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■ + A R T + D ESIG f % w STs L ■-'■'“ '• ''" ’ a if \ M i I « v i:i l l / ' I ,f 1v K v \ V!' HE NEW COMPANION ND A HISTORY OF PUSHEAD'S TOY WORKS - OUNTY HUNTER ET JAGUAR / BLOBPUS ULLMARKSPARKERS EQUILA TOYS & MORE 97377570041604 9 fo r n ruu*v i IS S U E 12 JM Ill 0 R K © i m GAINAX/KGI ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDUNDER LICENSE FROM BROCCOLI I NTERNATIONAL USA-, INC d u fiitf® dum m ies. -sags-. • ■ ■ W E liil MiWmJeis I - ■ ■ SUPER7 VOLUME04 ISSUE01 M ARCH2006 05 07 08 14 18 EDITORIAL EXCLUSIVES S7 NEWS S7 TALK TOYING WITH DEATH/ THE FIGURES OF LEGENDARY PUNK ARTIST PUSHEAD 3 0 BOUNTY HUNTER STRIKES BACK/ THE BRAND THAT STARTED IT ALL 36 FIRESTARTERS/ BULLMARK SPARKING VINYLS 38 SMILE IF YOU’RE A ROBOT/ CLASSIC JET JAGUAR VINYL TOYS 42 BLOBPUS IS FOR LOVERS/ FOR THE CREATORS OF BLOBPUS, KAIJU TOYS ARE FUN & GAMES 46 DRINK FIGHT W IN / MUTTPOP RELEASES TW O NEW FIGURES IN 2006 50 M U S IC / OSAKA POPSTAR 52 FA SHIO N/ NIKE.SHOCKER.SUPER7. DEVILOCK.HOUSE33 54 REVIEW S/ 56 S7 G EA R / 58 SUPER7 VS. JAPAN A FIRST PERSON ANECDOTAL ACCOUNT OF A TOKYO ADVENTURE Created by Jerry Frissen & Gobi, Sculpted by Monsters - Fully painted rotocast vinyl TEQUILA figure with removable vinyl PONCHO - Dimensions: 8.6” X 6.6" X 4,7” f22cm X 17cm X 12cm) www.muttpop.com • [email protected] ^assssv MUTTPOP Purveyors of good taste! EDITORIAL Super7 Magazine, Volume 4 Issue 1 - March 2006 P ublisher Brian Flynn / [email protected] Super7 Media, Inc. / San Francisco, CA Editor Justin Kovalsky / [email protected] Design Brian Flynn / G e o ff Allen / Caleb Kozlowski / Darlene Gibson Hybrid Design, Inc. / www.hybrid-design.com N atio n a l A d S a le s / S ta ff W rite r Chad Hensley / [email protected] R etail D irectors Karen Stanley (store) / [email protected] Isaac Ramos (web) / [email protected] Gracious C o n trib u to rs & S p e c ia l T h an ks Pushead, Kaws, Katsu Tanaka, Hiddy o f Secret Base, Oka Narue o f M edicom , Takeshi Sakamoto, Tim Brisko, Mason W arner o f House33, Yass th e Street C orner Hustler, Kashimoto-san ofToygraph, Kaminaga-san o f Marusan, Kiyoka, Hiroaki, Taguchi and Yutaka o fG a rg a m el, StrangeCo, Hiro Hayashi, R obert Arevalo, Shigeo Kikuchi (the photo assassin), John Cafiero, Hirosuke Nishiyama o f Balzac, Endo Noriaki o f Devilock, M edicom Toy, D evilrobots, Mizna, Bwana Spoons, BxH, Dennis, Yuriko and everyone who showed us hospitality on our last trip to Japan. Li I/ THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT O n c e in a b lu e m o o n , I fo r g e t w h y th e w h o le S uper7 s ta ff p ushes so incessantly to cre a te th e m a ga zin e, to ra m p u p o u r re ta il lo c a tio n in SF and to m ake new to y s , a rt p rin ts a nd c lo th e s th a t w e fin d c o m p e llin g . B e fo re you slap m e w ith so m e cyn ica l re to rt, you s h o u ld k n o w th a t I k n ow ju s t w h a t y o u 'll say: "O h , p ity US D istribution Tower Books, Diamond Comics, Ingrams Periodicals, Retail Vision and Last Gasp th o s e p o o r p e o p le w h o w o rk w ith c o o l Ja panese to ys, d e s ig n e rs and a rtis ts all Japanese D istribution Presspop, Inc. / www.presspop.com fra n tic a lly c o rra llin g late c o n trib u to rs , p r o d d in g p ro c ra s tin a tin g p h o to g ra p h e rs , O th er In te rn a tio n a l D is trib u tio n [email protected] to fe e l like I'm in th e c e n te r o f so m e s in is te r circus d e s ig n e d by h o rrib le little P rinting Transcontinental Printing / LGM Graphics attn: Mike Bradley 1.800.661.0052 x24 Printed in Canada ju s t w a tc h in g and w a itin g fo r o u r s ta ff's c o lle c tiv e u lc e r to m u ta te and d e v o u r E ditorial / S ub m issio ns [email protected] s eem s r ig h t in n u ts v ille ...L a s t tim e o u r d e s ig n e r, G e o ff A lle n , re tu rn e d fro m C ontact / G oodie Boxes Super7 Magazine 540 Delancey St., Suite 303, San Francisco, CA 94107 415.227.4700 / www.super7magazine.com 5 -y e a r-o ld cousin , Lily. Lily lives in Kansas a nd th e s e are h e r s te lla r re n d itio n s R etail Location Super7 Store 1630 Post Street, San Francisco, CA 94115 415.409.4700 / www.super7store.com Legal The advertising and articles appearing within this publication reflect the opinions and attitudes o f their respective authors and not necessarily those o f the publisher or other persons affiliated w ith this publication. All rights to the photographs, artw ork and articles contained in this publication are co pyrig h t owned by th e ir respective creators. All rights to any character names a n d /o r likenesses are copyright owned by th e ir respective owners, and no assumption o f ownership is made by this publication. Everything else contained herein is ©2006 Super7 Media, Inc. and may not be reproduced in part or whole w ithout written permission from Super7 Media Inc. as well as any co ntributors if applicable. In th e end, Super7 is a magazine a bout toys; keep it light. day. P uh-lease." I realize it so un d s like th e m o s t fu n jo b in th e w o rld ; and, w ell, to b e h o n e s t, it re ally can be. B u t th e re are tim e s , like th o s e days th a t I sp e n d and p le a d in g w ith to o -c o o l to y m akers to answ er o u r q u e s tio n s , th a t it all sta rts M a rtian s. I in e v ita b ly im a g in e th e s e aliens s e ate d a to p g lo w in g g ree n th ro n es, San Francisco. It's all q u ite d is tu rb in g . U n til, th a t is, w e re ceive a p ie ce o f a rt like th e o n e w e g o t fro m a sp ecia l little re a d e r nam e d Lily; th e n , su dd e n ly, all an o u t- o f- s ta te fa m ily v is it, he b r o u g h t b a c k th is d e lig h tfu l d ra w in g by his o f to y s m a de b y Ja panese b o u tiq u e S e cret Base, w hich she a p p a re n tly lea rn e d all a b o u t in issue n u m b e r n in e o f Super7. N e v e rm in d th e p e rfe c tly p ro fo u n d c u ltu ra l e x c h a n g e th a t's h a p p e n in g h ere ; th is d ra w in g is am azin g and p u re in a w ay th a t o n ly a c h ild can conjure. Sure, Pushead's p ro to ty p e to ys are g o d h e a d a nd his c o lla b o ra rtio n w ith Kaws b o g g le s th e m in d , as y o u 'll d is c o v e r in o u r c o v e r s to ry . A n d , yes, J a p a n e s e fa s h io n b ra n d B o u n ty H u n te r is so c o o l w e can h a rd ly s ta n d it, as w e le a rn e d w hen w e in te rv ie w e d c o m p a n y c o -fo u n d e r H ikaru Iw anaga. B ut, Lily's d ra w in g speaks o f th e real reason w e m ake Super7: to p ro m o te th e essence o f k id -lik e c re a tiv ity to as m any p e o p le as p o s s ib le and to have fu n d o in g so. If it so un d s id e a lis itc o r c lic h e d to you, I s u g g e s t you have a s it-d o w n w ith Lily. I b e t sh e'd ch an g e y o u r m in d in m o m en ts. J u s tin K ovalsky E ditor, Super7 S7 EXCLUSIVES V.12 0 7 Left: E veryday is H allow een a t Super7. The o ra n g e -w ith -b la c k trim Balzac P aperbagm an w ill also b e a v aila ble A p r il 1st exclusively a t w w w .super7m agazine.com A BAG OF BONES BETWEEN FRIENDS R ig h t: The inten se M isfits Records Balzac P a p erb a gm a n Exclusive. A v a ila b le A p r il 1st o n ly a t w w w .m isfitsre co rds.com BALZACxSECRET BASExMISFITS RECORDSxSUPER7 In a ty p ic a lly Ja panese fo u r-w a y c o lla b o ra tio n , S u p er7 , M is fits R ecords and S ecret Base have te a m e d up w ith Ja panese p u n k b an d Balzac to release th e ir m asked vinyl m a sco t fig u re S ta te sid e . T h o u g h th is c h a ra c te r was o rig in a lly c re a te d a nd p ro d u c e d in Ja p a n b y Balzac a n d S e cre t Base, and has b e e n in a v a rie ty o f c o lo rw ays, th e se new H allow e e n c o lo rs are h ittin g th e US to h elp spread th e w o rd a b o u t th e h o tte s t h o rro r p u n k a c t fro m th e East. T h e blackw ith -o ra n g e -trim ve rsio n is e xlcu sive to M is fits R ecords (Balzac's US re c o rd lab e l) and w ill b e a va ila lb e in a lim ite d e d itio n o f 100 p ie ce s. O n th e back o f th is fig u re (n o t show n) th e ic o n ic M is fits lo g o w ill a p p e a r p a d p rin te d in sta rk w h ite . For th e Super7 o ra n g e -w ith -b la c k -trim v e rs io n , w e 're c a rry in g on th e tra d itio n o f o u r H a llo w e e n se t w ith g u s to ; p ic tu re th e se fig u re s on y o u r to y s h e lf n e x t to last years S u p er7 xS e cret Base H a llo w e e n series and y o u 'll g e t th e ide a . E sch e w in g p a d p rin tin g on th e b ack, th e S7 c o lo rw a y w ill also be lim ite d to 100 pieces. ARIGATO MISTER ROB OTTO M-1xSUPER7 CLEAR JET JAGUAR W h e th e r you fo n d ly re m e m b e r J e t Ja g u a r h e lp in g G o d z illa save th e E arth in th e film G o d z illa VS M e g a lo n o r th is is y o u r in tro d u c tio n to th e tita n iu m tita n ; w e can all a g re e th a t he's a c o o l lo o k in g ro b o t. The o rig in a l m o ld fo r th is n in e -in ch m id d le -s iz e d vinyl to y was p u rp o rte d ly m a de b y M-1 o w n e r Yuji N ish im ura to fill in his v e ry ow n c o lle c tio n ; th e re w ere p re v io u s ly o n ly g ia n t-s iz e d and sm all-sized to y s m a de by B ullm ark in th e 70s. N ow , Super7 is te a m in g up w ith M-1 to b rin g you th e v e ry firs t clea r ve rsio n o f th e ch a ra cte r. T h o u g h th e u n p a in te d p r o to ty p e is show n here, e x p e c t o u r re g u la r release to fe a tu re J e t J a gu a r's o rig in a l c o lo r schem e o f red, b lu e , y e llo w and gray. These w ill re ta il fo r $75 .00 and w ill b e a vaila ble in late M arch a t w w w .su p e r7 m a g azin e .co m TOY NEWS 08 v-12 TWO HEADS AND ONE BROKEN HEART The Super7 X S e cret Base G h o s tfig h te r re tu rn e d th is F e b ru a ry ju s t in tim e to g e t his h e a rt to rn to te e n sy-w e e nsy bits. Cast in clear p in k vinyl w ith p ip e cleaner arms and a broken hea rt p a p e r inse rt in th e chest, th e Valentines Day G h o s tfig h te r co m es in tw o fresh c o lo r va ria n ts. F e a tu re d on th e r ig h t in th e red s h o rts is a lim ite d e d tio n a vaila ble on a firs t-c o m e firs t-s e rv e basis. In th e b la ck s h o rts on th e le ft is o u r s u b s c rib e r o n ly ve rsio n w hich w e o ffe re d u p fo r sale as a th a n k you to th e p e o p le w h o s u p p o rt th e m agazine d ire c tly . S orry w e c o u ld n 't send choco la te s. If you miss o u t on th e se fig ure s, keep yo u r eyes p e e le d fo r th e exclusive W h ite Day G h o s tfig h te r on M arch 15th. (P rototype a rt show n le ft). W o rd on th e s tre e t is th a t th e re m ay even b e a s u b s c rib e r o n ly v a ria n t. In case yo u're cu rio u s, W h ite Day is a Ja panese h o lid a y w h e re g irls g iv e boys th e y like g ifts . As fo r h ow th e s e n o rm a lly s tro n g -w ille d b oxe rs le t th e ir e m o tio n a l g u a rd d o w n , it seem s th a t even th e th e to u g h e s t to ys have to e n d u re th e ir fa ir share o f heartache. w w w .su p e r7 m a g azin e .co m OLDIE BUT GOODIE ARTIST BWANA SPOONS INTRODUCES THE SILVER JESSIE If you a re n 't fa m ilia r w ith th e w o rk o f Bwana S poons, you are a b o u t to b e c o m e , w ell, a h a p p ie r hum an b e in g . T h a t may so un d hokey, b u t Bwana is a tru ly in v e n tiv e p a in te r w ho se c o o l c h ara cters and c a c o p h o n o u s ly c o lo rfu l lan d sca pe s re ally w ill fo rc e you to crack a sm ile. This s te rlin g silve r fig u re is based on Bwana's Jessie th e W anderer. Jessie w e ig h s in a t six ounces, stands at fo u r-in c h e s ta ll and a p p a re n tly , A c c o rn S tu d io hand s c u lp te d him so th a t his h ead and arm s can m o ve! Like any g o o d w an d e re r, he c o m es w ith h o b o sack th a t houses a starfish, a sand d ollar, a crysta l and a b o ttle o f sea m ist. M a de in a lim ite d e d itio n o f 30, y o u 'd b e s m a rt to p ic k th is w ise w a n d e re r up b e fo re he ra m ble s on. TOY NEWS V.12 BIG IN JAPAN JUMBO VINYL ROBOTS FROM FEWTURE Lovers o f g ia n t-s iz e d vinyls g e t re ad y to re jo ic e and J u m b o M a c h in d e r fans m ig h t w a n t to pay a tte n tio n to o . In A p ril, F e w tu re M o d e ls w ill release th e n e xt tw o to y s in th e ir G ig a -B y te series o f s o ft vinyl fig ure s. O n ly each o f th e h ig h ly d e ta ile d fig u re s are nea rly th re e fe e t ta ll are base d cre a tio n s fro m le g e n d a ry m anga a rtis t G o N ag a i. T h e fir s t c h a ra c te r is th e m e c h a -m o n s te r G arada K7 fro m th e classic s u p e r ro b o t anim e, M azinger. Besides th e to y 's m assive sta tu re , e xtra g im m ic k s in c lu d e eye m issiles and d e ta c h a b le sickle b la d e s on th e side o f th e ro b o t's head. N e x t u p is UFO G re n d ize r. Sure to p lease g ia n t ro b o t fans e v e ry w h e re , b o th vinyls have seven p o in ts o f a rtic u la tio n and b a ll-jo in te d w rists and e lb o w s. A s u g g e s te d re ta il p ric e o f $248 is b o u n d to raise a fe w eyeb ro w s b u t th e n so w ill one o f th e se g ia n ts to w e rin g a b o ve y o u r to y shelves. MONSTERS GONE WILD NEWKAIJU UNVEILED FROM MARUSAN M arusan is a b o u t to unshackle a slew o f n ew m o n s te r vinyls as p a rt o f th e ir Tederos to y line. This series g o t o ff to a s lo w s ta rt on th e kaiju side w ith Zim e lla released in 2 00 3 ; A se con d fig u re w a s n 't a d d e d to th e series u n til last fa ll— E b ire o n , a lo b s te r fish fu s io n . D u rin g th e n e x t fe w m o n th s , M a rusa n w ill introd u ce three new kaiju to th e mix. The firs t beast w ill be Bamer, a g ia n t w in g e d crustacean. N e x t is th e n ig h tm a rish S eabull, a h id e o u s d o lp h in -e le p h a n t cross b ree d . The th ird kaiju is th e s tra n g e A lie n Fran in va d e r and w ill be released in th re e d iffe re n t form s. The Frans are o cto p u s-like e xtra te rre stria ls th a t tra ve l in small fly in g saucers and e x te n d m e cha n ized te n ta cle s. O n e se t o f Frans w ill in c lu d e an alie n and sa uce r w h ile th e 1 0 -in ch Fran s h ip w ith te n ta c le s w ill be released separately. Each o f th e se m o n s tro u s adve rsa ries are c o lo rfu lly d eta ile d and com e b a g g e d w ith a h eader card fe a tu rin g actual panels fro m th e T ederos co m ic. These are sure to sa tia te y o u r Ja pa n e se m o n s te r to y lust, a t least m o m e n ta rily. NEVER MIND THE POLOCKS TIM BISKUP TEAMS UP WITH TOY2R Toy2R's Q e e fig u re s are a p o p a rt p h e n o m e n o n lite ra lly p o p p in g u p all o v e r th e g lo b e . P ro no u n ced "key," Q ees co m e in a v a rie ty o f shapes and sizes, d e s ig n e d b y som e o f th e to p to y creators o f to d a y. O n e o f Toy2R's firs t Q ees fo r th e New Year is Tim Biskup's 8 -in ch Polska C yclo p s Egg. Shaped like H u m p ty -D u m p ty , th e fig u re 's visag e is a g rin n in g , o ne -e ye d bea st w h ile its backside bares a d esig n re m in isce n t o f a m edieval e nsign. "I was lo o k in g a t h e ra ld ic shields as a reference," e xpla ins Biskup a b o u t th e e a g le s y m b o l on th e back o f his Polska C yclops. "A frie n d p o in te d o u t th a t it lo o k e d like th e Polish fla g . So I d id a little research and cam e u p w ith th e to y 's n am e ." B e tte r y e t, 50 g lo w -in -th e -d a rk Polska C yclops Eggs have b ee n ra n d o m ly p a c k a g e d w ith th e re g u la r o ra n g e v e rs io n , so g e t re ad y fo r a h un t. By th e way, have you heard th e o n e a b o u t th e g o o fy a rtis t, th e French g u y and th e Polock? 