The difference

>because Skullbrain really is where the intelligent talk is happening

"Excellent" said Mr. Burns.

 

Maybe I was too hasty in my use of the term "garbage" western toys. I guess 'bland' or 'mediocre' might be more descriptive. I think it is a good thing when people honestly critique toys, rather than give the "COol!" or "SUX!" knee-jerk reaction statements.

That is an interesting point about profitability- I wonder how the financial aspects of this play out for low-run sofubi artists that are not also store owners, e.g., Blobpus, Butanohana. I think that does mark an important distinction between the two toys- profit motivation vs. artistic endeavor, assuming he is indeed taking a hit in production. But the process of drawing source material from others' works without permission is still a factor worth comparing. Yes, the drawing is obscure (but probably not public domain) and yes, we don't know the artist or magazine publisher right now. I wonder what the reaction will be (if any) if someone in the U.S. were to produce a bootleg Blobpus 15-20 years down the road. Hey, it's obscure and from another country...

Re: the crude toy statement. I think there is something to producing an item that is beautiful in its misshapen nature. Seems lazy and easy, but it probably is not. Isn't there a Japanese aesthetic term for this style (some kind of pottery)?

 

You might be thinking of "wabi-sabi," but I don't know if that really applies. I've seen new toy makers say that they make their kaiju in "Maru-Buru style."

 

I think if you look at the type of product a company like KR is producing compared to the product Japanese, S7 or Maxtoy entities are producing,
they are executed in a completely different context. All have to make profits to sustain themselves, that is a common thread but KR imo is more about making
a product based on a wide variety of trends, be it fashion, a resurgence of some pop culture movement and flavors of the month to purposely reach a bigger audience and maximize profits. Thus their "product" is much more superficial, compared to the product made by Japanese companies, S7 or Maxtoy who have been and are collectors that are specifically fueled more by a homage to childhood memories/toys, Japanese monster shows. As someone else posted, "passion".

We have an American Idols section for discussions of a more western vein and I do collect Biskup figures, but the American Idols that are discussed for the most part have a connection or crossover to Japanese vinyl toys/manufacturers or are about figures of a higher standard and I like that focus here. If I want to discuss McDonalds happy meal toys I go to that type of forum, in other words, this forum has established itself and new members will come for it's distinct content.

Also, akum6n is right about double standards in discussing the hoodwinking of intellectual properties/characters in this thread and ignoring the 2 headed Bemon figure. However we have had discussions in the past regarding Gargamel, IKB and the Nakaoka Toshiya book the monsters came from. We do need more discussions on those figures and not just sweep them under the rug because we like them.

This is certainly true for this toy culture we are in. To some it is just about collecting the rare and putting aside personal tastes towards aesthetics. But on the flip-side, there are many that genuinely like that figure, it's history and execution. CK choosing not to release them like a bat out of hell, let's say like RxH did their minis, simply makes them more cherished to those that genuinely like and have them. To each his own.

The "generic" illustration was created as a conceptual design for the monster created in the movie and has every right to fall under the same copyright laws that Ralph Mcquarrie's conceptual Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker illustrations for Star Wars do. Even if the movie itself was in the public domain, I don't think the art/characters would be... much like the American International Pictures US versions of Toho films that are in the public domain but the Toho characters in those films like Gojira and Frankenstein from Frankenstein Conquers the World are not.

The original drawing of the two headed monster on the FM cover could have been done by Marcel Delgado who built the armature for the monster or
one of the stop motion animators ie; Jim Danforth, Tom Holland, David Pal.

 

I have hesitated to say this, as I am not sure, what 1 head of the two-headed Bemon looks like a monster from the movie Equinox - filled with claymation monsters.

 

Some of the young talent that worked on Jack the Giant Killer like Jim Danforth also worked on Equinox and did some pretty incredible matte paintings on it. But it was an exciting time for stop motion creatures due to the success of Sinbad so everyone was influencing each other. Super low budget but Lots of GREAT monsters and effects in Equinox. It's also a who's who of future Hollywood special effects talent.