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Marusan and Marusin Toys both produced lines of stylized dinosaur vinyls in the 60s and 70s, respectively. Perhaps not surprisingly as a result of this, they are often confused with one another by American collectors. It certainly does not help that their names are nearly identical, differing only by a single Japanese character.
[WARNING: Boring toy nerd stuff!]
Most collectors are, no doubt, familiar with Marusan [マルサン] in some fashion; less so for Marushin and/or Marusin. Marushin is known perhaps only to a handful of niche collectors due to its unusual product mix, which could be charitably called, "eclectic." Kaiju toy collectors are often familiar with the Arklon-esque die-cast Garuban (but maybe not its gorilla-headed sibling) and the mechanized Kemlar, both produced by Marushin. To make matters more complicated, a company named Marusin Toys produced a rather substantial line of vinyl dinosaur toys in the mid-70s (around the same time period in which Marushin was active).
Originally I believed that Marushin and Marusin were synonymous, Marusin simply being a separately-adopted romanized version of Marushin. But now, I am not so certain. Besides having radically different product offerings, Marushin is consistently written as "Omocha no Marushin" [おもちゃ の マルシン] on its toys' packaging (which could roughly translate to "Marushin Toys," but they never write it that way); Marusin is written as Marusin, Marusin Toys, or Marushin Toys (seen on the header for a dinosaur vinyl), and always in English. The last permutation of Marusin is the most puzzling because it suggests that the 'Marusin' spelling was not intentional. I suspect that Marushin and Marusin Toys are distinct companies with similar names (similar to Miura and Miura Toy- which is a discussion in itself), possibly chosen to emulate the more famous Marusan name. On the other hand, certain knowledgeable toy folk seem to believe that both -shin companies were spin-offs of Marusan itself. The truth remains elusive.
So are you still with me?
This Kentrosaurus toy is one of the mid-size dinosaurs made by Marusin Toys. I wish I had taken a photograph of its stamp, but it simply says "Marusin" in English. The vinyl material is extremely hard and lightweight (thin); it is surprising to me that you can regularly find these with all of the spines intact.
Marusin dinos are sort of hit or miss in my opinion. The distinguishing characteristic of these toys is their expressive, almost cartoonish, face. Some even have little white rows of triangle teeth. A few, however, cross the line and just look downright goofy or cheap (sorry Brontosaurus- yes, it's Brontosaurus and not Apatosaurus, isn't that wonderful?), and others were saddled with horribly drab paint schemes. Kentrosaurus is one of the best of the bunch, I think, as he has a wonderful 'happy cow' face and an appetizing color arrangement that makes me think of ripening mangoes. It tickles me that anyone would even think to make a toy of Kentrosaurus.
As for dinosaur vinyls, Marusan is most well-known for their 5 toys based on the 1,000,000 B.C. movie [恐竜１００万年]. But this little toy is actually from Marusan's later line of vinyl toys featuring the famous animated character, Norakuro. Without getting into the details of this line or the background of Norakuro, it is sufficient for our purposes to know that these miniature dinosaur vinyls were actually accessories for the larger Norakuro toys. There are two different sculpts (including this one) and at least two color variations of each; I believe these were randomly packed with the associated character toy.
What is interesting about this mini figure is that it bears a sculptural resemblance to the original characters created for Marusan's Ultra Kaiju Series (a.k.a., Marusan originals). And in fact, both the Norakuro toys and the Ultra Kaiju toys were produced by Marusan's 3rd incarnation around 1968-69, suggesting that the same sculptor may have been responsible for both. It is truly amazing that such a detailed little toy would be generated solely for use as an accessory for another toy!
Well I hope that I have managed to thoroughly confuse you as to the source of vintage dinosaur vinyls. And as Gary Owens once said in my favorite childhood dinosaur video- "You're just scratching the surface."
Dread Apple was the second of 3 bottled Halloween flavors released by Jones Soda in 2008 (and again in 2009). While I thought we hit the jackpot last year with 7 different Halloween flavors, we are paying for it this year, which has been bereft of anything new in the holiday department.
PACKAGING
Same as Monster Mojito, reviewed here. The label is an orange and black inversion of the usual Jones design. While I normally find pet costumes demeaning to the animal, I have a certain apprehension of large, flat-faced cats. They remind me of furry Jabba-the-Hutts. So it's cute.. like a troll wearing a party hat.
