We’re stoked about these painted mini-kaijus from Max Toy Co. It’s tough to beat the previous neon pink colorway, but the color choices and paint app on these guys is pretty fantastic. Each figure is hand cast in Japan by Master Shimizu-san and hand painted by Master Goto-san, who have a combined 90+ years in the toy business. You can buy each mini-kaiju individually, but we think they work best as a set. The set includes: Captain Maxx, standing 3.25 inches tall, sculpted by Ichimiya-san of SunGuts; Kaiju Eyezon, standing 4 inches tall, sculpted by Makino-san of TTToy; Kaiju TriPus, standing 3.5 inches tall, sculpted by DxSxHx Toys; Drazoran, standing 4 inches tall, sculpted by Yamashita-san (Nakayoshi) and Alien Xam, standing 3.25 inches tall, sculpted by Doki-san (Yamo-Mark). Get ‘em at a discount when you purchase all 5 HERE or follow the individual links below. Got a moment? Take a look back at Mark Nagata Paints Kaiju.

Max Toy Co Painted Mini Eyezon

Get Mini Eyezon PAINTED here and PINKED here!

Max Toy Co Painted Mini Tripus

Get Mini Tripus PAINTED here and PINKED here!

Max Toy Co Painted Mini Drazoran

Get Mini Drazoran PAINTED here and PINKED here!

Max Toy Co Painted Mini Alien Xam

Get Mini Alien Xam PAINTED here and PINKED here!

Max Toy Co Painted Mini Captain Maxx

Get Mini Captain Maxx PAINTED here and PINKED here!

When it comes to dissected toys, I think of Kaws and Jason Freeny. Now added to that list: L’amour Supreme. I spied the RxH set below (Mutant Evil, Mutant Head and Mutant Bigaro) a while back on Toybot Studios, but my eyes practically popped out of my head when I saw what the New Yorker otherwise known as Joel had done with this Garamon.

Kirkland of Toybot Studios told me that L’amour’s been dissecting toys for years now, and the RxH set was one he commissioned, perhaps after seeing this Be@rbrick. Both customizations are so skillfully executed, I can’t decide if it works better on the solid or transparent vinyl. It just WORKS. I’m amazed. And jealous. Here’s L’amour mugging for me at SDCC. And here’s Kirkland’s Flickr set of the RxH customs. Awesomesauce.

Remember when we wrote about the exclusive Super7 SDCC toys you had to be in San Diego to get? There’s been a new development. We’re happy to announce we’ve got some of those  exclusive Super7 vinyls in stock for our customers all around the world. We now have limited quantities of:

• MUMMY BOY 8-inch in yellow vinyl with Bullmark Hedorah colorway
• L’amour Supreme’s MONGOLION in clear light blue vinyl with dark blue spray
• Brian Flynn’s STOMP in clear vinyl with gold glitter and faded red spray
• David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim’s POWER MISTER in fluorescent green vinyl with yellow spray
• Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas’ BIG SAL in clear purple vinyl with purple glitter and black spray
• Paul Kaiju’s PARTYBALL in green vinyl with gold spray
• Kiyoka Ikeda and Le Merde’s ZAGARAD in clear orange vinyl with gold, green and red spray

AND we’ve also got a few 3-packs of unpainted SDCC exclusive Monster Family figures:

• Monster Family Signing Pack 1 featuring Le Turd, Power Mister and Partyball
• Monster Family Signing Pack 3 featuring Steven the Bat, Garuru and Big Sal

Click on the bullets to check availability of the individual items or click here to view our entire Super7 inventory.

Something you don’t see every day on the header card of a kaiju toy is the phrase “Hecho en Mexico”. But then again, Mexico City’s ALIMAÑA aren’t your average toy company. Beto Matalí, Bela Álvarez, Emmy Hernández, Victor Hernández and Cieromuco have been making toys as ALIMAÑA for about 3 years, and it’s time you got to know them. As luck would have it, Bela has family in the Bay Area. After their first face-to-face meeting with ALIMAÑA-collaborator Mark Nagata, Mark, Bela, Oscar (a 3D animator currently working in Mexico City) and I chatted over sushi.

JB: How did ALIMAÑA get started?

Bela: In the beginning, it was Beto and I working together on different projects. Then we began working with Emmy and Victor. Beto and I did the toys, and they did the illustrations. With the addition of Carlos, who designed the character for Bacteria, we are now 5 guys working together. Well, 3 guys and 2 girls.

