Top 5 Toys - jcat

jcat from Tucson Arizona sent in his hand-picked Top 5 Toys list.. not an easy feat considering his Flickr account has over 6000 photos of toys in there!!

5) Ensorcelled Man by Luke Rook (Grody Shogun)

"Luke (Grody) is the one that got me into toy collecting. I’ve known him since he opened the first Lulubell location in Tucson. It’s been great to see him progress into producing his own toys in Japan and Lulu, under the guidance of Amy, become a successful business in Mesa. My favorite release of Grody's is the Ensorcelled Man - the face is so expressive and can portray many different emotions depending on how the figure is posed."

4) Jumbo Garada K7 by Unifive

"This hefty chunk of vinyl brings back fond memories of visiting my grandparents in the Philippines for the first and only time. I was hooked on Mazinger and it seemed like every place we went in Manila had the giant robots and mechanical beasts from the show. As a kid I couldn't buy any large toys back them, so now I'm excited to have this in my collection."

3) Puppet Seijin by Elegab

"Elegab is another favorite toy company of mine. It’s refreshing to see Nari’s unique and creative designs released in the world of sofubi. Puppet Seijin is alluring…the sly facial expression of the puppet master is dark yet comedic and the puppets are in some sort of goofy trance. The colorful paint scheme really stands out on this blue vinyl release."

2) Custom Zyurai Asu by Cronic

"Cronic definitely had a mastery of color and painting…it’s unfortunate that he does not produce toys anymore. His Zyurai is one of the coolest sculpts I’ve seen and his releases with their colors, paint application and pinstriping showcase his skills. It's also a very photogenic toy!"

1) Poseidon by Shikaruna Koubo

"I absolutely love the toys Shikaruna Koubo produce. The company makes some of the best around with its awesome kaiju designs and creative and colorful paint applications. Of the Shikaruna in my collection, I am particularly fond of this Poseidon release. I had been hunting for it for years and happened to be at the right place and time to score it. His firm stance and tough look are executed well."

Top 5 Toys - Josh G.

Sydney based Art Whore blog mastermind and Brain Zaps punk rocker Josh G. sent in his vinyl-specific Top 5 list!

"Well first, I’ve cheated. These are my top 5 soft vinyl toys, not my top 5 toys of all time. I’m OCD as all hell, and can’t just lump all toys in together you know! What about genre, labels, regular release or one off, medium... all those things us collectors stupidly obsess over!!! GAHHHHHHH! Stay tuned for my upcoming top 5 regular release toys, then my top 5 resin toys, etc. IF Glenn will have me back! ;) In the meantime here's my Top 5 sofubi toys.."

5) Yusei Majin by Longneck

"This is one of those toys that not only looks amazing – giant odd tentacled moon men are a yes in my book, but also has a really interesting back tale. If ya don’t know, it’s a tribute to the Ooze It figure from the 1980s, but given a glorious. This version is really soft squishy vinyl. Pink vinyl base with a damn brilliant paint job. Really fun toy to pour slime over..."

4) Mecha Cadaver Kid by Splurrt (painted by Rampage Toys)

"This vinyl toy led to an obsession. Introduced me to the master Joe of ‘Splurrt’ toys, which is a favorite company of mine. Plus it’s painted by a man I call a master of the craft, Jon of ‘Rampage Toys’... I can still remember the moment it arrived in my letter box in deep dark Convict Town: The smell. The feel of it in hand. My brain boggling at a new world I had just discovered.."

3) MOTUKO by Lamour Supreme x Shamrock Arrow (painted by Forces Of Dorkness)

"Is there community in the art toy scene? Yes and this toy to me is a visual representation of that fact. Why? Well here goes... I ended up with a black blank MOTUKO. Naked vinyl scares me though... So I wanted to get it painted... I was chatting with a toy friend from the Sucklord forum who told me about an artist I should check out, Scott Kinnebrew of ‘F.O.D’ fame. Well dear god was I blown away by Scott’s custom work. The man is a master. So I hit him up... The man offered to custom the toy for bloody free! I was blown away. Since then Scott and I have become firm toy-friends. JOY! OCD notes on the custom work by Scott:

(i) the base is wood covered in leather

(ii) Scott added magnets to the vinyl toy and the base for support – sadly all the MOTUKO’s have balance issues.

