SQDBLSTR » Event

Super Festival 58 January 2012

Aaron — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:57:18 +0000

Star Case’s Space Black Robot 2nd Colorway

Aaron — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:06:33 +0000

The second colorway of Star Case‘s Space Black Robot will be released in December. December will also see the release of a commercial Star Case is filming to advertise the toy.

More Information About Fuei Shokai

Aaron — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 10:20:23 +0000

I just received an email from Fuei Shokai (腐影商会) with a bit more information about their Slender Man release:

The first figure from Fuei Shokai, released at Super Festival 57, is their interpretation of Slender Man. Slender Man is present in American urban legends, but their interpretation draws from an older version.

This iteration of Slender Man is based on an 18th century German poem Erlkönig; literally translated as “alder king.” The main character of the poem finds himself lost in the woods. His death marks his transformation into Slender Man.

This is where the paths of the urban legend of Slender Man and the poem cross. Slender Man wanders the dark in search of children. He is invisible to adults, but children are able to see him. He may also appear in children’s dreams. Slender Man is responsible for child abductions that are typically written off as runaways.

Next week, Fuei Shokai plans to release a new deluxe version. For now, the first release can be purchased in the US exclusively from Lulubell Toys.

Design Festa 34

Aaron — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:51:08 +0000

This year seemed to have a smaller turnout as far as vinyl releases compared to other years, although Design Festa typically does not draw vinyl collectors as much as other events. With this winter’s Design Festa finding itself sandwiched between Super Fests, the result was a smaller turnout than other years.

Star Case’s Space Black Robot

Aaron — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:07:36 +0000

In honor of it’s 8th anniversary as a store, Star Case in Koenji debuted their first foray into soft vinyl. Space Black Robot (宇宙ブラックロボ) is a pretty awesome toy that combines some recognizable characteristics with an interesting aesthetic. Overall, it’s a nice toy, and appropriately, quickly sold out. Good news, though. The next release will happen towards the end of November/early December. When asked if Star Case would take international orders, I was told that as long as customers can figure out the shopping system in Japanese, they can pay via Paypal. Star Case’s online store can be found here.

Super Festival 57 September 2011

Aaron — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 06:40:59 +0000

Ahh, Super Fest; half swap meet, half new stuff, half stuff I didn’t realize there was a market for. Other than the typically awesome favorites from previous Super Fests, there were 4 toy makers that had their first showing at this event. The first was Fuei Shokai, with a creepy resin creature that has an actual human tooth inside the toy. Next was Bara Pro, with a sparkly monster illustrated by Abbott Okutani. Then there was Utsu Giyo who is a first time toy maker, and brought along 3 completely different sculpts. Finally, this was Rampage Toys’ first Super Fest showing with his resin figures, along with his vinyl Ugly Unicorn. Other than the initial rush for the marble Skull Wings, this was a fairly relaxed Super Fest.

Hajime Sorayama’s Neo Japonism And Obsession Exhibit

Aaron — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:34:10 +0000

At TOKYO CULTuART, on the 3rd floor of the BEAMS shop in Harajuku, Hajime Sorayama had a small show of paintings. The gallery set aside a private room in the middle of room, where they hung the paintings. These paintings were much less robot inspired than his other work, and instead focused entirely on sexuality. The 10 or so large paintings were his own work, in his very detailed style, painted over shunga-styled backgrounds. Sadly, due to the adult nature of the paintings, they enforced a strict No Photography policy. The art space is interesting, and thanks to BEAMS and M1号 regular releases together, there were a number of toys lining the walls.

Medicom Toy’s 15th Anniversary Exhibit

Aaron — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:20:28 +0000

A few floors above the Dehara show, Medicom was holding an exhibit in celebration of their 15th anniversary. The main draw for me was their showcase of toys that have not been released yet. While there was quite a bit at WonderFest, there was no crowd in this gallery, so I could browse at my leisure.

Dehara’s Big Mentaiko Festival

Aaron — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:05:41 +0000

At the Logos Gallery in Parco, Dehara had a decently sized solo show with tons of new nendo characters. While the Dehara Empire includes tons of things, from mentaiko tissue box covers to vinyl toys, it’s his clay sculptures that really stole the show. They also showcased his new panchira cellphone straps that he did with Kitan Club. The gallery wasn’t huge, but it was packed with stuff, and a lot of it was brand new.

PangeaSeed Sink Or Swim

Aaron — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 18:32:39 +0000

PangeaSeed had their opening party for their new show, Sink or Swim, in Daikanyama tonight. Koji Harmon, Skinner, Bwana Spoons, Cupco, Sucklord, Le Merde, and Tim Biskup, in addition to numerous other artists, had pieces on display. The show runs until the 22nd at M Event Space and Bar in Daikanayama, Tokyo.