0 9 Tove IS FROZEN SOLID SEC U R ITY M O N K EY dead/ y ^ iT H GREEDy f iL O - ry 10 inch Noupa Evil Robo trexi, comes with a 3 inch Greedy Pilot trexi inside. Also available in Blister, Frozen Solid Security Monkey. 10 inch Flying Pig trexi, comes with a 3 inch Cold Day in Hell trexi inside. Also available in Blister, Cold Day in Hell trexi. piece together by dorren gan for more information, log on to uiuiui.ployimoginotive.com or head douin to your neare/t treni /to cki/t TOY NEWS V.12 11 LUCK OF THE DRAW GARGAMEL RELEASES NEW YEARS LUCKY BAGS E very N e w Year, th e c o o l kid s a t J a p a n e se to y c o m p a n y G a rg a m e l cre a te S ta rtin g in th e u p p e r le ft a nd m o v in g clo c k w is e , th e U nch i-kun cam e in b o th s o m e th in g special fo r th e ir cu sto m e rs. C a rry in g on th e Ja panese tra d itio n o f red v in y l w ith g re e n sp ray and re d vinyl w ith s ilv e r sp ray ve rsions. (Yes, th e fukubukoro o r lucky bags, in w hich retailers ra nd o m ly p ack assorted h ig h -p ric e d U n ch i-ku n is e x a c tly w h a t y o u th in k it is.) N e x t, y o u 'v e g o t to love th is g ro u p g o o d ie bags and sell th e m a t crazy d is c o u n ts to cre a te g o o d luck in th e N ew s h o t o f m in i-H e d o ra n in c lu d in g th e y e llo w s ta n d in g and p in k w a lk in g lucky bag Year, G argam el stu ffs bags chock fu ll o f ra n d o m rare vinyls, o n e -o f-a -k in d item s ve rsio n s. S ta rtin g on th e b o tto m ro w a t rig h t, th e s e m ini Z a rg o ra n s ca m e in and u n p a in te d te s t sh o ts o f th e ir h o tte s t releases. O f co u rse , c o lle c to rs g o bla ck u n p a in te d vinyl, flesh c o lo re d vinyl and b la c k vinyl w ith red spray. Finally, a b s o lu te ly b onkers fo r th e se m yste ry p ackages and q u ite a fe w o f th e m tric k le d G a rg a m e l's la te s t kaiju is u n v e ile d . His nam e is B a kobaso and he w a n ts you in to th e US m a rke t e a rlie r th is year. In case you m issed o u t, w e've p ro v id e d a ta ke him h om e , e s p e c ia lly if y o u have ro o m fo r him and his m in i-p a l! s a m p lin g o f th e tre a su re s b e lo w ju s t in tim e to w h e t y o u r a p p e tite fo r w h a t G a rg a m e l has in sto re in 2 00 6 a nd b e yo n d . TOY NEWS 1 2 V.12 BACK IN BLACK BALZAC MEDICOM PAPERBAGMAN It's hard to b e lie ve th a t th e q u a rte t o f rockers th a t co m p rise s Ja panese b and Balzac fin d th e tim e to m ake really co n siste n t re cord s; to to u r; to run th e ir O sa ka -b ase d b o u tiq u e and fa sh io n lab e l; and to p ro d u c e as m any g re a t to ys as th e y d o. B u t th e y keep ch u rn in g o u t c o o l p ro d u c ts , so it's p r e tty clea r to see w hy th e ir fan base is g ro w in g S ta te sid e. O n Ja nu a ry 2 5th in Ja pa n , th e b and released a new sing le fe a tu rin g th e so ng s " H o rro ro c k " and "R a in" th a t cam e p a c ka g e d w ith th is P a p erb a gm a n d o ll. M a de b y M e d ic o m Toy, th e 12-inch fig u re ca m e w ith re m o v a b le m ask, m e g a p h o n e , and k n ife a ccesso rie s. T h o u g h th is fig u re has b e e n re le a se d b e fo re in a b la c k c o lo rw a y , th is version's suit is e n tire ly m ade o f leather. O n ly 1000 o f th e se w ere m ade and th e y so ld o u t im m e d ia te ly in Japan. DOLLY POP ARTIST MIZNA LENS HITS STATESIDE In th e sam e ve in o f c re e p y -c u te m anga a rits ts like J u n k o M izun o , b u t m o re p o p frie n d ly , Ja pa n e se a rtis t M izna is a b o u t to re lease a series o f s o ft vinyl fig u re s , h an d c ra fte d d o lls a nd a rt p rin ts b a se d on h e r u n ive rse o f c h ara cters. T itle d sim p ly, M izna Lens, M izna's o e u v re c o m b in e s te e n g o th ic g irl s e n s ib ilitie s w ith th e v in ta g e h o rro r v ib e o f m anga m a ste rs H id e sh i H in o and U m ezu Kazuo — b o th o f w h o m M izna says are "m a jo r in flu e n c e s ." Fe a tu re d le ft is an e x a m p le o f o n e o f th e y o u n g a rtis t's h a n d c ra fte d a nd h y p e r-d e ta ile d p lush d o lls . These s o ld fo r to p d o lla r u p o n h e r re c e n t g a lle ry sh ow a t R o b o c o n in Los A n g e le s . H e r fir s t v in y l d o ll w ill be a v a ila b le th is M arch via w w w .h ih o u .n e t/m iz n a and s e le c t re ta ile rs . COSMIC CHAOS MARS-TS INVISIBLE PLAN S trangeC o is d ro p p in g new Mars-1 m ini fig u re s later th is ye ar as a fo llo w u p to last year's h ig h ly a n tic ip a te d p ro to ty p e release a t San D ie g o C o m ic -C o n . F a ith fu lly s c u lp te d to c a p tu re th e essence o f M ars-1's (a.k.a San F ra n cisco -b a sed a rt star M a rio M a rtin e z's) lavish ly a b s tra c t sci-fi p a in tin g s , all 12 o f th e In v is ib le Plan fig u re s are sch e d u le d to h it s o m e tim e th is s p rin g . The to ys w ill be b lin d b o x e d and w ill b e a va ila b le in tw o d iffe re n t c o lo rw a y s -re d and g re e n . If th is sneak p e e k a t th e fu ll line o f p ro to ty p e s is any in d ic a tio n , th e final to ys w ill be stellar. TOY NEWS V.12 SKULLS TO THE WALL NEW COLORWAYS FROM SKULL TOYS T hough many o f th e new wave Japanese vinyl co m pa n ies are p ro d u c in g 5-inch c o m p a n ie s are d o in g , I a c tu a lly d id w a n t to g iv e it th e a p p e a ra n c e and fe e lin g fig ure s th a t all f it in th e sam e a e s th e tic universe, o th e rs, such as fle d g lin g to y o f th e o rig in a ls . [Several o f th e o th e r n ew su it c o m p a n ie s lean to w a rd m o re makers, Skull Toys are cra ftin g am azingly d e ta ile d vinyl suits th a t f it on o ld -sch o ol e x a g e rra te d and s ty liz e d suits.] Henshin C y b o rg fig u re s . O ffe r in g th re e c o lo rw a y s o f th e ir D o k u ro K in g s u it (Black Riot, U n p a inted Pink and Clear), Skull Toys is g a in in g c o n sid e ra b le steam Can you share a b it m ore a b o u t th e visual in sp iration fo r your suit? and a ttra c tin g th e a tte n tio n o f c o lle c to rs in th e US and Japan. S uit d e s ig n e r I had th e idea o f in c o rp o ra tin g a skull m o tif in to m y to ys, b u t it was d iffic u lt to Takeuichi talks influ e n ce and in sp ira tio n . g e t my ideas into shape. I re fe rred to m any th ing s, b u t u ltim a te ly I d rew th e m ost S7: Did you g ro w up collecting original Henshin C yborg fig ures and suits? G ig e r (the o rig in a l c o n c e p t a rtis t fo r th e m o vie A lie n ) was a m a jo r influence. in s p ria tio n fro m th e im a g e o f th e B u d d h is t d e ity , A syura. A lso, th e w o rk o f HR Takeuichi: A c tu a lly I've o n ly s ta rte d to c o lle c t in th e last fe w years. So I am in flu e n ce d m o re by new to y s like S ecret Base and Ravii suits. I've b ee n in to The suit is q u ite m eticu lou sly scu lp te d . W h o was th e sculptor? toys since I was a kid; my p are n ts used to b u y me Zo ids. But, I've b ee n b u y in g A c tu a lly , I d e s ig n e d and s c u lp te d it m yself! s o ft vinyl fig u re s recen tly. I also like M e d ic o m 's Kubricks. Have you been surprised by th e sudden and in tense in te re s t in your w o rk, H ow do you fe e l th e Skull Toys suits fit in w ith o th e r custom suit p a rtic u la rly w ith a lo t o f it com ing fro m th e US? It really su rprise s m e and m anufacturers? W ith my d esig n s, even th o u g h I love w h a t o th e r new I am e x tre m e ly h a p p y th a t p e o p le in th e US are e n jo y in g my item s! 13 S7 TALK 14 v’2 T h o u g h y o u m a y not b e fa m ilia r w ith th e n am e O ka N arue, w h en y o u h e a r th e lis t o f Japa ne se to y s th a t th is d is tin g u is h e d g e n tle m a n has m a d e yo u w ill u n d o u b te d ly flip . W h e th e r he's cra n kin g o u t o b s c u re v in yl toys f o r Ta ke-shit's p u n k b a n d C o c o b a t o r n e w G le n D a nzig fig ures, O ka fills h is days t o ilin g a w ay as a to y p ro d u c e r fo r M e d ic o m Toy c o m p a n y in Ja pa n. O h ye ah , h e's also th e in v e n to r o f a lit t le to y lin e c a lle d K ubricks. M a y b e y o u 'v e h e a rd o f it. NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND This tim e , I'd like to w rite a b o u t h ow I b e g a n m a kin g to y s fo r th e Ja panese p u n k b an d , Balzac. In M arch 1999, th e s o ft vinyl to ys M o n s te r and V a m p ire (b e lo w )w e re released u n d e r th e nam e I n ow use w ith M e d ic o m , P ass-guard. A t firs t, th e y w e re s u p p o s e d to b e re le a s e d fro m th e c o m p a n y I u sed to w o rk fo r, Z a a p !, w hich s o ld C o c o b a t Jo e (I w ill ta lk a b o u t th is so m e o th e r tim e !), b u t e n d e d u p b e in g p ro d u c e d by B o u n ty H u n te r. T h e re w e re o n ly 666 o f each fig u re a nd th e y s o ld o u t im m e d ia te ly u p o n release. O rig in a lly , th e s e w e re m e a n t to b e c h a ra c te rs on t-s h irts d e s ig n e d fo r Balzac by H id e a ki fro m H 8 G ra p h ix . W e th o u g h t th e d ra w in g s w e re re a lly c o o l a nd th a t th e y w o u ld m ake g re a t to ys. A t th a t tim e , w e had o n ly p r o d u c e d C o c o b a t J o e a n d th e P o s i-T ra c tio n T in -C a r, so w e had v e ry little p ra c tic a l k n o w -h o w . F o rtu n a te ly , w e re c e iv e d a lo t o f h e lp fro m fa c to r y p e o p le o n h o w to m ake th e s e fig u re s . N ow , I've p ro d u c e d lo ts o f o th e r Balzac to y s fo r M e d ic o m Toy. H ow e ve r, th e fir s t o n e w ill alw ays rem ain in m y m e m ory. S7 TALK T a ke -sh it is th e c o o l c re a to r a n d bass p la y e r f o r th e J a p a n e s e h a rd c o re b a n d C o c o b a t, as w e ll as a c o lu m n is t fo r W a rp Ja p a n a n d C o o l Trans m a g a zin e . H e's n o to rio u s ly a d d ic te d to a ll t h in g s H e n s h in C y b o rg , M ic ro m a n a n d D e v ilm a n a n d h is to y c o lle c tio n is so in sane i t w o u ld m a k e y o u w e e p . H e has a ls o b e e n in v o lv e d in th e c re a tio n o f m a n y to ys o v e r the ye a rs in c lu d in g th e h ig h ly in flu e n tia l F in k-S h it fig ure, M e d ic o m 's C o co b a t Joe, M icrom an-style, M ic ro - S h it to y s a n d B e@ rbricks. GARBAGE DIGGER SOFT VINYL HARDCORE D u rin g th e 1970's, s o ft v in ly kaiju fig u re s based on m ovies and TV p ro p e rtie s w ere e x tre m e ly p o p u la r w ith kids. But th e re w ere also tim e s w he n n o -n a m e ch a ra cte rs w e re rele a se d by Jy a k u s h o g o k u C o m p a n ie s . IKB was th e to p co m p a n y th a t th e se o b su re kaiju to ys. These w ere som e o f th e m o s t s u p e rb ly d e s ig n e d fig u re s o f all tim e . The co m pa n y's e arly o u tp u t in c lu d e d a set o f th re e H ed o ra n, b u t th e h it series M osug o n 1 was also sta rtin g to rise to a tte n tio n . There was ru m o re d to b e a M o su g o n 2, b u t th e to y and h e a d e r c a n n o t b e fo u n d to d a y . H ow ever, ju s t recen tly, a to y m aker in Ja pa n re s u rre c te d th e fa b le d M o s u g o n 2! Hanashi Kaiju, also kn ow n as K u p ach i K aijo is kn ow n b y th e c o lle c to rs as Mr, H. He cre ate s th e m o n s te r, B em on (p ic tu re d b o tto m row). C a llin g h im s e lf b y th e title th e S o ft V inyl H a rd co re , Mr. H tru ly is a d ie -h a rd . Instead o f having his fig u re s c o lo re d a t a fa c to ry , he takes his tim e to p a in t each to y to p e rfe c tio n hand. Even th e h e a d e r cards are silk s c re en e d o n e a t a tim e . His b irth p la c e is in Tokyo, Kashi-Ku, w h e re th e re are sm all fa c to rie s o w n e d by fa m ilie s . It m ay b e b eca u se o f th e se s u rro u n d in g s th a t Mr. H fe e ls m o s t c o m fo rta b le h an d c ra ftin g each o f his s o ft vinyl fig u re s , p u s h in g th e tra d itio n o f c o m p a n ie s like IKB to th e n e x t level. S7 TALK 16 V1; H id d y is th e o w n e r a n d d riv in g fo rc e o f Ja p a n 's p re m ie r b o u tiq u e to y c o m p a n y , S e c re t Base. S e cre t Base has b e e n p ro d u c in g so m e o f th e m o s t in v e n tiv e fiv e -in c h v in y l to ys o n th e p la n e t a n d th e re 's n o e n d in s ig h t. In each issu e o f S u p e r7 . H id d y w ill b e s h a rin g h is th o u g h ts w ith his ra p id ly g ro w in g le g io n o f US fans. HOUSE OF SECRETS MY FAVORITE THINGS H ello and w e lco m e to th e firs t in s ta llm e n t o f House o f Secrets! There are m any intere stin g th in g s h ap p e nin g w ith Secret Base a nd w ith Ja p a n e se to y s . A s I k n o w th a t m any Super7 re a d e rs are c o lle c to rs o f to y s and o th e r ite m s, I'd like to share a fe w th in g s th a t have g ra b b e d m y o w n a tte n tio n lately. I m ay n o t e x p la in e v e ry th in g th o ro u g h ly , b u t th a t's p a rt o f th e fu n o f fin d in g o u t a b o u t new c o o l th in g s — it's p a rt o f th e th rill o f th e hunt. Please e njo y th e p ic tu re s and fe e l fre e to w rite to th e m agazine s ta ff if you have any q u e s tio n s a b o u t a n y th in g you see in my co lu m n . 1. First up, th is is th e n e w c o lo rw a y o f S ecret Base's K ing Skull Brain, m a d e b y a n d in c o lla b o ra tio n w ith M e d ic o m Toy 2. N e x t is th e 2 006 B o u nty H u n te r Jacket. This is m y ow n custom version m a d e b y S e cre t Base. 4 . The s p e c ia l S k u llb e e + G ra p p le K ub rick. 5. 