Top 5 Toys of 2015 - Mark Helm

Today's Top 5 Toys of 2015 list comes from Mark Helm, a long time collector and mega enthusiast of anything to do with toys! Mark has one of the wildest collections I've seen, massive in size but very focused. Here's some words from the man himself on how he got into artist toys:

"I have been collecting something ever since I can remember from stamps, coins, sports cards, Rock & Roll magazines, etc.....I started collecting Living Dead dolls after going Star Wars toy searching with my buddy in Tokyo. I saw the Penny version that was a collaboration with Toy2R. From there I started buying Qees. I went to my first SDCC to meet Tim Biskup and have his sign a large double Qee set. After getting what I was after I happened to walk past the Super 7 booth and someone handed me issue #9 of the Super 7 magazine. That had the Secret Base center spread and that was all she wrote. From there I stumbled upon skullbrain.org and never looked back."

5) Fuchico x Tokyo City

"I was in New York City when Tokyo City had this exhibition. I have never been over to the Mori Art Museum + Tokyo City View before. Once I returned to Japan my wife and I went to the Mori Art Museum for the Takashi Murakami exhibition, while there I saw the Tokyo City View area and realized this is where the Fuchico exhibition was and by being there made me want to track this one down even more. I probably paid close to three times retail on Amazon.co.jp, but I have zero regrets with this one."

4) Orange GID Skull Captain by Pushead and Secret Base

"From my understanding this piece was never actually for sale so he's been pretty elusive. Getting my hands on him was really special. I love glow pieces and having different color glows is something I really love."

3) Purple Cococroc by Pushead

"No figure before or since I first saw the Cococroc has made me feel the same. He just clicks on so many levels and Purple, well that is hard to beat."

2) Itamu by Pushead x Hirota Saigansho

"This Beast towers over my Fight Figures and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to display them. So I bought a new display case...problem solved. This piece has so much character and this particular one-off just blows my mind."

1) Pink/Purple marbled Cococroc by Pushead

"From the very first second I saw him I knew he was the one I wanted. I was so fortunate to be able to score him. Seeing a wall with 35 different one-off Cococrocs was mind numbing. It was really had to focus because really I would have been happy with any of them, but for me Pink and Purple are tops and well this guy had it all."

Top 5 Toys of 2015 - Beukhoven Sloopwerk

Beukhoven is back (check out his first post here) to share his Top 5 pickups from 2015. The majority of these were purchases he was able to make in person during a trip to Japan last year - toy shopping oversea is dangerous business!!

5) Bukiminda by Elegab

"I found this Bukiminda in a well hidden toyshop near Nakano station in Tokyo. Hadn't seen the design before but loved it at first sight!"

4) Kingyozaurus by Yamomark (Super Festival 2015)

"I'm a big fan of the Kingyozaurus design by Yamomark and could not resist when I saw the monster in this fantastic Super Fest January 2015 colorway."

3) OG-AT + Kuramahoushi set by Dr Mirock

"In my first post last year, this release of Devil Man by RealxHead and Mirock was my No.1 pick. Not surprisingly, Dr. Mirock's 2015 toy releases awed me again and I was lucky I could lay my hands on this beautiful set."

2) Zanga by Max Toy Co

"Grail time!!! A few days after meeting Mark Nagata in person at Design Festa 42 I found this beast in a toyshop in Osaka. To me this is the Max Toy Co flagship. A clear one is still on my wantlist but waiting for it isn't hard with this beast of glowing vinyl by my side."

1) Zagoran by Gargamel (Guumon custom 2015)

"In April of this year, just before ToyCon UK, Brian 'Guumon' Mahony stayed at our house and I asked him to customize this Zagoran by Gargamel. Only condition was that he had to apply his trademark colorway. He succeeded and created my No.1 piece of 2015."