Footage from Chinese "Sofubi" Factory?

While doing a late night skim over the #sofubi tag on instagram I came across this video... Pretty sure this is from a Chinese factory. Japanese sofubi seems to 'slip' out of the mold (regardless of the shape) - whereas this looks like it's clammy/catching as it's being pulled out. Watch with the volume on to have more of an effect.. it just doesn't resemble any real sofubi workshop video I've ever seen. Maybe might be of an interest of production heads like @Omnihiro

Thought it's worthwhile posting here as generally footage from Chinese factories is pretty hard to come by - and considering the whole boom in Asian production over recent years.

Chick on the image to be taken to Instagram to watch the video through their interface.

 

The quality of the Red hot style toys is quite good. they did the phobia toys.
Most places in china are using the rotocasting ovens, the chemical bath seems to be pretty rare for China.
I saw this awhile ago and was surprised they were using the chemical bath, those dudes make nice stuff.

 

I'm wondering honestly if it was because the vinyl was starting to cool down enough to become difficult to get out of the mold in that video. Nice color on that one.

 

That whole ensemble resembles a Japanese factory to my eyes. Particularly the construction of the molds and how it’s being held in place for pulling. Doug is right, though. If the vinyl cooled down too much in the mold it’d definitely be harder to pull with ease.

 

The whole thing just looks a bit off to me.. surely with the amount of Japanese production videos on YouTube it would be easy to make something that resembles it over there - especially the molds and the holding rack. A cheap imitation of the real deal.. plus the background noise seems to indicate it's located in a large industrial warehouse/factory.

 

so are you saying, you think a chinese company built a replica of a japanese factory just to fake out people on youtube?

 

Wow they should really do studies on how your mind works.. you're either the ultimate troll or completely bonkers!

I'm saying that it's easy enough for people to replicate the types of metal molds and bath setup, register/pulling station because there have been enough videos around on Youtube out there to show how it's done at this stage. Just a coincidence that somebody filmed it and put it up onto Youtube.

Chinese vinyl up until a couple of years back generally used mushroom plugs for joints with a believe a clamshell/two-part style mold. Now the joints on Chinese vinyl are much more similar to the open funnel style that you see with Japanese vinyl. What I'm saying @chimmychazz is in 2019 the production techniques, character design elements, sales methods, packaging design, paint apps have all been swiped due to the increased exposure and popularity of this scene - and as a result of this unoriginal and uninspired bullshit sofubi doesn't feel anywhere near as special or unique as it did 10 - even 5 years ago.

 

That puts a "bootleg (or knock-off) factory" into a new context.

 

Does anyone even know if Red Hot Style’s shit is made in China for sure? It’s pretty possible they have Japanese production, despite their regional residence.

Edit: after watching the video again, it’s a Japanese factory. When the camera handler holds the head to the lens there’s a can of Kobasol on the floor in the background.

 

That's bootleg kobasol for sure...

Alright seems like my suspicions have been debunked and case closed.. Robert Mueller signing out

 

totally agree.

 

They may utilize both or they’ve switched over entirely, because in the Summer of 2016, when they were 2 characters in (with Umbrella Dog and Canadian Hairless) they were being produced in China.

I spoke to Jin that summer (very pleasant fellow) and picked up a Rainbow Umbrella Dog from him.

[Image from Red Hot’s IG]

Fun character but the vinyl was noticeably not sofubi. I like it all the same, but it was very similar to Unbox’s earlier clear soft vinyl (NutiPati for example) in so many ways that I thought that they were perhaps using the same factory (until Unbox Dan voiced on skullbrain that wasn’t the case).

It wouldn’t be surprising to me if they had a couple places of production now tho. That is 1 hard working team and 1 of those companies that seems to have new sculpts out about every month.

 

Sorry to bump such an old thread to say this but clear kobasol is actually a sticky/stretchy pull seemingly regardless of the amount of softener in each formula. The chemical makeup of the suspender in clear plastisol is a little different from plain (aka milky) vinyl thus the aberrant behavior during the pull.

Agreed. I have not been around in ages and after some poking around this dovetails beautifully with the "fugliest toys" thread on the whatever subforum.

 

I know of 3 factories in china doing slush casting now.
lets get them costs down boys

 

Slush casting?