3 . Japanese b a n d Balzac's A n n ive rsa ry Toy Set N IK E C o u rtfo rc e 6. U ltra Seven Kaiju 1. The new Skull Pirate S e cret Base to y d e s ig n e d b y Pushead 8. B ig b a n g B aby a n d C lo c k w o rk O ra n g e 9 . This is my car! th e c o lo rw a ys o f th e Balzac S kullm an G ashapon 10 . A ll o f S7 TALK 17 B rian Flynn was b o rn in th e m id s t o f a h urrica ne in 1875. A ft e r s p e n d in g his fo rm a tiv e ye a rs u n d e ra c h ie v in g a t va rio u s tasks, h e d e c id e d th e w o rld w as n o t re a d y fo r his fo rw a rd th in k in g v is io n o f th e fu tu re a n d w as c ry o g e n ic a lly fro z e n u n t il 1994. A f t e r re a w a k e n in g , B ria n h it th e s tre e ts , a n d d e c id e d th a t r u lin g th e u n iv e rs e t h r o u g h th e h id d e n m y s tic is m o f a rc a n e S ta r W a rs re fe re n c e s , b in a r y p u ls a r r a d io e m is s io n p a tte r n s , v in ta g e Ja p a n e s e v in y ls a n d C o c a -C o la was th e o n ly w a y to g o. H e is th e p u b lis h e r a n d o w n e r o f S u p e r7 m a g azin e , a w o rld -c la s s d e s ig n e r a n d a h ig h le v e l to y c o lle c to r. MONSTER FACTORY BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR Has anyone seen th e sm o g in Tokyo? I am n o t ta lk in g a b o u t th e skyw ard haze, p r e tty sure it is a t least seven b illio n . M a rm it, M arusan, C hara ctics, Toygraph, b u t th e new king o f kaiju, H e d o ra h th e Sm og M o nste r. It seem s a lm o s t e very CCP, G lo b s te rs , and Y-M SF seem to have lit tle re g a rd fo r m y w a lle t o r s h e lf Japanese to y m a n u fa c tu re r has ru she d o u t re cen tly, (in th e u ltim a te irony) to space. I th in k so m e p e o p le ca ll it " to u g h lo v e ", b u t I am n o t c o m p le te ly sure make a to x ic vinyl m o n ste r o f th e ir own. so m e d ays. Pushing th e b o u n d a rie s o f H e d o ra h m ania, G a rg a m e l released Som ewhere along th e line, this obscure G odzilla fo e has grow n fro m a m eager th e late '6 0s b o o tle g IKB H e d o ra h fig u re s , th e s e m ay be th e m o s t d is ta n t and b o th s ta n d a rd and m ini size v e rs io n s o f th e ir new H e d o ra n fig u re . Based on th re e v in ta g e fig u re le g a cy (tw o B u llm a rk fig u re s and o n e Bandai fig u re ) into o b s c u re re fe re n c e s to H e d o ra h since, w e ll...s in c e CCP's m ini ta d p o le . It seems an aw esom e arm y o f p illo w y p o llu tio n pariahs. It seem s th a t H e d o ra h has even th is m o n s te r is n o t g o in g d o w n w ith o u t a fig h t; I ju s t h o p e y o u r shelves can overtaken th e m ig h ty M echa-G odzilla in all his form s, new and o ld, to b e c o m e h a n d le it! th e m ost m anufactured and varied character in th e G odzilla universe. M o rph in g into new form s on a near d aily basis, o nly th e venerable King G hidrah may have Finally fo llo w in g th ro u g h on all th in g s I se c re tly h o p e d w o u ld h a p p e n one day, th e sheer volum e o f variations to co m p e te w ith th e o nsla u gh t o f H edorah mania. K itty fir e has fin a lly m a de it! I k n o w w e have b e e n sayin g th a t fo r th e last 40 N o t th a t I'm c o m p la in in g . I was o fte n la m e n tin g on th e sad sta te o f H ed o ra h s h ip p in g c o n ta in e r a rriv e d w ith th e fin al p ro d u c tio n runs o f th e g lo w , o range a ppearances in my co lle ctio n (see issue 2), b u t my ow n desires and c o m p la in ts a nd b la c k v in y l v e rs io n s o f th e 15" fig u re . W ith a re vise d o u te r b o x , and an issues, (o r it lea st it seem s th a t way), In th e m id d le o f February, an unassum ing may have g o tte n th e b e s t o f me. N ow , m ore o fte n than not, I am try in g to fig u re e n tire ly n ew in n e r c itysca pe , you to o can n ow finish th a t arm y o f fla m in g fiends o u t w h e re I am g o in g to p u t my la te st H e d o ra h in ca rn a tio n . I am n o t sure how you have b ee n w a itin g so lo n g fo r! T h e re are o n ly 90 o f each c o lo r m ade, so m any new H ed o ra h fig u re s have b een m a de since o u r firs t a rtic le , b u t I am d o n 't s lee p , o r th e y w ill b e g o n e b e fo re you kn ow it! TOYING WITH DEATH THE FIGURES OF LEGENDARY PUNK ARTIST PUSHEAD By Brian Flynn/Photography by Robert Arevalo M ost people recognize the w ork o f prolific punk artist Pushead from his iconic t-shirt m ore obscure than his o u tp u t in the music underground, b u t every b it as interesting, and record covers fo r bands such as M etallica, o r from his days e d itin g and crafting is his amazing m yriad o f m eticulously crafted toys. W ith many o f said figures made a rt fo r sem inal ska te b oa rd p u b lic a tio n , Thrasher. H ow ever, Pushead's oeuvre specifically fo r th e Japanese market, Pushead has deve lo pe d a d e vo u t fan follow ing extends fa r b eyond those w ell-kno w n b od ie s o f work. O ne look at the official in Asia and a bro a d . N ow , w ith th e release o f his re cen t c o lla b o ra tiv e to y w ith Pushead fan site (pusfan.com) yields a copiously detailed and absurdly long list o f w orld -re n o w n e d artist, Kaws, new fans fans are g e ttin g a taste o f what's m ade this every piece o f art th e San Francisco-based artist has p u t in p rin t — from his days m aster craftsm an so e nd u ring . Figure th a t in w ith th e release o f his own Nike SB running and creating im ages fo r his own punk record label Bacteria Sour, to a Pushead Dunk sneaker, and it's clear to see th a t Pushead is m oving into 2006 turning plethora o f cover illustrations fo r Japanese hardcore band, C ocobat. Perhaps even m ore heads than ever w ith his b e a u tifu l-b u t-h o rrific , painstakingly d e ta ile d art. S7: H ow did th e c o llab o rativ e to y d o n 't th in k w e e ve r really th o u g h t on fa m ilia r w ith w h a t he has b ee n d o in g all v e ry h a p p y w ith th e e n d result. w ith Kaws com e abou t? W e re you th e lines o f 'w ha t d o you th in k th e p u b lic fo r q u ite s o m e tim e and have b een W h e n th e firs t lin e a rt im a g e was adm irers o f each oth er's w o rk? w ill say', it was ju s t a d e sire to d o it and p ickin g u p o b je c ts th a t he was creating fin is h e d , Kaws was a lre a d y e x c ite d Pushead: This was s o m e th in g th a t ju s t see it th ro u g h . W e a c tu a lly d id a t-s h irt fo r a w hile. I e n jo y it a lo t...s o m e o f my a b o u t it, and since I had recom m ended fo rm u la te d o v e rtim e , in b e tw e e n c o lla b o ra tio n p rio r to th is , w hich is tw o fa v o rite m o d e rn a rt toys. th a t C o s m o L iq u id d o th e s c u lp t, discussions a b o u t o th e r th in g s . It ch a ra cte rs, each o n e d iffe r e n t and se em e d like a n o -b ra in e r a ctually, to illu s tra te d in d ivid u a lly, th e n c o m b in e d This to y defies th e sim ple design h o w he had tra n s la te d m y d esig n s c o m b in e tw o a rtists w h o u tilize skulls to g e th e r on th e fro n t o f th e te e . T h a t tre n d th a t do m in a tes to d a y 's to y b e fo re in th e p ast, it was w ith g re a t as th e ir fo ca l p o in t, y e t in e n tire ly was a g o o d lea d in to w o rk in g on th e w o rld . H o w w ell do you fe e l your a n tic ip a tio n to see w h a t he w o u ld d iffe re n t style s and c o n te n t, to b rin g C o m p a n io n . A b o u t th e a d m ira tio n , I d e ta ile d style b le n d e d w ith Kaws' carve o u t. He d id a fa n ta s tic jo b , and th e tw o styles to g e th e r fo r a fig u re . I c a n 't sp ea k fo r Kaws, b u t I am v e ry carto o n -e s q u e a rt? A c tu a lly w e w ere I kn ow he was a s lig h t b it nervous b e ca u se I was a lre a d y h a p p y w ith w ith th is. T h e w ay it tu rn e d o u t is H ow did you approach your p o rtio n th e re , it was e m b e llis h in g a n d sh ap in g really such a u n iq u e e x p e rie n ce , th is o f th e design fo r th e toy? D id you th e fig u re to w o rk w ith th e e le m e n ts c o m b in a tio n o f s tyle s...a n d I am w o rk fro m a d ra w in g or fro m th e I w o u ld a d d . W o rk in g th e skull head in c lu d in g C osm o L iq u id in th is to o , orig inal Kaws C om panio n to y as firs t, m a k in g th e fa c e c o m e o u t, o r to see th re e a rtis ts co m e to g e th e r a m odel? M a ybe th a t is n 't as easy as it rip p e d away fro m th e o rig in a l c o n c e p t, in a s o rt o f h arm ony. It all w o rk e d so w o u ld seem to answer. A s references, d e p e n d in g u po n h ow you w a n t to see w ell. W ith th e lim ite d W C C C o p p e r I used b o th o f Kaws' line a rt fo r th e it. Then th e ty p e o f d e ta ils th a t I w o u ld version b e in g th e firs t o n e w e saw and C o m p a n io n and C o m p a n io n Five Years n o rm a lly illu s tra te w ere a d d e d . Ever released, it really has th e fe e lin g o f later, since th e re are som e d iffe re n c e s so slig h tly ta k in g away th e clean sim ple a s c u lp tu re in an a rt sense, and a to y b e tw e e n th e tw o . A n d we had a lre a d y e ffe c t o f th e fig u re and m o rp h in g in th a t disp la y, b u t w a n tin g to g ra b p re v io u s ly d iscussed th a t th is w o u ld it in to s o m e th in g th a t d ra n k w h a t it it to m ake it m ove e sth e tic. be in b e tw e e n th e tw o fo r size. From th o u g h t was w a te r fro m a hose, b u t mSSEfc KAWS OF DEATH KAWS ON THE PUSHEAD COLLABORATION S7: How did your collaboration with Pushead come about? Kaws: I honestly d o n 't remember how the collaboration came about. Pushead and I were introduced through our mutual friend Oka Narue at Medicom, and we g o t along well. I think it is pretty obvious how different our styles are; we just shared inform ation, and along the way we decid e d to sta rt w orking on something together. It was very natural. Did you have any preconceived ideas of w hat this figure could become, or what it m ight look like ahead of time? Did you have any input on what you wanted it to look like? We talked a bo u t d iffe re n t possibilities o f w hat we could do, b u t I w anted this C om panion to be his version. I had already d one my version o f the C om panion, so I d id n ot w ant to interfe re w ith his version o f it. I d id n 't change a th ing . He d id exactly w hat he wanted to do, and I let it be what it was. Your tw o styles are very different, what were your thoughts when you started to collaborate on this project? My stuff Were you surprised at how it turned out? I was happy with how is super friendly. We both th o u gh t it w ould be an unexpected com bination to mend the tw o styles. It is not such a serious thing. It's just cool fo r us to have it made. it tu rn e d out. It was fun to see the im age transform into a d iffe re n t taste. I was not w orried about how it was goin g to com e out. w asn't...a p e rso n a l e n v iro n m e n ta l b e lo v e d c h a ra c te r? T h a t answ er o ffic e o r fro m e m a ile d p ic files. d isa ste r fo r th e C o m p a n io n , le t's say. cam e fa st...h e was th rille d . W a tc h in g it g ro w and co m e to vinyl B a n d a g in g u p th e w a rte d o u t flesh, sh o rte n in g o n e o f th e legs, etc. w h ile life was really a tre a t. C osm o L iquid W e re you happy w ith th e final sculpt is a lre a d y a tru ly g ifte d s c u lp to r, and s till ke e p in g th a t o rig in a l c o n c e p t and by C osm o Liquid? He seem s to have I am g la d th a t Kaws tru s te d m e w ith s ilh o u e tte o f Kaws' C o m p a n io n . Th e re d o n e a p a rtic u la rly a m azing jo b re c o m m e n d in g him to w o rk on th is w a sn 't any h e s ita tio n in illu s tra tin g it tra n s fe rrin g your d e ta ile d line w o rk p ro je c t, since he w a s n 't really fa m ilia r like this, b u t th e n e x t ste p was h o p in g into th e th ird dim ensio n. D e fin ite ly ! w ith his w o rk ...b u t th e e n d re sult, th a t Kaws w o u ld like w h a t I had d o n e Both o f us w ere th rille d w ith th e orig ina l he c a p tu re d w h a t b o th o f us w an te d to his c re a tio n . He was a fan o f th e p ro to ty p e . A n d w e b o th had seen to see. He k e p t it p re tty close and d e ta il in my illu s tra tio n s , b u t w o u ld sta g e s o f it as it was b e in g s c u lp te d , b e y o n d to w h a t was orig ina lly sent to he g o fo r w h a t I had ju s t d o n e to his e ith e r in Japan a t th e M e dico m Toy him . A n d even th o u g h som e o f th e O p p o s ite : The firs t Kaws vs. Pushead im a g e m a d e as b o th a lim ite d e d itio n te e a n d s tic k e r fo r San D ie g o C om ic -C o n 2005. L e ft to R ig h t: Kaws vs Pushead C o m p a n io n fig u re b la c k vinyl, g lo w vinyl, s ilv e r vinyl a n d c o p p e r vinyl fro m M e dico m . C enter: The o rig in a l h a n d c o lo re d sketch o f th e th e c o p p e r fig u re c o m p a re d to th e fin a l toy. This naturally leads to the next question, which is do you I suggested they be a little thicker fo r stability; and I wanted have any other collaborations planned? Maybe, if it came about naturally, through a friend or connection, it could happen. a slightly diffe re nt box structure, b ut that is all. Pushead used But it is defin ite ly n ot som ething prem e d ita te d and nothing I am specifically looking to do. C ollaboration has been part of d id a great job. what I have done since the beginning, whether it was on walls or in paintings. I have done collaborations with photographers What have you thought of the reaction to the figure so far? where I painted on their work, other painters, and w ith graffiti when you g o o u t painting, you g o w ith others, so c o lla b o I have a soft approachable aesthetic, while Pushead has the polar opposite — embracing ugly, but in a really great way. We ration is nothing new. In some ways you could say th a t my knew when we started on the figure, that it would fit perfectly. early toys were all collaborations, w hether it was an illegal or unwelcome collaboration is another discussion. W hat do you think of the finished product? I think it is a As you said before, you purposely had very little to no input into the design of Pushead's version of the Companion. Did you ge t involved in any way when the figure w ent into production? There were certain things I gave my inp u t into, but not many. Pushead originally wanted the legs thinner and a different sculptor than I normally use, b ut he [Cosmo Liquid] It is funny how p eople on both sides are really reacting to it. great th ing ! Only a few years ago it was im possible to think that we could be doing anything like this. This is no different than when I used to d o o d le on paper with friends, b ut now we can actually make it. It is o ffb e a t and unusual, b ut thats w hat I like a bo u t it. d e ta il has b e e n lo s t fro m th e s c u lp t TOYING WITH DEATH 2 2 V.12 A b o v e : Race to H ell greyscale a nd fu ll c o lo r cars b y Zaap I B e lo w : C o c o b a t Joe, C lear C o c o b a t J o e skull h ea d a n d c o lo r C o c o b a t Joe sku llh e a d 12" fig ure s b y M e d ico m . R ight: o rig in a l sketch o f th e