What does ALIMAÑA mean?

Bela: ALIMAÑA means vermin. It’s like a little bug. Beto and I didn’t have jobs, and we thought about doing something to get money. So we said “What can we do? Lets do T-shirts.” That was like 5 years ago. We designed special shirts for a Lord of the Rings convention because we love it. But we needed a name and a brand, so we came up with ALIMAÑA and we designed the logo. That was the beginning. Then we did different things, so when we started with the toys and we needed a brand, we said, we have one.

How did you get set up with production and a factory?

Bela: We started with the idea and the sculpture. We used 3D modeling software and made all the changes and chose the colors and and finally we went into production. The factory is in Mexico City.

Oscar: Mexico still has a lot of manufacturing. Before China came into the scene, Mexico was the place where you did dolls. There were a lot of factories. We had 2-3 very important toy companies, but China came with lower prices, and all the factories in Mexico started to close. The factories still there are small and not for big brands and the mainstream markets. So ALIMAÑA went to those guys to see if they could make these special things.

Why toys?

Bela: Beto and I are collectors, and we love science fiction. Beto is a sculptor, so we started doing this like a hobby. When we were in University, we always wanted to design a toy, but the professors said no, no! We always thought about it and said, well now we have the money, and we know the process, and we want to do art toys. Now is our moment.

What toys do you collect?

Bela: Beto loves all the Godzilla and Frankenstein toys. I collect the same, but in lower levels.

What is the toy scene like in Mexico City?

Bela: There are not a lot of people yet, but they are starting.

Tell me about Xagu.

Oscar: ALIMAÑA made this for a special company called Tixinda. They create ethnic designs as illustrations and T-shirts. They wanted to do mini toys with their character, so we worked together to produce this toy. The box tells the story of the character: He is naughty and carries on his devilish tasks to change the boring heartbeats of people and keep them warm with fire. He plays instruments and loves to dance around the fire; he loves to eat chipotle chili; he comes to your life to fill it with new impulses and give you good energy.

What about Groucho?

Oscar: Groucho is a zombie penguin, but we packaged it as a gift inside a cereal box. It has a lot of information on the package. If you know Spanish, it’s very funny. But in English, it doesn’ really translate. It’s very localized for Mexico. For us, the box is more funny than the toy. There’s a recipe for rat chili, which is zombie food. There’s the nutritional requirement for Zombies.

Where can people buy ALIMAÑA toys?

Bela: Tixinda has its own store and sells Xagu. Zombie Penguin is sold at several designer stores and museums in Mexico City. There’s one called Mexican Design Museum in downtown and they sell everything design-related. They also sell Spore Trooper and Bacteria. There’s also a very contemporary art museum in the biggest college in Mexico City, and they have a store and they sell them. More stores are opening. It’s getting bigger.

So you feel that designer toys are still gaining in popularity?

Bela: In Mexico, it’s new. Toys have only been introduced in the last two years or so, so right now there are a lot of new stores in the cities.

Mark: We’re gonna be asking them for jobs soon.

Bela: Maybe it’s a good idea to have a store in Mexico now.

How did you meet Mark?

Bela: Destiny. One of us tried to order something on the Max Toy Co website and told me, “I wrote to Max Toy Co, and the person who wrote me back was the owner!” So I said, give me the email, I want to write him! That was last year. So then I wrote Mark, and he invited us to participate in the Toy Karma show in Chicago. That was our first exhibition. We were so excited. Then when Bacteria came out, we sent it to Mark to paint it and he said yes of course.

Mark: It doesn’t hurt to just contact people. The worst that could happen is they won’t answer, or they say no. But most times, people are willing to help or do projects with you. In this case, when they contacted me, I was like oh ok.

Are their cultural challenges that ALIMAÑA faces?

Oscar: We have a cultural issue where we admire a lot of outside stuff and not domestic stuff, so that’s a problem where people tend to like the American and European stuff and not the Mexican stuff. People make things—a movie or something—and they say that it’s an American company doing it because they feel like nobody will see it if they say made in Mexico, which is very bad for the rest of us.

Bela: Sometimes people think that we [as Mexicans] are less than others. But we have our own achievements so we can ask people, why not? A lot of people say not to ask.

