Thursday, July 29, 2010

Wonder Festival 2010 (Summer): Figures

We at TSB pride ourselves on our consistency. You can set your watches to our event coverage which is guaranteed to be delivered a week after the fact. Trust us, it's worth the wait. Enjoy the goods that went under the radar and directly to the kill zone.

Conflict




Nestled between a booth filled with Hatsune Miku figures and another booth filled with Hatsune Miku was our man Conflict, who traveled all the way from Aichi prefecture to show the world how much he loves Life Force/Salamander with his tenderly crafted kits of the Stage 1 and Stage 2 bosses, Golem and Tetran, respectfully. Guys like Conflict who bust their ass only to barely sell enough kits to cover their train ticket home are the heart and soul of Wonder Fest.

Roswell Japan



Zombies are all about the details. The pox marks. The pus. The impossible angle of the foot. This version of Tar Man is everything you could want from the world's first talking brain eater.



Roswell Japan brought along a couple of friends touting the melty monsters from The Thing. Cooler than owning Charles Bronson from Death Wish? You decide.



Kurohige




Kurohige's ad space proclaims that he "answers the dreams of old men everywhere," and this Devil Man with life-like nipples is a proud testament to that. His imposing four foot Daimajin was also back to turn some heads.

T's Facto



Technically I should take off points for the hyper-modern Final Wars design, but this figure's overpowering swagger is enough to cancel out any and all damage done by Kitamura Ryuhei.

Ginyor
Zoukei Koubou



While everyone else was content to merely hold a booth, these guys were running a show. Entertainment is the name of the game and they had the crowd eating out of their hand with "fire breathing" Godzillas and miniature props galore. To the other exhibitors: Take notes.

Tamanegi Kokoro



There were plenty of Mega Man figures (and Zero also, but he doesn't count), but none captured their whimsical yet impish design so well as this group. That, and you can't beat Air Man.

One-Two JUSTICE




The classic alien boss from R-Type is an iconic throwback to the time where shooters were king and Giger had his clammy mitts on every prog rock album, horror movie, and action game. This model makes me want to hop inside my PC Engine and fly back to the late '80's.

Lovecraft Busts




You can't say no to those pouty cheeks. The tentacle on the base really seals the deal. This guy had busts of all the big names from the annals of Gothic fiction history, as well as movie monsters from the Golden Age of Universal to Hammer Horror.

Kaijin Oukoku




Oh sure, everyone and their mom makes Kamen Rider kits these days, but how about the entire rogue's gallery? Bonus style points for going with the eclectic mix found in Stronger's Delza Army.

Dummy Head




So maybe The Room wasn't so hot, but that doesn't make this guy's dedication to model each Victim any less impressive. Definitely someone to keep an eye on.

Rainbow Zoukei Kikaku



A whole mountain of Kaiju, all nonsensical and looking bootleg as hell. It would take an elite team of collectors to trace each stolen element back to the source material. Truly the essence of soft vinyl.

Ankama



Jumping from the cover of Amazing Stories, these robots are equipped with the latest positronic brain, ready to clean our homes, automate our factories, and squash our soft flabby flesh.

Velocitron




Velocitron continues to out-geek the geeks with his Girls of Macross Frontier colored Ghouls and Pretty Cure inspired Larvagons. This is either his first step into madness or a brilliant marketing ploy.

Nostalgic Sofvi Collection



Ashura Man comes in a number of flavors with variant limb counts and crying/non-crying versions. These combinations allow for limitless reiterations, all of which are guaranteed to sell because 1) they're awesome, and 2) the kids that grew up with the show need an outlet for their disposable income.

BILLIKEN SHOKAI



Poor Mecha Kong never got so much as a sequel while his robot successor, Mecha Godzilla, went to tear ass through the Toei lot for decades. Now the tables have turned and Mecha Kong is the new hotness. For garage kit makers, anyway.

Aruimi Makezu



Akuma-Kun is another one who doesn't get the love he deserves with his big brother Gegege Kitaro hogging the spotlight.

Flying King Ghidorah



I'm not sure who was responsible for these, but they had several available and ready for you to saddle up and fly off towards Armageddon on.

*BONUS* MYSTERY FIGURE!



This mystery monkey professor was in the corner of my eye the entire day, slowing working its way into my unconscious. Amongst the throng I neglected to identify him and now the question of his identity is eating me alive. Who is he? Friend? Foe? I ask that knowledgeable parties come forward!

That's it for this round of photos. Obligatory cosplay post forthcoming! Check out the gallery for more amazing figures:

wonderfest summer 2010

6 comments:

  1. That Bonus Mystery Figure? That's Rodak, the bad guy from SPACE GIANTS!

    http://www.comicspace.com/misterkitty/comics.php?action=read&file_id=177156

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would eat a small child for those Life Force and R-Type models.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tohoscope: Thank you for clearing up the mystery! Now I have a new mission in life. This Rodak guy seems like he knows the score.

    Joseph Luster: If you provide us with photographic evidence of said child, I can make something happen at the next Wonder Fest!

    ReplyDelete
  4. If I remember correctly, those Larvagons were supposed to be Heartcatch Pretty Cure, not Macross. Ricky, can you confirm this?

    http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/10400000/Heartcatch-precure-pretty-cure-10467637-600-445.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  5. Confirmated! Blossom and Marine!

    Also, the Rainbow guys are all Barom-1 villains!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh yeah! The Ghouls were Macross F rip-offs!

    ReplyDelete