C oco cro c fo r th e '/ versus /' a lb u m cover. ©1998 Pushead. U tilizing th e character fro m the C ocobat fo r M e d ic o m ) was b ro u g h t on to scu lp t o rig in a l to th e p ro to ty p e to th e finished re c o rd re le a se s " G r a s s h o p p e r " and th e head th a t w o u ld be p la c e d on th e p ro d u c t, it is still s o m e th in g to b e "R e tu rn o f G ra s s h o p p e r" th a t I had car. A t th e sam e tim e Take-shit had this tru ly p ro u d of. created forT a ke -sh it's band, this becam e idea to m ake a special C o c o b a t p ro m o Let's go back in histo ry a b it. The th e base fo r th e c o s tu m e o f th is th a t Toy's Factory (label) c o uld send o u t 'C o c o b a t J o e ' as it w o u ld b e nam ed. to th e shops. So he had H asabe s c u lp t C o cobat Joe doll was th e firs t to y a ra t fin k s ty le d h ead w ith T ake-shit's p ro je c t you w e re involved w ith . Some of th e same p eop le w ho worked tra d e m a rk glasses o u t over th e sn o u t. W h a t's th e s to ry behind this on C o c o b a t Joe also w o rk e d on your T h is h ead w o u ld g o on an u n p a in te d in flu en tial fig ure? C o c o b a t Jo e was P ositraction Tin Car. Can you please c a r w ith th e re a r e n d b ro u g h t up (the a d rea m th a t Take-shit o f C o c o b a t and e xp la in to ou r re a d e rs ho w th e car Positraction Race to Hell was supposed O ka o f Zaap w a n te d to fu lfill. To m ake u ltim a te ly led to th e p o p u la r fig h t to have th e re a r e n d ra ise d , b u t som e a c h a ra cte r 12" h ero like th e C o m b a t fig u res c re a te d by S e c re t Base? c h ild to y law fo r re ta il p re v e n te d it). Jo es and Henshin C yb o rg s th a t th e y It was in 1998, w hen th e T a ke -shit and T ake-shit had a frie n d , H iro ta , w ho 's p la y e d w ith as kid s. O ka b r o u g h t O ka m a chin e d e c id e d th a t m a kin g a fa m ily ow ns a s o ft vinyl fa c to ry w he re M e d ic o m Toy o n b o a rd since I th in k pull b ack ca r o f th e P o s itra c tio n c o v e r th e y m a de th in g s like th e p la s tic sushi th e y w ere help fu l in g e ttin g th e licensed w o u ld b e th e n e x t th in g to d o a fte r th a t sits in th e w in d o w s in fr o n t o f rig h ts fo r th e actual C o m b a t J o e b od y. resturants in Japan. They cam e up w ith C o c o b a t Joe. H asabe (w ho n ow w orks H ow then did th e Cococroc figure th e idea to create a fig h te r b o d y fo r this Take-shit was te llin g me th a t he had u p w ith his o rig in a l s c u lp t in h and. I special head. They asked C osm o L iquid th is idea to m ake a vinyl fig u re fo r th e re m em b e r he had it all w ra p p e d in pap e r spin o ff into th e Cocoboy doll for to s c u lp t th is b o d y, and th e Finkshit 'I Versus I' c o v e r cro c c h a ra c te r I had to w e ls , and as he u n ra v e le d th e se , you was b o rn ...m a d e in lim ite d n u m b e rs c re a te d , to be a p ro m o tio n a l ite m to c o uld see th e w o rk he had d o n e so far... o f th o s e th in g s th a t T ake -shit and Oka a t th e H irota fa c to ry , and o n ly s o ld at g o a lo n g w ith th e release o f th is album , it was e x c itin g . Plus here w e are in th e C o c o b a t shows. H id d y b e in g a fa n o f a nd he w an te d C osm o L iq u id to s c u lp t m id d le o f a packed to y show, and p e o p le th a t th e y p la y e d w ith as a c h ild . Ju st th is character, d e c id e d to cre ate his it. The hard th in g w ith s cu lp to rs , fo r are q u ie tly n o s in g a ro u n d to see w h a t a c tiv e ly w a n tin g to cre ate s o m e th in g own fig h te r rival m any years later. He me, is each one has th e ir ow n style, and it is w e are so e n ra p tu re d w ith . W hat fo r fu n th a t w o u ld g e t th e m e xcited . M edicom ? A g a in th is is a n o th e r one discu sse d , and g o in g back to th e toys spoke w ith his frie n d Ta ke -shit and g o t h o w th e y in te r p e re t s o m e th in g in to he had d on e was great, and I could see p erm ission to ta ke it to th e n e x t step. th e th ird d im e n so n ...a n d s o m e tim e s it th a t his tra n s la tio n o f th e illu s tra tio n , You also w o rk e d on several toys for A g a in w ith th e h e lp o f C osm o L iq u id d o e s n 't translate th e same way. W hile es p e c ia lly w hen it cam e to th e skulls, A rts to rm including th e M ech a-T error as th e scu lp to r, th e S ku llb e e was b orn . C osm o L iq u id was w o rkin g on it, by w ere excellent...for th e d eta il o f th e w ork windup series. Did you have a particular chance, I w e n t to Tokyo, and was a ble I had c re a te d . G e ttin g th a t fir s t p r o concept in mind fo r those fig ures? The Cococroc fig ure, a prom o piece to m e e t him a nd fig u re o u t som e to ty p e w as so c o o l! A n d se e in g th e T h e M e c h a -te rro r lin e is a c tu a lly fin is h e d ve rsions w ith th e p a in t schem e v e ry funny. I really had n o th in g to d o fo r C ocobat's I Versus I, is highly a s p e c ts o f th e d e s ig n b a se d on th e sought a fte r by Pushead collectors. q u e s tio n s he asked. A fe w days later, sim ila r to th e b lu e p r in t e ffe c t o f th e 'I Was this th e first tim e you w o rked Ta ke -shit and I w e n t to th e Ik e b u kuro versus I' a lb u m c o v e r was ju s t th e rig h t h a p p e n e d was th e y cam e to m e and w ith sculptor Cosmo Liquid? Yes. Toy sh ow and C o sm o L iq u id tu rn e d touch...especially fo r a p ro m o tio n a l item . said th e y w a n te d to d o a w in d u p o f w ith th is in th e b e g in n in g . W h a t had Left: C oc o c ro c p ro m o tio n a l vinyl fig u re fro m Toys Factory. Top Right: C oco b o y 9 " figure b y M edicom . B o tto m rig h t: C oc o c ro c in all it's form s. Yellow g lo w vinyl, w hite g lo w vinyl, white n o n -g lo w vinyl, u n p a in te d lig h t b lu e vinyl, u n p a in te d flesh vinyl a n d th e fin a l p ro d u c tio n p a in te d b lu e vinyl b y Toys Factory. R ight: Flesh c o lo re d p ro to ty p e o f th e C o c o b o y s u it b y M e dico m . B e lo w : Slam Trick p o s te r art. O p p o s ite A b o v e : O liv e a n d flesh c o lo re d p ro to y p e , flesh co lo re d w orking p ro to ty p e a n d o rig in a l s c u lp te d resin w ith s h o rte r w aist D evilm an w in d u p s b y Few ture. O p p o s ite Below : Few ture re le a se d w in d -u p s o f D evilm an, B irdcatcher, Sanda K uw a it a n d D o ro ro n Enm a-kun fla n k e d b y g lo w keycha in s o f B ird c a tc h e r a n d Sanda K u w a it m a d e fro m th e sam e m o ld . W h a t was it like w o rkin g w ith Go Devilman, since they had a license from e n g lis h , b u t I also w ro te an e n tire had c o m p le te d tw o and I b ro u g h t in D ynamic Pro (Go Nagai's company), and s to ry as to how th e y (M echa-Terrors) th e ro ug h illu s tra te d c o n c e p t fo r Silene, N agai's designs and w e re you happy th e y knew I was a b ig fan o f Devilm an. w ere cre a te d b y S u p ra n ic , a n d th a t and th e o w n e r w as a g a in s t w h a t I was w ith th e finished toys? A t th a t tim e , T hey w ere all e xcite d to see w h a t I s to ry w ritte n in Ja panese w o u ld la te r creating. This was fru s tra tin g , because it w o u ld have b een b e tte r to have co u ld cre a te in th e 'P u she a d w a y' a p p e a r on th e back o f each b lis te r card. he w a n te d it to b e ju s t like S ile n e in d o n e b ig g e r s o ft vinyl fig u re s o f the f o r D e vilm a n . A t th is tim e th e y to ld The n e x t th in g I kn ow is th a t th e y th e c o m ic s , and m y lo g ic was, th e n characters. Especially since Usui was m e it was g o in g to b e fo r a s e rie s o f really like all o f this, and this is my new w h y s h o u ld it be a Pushead ve rsio n such a g re a t s c u lp to r fo r th is and th e s m all w in d u ps th e y w a n te d to ca ll line o f figures. A ll th is tim e I really ju s t (w hich is w h a t th e y w e re askin g fo r), d e ta il and size w o u ld have been amaz W a cky W a lkers. P ro b a b ly in a s o m e w a n te d to d o a Ja r o f Pus fig u re , and w he n a nyo n e c o u ld d o it th a t way, ing. T h a t is w h a t I su g g e s te d , b u t it's w h a t o ffe n s iv e way, I to ld th e m th is n o t really w in d ups at all, and g o t them w h a t m akes it u n iq u e fo r th e b u y in g h is to ry now. It was a lo t o f fun creating was a s tu p id nam e and th e y sh o u ld to a g re e to d o it, if I d id th e s e . But, p u b lic ? So a fte r m uch stress and th e D evilm an illu s tra tio n as a s o rt o f co m e u p w ith a nam e m o re fittin g . th e o th e r th in g was, th a t th e y w an te d d iscu ssio n s, th e ide a to d o G o N agai b ik e r e m b le m , th e n a d d in g th e to rso The n e x t th in g I know is th e y are asking this new M echa-Terror line, to b e all characters was shelved. W h ich o p e n e d fo r th e w in d u p M e c h a -T e rro r, and m e to co m e u p w ith a name. So n o t based on G o N agai ch ara cters. So in th e d o o r fo r o rig in a l c h a ra c te rs like th e having it all co m e to g e th e r as a to y was only d id I create a nam e in M echa-Terror th e b e g in n in g , th e re was D e v ilm a n , B ird c a tc h e r and Sanda to co m e out, w hich w as s h o rt fo r M e ch a n ica l T e rro r th e n I ch ose S ilene, M ao D ante, a nd Usui d id a fa b u lo u s jo b s c u lp tin g co lo rw ays keeps you e x c ite d as to w ha t in th a t Ja pa n e se b a s ta rd iz a tio n o f th o s e as w ell as th e o th e r tw o . th e fin is h e d p ro d u c t w ill lo o k like. D o ro ro n Enm a-kun, and o th e rs. W e a u n iq u e e x pe rie nce . Besides choosing TOYING WITH DEATH V.12 Let's ta lk a b o u t th e B utcher D oll, a re p fo r m any o f th e C hinese fa c to rie s w a s n 't a b ig m in im u m as b e fo re , so m ajor d e p a rtu re fo r you stylistically. was th e re to o . So w e discu sse d it w ith we set o u t to m ake a sm all run o f 100. dow n ...h ah a h a). Fin ally th e B u tch e r It was plush, sim ple and c a rto o n y — him , b u t s a d ly he said th e m in im u m Taking one o f th e o ld B acteria Sour w as re le a se d a t th e Skeletal C arnival w ere sca lp e rs and th e y w ere all loa d e d not exactly typical Pushead fare. w as to o g re a t to b e a b le to m ake th is, b rush pen c h ara cters, th e B utcher, th e 2 e v e n t d u rin g th e S u p erfestiva l in W h a t inspired you to m ake th e toy? e s p e c ia lly as a lim ite d e d itio n fig u re . d e s ig n w o rk had b e g u n to m ake th is Tokyo, and it was really g re a t to see a This is a ctu a lly a n o th e r co ntro versy... T h e s o ft v in yl fig u re b o o m h a d n 't h it a s lic k v in y l m a te ria l p lu s h . M y h o p e little g irl ask her m o th e r if she co uld I'm ju s t a tro u b le m a k e r you know ...es y e t, so m a ybe a lo t o f th e fa c to rie s in m a kin g th is , was th a t y o u n g e r kids g e t it. It was kind o f like a reversal again o f sorts. p ecia lly at A rts to rm ...[la u g h s ]. A lon g w e re n 't o p e n to sm all q u a n titie s y e t c o u ld g e t it, since th e to y m a rk e t was tim e ago, A rts to rm had a b o o th a t th e fo r a n y th in g in a to y sense. A fe w years b e c o m in g fille d w ith m o re a d u lts and to y s always se e m e d to be fo c u s e d at San D ie g o C o m ic C on , and w h ile I la te r A rts to rm was w o rk in g w ith Junko was th e re , w e had a m e e tin g . O n e o f M izun o , w h o is a ve ry ta le n te d a rtis t in kids. W h e n d o in g th e s ig n in g events th e s u g g e s tio n s I m a d e was to m ake h e r o w n rig h t and she's a g o o d frie n d in Japan, so m any a d u lts w o u ld b rin g a plush ch ara cter. A t th a t tim e no one a lso, and th e y w ere m a kin g a plush th e ir c h ild re n w ith th e m , and it was through O ka N arue who you worked was d o in g s o m e th in g like th is , and fig u re o f one o f her ch ara cters. O f alw ays s tra n g e to see th e a d u lts w ith on th e earlier M edicom projects? vinyl was ju s t s ta rtin g to ta ke o ff in course, I said hey! D id you fo rg e t? ta n k e d d o w n w ith bags o f to y s and O f c o urse . O ka b e in g my o ld frie n d , I th e u n d e rg ro u n d . They like d th e idea, They said th a t n ow it was p ossib le to th e kids really d id n 't have a n y th in g am v e ry g la d he has b een a b le to give and a t th e sam e tim e , th e g u y w h o is a make such a plush fig u re , since th e re fo r th e m s e lv e s (unless th e ir p are n ts m e th e o p p o r tu n ity to b e p a rt o f this Y ou 've also de s ig n ed several B e@ rbricks fo r M e d ic o m . Did you g e t involved w ith Be@ rbricks 2 5 o n g o in g p ro je c t. Be@ rbricks are really c o o l, such a s im p le sm all d e s ig n th a t can b e re w o rk e d so m any tim e s . I'd d o a B e@ rbrick e very series if they'd le t m e...it to ta lly isn't som ething th a t TOYING WITH DEATH p e o p le m ig h t a s s o c ia te w ith my 26 vA2 d e s ig n ro u g h s I've c re a te d and o ffe re d , illu s tra tio n s , and at th e same tim e I'm not tryin g to make them like that either. P robably Oka has seen like 25 Be@ rbrick b u t I've b een lucky e n o u g h to g e t... Spidereye 100% & 400% , Shrunken 100%, C o c o b a t J o e g re e n & b la c k 100% , N ailspiker 1000% Be@ rbrick W o rld w id e Tour one o f a kind hand p ain t, N ailspiker 100% & N a ils p ik e r SDCC va ria n t c o lo r way, and th e re c e n tly released Psyche B a n d it 4 00 % & 100% set. A b o v e : 100% & 4 00 % ch rom e P sych e ba n dit a n d g lo w -in -th e -d a rk S p id e r Eye Be@ rbrick fig ure s b y M e d ico m . Top C en te r: W hite vinyl 400% P sych e ba n dit p r o to ty p e b y M e d ico m . M id d le C enter: G lo w -in -th e -d a rk S p id e r Eye, S ecret H o rro r Shrunken, C o co b a t G ra ssh o pp e r, re je c te d N a ils p ik e r p ro to ty p e , Be@ rbrick W o rld w id e Tour N ailspike r, San D ie g o C o m ic-C o n N ailspiker, a n d chrom e P sych e ba n dit B e@ rbrick fig ure s b y M e d ico m . R ight C en te r: G ra ssh o p p e r M ic ro b a tta fig ure s b y M e d ico m . B e lo w : S o b u t co ve r art. For th e M icro-Shit and M ic ro -B atta are all o ld frie n d s in th e to y c o lle c tin g n e w piece com ing o u t th ro u g h SB, You've w a tc h e d m any a rtists com e M ed ic o m fig u res , you used th e c ircle s, th e y all have th is tru e love th e Skull P irate. C an te ll us a b o u t and go in th e to y m arkets in Japan C o c o b a t g ra ss h o p p e r c h a ra c te r fo r to ys in th e ir h e a rt...th e y live and y our in sp iration fo r this n e w fig ure? and th e US. W h o do