Oscar: Most of the time we underestimate ourselves, it’s a Mexican thing. So when someone from the outside tells you what you’re doing is very good, you say oh no no no. But it is encouraging. There are a lot of good things going on in Mexico, but we don’t see it because we underestimate ourselves and we don’t want people to know about it. We feel that we’re not up to the task and we keep it to ourselves. It’s a very cultural thing that’s not easy to change.

Are there other challenges?

Bela: I’m a little bit shy, but the others are much worse, so [when it comes to talking to people] I say I can do it! We work in our houses. We have a little studio, but it’s near to my house and upstairs to Beto’s house so we’re always very close.

Close can be good and bad. What’s the next project?

Bela: We have a lot of ideas, but we need to get the money.

Besides making toys, what else do you like to do?

Bela and Oscar: Travel, of course. Travel is very important.

Until you can go visit ALIMAÑA in Mexico City, follow them virtually on Twitter here!

A trio of new vinyls from Super7 has just arrived in the Neon Monster shop in San Francisco and in cyberspace. First up, Brian Flynn’s candy cutie, Fenton, in a 3-inch gotta-have-it glow-in-the-dark with pink colorway. At just $15, the little snack is already sold out at Super7, but we’ve got a few left. Next up, L’amour Supreme’s 5-inch incredibly detailed Mongolion figure gets busy in clear red with some teal and yellow sprays. Finally, local guy Jeremy Whiteaker joins the 4-inch Super7 Monster Family with his Fire Robo character. This is the premier colorway in glossy black and red, meaning as with most first iterations of toys and many black and red colorways, it’s the one you will probably kick yourself for missing. You should also check out Jeremy’s blog, Mutant Massacre, for full details on test shots and the whole making of the Fire Robo figure.

Like Madonna in her 1992 baseball flick, Carlos Enriquez-Gonzalez is in A League of Their Own. The pop star similarities end there, although you could make a case for an ally in fellow triple-named vajazzler Jennifer Love Hewitt. I’ve been following Carlos’ work for a couple years now, and where many artists ebb and burn out, Carlos keeps bringing it. And in case you don’t have eyeballs, he’s bringing a lot of vaginas.

Of his 2007, 13-inch fiberglass Vagina Brain Monster which was part of a 2008  Contemporary Art Phillips de Pury auction, Steve Agin wrote:

“For Mr. Gonzalez, a vagina represents passage in time and space and, the journey from one reality to another, possibly a more enlightened one.”

Color me enlightened. Of his 2009, 9-foot hand-painted fiberglass Magical Vagina, which sold at auction for $15,000, Carlos himself said:

“I intend the confrontation with the free spectator, give him something that invites him to reflect about the theme on how this feminine organ has been mistreated and denigrated, because the vagina can connect us with the most pure, powerful and mysterious forces of the universe, God present? The vagina has been wounded for a long time, ’skimmed blood’.”

Um, yes, exactly. Carlos’ latest 9-Foot Mother Lips Vagina Monster (shown at the top of this post) is also for the Phillips de Pury auction. I’d like to chat up the person who has the balls (or ovaries) and taste to buy this walking orifice that dwarfs them. Such an art collector is likely to be as interesting as the piece itself. Keep it coming, Carlos! Photos courtesy of the Mishka Bloglin and Carlos’ Flickr.

Right off the bat, there are a few things you should know about Mark Nagata.

1. He may or may not have THE largest Ultraman collection in the world, but take my word (or look at the pictures): it’s massive.
2. He believes (kind of) that kaiju (Japanese monsters) really do exist.
3. Mark looks a good decade younger than his birth certificate would tell you: “All the vinyl fumes are preserving me. They’re either killing me or preserving me.”

In addition to possessing that secret to youthful longevity, Mark is one of the nicest guys working in the toy scene today. Beyond being the proprietor of Max Toy Co, he’s an incredibly talented artist and illustrator. The header cards on his toys merely hint at his artistic skills. This combination of art, toys and long-term San Francisco residency intrigued me, so naturally I invited myself over to see Ultraman Mecca and ask Mark a ton of questions. Even after lobbing hard balls at him, he invited me back for a second round. Thanks to Mark-san for being such a great host, and now, let’s get started.

JB: How did you begin collecting Japanese toys?

MN: Growing up in southern California, I liked to draw and watch Saturday sci-fi and horror movies. When I was 10, I had an aunt living in Japan, who for one Christmas,  sent me this massive box  of toys. Up until then,  I had played with 12-inch GI Joes and Hot Wheels like every kid, and then I get this crapload of Japanese toys. I opened the box, and I was like what the heck are these things? Who’s this space dude with a gold star on his forehead  kicking this other creature who looks like he’s made out of fire? It just totally blew me away.

