Been looking for a timeline for new school kaiju, starting from kid hunter by bxh in 1997, till pressent day. There is not much info about the early years around. I am aware some companies are already making "neo kaiju" like m1go, and others are leaping over from western vinyl. However im interested in the whole story, from beginning and how it all came about! Photos and links, are most welcome! Peace
Check out the Toy Punks Vol. 1 Documentary. Good place to start! Actually got me into this whole world and understood all the work and process behind it. Wish Vol. 2 would come out soon!
Thanks! Now, I read that Secret Base don't want too be called a kaiju toy company. I guess a company like BXH is not a kaiju company either then. But the japanese toy tradition is still very much alive, here after all. Soo it's not kaiju makers, but the tradition lives on, in a new style of toys. Interesting.
If there is one, I'm wondering if "neo kaiju" has a precise definition. I've always taken it to be referring to monsters created outside of both the licensed cannon and written mythology. I've also been assuming that the term doesn't include older patchi creations either. Anyone care to school me? If a maker such as M1-Go can be included I must not understand what the term fully encompasses.
I just read the "Moog" book, and the interview with Brian Flynn, that tell that he has been in the "Urban vinyl" toy buisness, since the mid 90's. Right in the middle of it all in Tokyo. He has a company called Neighborhood, but I can't find any info on their line if toys, or any real info, for that matter. He seem too care less, if he is giving credit for being one of the founders of "new school" japanese toys. But im going too try too get too the bottom of this, and I will try too contact him in a mail, when I get on top of this. Maybe he can also sheet a light on the "neo" kaiju question. Peace
Neo Kaiju is a term that was coined on Super7's website; it was and is used as a category for the new soft vinyl toys of original characters. Generally, this doesn't include M1 or other companies that produce toys of licensed properties. Neighborhood is a boutique fashion store in Japan. He produced a line of soft vinyl dog toys and had an exclusive release of the CCP repro Mitsukubiryu, among other things; there's information about these somewhere on the boards.
Thats all well and good but where do i score this book lol... but those neighborhood dogs are the ones kozik is showing off in the Toys Are Us documentary right?? I like those
Ok, I will do some more reserch, before I contact mr. Flynn, and waste his time. Still SB is such a great source, of Info. Thanks. I'll keep grail digging. Need too find that book though, and buy those dvd's! See ya
Compressed Timeline: 0 - 2004: People collected stuff. Some of them were on "other" message boards. 2005: Ramos invents Skullbrain.org 2006: LASK invented. Unanimosuly voted the best and most original SkullKrew..ever. 2007: Inferior SkullKrews formed (BASK, LoSK and UniTARD). Voted NOT the best and most OGest of SkullKrews. 2010: ViolentCaveman infiltrates "the scene" 2011: KFHC is created. And teh neo-hillbilly kaiju collecting scene blossoms into an orgy of empty Schlitz Kanz and Kevlo-cons. UltraPaul discovered humping the intake valve of a tractor threatens to split the previously "tite" Krew. 2012: Ancient Mayan prediction that neo-kaiju scene will eat itself becomes true. Horrible carnage and $60 figures for $15 in BST ensues. END On a more helpful note: The Get-On Street Bible is an excellent resource for early timeline including Medicoms late 90's output, the seminal Finkshit, Bounty Huinter, some notable Western contributions (Pete Fowler etc...) through to SecretBase and their unstoppable grip of teh fight figure genre. My book is in storage othersie I'd post some pics. It really is a great resource for tracing the early transition from the late 90's HK urban vinyl scene to the (still) vibrant neo-kaiju scene. There's a pic here: http://clubbounch.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/geton.jpg Its a bit big so check it out yerself if u are interested.
I'd definitely be interested in hearing stories from people who were collecting in the late 90's. From what I've learned you had M1 and a few others which were kind of continuing the Bullmark tradition as a collectable vintage style version of the stuff that the major toy companies like bandai do. Then you had all the guys like BxH, Neighborhood, Finkshit, etc. that realized that they could start making toys of their designs as merchandise for their brands, which kind of fit in with the stuff that Bape and those companies were doing at the time. Here's a pretty good summary of that stuff: http://www.btinternet.com/~nsinbath/bxh.htm
I totaly forgot that article, thanks! Just got the BxH Kid Hunter mib today! Amazing toy. The 90's is such an epic time, when it comes too neo kaiju!
The Finkshit collaboration was just for shits and giggles . . . nothing as commercial as brand marketing or merchandising!
Not sure if this has been posted here or not - but I humbly sumbit an excursion in etymology. http://www.pecha-kucha.org/presentations/244
Wow Don - that was great! I missed this little pocket history the first time around, so I'm so glad that this thread prompted you to mention this again. Good stuff.