FIRST WHIFF
Again, not much of a smell.
APPEARANCE
A particularly deep shade of pink with ample carbonation. "Dread Apple" suggested to me that the actual flavor is 'red apple,' but maybe it's supposed to be a candy apple flavor. Per the principle of Wolfman's razor, the more Halloween-ish explanation is likely the correct one, so I call it candy apple soda. Next.
FIRST SIP
Mmm. I must confess to having a lasting affinity for apple-flavored candies and drinks, so my enjoyment of this sweet apple soda comes as no surprise. The added carbonation (in comparison to Monster Mojito) really perks the drink up.
FINISHING THE GLASS
The only thing to spoil the carbonated apple flavor is the truckload of sugar in each bottle. I am left feeling the need to immediately brush my teeth.
OVERALL
It's a sweet apple soda, so if that's your thing you'll probably like it. I did not try the last flavor, Blood Orange, but I don't like orange soda- aside from actual blood in the soda, I doubt there was much else to see there. Of the bottled Halloween Jones Sodas, Dread Apple is my top pick. See what I did there? Pick. Like picking apples. Oranges can be picked as well. It's still a good pun.
Happy Halloween to all you folks out in blogger-land. Never really did the trick-or-treating thing as a kid (lived in the boonies and didn't trust our neighbors), but I still have a taste for the holiday nonetheless. These days this taste is indulged primarily through reruns of Roseanne Halloween specials and the opportunity to buy cheap candy from the supermarket. And Halloween blog posts. Still have those.
And I guess I really missed my chance with the Skull Head Butt stuff... that would have been perfect for Halloween. Nonetheless, the second spookiest toy in my menagerie: EXOHEAD's RFSO Galtan!
You should have flipped me when you had the chance!
Back the OLDEN DAYS when there was no Zollmen and EXOHEAD was just EXOHEAD, the mini-size Galtan [ガルタン] sculpt was an object of much desire. I know it is hard to believe now when you can barely get rid of these at retail. A well-known board member on the Skullbrain.org forums managed to broker a deal with EXO allowing a domestic sale of painted glow-in-the-dark (GID) Galtans under the "RFSO" label (hence this being commonly called the RFSO Galtan). I'd tell you what RFSO means, but it contains a dirty word (not the F).
Thirteen pieces were allocated for U.S. sales, with a handful more sold in Japan. Each was packaged in a beautifully airbrushed and tied folding-box (which sadly did not come with mine). An even smaller number of unpainted GID versions were distributed to Real Friends Only.
Of course these sold out in flash and people whined, threads were locked, etc. And then people that did get them started to re-sell. Ha! I bought this one (from the Japan allotment) way after the fact, and let me tell you that it sat untouched for a LONG WHILE.
Asstar.
Galtan is originally a patchi-kaiju design taken from a vintage trading card. It is an amalgamation of Baltan and Antlar, with a big, fat skull head planted on top. This mini figure captures the crude and distorted feel of patchi-kaiju perfectly; although it is only articulated at the waist, there is sort of an implied movement in its posture. The colors on the RFSO version are sprayed over GID vinyl and tastefully restrained, much like M1Go glow vinyls. Burnt, creamy orange and metallic light blue match well with the off-white vinyl, and perhaps unintentionally correspond to the color palette of pd+MM-111 RUSS (the last Man Machine toy from EXO). While I think many were drawn to this piece because of its rarity, it is still a very strong composition in its own right.
Alright, time for a Halloween afternoon nap. More weirdness later.
As it seems Halloween has crept up on me this year, what better time to post an article on everyone's favorite shapechangin' mutant hero: Mutant Chaos!
This article covers the Mutant Chaos character by RealxHead, and all related subvarieties thereof. All or most Chaos-type figures represent the same character in official canon as well, so I'm not just being lazy in my taxonomy of the subject.
Mutant Chaos is an original hero character created by Mori Katsura of RealxHead. He was the fourth and final character in the hero lineup of the Mutant Zone Series, debuting in November 2005. Mutant Chaos is generally considered the most popular of all RxH's characters, and is likely featured in the greatest number of toy releases as well (cheats a bit with his variations, though). The background of Mutant Chaos is quite mysterious- we only know that he is a shape-shifting mutant vegetable capable of utilizing different body types. Mr. Mori has ingeniously worked Mutant Chaos' power into the toy design, exchanging various parts with other RxH figures to create his various forms: Chaosman, Fighter Chaos, etc. Below, I have listed most of the combinations to date:
Chaosman - December 2005- Chaosman adopts the Mutant Head body.
