Cool figure Andy. Interesting that he has extra waste articulation/molding, even if he doesn't turn. That, and the strong 'joints' in sculpting of the knees and the elbows, definitely lend him a more henshin cyborg influence than a typical tokusatsu sofubi figure.
Good call on the waist joint! I agree with your analysis, especially given the highly sculpted head coupled with the plain body. Who knows - maybe Licca-chan's clothes would fit... It was probably a cheap candy shop or train station toy for kids who wanted a smaller henshin cyborg type figure to carry around. Or maybe an impulse buy at a checkout counter. "Mini henshin cyborgish figure with your nori?"
It's kind of funny that this really poor example of a bootleg clear V3 (auction) ended up where it did this morning, even topping the last two which did not have as much yellowing. That whole chest cavity might look painted brown but I suspect it's completely dark amber:
Jeez, at a glance I couldn't even tell that he's clear... Still, with those darkened transparent colors, I'd like to see him shot under natural light. ... By the way, I found my popy kikaida, and am now just waitin on some help to get a few shots of him outside. Hopefully this will be done by weekend's end. Been awhile since I've had any new pics to share, so hopefully we can knock out shooting a few pieces EDIT : It's on Lixx's shoulders now! Coming Soon! Lixx with Kikaida pics!
And don't forget Thudermask! Wouldn't want you to not feel challenged. Great collection man, that is really nice. I must have missed when you grabbed the Fireman. I was thinking a week or so ago when looking at some of these how great it would have been if they had some some full size guys in clear with these detailed innards. Plus, all the heroes they never got around to doing.
Thundermask is on my list but he's a bootleg. Same with the Rainbow clear minis. V3 is the only Popy clear mini I still need. Takatoku Kikaider mini and mid clears would be nice too- but I have the rest of my life. The Popy Fireman was the first one I got actually, I've had the bug ever since! Oh and I agree Full Sizers would have been so sweet on all of these.
Right right, just teasing a bit, because I know it is haunting you. I realise you have a few other size ones, and the Iron King too. Fireman is one of the really nice ones, but dammit if I am not still continually drawn to the Barom-1 you have there. Such a beauty.
Yeah that Thundermask will probably haunt me for a very long time. I've never seen one appear for sale (auction wise). In fact every time I see toy shop pics from Japan and see one I keep saying to myself: "Damn it, if I only I lived in Japan I could get that damn toy!" With Barom One it's his black gloves and boots contrasting with his clear body. It makes him purdy!
Very cool thread, great pix and info. Question for all: what is your experience/knowledge of the life of clear vinyl once it starts yellowing, i.e. cracks, crumbling, brittleness? I've been afraid to get clear or even much translucent anything because of a post I read a couple of years or more ago to that effect. Do these hold up as well as an opaque vinyl?
The quality of the vinyl used in these is pretty decent, and while the Popys definitely tend to yellow a fair amount, I have not encountered any suffering from drying or cracking of the vinyl. Even with yellowing, I don't find them more brittle than normal vintage opaque soft vinyl figures. I have seen this occasionally on some bootleg figures, but usually it is only on hard plastic accessories, such as helmets or visers added to figures that suffer aging. But, these are generally cheap materials anyways, and relatively brittle/rigid to begin with. So I would not worry too much about avoiding any of the cyborg vinyl figures for this reason.
Actually, there is also a clear cyborg Popy Gatchaman figure that came in a box set. It is in a flying pose instead of standing, and has clear inserts just like these do.
Yeah I am not too finicky about causing any more yellowing, the sun just helps brings out the brilliant colour of these guys and their inserts. Loving your collection man, the full size Triple Fighter and your new Redman towering over the Popys is just excellent. I hope you can find some more of the standard sized fellas now. And you have two different clear Iron Kings? Dang man, nice. I love how this is a growing section of your shelves.
Just lovely man. The colours coming through on the eyes like that are fantastic. I also think the 'oranged' vinyl compliments him nicely, even if unintentional. Such a great toy.
Ooh, great score there! The excellence of this community comes together once again. Really nice innards on that Godman, I like the real 'cyborg' aspect of them. I think the ones on the Father of Ultra are similar, which I also love. This clear family keeps getting better Chris!
I've always wondered about the Godman innards. I could never tell if they were paper, plastic, or what not. Turns out they are a very soft rubber.
