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!

Frank Kozik and Eddie in San Francisco

If you’re reading this story, you’re probably not at Comic-Con in San Diego. Since you’re missing out on toy overload, the least I could offer in my absence is a big batch of cute overload. I’ve been saving up this “fluff piece” for just the right occasion. Ever notice how a lot of artists have cats? I did. “You can use Stripes even though he doesn’t like you,” said Eric of 64Colors. “He doesn’t like anyone because… he’s a cat!” All cats are different though. Adds Stephen Donaldson of Tomopop, “Samkin loves figures of all types and sits and looks at them all day long.” Just like toys, cats come in all shapes and sizes. (Don’t tell Dodgrr’s Sam he weighs 30 pounds or Ernesto’s female cat Prince she’s named after the singer!) There are Persians, Bengals, tabbies and tuxedos among us, but Sergey Safonov gets the prize for his most unique Peterbald feline companion: “He’s the son of world and Europe breed champions, but he has a slight ‘defect’ so we bought him cheap.” Awesome!

Tofu lives with artist Sergey Safonov in Moscow.

Bailey and Mitch live with blogger/collector Jeremy in the Bay Area.

Artist Lunabee and Gwen in the UK

Mao lives with artist/blogger Andy Heng in Singapore.

Stripes lives with artists 64Colors.

Artist Jay222 and Ella in the Bay Area.

It keeps getting cuter.

Onitsuka is the My Plastic Heart housecat.

Sam lives with artist Dodgrr.

Samkin lives with blogger Stephen Donaldson.

Daisy lives with artist Mark Nagata in San Francisco.

Bell lives with blogger/artist John "Spanky" Stokes in San Diego.

General Guster McWheezypants and Specimen live with artist Shingyin

Jon Burgerman is a cat magnet while traveling.

Prince lives with artist Ernesto East in Miami.

This cat and custom Cranston live with blogger Leah Bayer of Tomopop.

Le Tigre Gato lives with artist Spencer Hibert in Phoenix

Jim lives with collector Deb (and Gary Baseman by proxy).

Pepper lives with collector Rob in New Jersey.

Nigel lives with blogger/collector Jeremy in the Bay Area.

Artist Daniel Goffin of Kassel fondly remembers his cats by drawing them.

And a couple movies to lead you into your weekend…

Cris Rose’s “Jet”

Jon Burgerman and a cat

Fire and Ice Eyezon by Mark Nagata & Custom Edward the Gator by Bwana Spoons

I love a toy show with a theme. I’m especially excited about Melt Down, the first group show at SOYAL, the Scottsdale gallery co-owned by Artizona artists Emmett Potter and Spencer Hibert. The show came about as a way to create a cool art space for desert-dwellers. “It’s hard to get people out to shows, because they just don’t want to leave the nice AC of their houses,” said Emmett. “We wanted to create an environment that would be comfortable and fun to be at for people that made the effort to come out.”

Bomb Pop Parade by Emmett Potter

The show’s title, Melt Down, is a double entendre: “We wanted the feel of a winter storm meets the brutal AZ heat,” Emmet said. “Plus we all kind of have a meltdown in the summer out here.” Here in the Bay Area, it’s not even that hot, but just looking at these images makes me feel cooler. (Time to take off my nerd glasses…)

Fire and Ice by The Sucklord

SOYAL is certain to be a new force in the Scottsdale art scene, and Emmett hopes Melt Down will provide a “broad range of what to expect from SOYAL in the future”.

Yeti Jr. by Andrew Hadle

As for the fantastic artist roster, Emmett puts it: “Spencer and I are really lucky to have so many super rad friends and artists that are in the show. It’s going to be a blast!” A blast of cold air?

Mini Wolves by Cupco

Ready for the lineup? Bwana Spoons, Le Merde, David Horvath, Sucklord, Martin Ontiveros, Koji Harmon, Andrew Hadle, Grease Bat, Brian Flynn, Josh Herbolsheimer, Oliver Hibert, Spencer Hibert, Jeremyville, COPE 2, Mark Nagata, Bigfoot, CUPCO, John Black, Naoshi, Kristin Bauer, Emmett Potter, Piper Ferguson, Tara Logson, MonstreHero, Miss Lotion, KILL, Grant Wiggins, Tripper Dungan, Steve Agin, Mykil Zep and Beak.

Snowbird Return Ceremony by Bigfoot

There are a lot of snowy treasures in this show for sure. The guys are all really stoked about this original handmade Cousin Flatwoodsey by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim. It looks like Cousin’s riding Reverse Ugly on a Killer! (And that’s a sentence you need to really know your toys to understand…)

Cousin Flatwoodsey original handmade UGLYDOLL

I seriously wish I could teleport to this show, which kicks off at 7PM tonight as part of Scottsdale’s Art Walk.  There are over 30 artists working in multiple mediums all united under the Melt Down concept. Besides being among cool artwork, SOYAL is keeping it chilly with snowcones, ice sculptures, drinks and food. And oh yeah, the work will be available online here after 10PM tonight. Big ups to SOYAL and all of the artists involved in the show!

EKL Bear by Tara Logsdon & Matter Cruncher by Le Merde

If you’re reading this and you have a blog or a Facebook page or you Tweet or whatever, please spread the word about this show!