After recovering from that awakening, what did you do next?

By 1974, I was living in  San Francisco, and I’d go to Japantown with my father and grandfather. This was in the midst of when Bullmark Japan was at its height. I would slowly add to my little Japanese toy collection over the next 2-3 years. The toy thing started waning as I got to be pre-teen because Bullmark went out of business (around 1976-77), and I was getting more into drawing and comic books. Junior high through high school, I didn’t follow or collect toys. It wasn’t even on my mind.

Going through high school in San Francisco, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. I went to City College and met this art teacher and he said: “You should probably go to art school. I see some potential.”  So I left City College and went to the Academy of Art for about 2 years. I didn’t complete my courses there because I definitely knew I wanted to do commercial work. The Academy, at that time, was more fine art-oriented, and they looked down on what I wanted to do, which was super realistic airbrushing and stuff.

I know you did original paintings for the covers of RL Stine’s Goosebumps! You were working very successfully as a commercial illustrator. What happened?

After illustrating for 13 years, I got burnt out, and on top of that, everybody wanted computer stuff. A few years prior, in the late 80s and early 90s, I had picked back up collecting Ultraman stuff. This was obviously before The Internet, so I got some reference books all in Japanese and would start marking them off.  I was reading this tabloid-sized magazine called Toy Shop, which would come out every two weeks, and it was just toy ads of all different types. I found a couple contacts in Japan through that; I would Xerox my want list,  fold it up and mail it off and wait.  I’d have this big list going, and then about the later half of the 90s, that’s when eBay and email started coming in. I just went bonkers, searching Bullmark, Ultraman and going to toy shows.

How did you get involved with Super7?

Around the time that I was getting out of illustration, I got a call from Jimbo Madison, a real Renaissance guy. He came up with an idea with Chronicle Books to do a nice glossy coffee table book about Japanese toys and how cool and funky they are. Somehow he got my name and Brian Flynn’s name and says, “I know you don’t know me, but I’d like to take pictures of hundreds of your toys.” Both Brian and I showed up with our toys at the photo shoot. We’re just sitting there while they’re taking the pictures, and Jimbo shows me this zine he’s been doing with Bwana Spoons. I thought: this is really cool, and I said we should do a zine all about Japanese toys. Jimbo hears all this and says: “You should think bigger. Why don’t you guys do a full color, glossy national magazine, sell ads, go all out?”

That really changed my life. What he said made me realize a lot of humans have limitations. You grow up with your parents saying: “Do something safe.” I thought, yeah you’re right, if we’re gonna do this, why not do it up? If it doesn’t work , it doesn’t work, but nobody’s ever done it before. At that point, it’s me, Brian and Jimbo. I’ve got Ultraman covered, Brian has Godzilla, Jimbo has Micronauts. And the other thing we had in common was that we all liked art. So we thought: lets combine art with the toys, all in English. That’s how the Super7 magazine started. From there, it was 6 years of the magazine and opening the store.

And how did you get un-involved with Super7?

The San Francisco store started with me, Brian and Mark Miyake. I’ve been gone from Super7 for about five years. I would just say we had different ideas about where it was going, and it’s very hard to make partnerships work. It was for the best for both of us. With my own toy company, I had a very clear vision about what types of characters I wanted to do.

Let’s talk about the word kaiju and your aesthetic. People get very ornery around this subject. [Just yesterday, there was a heated debate here.]

The word kaiju has been bastardized. It’s like otaku. Here, otaku is like a hip geek thing. In Japan, it’s not cool; it’s even lower than major nerd: it’s a pathological psychological problem there. With the toys, for lack of terminology early on, we would say “everything’s like Godzilla,” because people didn’t understand what Bullmark was. After a while, “Godzilla” didn’t fit every situation, so kaiju sort of started coming up.

I definitely think my stuff is more the traditional “man in the rubber suit” kaiju type of toy. When you think of the Bullmark figures and the classic Japanese toys of the 60s and 70s, the majority of them were all based on live action shows. It wasn’t CGI; it was a man in an actual suit. My thinking is: if you’re going to create a monster, there’s gonna have to be a monster suit. When I design a kaiju figure, I always think about whether this could scale up to an actual suit and fit an actual guy in there. The TV shows are a heavy influence on kaiju toys, but not a requirement. Obviously I don’t have a TV show, though in my mind I do…

My aesthetic is asymmetry. I don’t really care for things that are symmetrical, which describes a lot of art toys. My toys are more organic and hand-sculpted, so the eyes aren’t going to be perfectly lined up, etc. But that’s okay because the original Ultramans were all obviously hand made. That, to me, is believability. Nobody is symmetrical.