(iii) hand cut and painted leather cape added

(iv) chain and minion added – the minion is resin"

2) Miclas by Bullmark

"My sis got me this when she was in Japan. It represents 2 things for me: 1) my families reluctant acceptance of my horrible horrible addiction & 2) my very first and thus far ONLY vintage vinyl. I want more now!"

1) NagNagNag by Shigeru (silly additions by Josh G.)

"The disgusting hunk of vinyl that introduced me to the world of art toys about 4 years ago. So lucky to have had my good friend St John grab it for me straight from the hands of Shig himself! Could not resist adding the additions – jacket from an old Master P talking doll, mini ramen from Daiso, and an old sock for a beanie – to create.... *drum roll*.. VietNamVetNag!"

Top 5 Toys - David DeGrand

Super rad comic artist David DeGrand has taken some time out away from his drawing desk to share his Top 5 Toys list with us!

5) Edward Scissorhands Tin Toy by Medicom

"I love this Edward robot mainly for the odd juxtaposition of the retro Japanese robot style and Tim Burton's gothic fairy tale character. Edward Scissorhands was a childhood staple and I've always been struck by his striking appearance. There are tons of other Edward toys but this is just the best."

4) Slimer Shampoo Bottle

"I've been obsessed with Slimer since I was like 5 years old, he's still my favorite ghost of all time. I have lots of Slimer figures but this one's my favorite as it's one of the few from the animated series. Plus his expression perfectly captures his goofy, gross and playful demeanor. I think this was from a shampoo bottle or something like that, making it even weirder."

3) Godzilla by HG Toys

"Now I'm a MASSIVE Godzilla fan and have tons of Godzilla toys, but this bizarre figure from the HG Toys playset from 1979 is my favorite for several reasons: the atomic lime green color, the off-model but killer reptilian design, and his bumpy skin texture make for one awesome tribute to the King of the Monsters."

2) Psycho (Toxic Crusaders) by Playmates

"This dude is from the Toxic Crusaders line and is just an awesome figure design, he has influenced my art also. The green skin, bionic limbs, cyberpunk goggles, multiple chins dripping with God knows what, he's simply a work of art. Another figure I don't think would have been approved for today's youth."

1) Mutagen Man (TMNT) by Playmates

"This is my favorite action figure of all time, and has influenced my art many times. A sentient tank full of floating guts with rotting flesh on his arms, there's no way they would release this toy for kids today. There were tons of amazing Ninja Turtle villain toys (Pizzaface is another favorite), but Mutagen Man is the most crazy and bizarre toy by far. I love it!"

Top 5 Toys - Beukhoven Sloopwerk

Beukhoven Sloopwerk from The Netherlands sent through a nice selection of 5 of his favourite toys!

"It's hard for me to choose my favourites because I collect many toys. Every now and than a toy catches my eyes and make me go "Wow!" so here's five of them.."

5) Gorgonzola by Yamomark x Blobpus

"I'm a big fan of both Yamomark and Blobpus so when these guys team up something beautiful must be created. And here it is: a lusciously painted lump of glowing Japanese vinyl. One of the Grails in my collection!"

4) Mecha Azteca by Jesse Hernandez/Raje Toys

"A few months ago, when in Amsterdam, I visited my friend Jeroen Krom of Outland Store and while we were chatting this white "thing" caught my eye. It was this white unpainted Mecha Azteca designed by Jesse Hernandez. Although being mainly a Japanese toys collector I do like Mr. Hernandez' style a lot. I already was the proud owner of a Mecha Azteca (jungle version) and a Death Serpent but then this one appeared... I've never seen any info about this one so I gather it is something special."

3) Dualos by Max Toy Co

"A fun thing about the clear monsters by Mark Nagata's Max Toy Co is that in daylight sun they look like icesculptures. This double headed monster fits nicely on the shelf next to clear versions of Drazoran, Drazorus, Dragigus and Axron. Now I have to find a clear Zanga but that will be a mission impossible."

2) Fly Trap Guy by Dream Rocket

"Despite all awesome designs of monsters this one I think is ingenious. Besides that the paintwork by Junichi Yajima is dazzling! I was lucky enough to meet Junichi in person and about everybody who did too will admit this is an awesome toy by an awesome guy."

1) Devil Man by - RealxHead & Mirock

"I saw this one passing by in a posting on the infamous kaijukorner blog and was silenced by it's design. The split open face with the other one inside got me and still does everytime when I look at it. Awesome sculpt by Mirock."