Fighter Chaos - July 2006- Fighter Chaos uses the Mutant Head body, but retains his signature arms.
Armored Chaos - October 2006- When the enemies get tough, Chaosman dons an armored vest similar to that of villain Akrokaiser.
ChaoQ - October 2006- ChaoQ is a more child-like form of Mutant Chaos, with a small kewpie doll body. He even comes in phone strap size!
Kochaos - December 2006- Perhaps to help him blend into ordinary surroundings, Mutant Chaos has taken on a cylindrical form, resembling the Japanese kokeshi dolls after which this toy is named.
In February 2009, a mini-size Chaosman would mark the beginning of the RxH mini-figure craze. Interestingly enough, the Chaosman and Fighter Chaos would be released first simultaneously (2 Chaosman versions and 1 Fighter Chaos, sold in blind-bags), with the Mutant Chaos mini figure being sold shortly afterward. The Kochaos concept would be revisited with the new mini-size Chaos head- ironically resulting in a scale-up of the original Kochaos trading figure. Mini Armored Chaosman recently became the 5th mini-size Chaos type.
As Mr. Mori begins the third chapter in the Mutant Zone saga, Mutant Zone III, Mutant Chaos joins the ranks of the original characters given an entirely new sculpt. In order to match the power of Kaiser Head and Evil-Bat, Mutant Chaos must utilize the strengths of wild animals to become the powerful, new... Beast Chaos!
Mutant Chaos would also make the jump to a full-size figure as well, with a 9" Chaos Man being sold in August 2009. This figure utilizes an entirely new Chaos head-sculpt and a new body with proportions more befitting an action figure. RxH recently released a version of Chaos Man with an insectile head, dubbed Chaos Man No. 2. It remains to be seen if this is a mutation of Mutant Chaos or a new character entirely...
But there is one Chaos toy that is not a Mutant Chaos variant: Chaoslime! According to official sources, the slime is Mutant Chaos' pet.
Just as Mutant Chaos is of unknown origin, so are the influences on his character design shrouded in mystery. Although Mutant Chaos was the last Mutant Zone hero to be designed, his form has always struck me as the most 'Japanese' (for lack of a better descriptor) out of all 4 initial characters. The sculpt is riddled with organic eddies and fungal textures, somewhat like the traditional ink drawings of demons and spirits. It was recently discovered by inquisitive Skullbrainer, stealthtank, that the old Bullmark Curricula Machine vinyls used a similar doll eye as that of Mutant Chaos. Mutant Chaos' head- and this is only personal speculation- to me, looks a bit like Mayor McCheese's head (one of Mr. Mori's favorite toys is apparently an old McCheese doll). Whatever the case, Mutant Chaos epitomizes the creativity and unconventional design that continues to make RxH a fan favorite in the world of Japanese vinyl.
Armored Chaosman is possibly the oldest Chaos sculpt in my collection. There is only one version of this character, and it was released in October 2006. He's unique among the RxH toys as one of only two toys (the other is Akrokaiser) to wear the armor piece. This color version also pays tribute to the Henshin Cyborg Beetleman outfit.
This slime color Fighter Chaos was released in a set with the other 3 Mutant Zone heroes in December of 2006. While they were sold in blind-bags in Japan, Super 7 was kind enough to sort out complete sets for U.S. collectors (sadly, we did not have a chance at the lottery figures given away in said blind-bags). This particular Chaos holds particular sentimental value for me, as it was my first RxH toy. In fact, I even blogged about this guy way back over here. Even near 3 years later, the beautiful slime green vinyl never ceases to delight me when I take him out of the display case.
Speaking of the lottery figures, the Mutant Chaos shown above is one such example. This is MC-P04*, a yellow-eyed test shot for the Ramune set Mutant Chaos. It is fairly unremarkable as a test shot because the final product was also sold unpainted, making it virtually identical in appearance (aside from the absence of the white plastic BBs in the test shot). If you look closely at the torso and head, there are minor blue swirls in the vinyl- probably coloring agents that did not properly mix (and maybe the reason it is a test). This toy also has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive piece in my collection to date; I am ashamed to say how much it cost me to obtain, and it certainly would not sell for the same amount currently. An interesting historical item, nonetheless.