This is a debate that I try to get into with everyone I interview. Toys or art?

For me, they are both…the vintage figures and newly mass-produced figures found at big retailers are, to me, toys. What I make are homages to those (Japanese) toys, so at their core, they are toys. But, when I do a one off custom or an art show, in my mind it crosses over to being a piece of art. The new owner is more than welcome to play with his or her new piece as a toy, that’s fine. But really I’m putting much more care and craft into this art piece than a normal production piece. I use both terms and feel they are both valid to me. In the end, only history will decide if they are toys or art toys or art, that’s really not up to me to decide. I’m sure there are folks on both sides of the fence, and that’s fine. In the end, I just hope they are enjoying the hobby and having fun.

I’ve heard that Japanese toy makers are very confused by how much Americans like to collect kaiju. What do you think of the American passion for Japanese monsters?

Oh, I think it’s great. I mean, I’m a part of it. I collect. I know to the guys in Japan, western collectors are a bit kooky, but we think the same of them. It’s a clash of cultures, but one thing is universal, and that’s we all love toys. Fun is what it should be about….sadly this is not always the case where collecting is concerned. But I try to stay positive and do the right thing…Toy Karma and all.

Besides your blog, what is Toy Karma?

As you collect more, you start realizing you should try to pay it forward. This is my toy karma theory.  If some guy is really really hot for a piece, even if you scored it, I still feel like it’s sort of your obligation to at least offer it to the guy.

If there was space for an elephant in the room, it would be: WHY ULTRAMAN?

I love super heroes…more than villains. I guess it suits my personality. I’m not a dark guy. I never was into dark stuff. By nature, I’m a happy-go-lucky guy. Ultraman is Japan and Asia’s version of Superman, and as a child the design of Ultraman really appealed to me. So even though I didn’t see the actual show until the late 70s (It started in japan in the 60s), I had the toys first, saw the show on US TV…and I was hooked!

Tell us a bit about Captain Maxx’s universe and how you came up with his story and the characters?

See the previous question! I love heroes, and I collect Ultraman figures, so  I instantly knew I wanted to create my own universe of Japanese inspired heroes and kaiju (monsters) and seijin (aliens). My son is named Max, so I asked him to help me name a hero. He knows I also like Captain America, so he said how about Captain Max?  I said let’s add one more X and make it Captain Maxx! With that, I came up with a fake story about Max finding a vintage Captain Maxx figure in my collection…as he takes the head off it, Max is transported to the Captain Maxx world where he fights various kaiju and saves the world. That’s the start of it all.

What are the most essential tools of your trade?

Well, my imagination would be the most important tool. After that, a pencil and paper. Further down the list, an airbrush and paints…

How important is the type of paint you use? [Watch Mark airbrush toys here.]

Well, I can use V color, FOK (Japanese paint), Monster Kolor… it doesn’t matter to me. What matters is how I like the final results, and in turn how fans like it. As for Monster Kolor, Matt has hit a homerun with his paints. He’s brought to the masses the ability to use hot rod paint on toys.

How did Kaiju Attack! come about?

A little over a year ago, Emilio Garcia emailed me to show me his Jumping Brain prototypes, and I was like, wow, he has a whole elaborate process! I thought: I gotta get one of those! He wanted to trade for an Eyezon, so we traded. I was kind of thinking, has there ever been a kaiju type of show in Europe? He responded: “Let’s do it, we’ve got nothing to lose.” I thought was interesting that Emilio’s able to bring in a lot of European artists. To me, it just blows my mind when I hear about Russian or German kaiju artists. That was the genesis of it. He did the website and, we were co-curators. This is the first one. [Editor's note: This just in! Photos of the show from Daniel Goffin are here.]

You have produced figures in both China and Japan. Care to weigh in on the debate over Chinese vs. Japanese vinyl?

