As anyone who grew up in the 80s (well, any decade really) can remember, there are ways of getting you to buy a new figure. New paintjob = new character? Check. Gimmick involving another show you like? Double check. Optimus Prime (or Convoy) reincarnated into yet another type of truck? You bet your ass, check.
There have been many toys released over the 25 years of the Transformers franchise. The latest from Takara Tomy, the Transformers Disney Label Mickey Mouse will most likely stand out as one of the oddest of the bunch. I love the concept of the figure, but can’t help but being confused by the combination of Disney into it. It’s interesting also to note some of the details they put into the design, such as the modified Autobots-Mickey logo along with the identifiable Mickey ears while in robot mode. A normal, non-robot Mickey is included as a passenger, though I can’t help but think he’d get crushed ala Clerks the Animated Series.
The Transformers Mickey Mouse will be getting a release in late February retailing for 3800 yen. In addition, a monochrome design reflecting the classic Steamboat Mickey will be released the following month in March. Both of these figures are now available for pre-order via Hobby Search.
As long time readers may know, I'm quite a bigfan of a little show called One Piece. The relationships between the many crew members and their insane adventures please me to no end. The other thing that I love about One Piece is that they get some of the best character statues of any series out there, especially Megahouse's Portrait of Pirates series. At this point, they've released all of the crew members and several other major characters, the latest being the newest crew member (and generally perveted musician) Brook and the leader of CP9, Rob Lucci.
Thanks to a good friend of mine, I was able to borrow Brook so I can review it for all of you. Follow me after the jump for the picture-heavy review!
The desire to make a "cool" related pun is strong here, but I'll do my best! Hailing from New York artist INTERspectacular, Mr. Frostie Beats is apparently an ice cube with a penchant for spitting mad rhymes and scratching some phat beats. And if all goes well, you'll never see me say "mad rhymes" or "phat beats" ever again.
In any case, Mr. Frostie Beats looks like quite a character, with a simple but attractive and unique design. He's limited to a run of only 500 pieces, however, and with a $50 price point he's likely to melt fast. Keep an eye on Kid Robot come January 8th if you're interested!
It's hard to capture my excitement in words for when I first saw the prototype of Hot Toy's Billie Jean/HIStory Tour Michael Jackson figure. He's one of my top people in which I get my creative inspiration, and I've been a fan since I was a little girl.
Hot Toys has just released their most recent newsletter and in it includes the final images of what Michael will look like when he is released this quarter. The facial expression looks even more accurate and I'm now more excited for it, which I didn't know was possible.
It's still listed as a Hong Kong and Japan release only though, so if you haven't gotten a pre-order in yet for it I suggest you do. This is one figure I definitely don't mind the pricetag nearing $200 for, as you could always blame it on the boogie!
Is that a Where The Wild Things Are Munny custom you see above? You bet it is. Artist Shaun Wightman coaxed this and many more excellent designer vinyl creations from his class, including a Santa Claus and a Linus Munny (see those here). You can see all of the creations over at the Kid Robot forums.
I can't get enough of the idea of customizing Munnys into my favorite characters -- our own Rio McCarthy's version of Kefka from Final Fantasy VI was one of my very favorites. Do you have any that you dream of making, but haven't gotten around to yet?
Doesn't Tsuki here look like a pleasant little maid here? She's got a pleasant face, innocent stature, and wears an appropriate amount of clothing. Oh, wait. All of that comes off. Scratch all of those things that I said.
I realize that you're serving more audiences this way, and I'm sure that Morning Escort is an ero title, because what isn't these days. It's just that because of all these ero titles, I can't see a maid as simply a maid -- no, she's bound to get raped and sodomized by her master, who is either an uppity young whippersnapper or some pervy old man.
It's not just my imagination, I assure you. Moeyo certainly had plenty of fodder for their "best of 2008" lists on crotches, asses, and breasts. While some of these figures may inspire laughs, I find a good amount of them to be unnecessarily sexual. Is all that much lost when you don't get to see the girl's hooters?
I don't know if it's just me, but I long for a figure that is not going to be overly sexualized. Yes, I understand that they'll be sure to put the panties on the character for realism, but if I'm not able to strip off their clothes, then I'll view the figure as something all the more legitimate.
I don't think there's any Doctor Who fan out there who would say anything in the series could be considered cute, but even the blackest of hearts would have trouble ignoring how adorable these little minis are. Produced by Underground Toys, nearly every major villain in recent--and sometimes not so recent--Who history has been replicated in cute plastic 2" form.
From a Slitheen to Davros, from a Dalek to a Cyberman, and from a Sontaran to the good Doctor himself, the only things missing seem to be a few companions and the ever-loyal robo-dog K-9. I wouldn't say no to a few renditions of earlier Doctors, either, though something tells me Christopher Eccleston wouldn't take kindly to being replicated in a form the size of one's thumb. I'm sure all true fans are breaking out their credit cards to order now, so let me say they'll be available over the next few months for around £9.99, or just shy of $15 USD.
It's a new year, and with that comes a brand new feature on your favorite website. Welcome to the inauguration of Independent Design, where each week we will give you a peek of the work of some of the most talented custom and original artists in the vinyl toy and plush industry, as well as an interview to get to know more about them.
To have your artwork featured in galleries all over the country is truly an amazing thing, but to be able to accomplish something like that before you're able to even drive a car is definitely a bigger accomplishment. Trenton, the man behind Trenton M Studios, has had his work displayed in Miami, New York, and even his home state of Ohio, and has got quite a fan following (including myself), which is quite impressive for someone who only recently turned fifteen years old.
From paintings, to plush, and even custom vinyl, Trenton has got quite the portfolio, and is very eager to do more. Really puts myself to shame, considering I've had a blank dunny sitting on my shelf for about a year now decorated in nothing more than dust. Hit the jump to find out about Trenton's love of robots, what Trenton has in his own personal collection, and who some of his favorite artists are.
It's not every day that I get to review my most wanted figure in the history of wanted things. It's taken me quite a while to settle on which photos to use for this piece, but still not as long as the imagined eternity I spent pining for GSC to release their 1/8 scale rendition of Hatsune Miku outside of Japan.
I should further preface this review by saying that there isn't a camera in the world capable of capturing this figure's beauty. No photograph can do her justice, and while it may seem a futile effort, I will do my best to show her to you the way that I see her.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Casio's G-Shock line of watches. To help celebrate that fact, Casio has rolled out a new set of characters designed by Shiro Nakano. Even cooler, though, is that they've made figures based on these characters, complete with poseable arms, and sent them to retailers across Japan for their display cases. I absolutely love the designs, and apparently, so do much of the Japanese collecting community, who have been reportedly drooling over these figures since they were first unveiled, and I certainly can't blame them.
The bad news? These guys aren't in production commercially, since they're being used for store displays. That makes me a sad panda, because these figures are so cool, I'd definitely fork my money over to Casio for them. However, keep an eye on good old eBay, because I have a sneaking suspicion a set of these figures may end up on there eventually.
Collectible toys, vinyl, vintage, papercraft, oddities, and more: Tomopop is a place where people of all ages can all enjoy our inability to grow up when it comes to our toy collections! If you're new to Tomopop check out a note from our editor.
Tomopop officially launched in February 2008, so please pardon any bugs you may encounter as we debug our new blogging software. While we get settled in you can create an account. If you have trouble logging in or have a question contact our webmaster