you think is com bined w ith a M ic ro n a u t body. b re a th e it. The firs t S ecret Base fig u re D esig n ed a ll...w here d id you g e t th a t m aking in te re s tin g toys currently? W as this your concept? N o, n o t a t all. I was asked to w o rk w ith was th e info? A s fa r as actu a lly d e s ig n in g a to y C u rre n tly I th in k th is so c a lle d to y A g a in , th o se m a gic w ord s...T a ke -sh it S c re w b ite r c o lo r w ay on th e S kullb ra in . fo r S ecret Base, th a t has fin ally com e m a rk e t has lo s t a lo t o f it's luster. & O ka co m e in to play. S om eday, we Then th e h ead was s c u lp te d fo r th e to fru itito n w ith th e Skull p ira te . The It's s ta rtin g to lo o k s o m e th in g sim ilar m ig h t see th e M ic ro -C ro c , th e p ro to S ku llw in g , w hich was like a c o lla b o ra p ro to ty p e s w ere show n a t W CC21, and to th e b ase b a ll card and c o m ic b o o k is c o o l! O h, w a it th a t's a se cret. tio n w ith A s tro Z o m b ie s, since it was th e firs t b lack p ro to ty p e version should m arkets o f 10-15 years a g o w ith a lo t ta ke n fro m th e lo g o fo r Funnyara's be o u t now. The c o n c e p t is based u pon o f p e o p le in it fo r th e w ro n g reasons. Y ou've also d esign ed various toys sto re . B u t th a t is on a S ku llb ra in b o d y a m onkey, skulled, th a t is a p ira te ...b u t W h e n th is h ap p e ns, th e re is massive fo r Secret Base, th e firs t o f which and an u p c o m in g version w ith have n o t th e capta in , m o re like a d e c k hand o v e r s a tu ra tio n , and w hen th e burn was th e Skullw ing. H o w did your S ku llb e e arms. ty p e , y e t s im p le in th e S e c re t Base o u t fa c to r h a p p e n s , a lo t o f th e se fig h te r tra d itio n . It was s c u lp te d b y p e o p le w ill fin d s o m e th in g else to relationship w ith H iddy, th e o w n e r o f S ecret Base, d evelop? H ello, A lo t o f p eop le in th e US m istakenly Betch, w ho also sc u lp te d th e M ic ro -s h it e xcite th e ir tim e . W o rth o n ly creates th is m ig h t so un d re p e titio u s...T & O... th in k th a t you de s ig n ed all o f th e and M ic ro -b a tta . H id d y to ld m e once a fa lse b o o m . In all fairness, I still th in k ok...w e are all a close fa m ily, you know . Secret Base toys, but you've actually th a t th e S ku llp ira te w o u ld b e th e m aster th e u n d e rg ro u n d o rig in a to rs d o it th e H id d y w o rke d w ith O ka a t Zaap, th e y d o n e a h a n d fu l. N o w you have a at th e to p o f th e fig h tin g fa m ily tree. b e s t...H ik a ru /B o u n ty H un te r, even Top Left: W hite a n d re d vinyl p r o to ty p e S ku llw in g , y e llo w vinyl h e a d p r o to ty p e S c re w b ite r Skullbrain. Top R ight: W h ite flo c k e d vinyl, g lo w a n d b lu e vinyl, re d vinyl, g lo w a n d s ilv e r vinyl a n d g re y vinyl S kullw ing fig u re s u rro u n d in g th e S c re w b ite r S ku llb ra in fig ure s b y S ecret Base. B e lo w : H aym a ke r c o v e r art. TOYING WITH DEATH V.12 2 g th o u g h I m ig h t n o t g e t e x c ite d by w h y d o e s T a ke -sh it n o t have his d u s t, and always m ake you w a n t to A b o v e Top Left: e v e ry th in g he d o e s (he is g o in g to o w n to y co m pany? gla n ce a t it w ith o u t lo s in g in te re s t. H e llb illy 's c o v e r art. kick m e d o w n fo r saying th a t, hahaha), T h a t is w h a t m akes all o f us love to ys he is d o in g it fo r th e rig h t reasons and You've said in th e past th a t th e has th e rig h t a p p ro a c h . Besides Kid d e fin itiv e Pushead to y has n o t been a n d fig u re s . B e lo w : H an d p a in te d w h ite flo c k e d Skull w in g fig ure s b y S ecret Base. H u n te r still rules! Kaws' s tu ff is still m ad e. D o you still fe e l th a t way? fu n all th e w ay a ro u n d , I k n o w a lo t If so, w h a t w o u ld you w a n t th a t F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n o n Pushead and o f p e o p le w a n t to see w h a t w ill b e his to y to be? T h a t's rig h t...a n d m aybe his w o rk , ch e c k o u t w w w .p u s fa n .c o m . new character. T h a t a n tic ip a tio n ! Tim it n eve r w ill be. The th o u g h t process Biskup's ow n s tu ff I like a lot. Kostas, alw ays ch a n g e s, e s p e c ia lly in to ys. even th o u g h v e ry fe w , I s till like his The ide a l s itu a tio n is to have a s c u lp to r co nce p ts. A n d o f co urse p re vio u sly w h o can tra n sla te th e line a rt in to th e m e n tio n e d frie n d s co m p a n ie s. I know th ird d im e n s io n , and a c h a ra c te r th a t you m ig h t b e w o n d e rin g a t th is tim e , can ju s t sit on th e s h e lf and c o lle c t A b o v e : Skeletal C aranival 2 p o s te r detail. BOUNTY HUNTER STR IK ES BACK THE BRAND THAT STARTED IT ALL By Justin Kovalsky/Photography by Robert Arevalo A fte r u nw ittingly givin g birth to th e designer vinyl scene w ith th e ir highly influential c u ltu re is p ra c tic a lly n o to rio u s ; he p u rp o rte d ly has an e n o rm o u s c o lle c tio n array o f toys in 1997 and g o in g on to create one o f th e to p s tre e t-w e a r brands in o f Boba F e tt m e m o ra b ilia th a t w o u ld send m o s t b a s e m e n t-d w e llin g Star Wars Japan, Bounty H unter drop p e d o ut o f the toy business a few years ago. C o-founder c o lle cto rs back to Je di tra in in g cram p. The nam e B ounty H unter is even an o v e rt o f th e com pany Hikaru Iwanaga opines tha t, "th e vinyl to y w o rld was g e ttin g to o nod to th e w ild ly p op u lar and enig m a tic Em pire Strikes Back villain, b u t Iwanaga's noisy, so w e ju s t s to p p e d ." T h e y c o n tin u e d to fo cu s on fa s h io n , p ra c tic a lly insp iratio n e xte n ds w ell b e y o n d Star Wars. Case in p o in t: th e very firs t B ounty d o m in a tin g th e street scene in Tokyo fo r several years. N ow , th e Tokyo-based H un te r toy, Kid Hunter. brand is back w ith new figures based on th e classic Fujiko Fujio-created anim ation K aibutsu-kun and a to ke n punk a ttitu d e . Is it sam e-old, sam e-old? O r is B ounty The K id H u n te r is in sp ire d b y th e US b rea kfast cereal c h ara cter C ap 'n Crunch. H unter gearing up fo r a w orld w id e takeover o f designer vinyl? O ne th ing is certain: A p p a re n tly c o lle c tin g US cereal p re m iu m to y s — th e kind you used to fin d in they're n o t even re m otely th in kin g in those term s. B ounty H un te r has never cared cereal boxes w hen you w ere a kid — is a no th e r passion o f Iwanaga's. D esigned a b o u t p u b lic p e rce p tio n and Iwanaga is always q u ick to let th e w o rld know it: by leg e n da ry H ysteric G la m ou r artist, SK8thing, th e Kid H un te r m anifested after "I just d o w ha te ve r I w ant. Since I was a little kid, I never paid a tte n tio n to th e Iw anaga asked S k8 th ing to d ra w a n ew c h a ra c te r fo r a B o u nty H u n te r shop p e o p le around m e ," he says. exclusive t-shirt. Iwanaga has stated th a t back th e n everyone was d o in g hyperre a listic fig u re s and th a t he w a n te d to m ake s o m e th in g w ith ro un d e d g e s Iwanaga and his partn er Taka, started B ounty H un te r in th e '90s as a to y shop in like Snoopy, b u t w ith B ounty H unter's a ttitu d e . SK8thing's Kid H unter illustration Japan's te rrib ly tre n d y Harajuku d istrict. T h e ir focus was in itia lly on b u y in g and fit th e b ill and th e rest is history. Sim ilarly, B o u nty H unter's Skull Kun to y is selling Am erican toys such as Star Wars. Iwanaga's own interest in A m erican p o p d e s ig n e d to be th e skeleton o f 1980s US cereal icon, Frankenberry, and the BOUNTY HUNTER 3 2 v12 c o m p a n y has d o n e p o p u la r re n d itio n s o f D isney ch aracters — a savage and B o u nty H u n te r c lea rly set a p re c e d e n t fo r m any o f th e c o m pa n ies to com e. In d e c id e d ly feral M ickey M ouse com es to m ind. It's u n d o u b te d ly this te n d e n cy to fact, Hiddy, th e o w n e r o f Secret Base, w hich is easily th e m ost p o p u la r o f th e new g o against th e grain th a t a ttra cte d several o f th e forefathers o f g lo b a l desig n er b o u tiq u e vinyl com panies in Japan, shows a d e e p a dm ira tio n fo r Bounty H unter vinyl to th e com pany early on. by d isp la yin g a life-size Skull Kun fig u re in his own Harujuku store. To w it: artists, Frank Kozik, Jam es Jarvis and Kaws, all had th e ir very first vinyl toys Naturally, Iwanaga is uninterested in discussing any o f th e new b ou tiq u e com panies prod u ce d th ro u gh B ounty Hunter. Since th a t tim e , those g en tle m e n have b ecom e and th e ir e ver-increasing n o to rie ty in th e US. Asked a b o u t his th o u g h ts on the th e b ig g e s t names in th e vinyl to y industry; it's entire ly p lausible th a t w ith o u t th e new com panies he starkly says "I d o n 't th ink anything a b o u t them w hatsoever." influence o f th e Kid H un te r and th e to y m aking kn ow -h o w o f B ounty H un te r back But d o n 't m istake his q u ic k response fo r h ard -h e arted n e ss; he m ust th in k in 1997, th e face o f th e vinyl m arket w o u ld be vastly d iffe re n t to d a y — b o th fo r s o m e th in g a b o u t th e m . A fte r all, he's released fo u r c o lla b o ra tiv e fig ure s w ith th e mass m arket and th e to y u nderground. Secret Base o v e r th e years. He explains, "O n e d ay I visited Kinoshita [Hiddy, the ow ner] o f Secret Base. He was a little depressed. It's very unusual fo r his m o od to A bevy o f below -the-radar bou tiq u e to y com panies p o p p e d up after Bounty Hunter be this way and I w an te d to cheer him up. So I asked if w e could colla b ora te to like Secret Base and m ore recently RealxHead — all o f w hich are g aining p op u larity m ake toy. That's h ow it all s ta rte d ." Still, even in lig h t o f his show o f concern fo r S tateside. W h ile th o se co m pa n ies sta rte d o u t cre atin g fig h t figures and monsters his frie n d , it's clear a fte r a co nversation w ith Iwanaga th a t he tru ly d o e s n 't care d ire c tly inspired b y to y leg e n d and C o co b a t bassist Take-shit's influ e n tial vinyl w hat anyone else is d o in g and th a t his a lo o f a ttitu d e is no mere shtick; he's making toy, th e Fink Shit, B ounty H unter's Kid H un te r cam e o u t a t th e exact same tim e. fig ure s again fo r o n e reason g e n u in e ly — his o b v io u s passion fo r toys. B o u n ty H u n te r Toys In tro p a g e : The Skull Kun is B o u n ty H u n te r's m o s t re co g n iza b le a n d Ico n ic toy. If it's fa m ilia rto y o u , it m ig h t b e beca u se it's d e s ig n e d to lo o k like th e skeleton o f 1980s US ce rea l character, Fra n ken b e rry. Previous S p rea d : le ft p a g e /K a ib u ts u -k u n Series 2, K a ib u ts u Kun Series 1, Pete. R ig h t p a g e : K id H unter. O p p o s ite p ag e , to p : Venom Skum Kun (e d itio n o f 10), Red Skull Kun. A b o ve , to p ro w (le ft to rig h t): C atru Kun, C M C Kid, BXH D o k u ro King, Skeru Kun (g rey clear). S e co nd row : W rang C hang (white), W rang C hang (black), Skeru Kun (clear), BXH x S ecret Base D X Skeru Kun (clear), BXH X S ecret Base D X Skeru Kun (clear b lue). T hird row : Skull Kun, Skull Ko, Skum Kun, Skull Kun (blue). Skull Kun (silver), Skull Kun (g old ). B o tto m Row: M ekaru Kun (black), M e karu Kun (blue). G re a t O n e (red), G re a t O n e (w hite), A h iru Kun. FIRE STARTERS A GUIDE TO BULLMARK SPARKING VINYLS By Super Collector Brian Flynn I am n o t sure if m y love fo r g im m ick vinyls w ill ever end . Just like th e M asudaya in y e llo w spray. O n ce again, due to th e size o f th e in te rio r sparking m echanism , light-up vinyls o r sparkers, a no the r o f my favorite obscure to y series is th e standard this figure is actually much m ore technically accurate to th e character o f Baltan-Seijin size Bullm ark sparking vinyls. S tanding a t nearly 9 " tall, these are n o t scaled dow n than th e o rig in a l B ullm ark fig ure . As an intere stin g side note, W hen M1 released frictio n fiends, b u t rather full sized fla m e -th ro w in g foes! Released near th e end o f it's new sculpt o f Baltan-Seijin 2, they used th e color scheme o f the Bullmark sparking th e Bullm ark m anufacturing run in 1972, only fo u r sparking vinyls w ere p rod u ce d: fig u re as a p a in t g u id e fo r th e ir new figure. G odzilla, Jiras, Baltan-Seijin and Earthtron. Each character had a large sparking m echanism housed inside th e chest th a t pow e re d a flin t w heel inside in th e neck R ounding o u t th e g ro u p is th e m uch m ore obscure Earthtron. Much harder to find and head. By cranking th e rig h t arm o f th e fig ure , th e m o nste r w o u ld in essence, than th e previous three vinyls, this fig ure was m ade in red vinyl w ith blue and green breathe fire, sh oo tin g flyin g sparks o u t o f it's m o uth o n to unsuspecting enem y spray. An o d d selection to be m anufactured w ith th e much m ore p op u lar characters m onsters anyw here w ithin range. listed abo ve , E arthtron is usually th e last o f th e fo u r sparkers any c o lle c to r tracks d ow n o f th e series. First up was Godzilla. A sim plified and stylized sculpt, th e w ide b o d y neccessitated by th e large sparking m echanism m ade th is fig u re m ore accurate in m any ways All in all, these sparkers are som e o f th e m ore u nique item s o f th e ir tim e , and far than th e o riginal G odzilla standard size vinyl. O verall th e fig u re has been softened fro m a side n o te in th e B ullm ark legacy. These fig ure s sh ou ld b e a d d e d to th e q u ite a bit, th e spines on th e back m inim ized , th e ta il shortened, th e legs fixed in w ant lists o f any d e ce n t vintage collector, and make great com panion pieces to any place, and cast in green vinyl; it leaves little d o u b t a b o u t th e status o f this fig u re as standard-size B ullm ark co lle ctio n. th e king o f th e monsters. Just like th e o rig in a l Toho stu d io s b e fo re th e m , w hen m aking Jiras, Bullm ark s im ply a d d e d a neck fin to th e e xistin g G odzilla fig u re . Jiras was released in an u n tra d itio n a l b rig h t o ran g e vinyl w ith red and green spray. I can o nly assume th is radical d e p a rtu re in c o lo r schem es was to fu rth e r separate th e fig u re fro m th e previous G o d zilla fig u re , m a kin g th e fig ure s a p p e a r even m ore d iffe re n t from each other. N ext was Baltan-Seijin, easily one o f th e m o st p o p u la r Ultra kaiju, this fig u re was m ade in green vinyl, just like th e standard size Bullm ark fig ure , and then covered L e ft to rig h t: G