Dream Rocket Gumoz!

Finished up the Gumoz database tonight... whew! This is one of the oldest Dream Rocket designs, so it was pretty difficult tracking down information on the original releases.



Click on the link above to check it out. Hope you find it interesting!

These databases will always be linked on the bottom right menu for easy reference.

Robot love... robots?

The rain is gone

EDIT 3/22/09: The title of this post is now ironic, because it rained really hard last night.

I was recently hooked up with some very cool CLEAR vinyls by a couple of great people...



Balbagon [バルバゴン] by Dream Rocket [ドリームロケット]! Yajima-san must like green, because there has been an abundance of clear neon green releases as of late. And that's ok with me, because I love green!





This Balbagon was released at Hobby Complex 06 in December 2008. An awesome painted version (also in clear green) was also sold at that show, and featured a new paint wash technique that really brings out the texture on this sculpt. These two toys, plus a new GID base yellow Balbagon, were sold (and sold out) on Dream Rocket's website tonight. I missed the yellow one!



And in the other corner, there is Bengal [ベンガル] by Nakayoshi [なかよし]! It seems as though Nakayoshi has been experimenting with clear vinyl because this the first clear piece that I have seen from them.



Bengal is Nakayoshi's latest original kaiju, and has been sold in elusively small quantities at various Japan toy shows. This clear version was given away as a lottery prize at a Patchi-Summit in November 2008. How did I get it? Hmmmm.. ;)



This guy is a lot smaller than I thought he would be (some of the Ultra kaiju previously sold by Nakayoshi are enormous). But that is not necessarily a bad thing.



Nakayoshi's clear vinyl is very thick and pliable- about the closest to Gargamel vinyl that I have seen yet. It also brings out some of the more interesting textures in the sculpt... check it out- just like the Hexalite inserts in Reeboks!

Keep your eyes on the bottom right menu. I am working on the next installment of the Dream Rocket database, featuring Gumoz. This is my favorite Dream Rocket kaiju, so I'll be sure to do my best.

Super Sized Hits Japan.

As Japan has always been a culture of moderate consumption in my mind, I was sort of appalled to find this behemoth on the refrigerated shelves of a Family Mart on a recent visit. The item on the right is not a drink, but a 480g cup of egg pudding. That is over 1 pound of pudding.

And I ate it all. By myself. In my defense, they only gave me one spoon. Obviously not meant to be shared.

The apple water on the left is quite good- sort of tart, but refreshing.

Nezrange

Nezrange is a Japan toymaker who, in mid-2008, began producing soft vinyl toys of an unusual original kaiju, Borugogon. The oddness of the character is not its name (which may be onomatopoetic) but the concept and design of the toy.



Borugogon [花岩獣ボルゴゴン], whose full name translates out to something like "flower-rock-beast Borugogon," is built in two parts: an outer shell, and an inner rock monster. According to Nezrange's blog posts, the rock monster is the true form of Borugogon; the outer shell is supposed to represent the grass and other small vegetation used by Borugogon to disguise itself. The inner toy also has a gem in the center of its chest, which appears to be a removable piece. According to the blog, chipping pieces off the gem can allow Borugogon to multiply. I guess it is an asexual kaiju.

Nezrange's blog states that the monster can be found in sizes ranging from, well, toy-sized (10 cm / 500 g) to mountain-sized, although the latter are a rarity. Pretty creative way to explain the existence of a mini-sized toy. The ones pictured are all minis. Maybe if I whack them against the table enough, I'll get a big one someday.



Borugogon is currently only sold through Monstock, which means that, yep, they're pretty darn hard to find. The Borugogons pictured did not come from Monstock, but the shop staff seemed surprised that I was buying them. They also had a ton of Destdons sitting on the shelf, so who knows how popular any of these things are in Japan. Regardless, I think they are a pretty creative concept with a distinctly Japanese aesthetic.

And in conclusion, it is possible to talk at length about these toys without using the words "Fry Guys."