Officially called the "Fungus Chaos," this toy was sold exclusively at Super 7 in June 2007. Simply one of the best RxH toys out there. That's about all there is to it.
This pearl black Mutant Chaos was exclusive to the online store, Kaiju-Taro (now part of Kabushiki-Gaisha Link), where it was sold during the store's one year anniversary event in July 2007. Included with this toy was a pair of senbei (rice cracker snacks) in a separate bag. One senbei was shoyu flavored and printed with the RxH logo, and the other lobster flavored and printed with K-T's logo- the idea is that the toy represents the nori (dried seaweed) often wrapped around senbei. The black vinyl material has a very slight shimmer in bright light. Still one of my favorite Mutant Chaos figures because of the thoughtful design concept and understated execution.
In September 2007, Toy Karma was held at Rotofugi's gallery in Chicago, Illinois. Among the many toys exclusive to that show was this Mutant Chaos, cast in bright green vinyl (which, unfortunately, does not photograph very well) and painted with a variety of pastel colors. The vivid green and light colors make me think of colorful mold and Easter eggs, and help this piece to stand out in a crowd of other toys. This one can be found without much trouble if you are in the U.S.
And now we are in 2008. Despite the craze for RxH mini figures, I did not buy many of them. This was one of the first, released in March 2008; my only purchase from the mini-size Chaos family. The mini figures really never got their hooks in me because they would inevitably add or subtract something that I liked about the original design. Mini Chaos and Bigaro, however, really capture the essence of the original toy.
Oh, and I guess Kochaos is technically a mini-size figure (uses the same head). This is the first version of the mid-size Kochaos, released in June 2008. As mentioned earlier, these are cleverly designed to look like a kokeshi doll- tall, cylindrical Japanese dolls, typically made of wood and often with a 'nodding' head piece. I wonder how hard it would be to make this a 'nodding' vinyl...
My next Chaos purchase didn't come around until March of the following year (2009), but this one definitely made it worth the wait. Cast in robin's egg blue vinyl ('mizuiro' as some term it, meaning "water-colored"), this Mutant Chaos was given a black wash before being sprayed with a rainbow of colors. Owing perhaps to the variety of colors and complex painting style, it has tremendous visual impact. You might notice that I use the term "store release" to note the origin of this toy. Whereas most releases where either event exclusives or normal releases prior to this point, the opening of Shinto Gangu led to certain releases being reserved for in-store sales (i.e., to be purchased by walk-in only) as opposed to phone or mail orders. Of course, some of these would find their way stateside. There are also "secret releases," which are extremely limited in number and/or reserved for family, friends and good customers of Mr. Mori.
This Chaos Fighter was also a store release, sold in April 2009. The fluorescent colors over clear, bubble-filled vinyl are simply breathtaking, bringing to mind the colorful candies and toys sold at Japanese summer festivals. RxH experimented with color sprays on bubble vinyl very early on with a pair of Mutant Chaoses (MC-L03 and MC-L04). As that pair is very difficult to find today, this piece was a welcome addition to many fans' collections. This one is packaged wearing a black scarf, which I removed.
Beast Chaos is one of the newest Chaos iterations, being a combination of Mutant Chaos with various animals. This one is its sort-of first release, a ball-throw game prize for the Shinto After School Club event. There were actually many, many versions of Beast Chaos given away at this event because 4 colors of vinyl (light blue, fluorescent pink, orange and fluorescent yellow) were used in combination with 1 of 3 different eyes (yellow cat eye, googly white eye or colored doll eye). The total number of potential combinations is 12, and I have seen 11 of them. I like this blue one because it looks like Cookie Monster! Om nom nom nom nom. Ahem.
