Have the guts...to show your love for... SUNGUTS!

Yep, a lot of the Sunguts output seems to be major flipper fuel . . . Atom A Amaresura has the same thing happen to his releases.
All the new stuff turns up very quickly on the secondary market, two or three times the retail price just days after . . . especially
if they are special festival releases.

Surely Sunguts is exaggerating, though? He seems to be a very prolific toy-maker for one who supposedly makes no money!

 

I think a lot of his other toys don't sell too well, and the Mizuki ones the profit is probably minimal after paying the license. His prolificness is maybe in fact the problem - he has a huge amount of different sculpts.

He makes a big deal of the fact he's broke (rent late, threatening to cut off electricity, etc) He seems to be like a real life character from a Mizuki short story, perhaps possessed by some sort of toy-making demon. He posted that his yearly income was 410,000 yen, up from 330,000 the year before, and 150,000 the year before that. I think that's from toys and (presumably pretty sparse) freelance work.

And yeah, I'm sure a lot of the indie toys get flipped. The festivals I can understand a little more (although personally I don't think I could look a guy in the eye and buy his toy with the intention of selling it on) but Sunguts' regular releases don't even seem to sell out that quickly, and then suddenly they're 4x the price.

 

That is a shame to hear. One of my favorite lines for sure, wish he was making more off of it.

 

Thanks @Fedhai and @The Moog.

 

Well if he sold to the international market, he wouldn't have to worry about flippers as much. I refuse to pay flipper prices, but I would love to add his Nekomata figures to my collection. Just my two cents.

 

Indeed, thats always the question. If Yamomark does it, and UAMOU does it . . . . why not Sunguts?

There are plenty of sofubi makers who have a lot of their stuff available online internationally. I always wonder why some seem very resistant to it . . . . if you are doing fine without it that is one thing, but if your business is hurting and you ignore the opportunity . . .

I'm not wrong in saying there are plenty of non-Japanese who would throw lots of money at Mr Sunguts directly, if they had the chance.

Thinking about it though, do you think the Shigeru Mizuki licences would allow overseas sales? Maybe sunguts can sell the Kitaro and Akuma-kun figures to Japanese only?

 

Completely agree. There are artist like Mori that do so well he doesn't have to mess with the "hassle" of shipping internationally. But if you're struggling, why not work with a shop like Lulubell if you can?

As for the licensed stuff, that's easy. If you go through a shop in the states, don't send any. If you do it yourself, have an international section of the site and a non-international section.

 

^^ maybe someone should him the thread so they can see how many people actually want their pieces at reasonable prices!! I still think the idea of partnering with a small retailer, e.g. Lulubell, would really make life easier for them and us as fans. And it's not toy whining, it's wishful thinking

 

He sells most of his figures, including the Mizuki ones, through one-up (http://one-up.shop-pro.jp/), who ship internationally, so I don't think there's a problem. He sells exclusives through a fewer smaller shops that also ship internationally. I don't know why he doesn't ship internationally through his own site, but he only ships out domestic orders once a month, so that might have something to do with it (or it could just be the same fear of overseas shipping that a lot of Japanese people have.)

I don't know if he's really worried about flippers... Weren't the Nekomata figures only sold at events? If so domestic/international doesn't have much to do with it. I don't really see how selling internationally would reduce flipping, anyway. The quantities are limited.

Edit: Just to add, rather than poor sales, I think the problem is that his business model is simply not profitable.

 

Oh yeah. That's true.

Although, I've tried one-up many times and I either get a 'its already sold' email or several times they never replied at all. Perhaps I'm just unlucky.

Anyway, I hope Mr. Sunguts figures out a way to make it worth carrying on . . . . it would be a serious downer if he had to quit making toys.

 

Ah that's a drag, I sort of presumed that was where a lot of people were ordering from, actually.

I don't think we have to worry about him quitting. Seems his love for toys is so great he's happy to live in poverty to make them...

 

I've had stuff sell out while I was ordering it. His (?) stuff at One Up goes insanely fast. I would be happier if he did the sales and ran a lottery perhaps, it might curb some of the scalping.

 

I've yet to score any Sunguts via One Up for that very reason (quickly sold out). I've had a bit of better luck on YJA, and for a little bit was able to acquire some from FOE gallery. But no more FOE sadly.

 

I like this sculpt better than the second version.

 

Yeah, I definitely like these better than the 2nd version, too. More gormless looking.
I think I like the one on the far right the best, haha.

 

Oh my gosh, those ghosts are exquisite. Right up my alley. And I already know I'll probably never own a set

 

Love the clear versions . . . one of my best scores. Ever.

 

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Nice! Meant to pick up one or two of these but I was too slow. Why am I not surprised you got all[?] the colours!?

 

In fact I missed one, it was pink and riding a tank (a collaboration with another maker, can't remember who) but too expensive.

 

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He is such a classy gator!