Japanese vinyl, for those who need to rank it, is number one, period. The clear vinyl that be obtained there is the best, bar none. The industry of soft vinyl as it relates to classic Japanese toys is of course still being practiced to this day in modern day Japan. But I don’t have a problem with Chinese vinyl or toys made in China. True it’s not as good, but for the most part, it’s acceptable to me and several of my early figures were made there.

One thing I let folks know is toys, in China or Japan, are all hand made. In the case of China, since they are produced in the thousands, many young men and women are doing very tedious work on these toys. I’ve visited them, and I know it’s not an easy life. I appreciate the workmanship that goes into my toys produced in China, and I realize there are humans behind them, people who have dreams and personalities, wanting a better life and trying to do their best. I wouldn’t have any problem doing another figure in China.

You are currently producing your figures in Japan, though, right?

For me, the market has changed, and the minimum quantities needed for China are more than I want to produce. I’ve also made a great series of contacts in Japan who allow me not only to produce toys there, but also to gain insight into what they do and how they do it. To meet and film Shimizu-san was something I will never forget. Never mind that he was producing my toys, just the fact that I was standing there, smelling hot vinyl, hearing the clanking of metal, and seeing a craftsman who has been doing this for over 40 years…amazing stuff..and quite an honor for me! The same is true with master kaiju painter Goto-san. Both of them showed a respect for their craft but also for me. Can you believe they called me president, even though I told my friend to tell them to just call me “Mark-san ” or “Nagata-san”?  They are old school, and they treat all their business and dealings with honor and respect: something I think we young guns need to practice and take heed of. I also feel an unspoken kinship to them since I am Japanese-American. Even though I can not talk to them directly, they do recognize I am trying to showcase what they do in a positive manner. For that, I’m most grateful to them every time I visit them.

What would you say to people who maybe make customs or resins, but don’t think they can get into making vinyl toys?

The way I got started was through China. If you want to make a soft vinyl production toy, the issue is the initial investment. You’re looking at $10-12K in China for like 3,000 pieces, which isn’t bad, but you gotta have a place to put them and an ability to move them. In Japan, the minimums are lower. Their upfront production costs are higher, but the minimum piece orders are lower. That’s one of many reasons I switched to Japan. My sculpting and molding and pouring costs are much higher in Japan, but I can do 50 or less pieces at a time. I can have a whole run sold out before it even lands.

Walk us briefly through what goes into making one of your toys in Japan. [Or conveniently watch Mark's video above!]

Simply put: once your toy is sculpted, a wax version is made. From that wax version, iron molds are made. Once the iron molds are made, these are brought over to the vinyl factory. There, a person like Shimizu-san pulls out your mold and heats up whatever color you ordered to start the process. To get the mold heated up properly, he makes an initial quick “slush” casting…so he simply pours the vinyl and heats it up in an oil bath and pulls the pieces out fairly quickly. I call this the first pancake effect…you know to get the pan ready?

After that, the mold is filled again and placed in a case into a vacuum chamber to remove any air bubbles. As it sits in there a few minutes, the air bubbles come up to the top of the mold. (They also use a spinning rotational machine to get the air bubbles to the surface.) The mold is then placed in a hot oil bath. Shimizu-san then flips the mold and pours out any excess vinyl back into its melting pot. Then, he brings the mold over to a cool water bath and lets it sit for a few seconds before placing it on the table to cool. But only for a minute! The mold is then placed into a bracket. Using long and short needle nose pliers, he quickly grabs each piece, and with a slight twisting motion, pulls the individual pieces out and onto his work table. I touched one and it can burn you if you try to hold it! But within a few minutes, the piece cools and hardens. These pieces are thrown into boxes while other molds and pieces are being poured in the back ground.

Later, he takes each piece, and with either a scissors or Xacto knife trims it. Finally, parts are bagged in the quantity ordered, and that’s it for his part of the process. Shimizu-san’s dance is well-practiced nothing gets ruined. I asked if there was a son or apprentice to take over. He quickly answered: “No”. No one is interested in such a manual labor job. He undertands each new generation wants to do less work and make more money. One day, he will simply close his doors, and that will be it.

That strikes me as really sad. To perk things up a bit: what were the last couple toys you bought?

Any new toys I buy now are mostly for my son, Max. The last new American toy I bought for myself was a DC comics Ame-Comi Wonder Women PVC statue. Vintage-wise an American, Mr. Atom robot from the 50s. Japanese toy-wise, a Bullmark Shuguron kaiju with tin car. Very rare

Finally, what music are you currently listening to?