odzilla, B altan-S eijin, E a rth tro n a n d Jiras. O p p o s ite : D e ta il o f B altan-S eijin. SMILE IF YOU’RE A ROBOT CLASSIC JET JAGUAR VINYL TOYS By Chad H ensley/P hotography by Tim Brisko W hen men w an t to g e t closer to th e b ig G — and by b ig G, w e m ean G odzilla — Sadly, these are th e only tw o to ys o f th e character Bandai has p rod u ce d to date. they turn to th e religion th e y know best: technology. Case in p oin t: th e 1973 film , By 2000, b oth M l and M arm it were contrib u tin g to the grow ing g aggle o f new Jet Godzilla Versus M egalon. In said m ovie when the massive m utant fro m outerspace Ja gu a r toys. M1 released a 9-inch J e t Ja gu a r vinyl resem b lin g th e sculpture o f called M e ga lo n attacks Earth a lo n g w ith his garg a n tu an p a rtn e r G igan, G odzilla th e B ullm ark giant-size. The fig u re was released in several colorw ays inclu d in g needs a little back up to p ro te c t m ankind. U ltim a te ly hum anity lends a g ia n t ro b o t g lo w -in -th e -d a rk and u n p a in te d versions in lucky bags and a p a in te d version so ld a t th e o p e n in g o f th e M andarake store in N akano, Japan. M a rm it's first cast in man's im a g e to a id th e lo v a b le lizard king . T ogether, G o d zilla and Jet Jaguar send those space m onsters packin' in one o f th e m o st garish, kooky and a tte m p t a t J e t Ja ga u r is clunky, as are m o s t o f th e fig u re s in th e ir Vinyl Paradise critically ill-received send-ups in Godzilla m ovie history. This film proved a couple of line, b u t stands a w h o p p in g 11-inches-tall. H ow ever, th e ir 7-inch Parababy Jet im portant points: (A) It proved th a t G odzilla critics are hum orless and th a t (B) Je t Jaguar, th a t includes a m in i-s iz e d J e t Ja gu a r in fly in g pose, is a m ore realistic Jaguar is a c o m p e llin g character desig n th a t w o u ld inspire a handful o f g rea t in te rp re ta tio n o f th e character. vinyl toys over th e next three decades. The last fe w years have seen th e release o f th e som e unique J e t Jaguar toys. In 2004, D uring th e film 's hey-day, tw o J e t Jaguar toys w ere p ro d u ce d . Both figures were Takara p u t o u t a Godzilla versus M egalon tw o-pack as part o f th e ir Microman to y line. vinyls o f J e t Ja gu a r m ade by Bullm ark: a 14-inch g ia n t-size d vinyl and a 5-inch The set com es w ith tw o 4-inch M icrom an standard action figures plus mini M egalon m idd le-size d vinyl. The g ia n t-s iz e d version is e xtre m e ly rare a nd can c o m m an d and J e t Jaguar suits. Last year, a new to y co m pa n y called Sofvi released a 6-inch a very h ig h p rice in th e c o lle c to r a fte rm a rke t. H ow ever, it w o u ld b e o v e r tw e n ty vinyl o f J e t Jaguar in a fightin g -style pose sim ilar in size to figures from Secret Base years b efo re a n o th e r J e t Ja gu a r to y was p ro d u ce d . In 1993, Bandai released a and H8G raphix. Then later this year, be on th e look o ut fo r a Rom ando version o f 6 - inch Je t Jaguar vinyl w ith ta g as part o f th e ir Godzilla series. Later, they a d d e d a Godzilla's m e ta llic pal to arrive in Japanese to y stores, and d o n 't miss Super7's gashapon fig u re o f th e ro b o t in th e e ig h th set o f th e ir H igh G rade G odzilla series. exclusive clear version o f th e character w hich w ill b e available in this issue. JET JAGUAR 4 0 v12 JET JAGUAR V .,2 Jet Jaguar Toy C h ecklist 02. 01 . U n p a in te d 9 -in ch g lo w -in -th e -d a rk M1 fig u re S o fvi-Life g re y vinyl version 03. G ig a Brain su p e r-p o s e a b le fig u re g lo w vinyl w ith b lu e spray. 04. M a rm it Vinyl Paradise g re y version os. M a rm it Vinyl Paradise lig h t b lu e g re y version sp ra y 07 . 06. G ig a Brain s u p e r-p o s e a b le fig u re g lo w vinyl w ith red U n p a in te d 9-in ch flesh vinyl M l fig u re 03. S o fv i-life b la c k vinyl version 09. O rig in a l B u llm a rk m id d le size fig u re 11, B andai 1991 fig u re w ith ta g 12. M a rm it 10 . M a rm it Parababy, g re y vinyl version Parababy, lig h t b lu e g re y vinyl version 13. M1 B u llm a rk m id d le size re p ro d u c tio n g lo w -in -th e -d a rk vinyl fig u re , g re y vinyl ve rsio n 16 . 15 , M a rm it m in i size fig u re vinyl. T o p Right: 14 . M a rm it m in i fly in g M a rm it m in i fly in g fig u re , lig h t g re y b lu e vinyl version 17. O rig in a l B ullm ark m id d le size u n p a in te d dark g rey O rig in a l G ia nt-size B u llm a rk fig u re in bag . flesh v in y l fro m M a n d a ra ke set. Bottom Right: M l p a in te d 41 BLOBPUS IS FOR LOVERS FOR THE CREATORS OF BLOBPUS, VINYL TOYS ARE FUN AND GAMES By S7 Staff O u t o f love fo r th e g re a t Japanese to y makers o f th e past, b u t w ith a g ee ky tw ist, list th e sto ryb o ard on a b lo g site. The story was then co nve rted into com ic book th e creators o f Blobpus p u rp o rte d ly co oke d u p th e c o n ce p t fo r th e ir crazy 5-inch fo rm b y A k ik o A yai and a n o th e r p ro to ty p e version was released in S e p te m b e r kaiju to y w h ile p laying a role p la yin g g am e in 2004. Since th e n , d e s ig n e r Kaji, 2005. W e actually passed o u t a CD in DVD packaging to suggest the idea o f turning w rite r T ig e rJe t M ichiko and a rtist A kiko Ayai have released dozens o f versions B lo b p u s in to a m o v ie in th e fu tu re . W e d is trib u te d th is CD as a special g ift fo r o f th e ir vinyl to y in a cacophony o f co lo r variations, n o t to m e ntio n a co m panion p e o p le w ho b o u g h t th e Blobpus [Psycho M onsterz] figures. com ic b o o k and DVD ch ronicling th e explo its o f th e Blobpus m onster. T h ough th e toys have b een released in lim ite d runs, th e y 'v e m yste riou sly m a na g e d to tric k le W h a t was th e inspiration behind th e invention o f th e Blobpus character? into th e US and co lle cto rs o f new school Japanese vinyl have been reap in g th e W e re th e re any classic Japanese m onsters you used as reference? I d id n 't benefits. This s p rin g , a b ra n d -n e w 9 -in ch fig u re w ill h it, su g g e stin g there's no use specific characters fro m m agazines o r m ovies as a d ire c t reference to design end in s ig h t fo r everyone's fa v o rite p o t-b e llie d te n ta cle -a rm e d terror. It's g o o d B lobpus, b u t as a c h ild I was heavily influenced by '70s Japanese anim ation such news to be sure, b u t w e're all still le ft w ith a fe w b u rn in g q uestions. First and as G o N agai's D evilm an; Fujiko Fujio's creations such as D oraem on and Kaibutsu forem ost, w h a t in th e w o rld does a role playing gam e have to d o w ith creating kun; and Ikki Kajiwara's Kyojin no H oshi... A n o th e r th in g th a t really affected me vinyl kaiju? N ext, w hy are B lobpus' eyes sta p le d shut — d o n 't m onste rs g e n e ra lly visually is m y hom e tow n Tokyo. Tokyo has so m any d iffe re n t faces...Tokyo Tower, d e lig h t in looking at w ha t th e y destroy? Just w ha t plans does th e beastly enigm a Tokyo city highway, the buildings o f Shinjyuku city, the erotic billboards o f Kabuki city, Blobpus have in store fo r o u r hum ble planet? C hief designer Kaji sheds som e light. th e Showa M o de rn b u ild in g in Aoyam a and Jingu-M ae... Also, th e excitem e n t I fe lt finding [something cool] in a store when I was a child directly inspires w hat I create now. Super7: A fte r you came up w ith Blobpus in fall of 2 0 0 4 , how long was it before you began making Blobpus toys and items like the comic? Can you e laborate on th e concept fo r th e character? The eyes o f B lobpus are Kaji: W ell, we sculpted th e m o ld first and sold th e Blobpus First P ro to typ e fo r th e sewn and closed. This is th e sym bol o f a p o st tra u m atic scar on his heart. His fo u r firs t tim e at th e W o n de r Festival on Feb 20th, 2005. Sim ultaneously w e started to sm all eyes s y m b o liz e th e p o te n tia lly p o s itiv e fu tu re th a t can co m e fro m en d u rin g such a scar. Eventually th e small eyes will g row b ig g e r and w ill e m it a strong energy to lig h t th e futu re . A lso, th e suction cup covered octo p us arms sym bolize th e strength to h old d ow n a fo u n d a tio n to create this positive future. BLOBPUS IS FOR LOVERS On th e comic it says th a t th e Blobpus story was w ritte n by Tiger Jet, yet the character was designed by Kaji. Do you collaborate on all the Blobpus projects, or does it vary from project to project? Everything from d e c id in g th e name, color, package design and etc, it is all o u r jo in t work. W h at m otivated you to incorporate so much narrative into your toys — right 44 up to th e creation o f a comic? Did you feel it was im portant to g e t th e story of th e Blobpus out on a d e e p e r level, as opposed to just th e visual im age of a cool toy? W e ll, a ctu a lly th e sto ry cam e very n atu rally because we created Blobpus w hile p laying a ta b le ta lk role playing gam e! In these gam es players talk to each o th e r and g o th ro u g h d iffe re n t fictio n a l scenarios. In th e gam e, a person ca lle d th e g am e m aster leads th e p a rtic ip a n ts th ro u g h th e story — in o u r case th e gam e m aster is Tiger Jet Michiko. Both myself and Akiko Ayai are players in the gam e. Tig er J e t creates a story in advance from th e backbone p lo t o f th e story to th e characters and scenes. In one o f these stories Tiger Jet w rote th a t my character Mi i Nc > Tf 07 in th e gam e creates th e Biobpus vinyl d olls. The story fo r th e co m ic also fo llo w s stra n g e place calle d Ika re n bo -to w n. G o g a m ezilla is a character th a t su ddenly th e table talk role playing game. TJM gives basic storyboard to Akiko Ayai and she app e a red in th a t to w n. Like b o th o f these creations, Biobpus has a story to follow , conveys th a t idea in her ow n way. So really, B iob p u s e volve d o u t o f o u r gam e. so I fe lt like we w ere all co m in g from a sim ilar place. N ow in real life, we the players are actually creating characters or comics o u t o f the gam e master's story! If you are interested in jo in in g o r p a rticip a tin g B iobpus ta b le You strayed from th e trad itio nal bagg ed vinyl packaging for th e M urder Blob talk RPG, you can co nta ct T ig e r Je t M ichiko anytim e. O r w e m ig h t co nta ct you. and H allow een Puppet. Why? W e ll, I w an te d th e M u rde r B lob to look like a gross souvenir. O ne day, I h a lf-k id d in g ly had th e idea o f m aking so m ething like th a t, How do you feel Biobpus relates to th e new generation of kaiju manufacturers b u t p u ttin g it in a case "so th a t it w o u ld n 't ro t." Creating this version was hard. We and to the history of kaiju in Japan? W e believe Biobpus is a p art o f traditonal gathered o v e r 10 sam ple cans b efo re w e cam e up w ith a final version. O n th e Japanese vinyl d oll history. O u r figures are created by th e same highly skilled vinyl o th e r hand, fo r th e H allow een version, m y firs t im pression o f H allow een is th a t it's craftsmen in Japan w ho also make various vinyl d olls fo r Bullm ark and Marusan a children's c e le b ra tio n . I th o u g h t it w o u ld b e cute to see th e ch ild ren running when they were popular. But these craftsm en are dram atically decreasing. W e d o a rou n d w ith th e hand p u p p e t, s h ou tin g "tric k o r tre a t" on H allow een. In fact, this n ot know how far we can create these tra d ito n a l vinyl d olls in Japan. fig u re was a h uge suscess at th e to y e ven t am on g young kids. You have collaborated before with tw o other Japanese kaiju manufacturers, W hat does the future hold for Biobpus? Can you tell us about your new character? RealxHead and Anrakuansaku. W hat made you decide to do these collaborations? We are releasing Biobpus: The Last Kaiju this spring as our newest product. It will be Mr. M ori, th e creator o f RealxHead was releasing th e M u ta n t m o nste r vinyl dolls. a 9-inch toy, the same as many standard-size vintage vinyl figures. We're still expanding Those are based on his own w o rld called m u ta n t zone. M eanw hile, Mr. Ansaku th e w orld o f Biobpus as we are playing ta b le talk RPG exploring the origins and the is an anim ator w orking on his creations w here all o f his characters live in a very w o rld o f B iobpus w he re o u r co n ce p ts can c o m e to life w ith o u r th o u g h ts ! B io b p u s To y C h e c k lis t vinyl 06. 09. 03. 18 . 1st version, U n p a in te d b la ck vinyl 04. P achim on2 b la ck vinyl In v a d e r tra n s lu c e n t p u rp le vinyl 07 . 11. M u rd e r Toxic ye llo w vinyl fle sh vinyl 15. Toxic 12 . A -ty p e b la c k vinyl A ra kan su x B io b p u s set, w h ite vinyl g re e n vinyl lucky b a g 21 . 08. 16. Secret 19. G.E.M . b lack black vinyl 10 . 17. M u -ta , tra n s lu c e n t 13 . Toxic p in k vinyl Innocent clear vinyl Pachim on3, re d v in y l Tra n slu ce n t re d vinyl lu c k y b a g g ree n vinyl B -ty p e b la ck vinyl H a llo w e e n H an d P u p p e t green vinyl 02. 0 5 . C h ro n ic R e a lx H e a d x B io b p u s fig u re fro m 2 -p a c k , b la c k v in y l p u rp le vinyl 14. 01 . Pachim on b la c k vinyl 22 . 