And finally we come to this rather mundane flesh-colored Mutant Chaos. But not really. You can see my earlier blog post about this prototype figure here. I call it a general prototype, rather than a test shot, as I don't really know where it originated in the development process. Most commonly, you will see unpainted samples called test shots, i.e., unpainted versions of the final product. Less common are 'color tests,' in which the figure is tested in a certain color of vinyl, but never mass produced in that color (I've noticed this phenomenon to be fairly specific to vinyl toys). Obviously, color tests are considered more desirable among collectors. Then you have the actual test shots, which are the initial samples of a toy pulled from a new mold- usually in grey, flesh or other odd colors. There's not a lot of different between color tests and test shots, except maybe the purpose for which they are used. There are also the original (clay) sculpt, the wax sculpt and paint samples. All of these fall under the banner of 'prototypes' per general toy lingo usage. Some companies will also refer to the initial release of a toy in unpainted vinyl as the prototype version, although this is sort of a contrived usage of the term.
I believe this is an early test shot of Mutant Chaos, possibly one of the first few pulled from the mold. Significant is the fact that sculpt details are much sharper than later releases (meaning that it was a very early pull from the mold), as is the use of the old style eye (used only on MC-01). The toy is also cast in flesh vinyl, a typical material for initial samples due to its availability, low cost and neutral coloration. Other odd details about this toy include a wobbly head (probably some deformation in production) and numerous scuff marks. Very interesting from a historical standpoint, and I feel fortunate to have something like this in my collection.
If you are new to collecting RxH, the assortment of Chaos characters and paint versions may seem well, chaotic, at first. However, the complexity of the sculpt, the modular concept of the toys and the variety of paint and vinyl combinations make this figure very easy to love. As his shape-shifting power would imply, Mutant Chaos can find a form to please nearly any collector.
-----*Numbering of RxH toys per standards of RealxHead Supplement, Super 7-The Book, vol. 5, issue 1 (2007).
- Credit and thanks to Super 7-The Book, vol. 5, issue 1 (2007) (for providing numbering standards and release information on RxH toys); and to Skullbrain.org board members BEYOND, stealthtank and others for their work in furthering our collective knowledge of these toys.
- See Prototype, TFWiki.net, at http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Prototype (last updated, July 12, 2009) for more information regarding the production process of mainstream toys.
- See also April 9, 2009 entry, Toy Karma blog, at http://toykarma.blogspot.com/2009/04/kaiju-comrades-art-show-tokyo-japan_09.html (last updated April 9, 2009) for information on the production process of Japanese vinyl toys.
Bringing back a tradition begun on my old blog, I'm planning to throw a few drink reviews up on RxM! Mostly because they are easier to write than toy articles.
So here we have the 2008 Jones Soda Halloween offering, Monster Mojito. Yes, you read that correctly, 2008. In a misguided attempt at historical preservation, I saved one of each Halloween soda that I bought last year. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Jones would re-release the same flavors this year (seasonal flavors were usually unique to the year of production) in the exact same packaging. Lazy bums! While this does steal some of the historic thunder of my review, it does increase its relevance to the percentage of the public that does not collect novelty drinks.
I use a categorical evaluation system, which compares beverages based on their performance in 5 areas: (1) packaging, (2) initial smell ("First Whiff"), (3) appearance, (4) initial taste ("First Sip"), and (5) drinkability ("Finishing the Glass"). In other words, if you can't chug down the entire putrid glass, it loses points. Or maybe gains points, depending on my mood.
PACKAGING
Usual Jones schtick. Funny photo in b/w. I guess they use semi-Halloweenish photos.
FIRST WHIFF
Doesn't really have much of a smell.
APPEARANCE
Milky white liquid. It looks kind of tasty.
FIRST SIP
It tastes like a lightly carbonated mojito. So I assume, because I don't actually drink mojitos. If I were to imagine an alcoholic drink with mint leaves crushed in it, this is how it would taste in my imagination. The carbonation seems sort of flat- probably because it is over a year old. I am underwhelmed.
FINISHING THE GLASS
Easily done, as the flavoring is very light. It really tastes like nothing more than Sprite with a hint of mint. I think my tap water is more monstrous than this soda- more minerals at any rate.
OVERALL
The scariest thing about Monster Mojito is the sense that you are sampling the drink of hipsters everywhere. While it is a legitimately limited flavor (only sold in the Halloween assortment), mojito does not have a strong Halloween association for me and the soda flavor itself is pretty weak. I would not buy this one again.
Show me you care, Jones Soda, and appease my lust for revolting drink flavors this holiday season. WIN BACK MY LOVE.