What is this, the Mark Nagata blog??? The dude is unstoppable right now. We first got a preview of these fiberglass Eyezons at Kaiju Invades San Francisco. Another great collaboration between Mark Nagata and Matt Walker has resulted in ten 28″  hand-painted fiberglass Eyezons. This limited edition was created to coincide with the publication of the new book KILLER KAIJU MONSTERS by Ivan Vartanian. I saw the book briefly with my own eye(zon)s, and it looked interesting, though the initial reviews on Amazon are unfortunately lukewarm

Anyway, I’ve got nothing but love for the fiberglass Eyezons. If you’ve got love + $1,400 + shipping, you are encouraged to send your inquiry to monster [at] killerkaiju [dot] com and indicate  your first, second, and third choices of color schemes. P.S. I lazily ganked the picture above from SpankyStokes here! Thanx Spanx!

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!

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.

This is the first release of the Mini Kaiju Series from Max Toy Co. These are unpainted neon pink vinyl sculpted by Satoru Doki of Yamo-Mark of Japan, produced and Made In Japan. Each figure is 3 inches tall and comes bagged with a header card. This new series of mini kaiju toys feature five characters from Mark Nagata’s original line-up (Eyezon, Alien Xam, TriPus, Drazoran and Captain Maxx) shrunk down into a super-deformed style.

Hard to go wrong with tiny neon pink monsters. Get ‘em individually or as a full set of 5 figures at a 20% discount for $60 here.

Kaiju invaded San Francisco last weekend and set up shop in North Beach at Double Punch’s upstairs gallery. Some might say that the Bay Area is already a pretty monster-friendly place, and Mark Nagata whose Max Toy Co is locally operated would agree. Mark was joined by Massachusetts-based invader Matt Walker of Dead Presidents and duel Japanese raiders, Ichimiya-san from SUNGUTS and Yajima-san from Dream Rocket. Together, the talented and wacky quartet filled the small space with brilliant colors, copious customs…and not a single Dunny in sight. All unsold work from the show will make its way to Ningyoushi. Hit the jump for closeups and commentary.

Collaborative pieces by Dead Presidents, SUNGUTS, Dream Rocket and Max Toy Co

DEAD PRESIDENTS

Matt Walker brought a host of figures that showcase subtle differences in color and tonality. By applying specialty automotive paints and his signature pinstriping techniques, he transformed some of Mark’s Max Toy Co figures, Eyezon, Boy Karma, TriPus, Balbagon, Drazoran and a few rows of RealxHead pieces. The painted and pinstriped Boy Karmas are available in a small edition. Before the show, Matt did a pinstriping demo, which owing to rain and abysmal parking in North Beach, we regrettably missed. That said, I was luckily able to scoop up his Suiko collab with SUNGUTS…

Dead Presidents for Kaiju Invade San Francisco

Matt Walker of Dead Presidents

Eyezon customized by Dead Presidents

TriPus customized by Dead Presidents

Balbagon and Drazoran customized by Dead Presidents

RealxHead customized by Dead Presidents

Devil's Disciples by Dead Presidents

Boy Karma by Max Toy Co x Dead Presidents

SUNGUTS

I’ve been following the creations of Ichimiya-san from SUNGUTS, and recently missed an opportunity to pick up some Suiko in Tokyo. Not again. As the evening wound down, the table of Suiko was thinning out. I snagged one of the Dogs of Space because the headphoned head with glitter space-age bustier and pop-up action squid mouth reveal was highly compelling. SUNGUTS showcased a wall of original and customized figures that blend whimsical and sensual. Note the red dot next to that XXX-LA SP Bust Monster, indicating ‘hands off’ indeed.

SUNGUTS for Kaiju Invades San Francisco

Ichimiya-san from SUNGUTS

Suiko by SUNGUTS

Suiko by SUNGUTS

Original monsters by SUNGUTS

Original figures by SUNGUTS

Customized Bust Monster by SUNGUTS

Original painting and Dogs of Space by SUNGUTS

Original Suiko by SUNGUTS

DREAM ROCKET

Yajima-san of Dream Rocket brought some of the most diverse monsters, including insectoid creatures like Doguma and Gumos that are definitely outside my arachnophobic comfort zone and awesome Balbagons and Quemaras with intense paint jobs.

Dream Rocket for Kaiju Invades San Francisco

Local customizer Dustin Cantrell and Yajima-san of Dream Rocket

Dream Rocket for Kaiju Invades San Francisco

Custom Balbagons and Quemaras by Dream Rocket

Dream Rocket for Kaiju Invades San Francisco

MAX TOY CO

Mark Nagata is a man who needs no introduction. Maybe you know him for the original kaiju figures he makes as Max Toy Company or maybe it’s the amazing one-offs he paints or maybe you know him for having the world’s biggest Ultraman collection. Memo to Max if you happen to read this: Not all Dads have toy collections like this. Some Dads have no toys at all! Check out that fiberglass Eyezon, coming soon in a limited supply. Wow.

Max Toy Co for Kaiju Invades San Francisco

Mark Nagata with two-faced fiberglass Eyezon!

Customized Eyezons by Mark Nagata

Customized Eyezon by Mark Nagata