20. Translucent H aw aii g re y vinyl 23. Tokyo y e llo w vinyl 24. G.E .M . Transform , tra n s lu c e n t p u rp le vinyl. Pervious s p re a d : Left, S uper7 e xclusive o ra n g e vinyl P um pkin G uts B iobpus. R ight: P ro to ty p e s c u lp t fo r th e "Fina l Kaiju'.' / 19 v v > r% 1* * w 23 I DRINK FIGHT WIN MUTTPOP WILL RELEASE TWO NEW TEQUILA FIGURES IN 2006 By Chad Hensley Last D ecem ber, Los A n g e le s -b a s e d co m p a n y M u ttp o p d o v e in to th e d e s ig n e r El Panda is th e arch nem esis o f th e M u ttp o p 's titu la r tita n , Tequila. W hereas th e vinyl arena w ith th e release o f T e q u ila , a 9 " v in y l fig u re in s p ire d b y M e xica n p a rt-m a n , p a rt c a ctu s T e quila lives in a tra ile r and roam s th e w o rld in search o f w restling, th e Incredible Hulk and a d e c id e d ly drun ke n bum . As th e u nd e rg ro u n d b a ttle , El Panda is a M e x ic a n fe llo w w h o is u tte r ly o b s e s s e d w ith c o m m u n is t to y m a rket has b ee n d o m in a te d re c e n tly b y fo rm a t fig u re s in o h -s o -c u te and C hin a . Frissen says, "h e u sed to b u lly T e q u ila a ro u n d in th e ir sc h o o l d ays in incre a sin g ly fa m ilia r shapes (th in k Q e e and Dunny), re spo n se to th is m uscle - M e x ic o . N o w he's o n e o f T e q u ila 's w o rs t rivals. O n e lo o k a t his M ao Tse Tung- bound, liquor-sw illing roug h n eck has been p ositive. This sp rin g m o re o f M u ttp o p 's in s p ire d g e t u p and y o u 're sure to have a c h u ckle at th e a b s u rd ity — re m in d in g o u tra g e o u s lu ch a -lib re fig u re s w ill d ro p on a vinyl p u b lic a p p a re n tly p a rc h e d you o f th a t k o o k y kid in h ig h sch o o l w h o was co n v in c e d he was th e last son o f fo r te s to s te ro n e . To b rin g th e se im a g in a tive m asked m en to 3D life, M u ttp o p 's a c u ltu re th a t w a s n 't his ow n. R ob e rt Silva has a ssem b le d a d ive rse te a m o f ta le n t in c lu d in g w rite r J e rry Frissen, a rtis t G o b i and Ja panese to y scu lp to r, M o n ste r5 . T h a t's n o t to say th a t a le g itim a te c ro s s -c u ltu ra l in s p ira tio n d o e s n 't p re v a il in th e T e q u ila Toys u nive rse . In fa c t th e s e ttin g fo r th e s e ra m b u n c tio u s w re s tle rs The Tequila c o n ce p t actually began w ith Je rry Frissen's o rig in a l sto ry in a co m ic is a s p ic e d -u p m e la n g e th a t c o u ld have o n ly b e e n b re w e d in th e m e ltin g p o t b o o k c a lle d th e Luch a d ore s 5. "Je rry and I used to w o rk to g e th e r in th e c o m ic o f Los A n g e le s . Frissen e x p la in s , " I'v e alw ays b e e n in to th e b y -p ro d u c ts o f b o o k ind u stry. W h e n I saw w h a t J e rry was d o in g ... I was c o m p e lle d to b e c o m e M e xica n w re s tlin g ...A s a p e rso n liv in g in th e USA, I w a n te d to ta ke th a t c u lture , a p a rt o f it...W e [th e n ] h o o k e d u p w ith G a sto n [o f M e ltd o w n C o m ic s ] and p e r v e r t it a nd m ake it m y o w n ...[T h e re are also e le m e n ts o f] th e C ham bara M o n s te r 5," Silva e xp la in s. It seem s th a t Silva's re a c tio n to Frissen's source (Ja panese s w o rd fig h tin g ) g e n re . T e q u ila and El Panda a c t like ro nin — th e y m aterial was g o ld e n ; th e o rig in a l lin e o f T e q u ila to ys is n e a rly s o ld o u t and w a n d e r th e w o rld a im le s s ly lo o k in g to re fin e th e ir fig h tin g skills. T h a t's w hy soon to b e fo llo w e d b y th e c re a tive te a m 's n e w e st ch ara cter, El Panda. o u r c o m p a n y is c a lle d M u ttp o p !" TEQUILA TOYS 4 8 v-12 A b o v e : El Panda, Tequlia Toys, 2 006 O n e o f th e a rtis ts p ro v id in g th e visual panache fo r T equila to ys is French a rtis t, G o b i. His in te rp re ta tio n s o f Frissen's c h ara cters are c a p tu rin g th e hea rts o f vinyl fans across th e US. "I am try in g to ...[g iv e th e characters] a loo k and backg ro u nd R ed D em o n , Tequlia Toys, 2 006 th a t w orks on th e sam e p rin c ip le as th o s e o f th e a n c ie n t s to ry te lle rs . In o u r Lucha L ib re U niverse, th e re is n o g o o d o r evil, th e re are ju s t ch ara cters and th e ir o p p o n e n ts , as in th e o ld oral tra d itio n a l s to rie s ." B e lo w : Tequila, Tequlia Toys, 2 0 0 5 T ra d itio n a l as th e M u ttp o p te a m m ay a sp ire to b e in th e ir s to ry te llin g , th e c h a ra c te r a rt a nd a c tio n -p a c k e d p an e ls o f th e c o m ic sm ack o f m o d e rn m anga in flu e n c e — h y p e rk in e tic , h e a v ily s ty liz e d a n d s u p e r-d e fo rm e d . Take fo r e x a m p le th e c h a ra c te r d e s ig n fo r Red D e m o n , th e s c h e d u le d fo llo w u p to El Panda la te r in 2 00 6 . S m a rtly d resse d in a s u it and tie , th e w iry "R ed D em on is th e s u p e r suave, s e lf-a p p o in te d p r o te c to r o f East LA. By d a y he fig h ts fo r ju s tic e as a R epo M an. By n ig h t he fig h ts fo r ju s tic e as a luch a d or. S om ew here in b e tw e e n all o f th is, he fin d s tim e to p ic k u p on p r e tty la d ie s ," says Frissen. In Red D e m o n , as w ith T e q u ila a n d El Panda, o n e sees a c o n s is te n t b le n d o f k its c h y -c o o l and o v e r-th e -to p b u tt-k ic k in g th a t's e a rn in g M u ttp o p a p la ce as a c o n te n d e r in th e d e s ig n e r vinyl m arket. BILLY GALAXY 5f i ’It t 5 ;i|'« t O ¥ S f/' I.! s c r I b ! 0 s 8 1 2 W, B tjrr»sifle;P o ftls,«p » OR 9 '2 0 8 503 , 227.3253 w w w , b ilty g a ia x y .e o m SAMFOUT rake Vintage MONSTERS & ROBOTS! NEW G O D Z IL L A • U L T R A M A N S H O -G U N W A R R IO R S GIGANTOR • GAM ERA T “ T-iSi I'.tls- I ff ™ 11 1 IliSiil mm J E T ^ H fc JAGUAR PUSHEAD -4 ? MICRONAUTS ARK CCP M -l POPY BULLMARK BANDAI* UNI-FIVE MARMIT • MARUSAN TSUBARAYA • B-CLUB BARE MODEL • NAKAJIMA TAKATOKU • NITTO • YAMAKATSU BANPRESTO *X-PLUS • BILLIKEN TAKARA • MARUII • PLAYSETS • GODAIKINS SOUL OF CHO-GO-KIN • PROMOS*JUMBOS CALL STEVE AGIN! (908) 475-1796 WWW.AGINTOYS.COM ^ H Hybrid-Home.com Playful Ingredients for M odern Living, SNAP CRACKLE POPSTAR OSAKA POPSTAR AND THE AMERICAN LEGENDS OF PUNK W hen it com es to legendary p un k musicians, it d o e sn 't g e t m ore n o te w o rth y or 57: H o w did Osaka P op star g e t s ta rte d and how did you assem ble th e iconic than M arky Ramone o f th e Ramones, Dez Cadena o f Black Flag and Jerry players fo r th e record? Cafiero: W e w ere all in th e s tu d io recording th e Misfits O n ly o f M isfits fam e. So, w hen Osaka Popstar and th e A m erican Legends o f Punk Project 1950 w hich I p rod u ce d... Marky, Dez and Jerry all played on th a t recording fo rm e d consisting o f those th re e players plus a lesser-known-by-the-m asses fou rth and...I e n d e d u p sing in g fo r th e m in th e s tu d io ...A t th a t tim e , th e y d id n 't know m e m be r— th e band's lead singer no less— one que stio n em erg e d : W h o is John th a t I could even sing... U ltim ately, I to ld them m y idea fo r Osaka Popstar and the C afiero (a.k.a Osaka Popstar)? A m erican Legends o f Punk...They a greed to th e p ro je c t and I'm very honored and e xcited to be p laying w ith these musicians. A N ew York musician and producer, Cafiero has been a staple in th e NY punk scene fo r years w ho's re cen tly assum ed th e ro le o f vice p re s id e n t o f M isfits W h a t's th e c o n c e p t beh in d th e project? W ell, fo r th e m o st p art, th e eclectic Records. His vocals are an affe ctin g ble n d o f punk phrasing and saccharine p o p — p o p culture clash th a t exists w ithin Osaka Popstar is an o rganic ble n d o f a lot o f unq u e stion a b ly h e a rtfe lt and sincere. Perhaps m ore interestingly, th e singer's th ing s th a t I love... A lso, th e idea is th a t if e ith e r Marky, Dez, o r Jerry needs to own eclectic b e n t fo r art, p o p -a n d o utsid e r-cu lture p rovid e s b oth th e visual and g o on to u r w ith th e ir o th e r p rojects, th e n a no the r punk legend w ill be w elcom ed sonic id e n tity o f th e b and — fro m th e m usic and influence o f Richard Hell (the into th e fo ld — it's so rt o f a revolving d o o r band fo r classic punk musicians and I'll Voidoids) on p un k rock to th e u n d e rg ro u n d a rt o f g ra ffit-tu rn e d -g a lle ry a rtist, always be th e consistent m em ber. Dalek. (N o t to m e n tio n his c o m p e llin g in te re st in th e a rt o f o rig in a l G a rb a ge Pail Kids a rtist John Pound.) The Osaka P opstar and th e A m e rica n Legends So, w hy th e nam e Osaka Popstar? W ell, Osaka Popstar is essentially me. I've o f Punk alb u m w ill be o u t th is M ay and w ill in clu d e an a n im a te d bon u s v id e o always been a huge fan o f Japanese character culture and anim e. M y favorite o f th e song "W ic k e d W o rld " fe a tu rin g ch a ra cte r d e sig n s by M a ri-ch a n, an character is A s tro b o y [the th e m e song to w hich is covered on th e Osaka Popstar Osaka based artist— naturally. album in a d d itio n to a co ver o f th e th e m e song from Sailor M oon]. Plus, I'm a N ew Yorker th ro u g h and th ro u g h and I th in k o f Osaka as th e Japanese equiva le n t th e y 're like a p p ro a chin g sacred g rou n d to som e exte n t. Richard was really encour o f th e dow n to w n NY punk scene; it's hom e to bands such as Balzac, Shonen Knife agin g and s u p p o rtiv e a b o u t m y co verin g them , w hich really m eant a lo t to me. In and th e Mad Capsule Markets. m y o p in io n , Richard Hell was th e person w ho p la n te d th e firs t seed in th e grow th o f th e p un k m ovem ent. T h ere are a lo t o f covers on this reco rd and a fe w e x c e lle n t orig inals. Let's ta lk first ab o u t Daniel Johnston, th e ou tsider piano player w h o is p u rp o rted ly Though th e visual and sonic elem ents of th e project can seem really disparate, schizophrenic. You covered his track "W icked W o rld " on this album . I've always there's a cohesiveness th a t comes not just from th e consistent punk musician been a fan o f Daniel's m usic and art. A lo t o f p e o p le que stio n w h e th e r o r n o t he ship, b u t m ore from your b e n t fo r ou tsider culture in g e n e ra l. Do you think is legitim ately m entally ill suggesting th a t he feigns his cond itio n as part o f his act. th a t's a fa ir observation? I absolutely think that's fair...A lot o f my b iggest influences I've always fo u n d his w ork really pure and u naffected. He also sings on th e track have tra d itio n a lly been on th e frin ge . Eventually, th e tim es seem to catch up with "M an o f C onstant Sorrow." This is a traditional blue grass song th a t I th o u g h t w ould th e m and alo n g w ith it com es th e universal re cog n ition . For exam ple, when the sound g re a t re in te rp re te d as a punk song. I th o u g h t D aniel Jo hn ston w o u ld be Ramones first came o u t in th e mid-1970's, th e y were far from em braced by most, but perfect in th e role o f th e voice o f hope, d o in g th e repeat backing vocal to th e man o da y th e y 're in th e Rock and Roll Hall o f Fame. I th in k outsiders te n d to th in k less o f sorrow. I c o u ld n 't be h a p p ie r w ith th e w ay it tu rn e d o u t. I th in k it's so m eth in g a b o u t how they're perceived and sim ply speak, sing, w rite o r just be from th e heart really unique and I'm very p rou d o f it. m ore than most. There's a purity and sincerity th a t com es through and transcends all boundaries. In my opinion, nothing speaks louder or has m ore potency than sincerity. Both Love Com es in Spurts and Blank G e n e ra tio n w e re w r itte n by Richard Punk rock in its pure unadulterated fo rm is essentially o utsider music. You m ig h t say H ell. Can you te ll us a little a b o u t your fascination w ith this a rtist? I s o ug h t this entire p ro je c t is a Trojan horse o f sorts in th e fo rm o f a w ell-po lish e d , tita n iu m o u t Richard's personal blessing b e fo re co verin g these songs because to me G ia nt ro bo t. — Justin Kovalsky y /- ( o /f ir r LOOKS THAT KILL WHAT TO WEAR AROUND YOUR TOY AND SNEAKER COLLECTING COHORTS, 5 COMPANIES. 15 DESIGNS. HOUSE33 SHOCKER The g ang at House33 is b rin g in g th e Ja panese h o rro r p u n k b an d Balzac o ld skate inspired designs in droves has th e ir ow n fa sh io n lin e th a t's now and we w o u ld n 't have it any o th e r way. a vaila ble S tateside. D e sig n e d by These fitte d tees are concisely c u t and m e m b e rs o f th e b a n d , th e s e g a rm e n ts s uper sturdy. W e c a n 't w a it to check w ill k e e p you lo o k in g fa s h io n a b le o u t th e ir B ounty H un te r c o lla b ora tive b u t to u g h w h ile you ro ck o u t 'til th e p iece w hen it releases this spring. k n o c k o u t. A ls o , if you g e t a chance A fu ll line is available, so d o n 't sleep. to check o u t Balzac live, m ake haste. w w w .house33.com www.evilegend13.com /shockerworldwide DEVI LOCK SUPER7 This b ran d fro m Japan has been The new Kaiju S ilh o u e tte g ra p h ic b rin g in g it fast, h ig h -e n d and fu rio u s is sure to a p p e a l to so p h is tic a te d fo r th e p a st 10 years. T h o u g h th e re 's to y heads w h ile w e ta ke you b ack c u rre n tly n o t a d ire c t o u tle t fo r th e ir in th e d ay w ith o u r D am a g e d and rock and p u n k in s p ire d d e sig n s in L ig h t C ycle d esig n s. W h e n th in g s th e US, keep y o u r eyes p e e le d ; w ith g e t sticky, le t'e m kn ow y o u r n o t D evilock's q u a lity and e y e -p o p p in g p la yin g w ith o u r B a ttle s h ip te e . d esigns, it's only a m a tte r o f tim e . w ww .super7store.com w w w .d e vilo ck.co m NIKE PUSHEAD BRUISED SB DUNK D raw n to lo o k like th e in s id e o f y o u r fo o t a fte r a day o f th ra s h in g , Pushead's new SB D unk was released th is p ast w in te r in Japan to crazy fanfare. If you can fin d a pair, b u y th e m and b e th e in s ta n t envy o f Ja panese h ip s te rs and re tire d skaterockers. w w w .n ik e s k a te b o a rd in g .c o m DVD REVIEWS KAMEN RIDER V3 COMPLETE SERIES DVD BOX SET 5 4 v’2 THE CO O LES T HENSHIN HERO OF THE ‘70S C O M ES TO THE US In Japan, o nly tw o s u pe rh e roe s stand s h o u ld e r to sh ou ld er: U ltram an and Kamen R ider. N ow , fo r th e fir s t tim e , one o f th e o rig in a ls has b een released in th e US: Kamen R ider V3 (1973-74), th e second, and m ost p op u lar o f th e original Rider series. V 3's s to ry c o n c e rn s h e ro ic K azam i S hiro, w h o vow s to a ven g e th e s la u g h te r o f his fa m ily b y D e s tro n , b u t is m o rta lly w o u n d e d in th e process. Shiro is revived as th e c y b e rn e tic Kam en R ider V3 to fig h t D e s tro n 's m u ta n t m o n s tro s itie s fo r th e lib e r ty o f hum a n ity. JN P ro du ctio n s, re spo n sible fo r th e DVD release o f Kikaida, has p u lle d o u t all the s tops fo r th is lim ite d e d itio n six-disc set fe a tu rin g all 52 e pisodes. DVD P roducer R obby Gaskell p ain sta king ly re sto red th e vid e o and a u d io o f Kamen R ider V3, and his a n im a te d m enus are d yn a m ic, e ye -c a tc h in g , and easy to use — w ith catch y cues fro m th e o rig in a l series. The s e t is also c ra m m e d w ith a p le th o ra o f extras th a t b o rd e r on th e obsessive, b u t are th e m o s t in ten sive e v e r seen on any d o m e s tic DVD release. T h e se in c lu d e tw o in - d e p th b a c k g ro u n d essays, b e h in d -the -sce n es e p is o d e fa c to id s , an exclusive in te rv ie w w ith legendary star Hiroshi Miyauchi, a trivia quiz, six karaoke m usic vide o s, 71 c h a ra c te r p ro file s and tw o sets o f English s u b title s ("E xple tives D e le te d " fo r th e kids). These extras should overload even th e m ost ja d e d fa n , b u t a lso g iv e th e casual view er a b ro a d e r p icture o f th e m aking o f th is series. This is essential v ie w in g , because Kam en R id e r V3 rocks! — A u g u s t R agone GODZILLA FINAL WARS NOT SO FITTING LAST RITES FOR THE BIG G W ith m averick a ute ur Ryuhei Kitam ura (Versus, Azum i) given th e m o s t creative la titu d e (and re p o rte d ly , th e b ig g e s t b ud g e t) o f any re c e