Oh, I’m sooo not hip! I’m listening to some Donald Fagen, Beck, U2, Owl City, Wes Montgomery and believe it or not, Michelle Branch!

Tomorrow, Saturday, around 1PM, we’ll have a quartet of new goodies from Super7 in the online shop. Sure to sell out quick is the new Monster Family Smoke Glitter Big Sal by Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters. The new colorway of Big Sal is 4 inches of dark grey glitter with black and grey stripes. Tokoichi Seiyu is the latest collaboration between Gargamel and Cometdebris with six colors on light blue vinyl. Mini Deathra, the winged cyclops, is back in red vinyl with blue sprays. Finally, good things come in small packages, like this Pocket Zagaron in clear red vinyl with green sprays. Check the shop tomorrow afternoon for the new releases!

This is Part 2 of a Mark Nagata extravaganza! If you’re looking for Part 1, hang tight, and you’ll Meet Your Maker on Monday. Mark was a great host. We talked a lot, and I took a billion pictures. Part 1 focuses on Mark’s toy collection and his ideas about art, toys and Max Toy Co. Part 2 (what you’re looking at here) brings you a behind-the-scenes glimpse of painting in progress. So without further ado, let’s grab the Monster Kolor and spray up a Mini Kaiju TriPus.

For all you types who skip to the end of a book  first, here’s a magic time lapse you can click, and depending on the swiftness of your Internet connection, watch the toy take shape. (Did you think the era of the animated .gif was over?) If you like surprises, continue reading. Let’s take it step by step.

After carefully severing the TriPus head, Mark hits the clear vinyl with some yellow.

A quick video interlude: So, Mark, what’s going through your head as you do this?

Three legs, three colors.

Like the Beastie Boys would say: Check your head! This one just got hit with some red.

And now a brief message on how to get into making toys from the Great Nagata-san.

Here, Mark puts the finishing touches on the TriPus body. Looking at these pictures, I’m finding it remarkable how little paint he has on his gloves. If this were me, not only would my gloves be covered in paint, but we’re talking forearms, T-shirt, etc. That’s why I write and Mark paints.

And now, the result! On the right, you see an airbrushed TriPus awaiting clear-coat. On the left, a finished glossy TriPus. There’s also a nice, subtle glitter effect that you might not be able to make out. The entire series of mini kaiju figures is available in solid neon pink right now, if you want to try your hand at this. This mini TriPus was sculpted by DxSxHx Toys. Mini Maxx was sculpted by Tadayoshi Ichimiya of Sunguts. Mini Alien Xam was sculpted by Satoru Doki of Yamo-Mark. Mini Drazoran was sculpted by Yuichi Yamashita of Nakayoshi. Mini Eyezon was by sculpted by Yoshihiko Makino of TTToys. All were produced and made in Japan. A painted production edition and more one-off customs are on the way. It’s not yet clear if there will be a transparent release of these figures. Get it? I said “It’s not clear”. Oh, I kill me. Have a great weekend, guys.

Super7 Lucky Bags, photo by Kaiju Chronicle

Super7 celebrated its 9th anniversary this weekend, and Neon Monster has a small allotment of Lucky Bags in the store now. Per Toybot Studios, each bag contains:

• 1 Mascot
• 1 Collab (S7 vs ??)
• 1 Snakes of Infinity
• 2 Monster Family
• 1 Pocket
• 1 Candy figure

Super7 Lucky Bag, photo by Toybot Studios

One of the most exciting figures discovered in the bags has been a pink GID Monster Family figure by David Horvath and Sun-Min named Power Mister. Other cool surprises include: unpainted figures, signed figures, never-before-seen colorways, mash-ups, hybrids and customs by Leecifer, Paul Kaiju and Brian Flynn. What will your bag contain? Each bag is sealed, so only you will know. Judging from the twitpics posted over the weekend, people seem pretty happy with the contents of the bags they got. Of course, there’s now new fodder for trading. Check out a few photos of the bags’ interiors below. Note that these are examples only. Every bag is a surprise. If you want to see some potential contents, check out these Flickr sets by Fiends Ain’t Family, Toybot Studios and Dril One.

Get your Lucky Bag here. Limit one per household.

Super7 Lucky Bag, photo by Dril One

Lucky Bag Power Mister by David Horvath/Sun-Min, photo by Dril One

Lucky Bag Customs by Brian Flynn, Leecifer and Paul Kaiju, photos by Kaiju Chronicle