EDIT: Sigh...never mind. Thought it was slang but 5 seconds on Google showed me otherwise...my fail immediately reminded me of of this Penny Arcade strip.

 

Why is it believed that Kobasol is unique to Japan? It even says on their website: "Our business is not geared only to Japan and gaining a foothold in China and Hong Kong, and now establishing networks covering East Asia."

Additionally, this past weekend at Five Points, I spoke to a producer who produces toys in China that are all made using Kobasol.

 

@Patrickg2k I was initially told Kobasol was unique to Japan, and that several factories in China were hitting up Japanese factories specifically for Kobasol. Granted, this was four years ago, so perhaps it’s changed. Or maybe those who told me were unaware to begin with.

 

Ok so here's something really interesting... actual 100% proof that the japanese method has been swiped. The description below the video is as follows:

"Sofubi process and making
We're the factory of making any machines of making toys like Roto moulding machine,dispenser,vaccuum machine, mixer,oil furnace.
Peggie Tsang Shenzhen Jester Roto Molding Machinery Factory Shenzhen Jester Industry&Trade Co.,Ltd
Email: peggytsang416@gmail.com WhatsApp&Cell phone&Wechat:+86-13824356354"

 

So what you're saying is that these factories are now in place, and Japanese sofubi factory employees are going to be kidnapped and forced to work there? Like what Kim Jong Il did when he made Puglasari? That's a bit of a stretch, isn't it?

 

Hopefully you just forgot to use purple text for that comment?

Nope I'm just saying that this backs up my initial post at the start of this thread. It's one thing to make "kaiju" style figures in PVC with the molding methods used for western vinyl (two-part molds, gluing parts together) which has been happening for years now. Now it seems the traditional Japanese method of pulling vinyl has been swiped thanks to behind the scenes videos etc. Not surprising and completely expected for sure - just posting here as further evidence that the lines between true sofubi and kayjoo sofoobee are being blurred in many ways.

Bootleg factory setups (not saying this is being used to make bootlegs - I'm saying the factory itself is a bootleg of the methods) like these are the exact reason why guys like Zheng are able to exploit the scene at the moment - and that's why it raises concerns for me and many other collectors.

I'm also concerned about what this type of vinyl will look like in 5 or 10 years from now - I suspect most of the chemicals are generic versions/similar to what's used in Japanese sofubi. We already know how unstable vinyl can be - we have all dealt with off-gassing/sweating/fungus with the genuine stuff. Who knows what kind of chemical reaction will come along with this stuff that has probably been fast-tracked into production to ride the hype train while it's still running? Hey on the other hand it could be a perfect mix with no problems and these toys will look great after 30 years.. doubt it though.

 

I was joking about the the Puglasari scenario, but I'm not sure why you are positing that something is being "bootlegged" here. Japanese companies have been making sofubi toys in China for decades. Why wouldn't the Japanese be sharing traditional techniques and implementing them in the Chinese factories? There's nothing proprietary about the sofubi making process, it's been around since the 1950s and it's not like we're talking about microchip fabrication.

 

Sure Japanese companies like Medicom and Bandai have been producing vinyl in China for many years now - however that's a Japanese company producing toys in a Chinese factory due to the need to expand. A Japanese company would of course share information in the interest of consistency in output.

What I'm noticing here are new brands picking up on these methods and in some cases (Tan for example - and I believe PlanetxAsia, Red Hot Style - the Vintage Vinyl Club gang) are using the method to pass their toys off as Japanese for that extra tick on the list for the current market. Let's face it - people prefer Japanese vinyl over Chinese vinyl - and now that overseas makers can get those legit looking joints and (not so legit looking) marble pours it just makes the product move a little bit easier.

As I said before - sometimes shortcuts are taken when overseas producers mess around with chemicals and try to emulate somebody else's product. I'm really hesitant to have too much non-japanese vinyl in my collection only because different plastics sitting next to each other for long periods of time can cause trouble. But hey, I could end up having the exact same issue with Japanese vinyl too... let's face it, these toys we are over-paying for are pretty much toxic timebombs!

 

From Wikipedia:
"Slush casting is a variant of permanent molding casting to create a hollow casting or hollow cast... The method was developed by William Britain in 1893 for the production of lead toy soldiers. It uses less material than solid casting, and results in a lighter and less expensive product... "
Cor blimey!