n t d ire c to r to helm th is 5 0 th A n n iv e rs a ry film , one w o u ld e x p e c t th e u ltim a te G o d z illa a d v e n tu re th a t takes th e ch a ra c te r in to th e 21st C e n tu ry . Instead, w e are g ive n a d is jo in te d , c ra s h -e d ite d , te c h n o -s c o re d p o tp o u rri, cra m m e d w ith every G o d zilla cliche, and s p ic e d w ith cues c rib b e d fro m th e S tar Wars, X -M e n and The M a trix film s - m any o f th e m n ot te rrib ly fla tte rin g : such as th e 1 970s-styled special visual e ffe c ts . If you are lo o k in g fo r a m o re tra d itio n a l and u p d a te d version o f th e G odzilla m ythos, you m ig h t w a n t to check o u t Sony's o th e r releases such as G ia n t M onsters A ll-O u t A tta c k (2001) o r G o d zilla A g a in s t M e c h a g o d z illa (2002). Fans m ig h t w a n t to in tro d u c e th e ir c h ild re n to G o d z illa w ith th is film , since it's all so u n d and fu ry, s ig n ify in g n o th in g - b u t b e w a re th e m ild sw ea ring . For all o f my m isg ivin g s, I am c e rta in th a t view ers w ill fin d s o m e th in g o f w o rth in G o d z illa Final Wars, b e ca u se w he n all else fa ils, it's h a rd ly b o rin g . — A u g u s t Ragone THE ADVENTURES OF CHEBURASHKA AND FRIENDS CUTEST THING EVER W h e n it com es to e xiste n tia l d ille m a , no o n e has it q u ite as to u g h as a d o ra b le little C heburashka. This s to p m o tio n a nim a tio n fro m th e USSR ch ron icle s th e syrupy e x p lo its o f C heburashka, a kind creature o f u nknow n species w ho is fo u n d by a s h o p k e e p e r a m id s t a cra te o f o ran g e s. T h e h e a rtre n d in g th in g is, no one w an ts to ke ep C heburashka, n o t even th e zoo, because th e y d o n 't know how to classify him. B ut it's n o t all d o o m and g lo o m ; he b e frie n d s a c ro c o d ile nam ed Genady and sw e e t O ld Lady S hapocliak. Soon, th e th re e o f th e m g o on all s o rts o f m agical m isad ve n tu res. In c lu d e d on th is DVD are fo u r film s d ire c te d by Roman K achanov and based on th e b o o k s b y E duard Uspensky. T h o u g h a im e d at ch ild ren , C he b is a w o rld w id e p h e n o m e n o n love d b y Russians and a d o re d by, you g u e sse d it, le g io n s o f Japanese teens. — Ju stin Kovalsky BOOK REVIEWS v-12 55 ALSO KNOWN AS BY 1 2 0 Z . PROPHETS (SELF PUBLISHED) C o m in g o ff a lo n g hiatus, th e cre w o v e r at 12oz. P ro ph e ts has released th e ir firs t b o o k , A lso Known As. This 190-page e x p lo s io n o f urban expression smacks o f s tre e t e x p e rtis e , co v e rin g a rtis ts such as Kaws, KR, Futura, O s G e m e o s and Evan H ecox. T h e b r illia n t p h o to g ra p h y in th is b o o k is o v e rs h a d o w e d o n ly by th e in c re d ib le d e p th o f re sea rch ; th e s e kid s have fo u n d e v e ry h id d e n s tre e t canvas — tags, doors, trucks, trains, roll-ups, walls and blackbooks. A lso Known A s com es p ackaged w ith stickers, posters, and o th e r g o o d ies. Be sure to check o u t th e crazy p rin tin g te c h n iq u e s on a lm o s t every p ag e . The 12 oz. P ro ph e ts kn ow th e g a m e and th is b o o k p rove s it. — G e o ff A lle n NO CONTACT COMMUNICATION! BY SK8THING PUBLISHER / BO O K FIEND B athing A p e and H yste ric G la m o u r d e s ig n e r S k8 th ing re c e n tly d ro p p e d his c o o le s t p ro je c t y e t; w ell, it's his c o o le s t y e t if y o u 're b ig on Ja panese m o n ste rs and m o d e rn kitsch. A c o lla g e -e s q u e p ic tu re b o o k o f o ld sch oo l kaiju cast a g a in st 1950s b a c k d ro p s and g ra ffiti landscapes, th is b o o k's g re a te st stre n g th is also its fatal flaw — th e a d d itio n o f 3D graphics. It was a fu n idea to inclu d e a p a ir o f 3D glasses w ith th e b o o k ; u n fo rtu n a te ly , th e y d o n 't w o rk so w ell. Instead o f K a n eg o n le a p in g o ff th e p a g e in all o f his g o o g ly eyed g lo ry he ju s t s o rt o f hangs fla tly in space lo o k in g g o o fy . But, it's a sm all c o m p la in t really, considering th e fantastic p resentation and o d d ju xta p o sitio n s. Ever w an t to watch U ltram an and D ada va nd a lize a b ack a lley w all? N o w you can. — Ju stin Kovalsky O Modem Toys From Japan 1 9 4 0 s -1 9 8 0 s MODERN TOYS FROM JAPAN BY W ILLIAM C. GALLAGHER PUBLISHER /S C H IF FE R For th o se o f you u n fa m ilia r w ith classic to y co m pa n ies, M asudaya was o ne o f th e la rg e s t, a nd lo n g e s t ru n n in g m a n u fa c tu re rs ever. The va st m a jo rity o f th e ir to ys w ere tin planes, cars, tra in s and space ships. But, so m e w h e re in th e m id d le o f all o f this, M asudaya (known also b y th e m o nike r M o d e rn Toys) m ade many unique and c re a tiv e c h a ra c te r to ys. From ta lk in g vinyls, sparkers, lig h t-u p s , tric y c le s , and a w id e array o f crazy o n e -o f-a -k in d c o m b in a tio n to ys, m any o f th e q u irk ie s t and m o s t in v e n tiv e to y s e v e r c ra fte d w e re m a d e b y M asudaya. This b o o k o ffe rs an e x tre m e ly th o ro u g h h is to ry o f th e e x tre m e ly re le v a n t c o m pa n y, m a kin g th is is a lib ra ry n e cce ssity fo r any tru e to y e n th u sia st. — Brian Flynn S7 GEAR 56 ''-12 02 03 04 05 01 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 T-SHIRTS A ll sh irts are availa ble in S, M, L, XL fo r a c o s t o f $22. 01. SUPER7 LO G O 02. TICKET 03. SPACESHIPS 0 4 . 1HEART THE FORCE 05. LION POSE 06. CYCLE 07. KIKAIDA 08. MAX7 09. GODAIKIN i > 10. BW ANA SPO O NS 11. OGI 12. KIKAIDA FIGHTER V 13.TO H O BACK ISSUES A ll back issues are $5.95. ISSUE 05. B o o ska/G a ry B a s e m a n /D o u g ra m /A k u m a iz e r ISSUE 06. A le x R o s s /G a tc h a m a n /M irro rm a n /A n g ila s ISSUE 07. G odzilla 5 0th A r t and Toys/R aideen/Transform ers ISSUE 08. G o d a k in /M a s c h in e n K rie g e r/U g ly D o lls/S u p erso l ISSUE 09. Japanese T a lk e rs /T ig er-7 /T im B is k u p /S e c re t Base ISSUE 10. K eiji-K /R ob b y th e R obot/M AR S -1/G argam el ISSUE 11. King W aldar/B arom -1/B alzac/C am ille Rose Garcia S7 GEAR ,,2 g y ART PRINTS 01. HEART BREAKOUT $40 16"x 2 0 " silkscreen p rin t A r t by D ora Drim alas. 02. ROBOT ORIGIN $40 19.75" x 27.5" silkscreen p rin t A r t by Brian Flynn. 03. ANATOMICAL $40 16"x 2 0 ” silkscreen p rin t A r t by D ora D rim alas. 04. SPACESHIP C O LLAG E $40 16" x 2 0 ” silkscreen p rin t A r t by Brian Flynn. 05. BIKE LOVE $40 16" x 2 0 ” silkscreen p rin t A r t by D ora D rim alas. 06. ROCKET $40 19.75"x 27.5” silkscreen p rin t A r t by Brian Flynn. 07. SUPER7 W O R LD $125 19.75"x 27.5” silkscreen p rin t A r t by D avid H orva th . 08. ATMOSPHERE $120 19.75"x 27.5” silkscreen p rin t A r t by Brian Flynn. 02 01 04 06 03 05 07 08 ORDER SUPER7 GEAR A ll th e Super7 sto re at 415.409.4700 o r vis it th e w e b site a t super7store.com to Please send ch eck o r m o ne y o rd e r Be sure to s to p by o u r w e b s ite s fo r purchase o u r exclusive toys, t-s h irts and su b scrip tio ns. S u b scrip tio ns to Super7 (do n o t se nd cash) to : s to re u p d a te s , e v e n t info and news are ju s t $28 p e r ye ar (fo r fo u r issues). Plus, n ew and c u rre n t su b scrib e rs g e t S uper7 M a g a zin e , A tt n : O rd e rs on e xclusive m erch! e xclusive access to s u b s c rib e r o n ly te e s, a rt p rin ts , to ys and m o re ! Be a p a rt 5 40 D e la n c e y S tre e t, S u ite 303 w w w .s u p e r7 s to re .c o m o f th e Super7 fa m ily and su bscrib e now . A ll m agazines are m a ile d in a s tu rd y San Francisco, C A 94107 w w w .s u p e r7 m a g a z in e .c o m e n v e lo p e via US Postal M e d ia M a il. W h e n o rd e rin g b a c k issues, p le a s e a d d $5.50 fo r postage. Back issues are sent using US P riority Mail. A ll prices are fo r th e US only, and are s u b je c t to change. M a jo r c re d it ca rds a cce p te d . C A resi d en ts m ust add 8.5% sales tax. For intern a tio na l p o sta g e q uo tes, please e-m ail us at info@ super7m agzine.com . 57 LIFE 58 *12 SUPER7 VS. JAPAN A FIRST PERSON ANECDOTAL ACCOUNT OF A TOKYO ADVENTURE 01. As you can see the Super7 gang rolls deep. Deep into Secret Base that is. Don't get hustled! 02. W elcom e to Tokyo, just follow the signs. 03. It may be construction, but it sure is organized. 04. A few examples of the Secret Base army invading a glass case near you. 05. Hori o f Seven Stars and th e graphic that started it all. 06. The king of Devilock, Endo keeps the Kostas skulls close and the Secret Base Skulbees closer. 07. Apparently there is JV team of construction workers in Japan, I w onder how you make varsity? 08. The sewer is happy to see you. 09. A boxing monkey, a boxing bunny and another boxing monkey who designs this magazine. 10. Even Mickey Mouse has a cute skull in Japan. 11. This Stormtrooper came for your gifts and your forties. I'm sure the Emperor would approve. 12. G e ttin g up w o rld w id e . 13. In th e w ords o f Je llo Biafra, "N azi plants, It starts w ith a rush o f air, a roar o f th e e ng in es a nd a c o m p le te lack o f e d ib le f-o ff!" 14. Omarise in Shimokitazawa has fo o d fo r th e next 8 hours. It seem s th e w id e -eye d w o n d e r surrou n d in g a trip to plenty o f w hatever you want. 15. Hiddy, Japan is n o t lim ite d to ju s t me. Every tim e I return from a trip , I am b o m b a rd e d O ka, Pushead and Brian all lean in fo r with requests fo r p ho tos and stories. M ost A m erican co lle cto rs have n o t had th e a g ro u p hug. 16. W o u ld you like a luxury o f seeing th e shops, g o in g to conventions, o r m e etin g th e p e o p le b ehind vo lu m e o f manga? H ow a b o u t 20,000? th e design scene in Tokyo. So, a fte r th e Super? crew's last visit, w e th o u g h t it 17. N uts, a rtist and antiquarian. 18. w ou ld be nice to share a p h o to scra pb o o k o f o u r trip w ith you. O n th e n e xt few A p o rtio n o f th e wall in N uts' studio. pages, yo u'll fin d q uick notes, quip s, p h o tos, m e m orie s and chaos fro m a w eek in th e land o f th e rising sun! — Brian Flynn Sim ply am azing. 19. Take-shit, ruling th e early b ird s a t W C C w ith an iron fis t and a Kubrick. 20. Big city nights. The Scorpions w o u ld be so p roud. 21. Even I am n o t sure w ho co oke d th is one up. T h e y're d a y -g lo p in k o r black soap dispenser skulls. O f course. W hy had I n o t th o u g h t o f th a t sooner? 22. Fewture's fu tu re in g ia n t vinyl. 23. Hachiko's tru e spot. I know th e locals th in k it is corny, b u t H achiko is co o le r than school. 24. O n ly tra d itio n a l Japanese kittens still sm oke. It's only a m a tte r o f tim e b efo re Kozik turns this into a toy. S7 LIFE 25. Dennis Rodman runs w ith N eck Face. W h o knew? 26. The line starts here fo r th e Pushead dunk. A t least 6 0 vj2 it d id 24 hours ago, now it's a b o u t a b lo ck from here. 27. Tokyo Big Sight, w here all g o o d to ys com e to b e sold. 28. Pushead signed fo r th e fans fo r hours. 29. The th ird cre ato r o f yo ur new fa vo rite toy, C osm o Liquid, holds an a u to g ra p h e d version o f his own sculpture. The king has left th e building. 30. Hand p a in te d Skullw ings were available fo r a b o u t 30 seconds. D id you g e t one? 31. A hap p y fan and her sig n e d 400% Be@ rbrick. 32. I d id n 't even know there was a Suzanne Sommers d o ll. I th in k you can fin d m ore obscure Am erican toys in Japan than you can in Am erica. 33. Please fo llo w th e dire ctio n s. 34. Booska anyone? 35. H ow com e no one makes s tu ff this cute o v e r here? That bee is c o o le r than I ever w ill be. I give up. 36. The Japan Skulls have th e ir ow n satin jackets. H ow soft and shiny! 37. Cowgirl vending machines selling beer and soda. I don't really have to say much more, do I? 38. The most evil Ronald McDonald I have ever seen outside of a Ron English painting. 39. I am pretty sure this is the bus stop. How amazing is that? It almost makes you want to start riding the bus! Almost. 40. Clark Kent's House. That's right, Superman has a house in Tokyo and in Manhattan; he just keeps it on the low. 41. The Super7 crew and a soiled blue robot. Keep your hands where I can see them . 42. S7 correspondent Yuriko rocks, but Dennis is still up for debate. 43. The man, the myth, the mellow, international playboy (and Super7 contributor) Koji Harmon. 44. Taguchi of Gargamel rocking the soft vinyl while you were sleeping. 45. Anyone looking for a fight? 46. Anpanman lives in a happy rainbow land. Bwana Spoons lives next door. 47. Do not place finger in your nose. Dual translated for your benefit. 48. Just in case you thought we skipped all culture all together, here is the obligatory shrine photo. NOS! / L O O K IN G F O R ZJR P R N E S E IT E M S ? IF S O , P L E R S E E M R IL M R S R T O ! OUR S E R V IC E C O N T E N T S / 1 / ZJRPR NESE R U C T IO N S E R V I C E We can place bids on any Japanese auction and arrange transactions for you. Talking to sellers and translating descriptions are free! 2 / P U R C H R S IN G S E R V IC E We can find anything you are looking for in Japan • toys/hobby • car/m ortocycle parts • collectable items • Japanese tra d itio n a l items, etc. 3 / S E L L IN G S E R V I C E We can sell your items at Japanese markets We will be your agent/business partner in Japan! Please consult us about whatever! You can use our s ta ff as your personal/business agent in Japan! One specific person w ill be in charge o f you! Please compare our service w ith other deputy services! Searching service is free! Asking service is free! Translation service is free! (Translated by person, not machine.) Fast! Safe! Reliable! We have many large networks in Japan! We reach out helping hands for your collection or business in Japan. Please freely send us e-m ail at any tim e. M-IAJORLD SERVICE www.m -world-service.com m -world-service@ sales.ffn.ne.jp NEW MUSIC IN STORES MAY 9TH FROM Pu nk Rock IS A LIV E and w ell fr o m Osa k a Ja p a n ....to N e w York City C D IN C L U D E S ARTWORK BUTCH JO HN BY: LU KIC PO UND DALEK M A R I-C H A N TRAGNARK I M A N I M A T I O N BY: M A R I-C H A N J O EL V E IT C H Featuring JOHN CAFIERO with JERRY ONLY, DEZ CADENA, IVAN JULIAN and MARKY RAMONE! (Osaka Popstar) (Misfits) (Black Flag) (The Voidoids) (The Ramones) # P L U S G U E S T A P P E A R A N C E B Y O U T S ID E R M U S IC IC O N : D A N IE L J O H N S T O N # BONUS DVD ^IHCLUDES TWO/AM l* & T ED MUSl'cfvlDEOS! W W W .AISFITSRECORDS.COM WWW. OSAKAPOPS TAR. COM A L S O A V A I L A B L F R O M E Atom,ag'. BALZAC ' I * 1 JRW1 v. DA? THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE BEYOND THE DARKNESS « g M? | ^ u jg , \ 1 A V / . BALZAC
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