty wide and the handful of mutuals I met do have Bemon sprinkled in their collections, so I don’t doubt that’s the origin of these samples!
It has been very enjoyable to watch all these one-off/sample paint Kougai pass by on YJA lately. Michael, congrats on an excellent score, and I agree with your assessment about these. The paints on that yellow one are sludgetastic. I really wanted to bring home this one on teal vinyl but was not able to pull it off: That said, special thanks to JS for letting this one go recently. It has been at the top of my mixed parts wish list for years: The vinyl is so incredibly thick on the mixed parts pulls it's like night and day with my lone painted Kougai.
Excellent score! I think very good price too. Luckily I didn't compete with u The paint on this one is marvelous. These sample paints are 100% legit. Some of them eventually make it to regular runs with slight paint variation, but mostly are one-offs. Kougai comes in two vinyl variations. The earlier ones are thick & heavier vs the thinner & lighter newer ones. But SVHC does continue to release thicker variation from time to time. Bemon rocks!
@deafmetal thanks, and that teal base color sample was definitely a stunner, easily one of the best that the seller has posted. Great mixed part score as well @maxaltoman thanks for the info! Always great to add to our collective knowledge base when it comes to Bemon, there’s so little accessible information out there on Honda’s creations- especially for us westerners.
Fuck yes, exception that mofo! I love colorways for kougai that fit the sludge theme, and that one is perfect. Congrats mate! The clear versions really highlight the sculpt and show off all the lovely texture.
That really is some oil spill type shit. Moog said it best, that, the clear vinyl really does play so nicely with that sludge theme. That’s a damn nice pickup.
This smoke vinyl really is the best of both worlds - sitting on the shelf without any back-lighting it almost looks like opaque vinyl. @The Moog you're right, the smog like effect definitely suits the sculpt - I'm very happy with it. Plus it's a solid pour.. the walls are about 3mm thick maybe 4mm in some areas.
I know we are in the middle of a slow-moving apocalypse, but it has been very difficult to resist the steady drip of one-off top shelf Kougai that have been appearing on a weekly basis. I have lost an uncounted number of these auctions, but I finally bagged what has ended up being my favorite one so far. The mucky greens are my swampy heart's desire, and add in those wicked red eyes with metallic blue pupils... the man is an artist's artist. There is also a surprise... Spoiler
This auction just ended some odd hours ago. Put up on Honda’s YJA and ended nearing $1,200. Mixed parts Space Monster. One piece of each painted release, which looks pretty bad ass as a mixed part. Sans the GID lookin’ leg. If that’s GID I’m totally unfamiliar with where that’s from. The foot sticker is marked 2/6.
@xSuicide Squadx - Robert, you missed the one labeled 1/6 that ended a week ago. Sold for 131k yen. I assume these are going to pop up each week going forward until all six are revealed: Anybody want to post all the photos of the one-off Kougai for me? Haha, didn't think so. I'll get around to it...
I may be wrong but there has never been a GID space monster, so this is quite surprising to see GID part...
@deafmetal I did miss that, Mark!!! I don’t check the Bemon listings too often ‘cause they’ll never be within my spending comfort. Doesn’t mean I can’t check out the cool shit that comes up, though! Can’t wait for you to get around to posting up them one offs! @jl When I was in Japan during March 2018 I saw some painted bagged and headered Kougai that have never been photographed or shown off publicly. That was pretty epic. And during my September 2018 trip I was shown photos by friends of Honda of the living rooms and tattoo shops with blanks that “don’t exist.” A couple have recently hit Instagram, though. It was interesting for me to meet people that collect or even necessarily like toys, but they have a decent amount of Bemon only.
Kougai Bemon is know to exist as one-off, so I'm not surprised to hear that you have seen some "unknown" one. But for the later releases, such as the 2HB or Space or Sea monster, I can't recall to have seen any 1-off... What I'm suprised though is to see such a high price for a blank toy.... I get it it is a limited version to 6, but Bemon paint joib has always been a major plus to the shape.
I can’t get over how perfect this Kougai is. Sample paint. I’d just described it to someone as it looking like the painter had no idea what they were doing, but knew exactly what they were doing. The way these sprays sit gives me major IKB Hedoro3 vibes.
