Anime Toys & Me
As fascinated as I was/am about western cartoons - more predominately 80's favourites ("Silverhawks" and "M.A.S.K." always immediately pops into mind, before names such as "Thundercats" or "MOTU" etc...), my primary core-memorable ones are Eastern-based anime.
From the early days of "Blocker Corp Machine Blaster" on Malaysia Channel Three (dubbed in Malay-language), to Gatchaman, Captain Planet - the giant robots and fantastical group/team dynamics always appealed to me - which subsequently is more pronounced in my comicbook collecting habits, which featured TEAMS, like Teen Titans (the Marv Wolfman x George Perez era) and Avengers (also most notably Perez art-era), and as well connected to my love for team-based films, like "Buckeroo Banzai" ... but I digress, and have instead "shared" more about "Anime & Me" HERE.
Mention "anime toys" to most folks, and "giant robots", "sexy girls in short skirts" and "kawaii as heck"-toys pop into mind, and they might not be necessarily wrong...but there's so much more to that...
Characters based of anime shows and films (in particular) are manifest unto a myriad of incarnations, across genres, in a finite number of licensed products, and tons of non-licensed products, but still - products made from pre-existing media properties that has or had a history of story and character profile(s) behind them, a "story" that has been told and accepted even before the toys hit the shelves, so folks - like myself - are ALREADY a ready convert, just waiting for a decent price-point, and or quite simply, "good toys" to be made, for us to own! And I sure do love me my anime!
... or rather, specifically anime(s) that "speak/spoke to me", and resonated more emotionally too, ironically in a language that is totally foreign to me (I don't understand the Japanese language but prefer to listen to that and read English subs than listen to dubs, if I have to), but the emotions are relatable - not just in a Eastern valued and tradition(al) context, but also one of "humanity", beyond the one-upmanship portrayed in a lot of western media, IMHO... THAT, and I personally want to somehow own a piece of, after my fantastical viewing of said anime - beyond just the DVD.
Sure, there are merch, stationary, everything the annual Anime Festival Asia sells ... but "TOYS"? Welcome to TOYSREVIL! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Somehow fictional animated moving visuals are able to stir my emotions, moreso than fictional characters played with real-life actors in films can/could - Western or Eastern. But to be utterly fair, ALL depictions are fictionalised in the first place - be it hand-drawn or computer-rendered, or acted by humans, innit? Fiction is fiction regardless of delivery systems, and whatever would work for me, worked for me. Moved Me. Inspired Me. Entertained Me.
In my constantly evolving toywishlist(s) - the amount of "Anime-Toys" are very much comparable to that of "designer toys", and its not because of the PRICE too, as licensed toys have become more expensive through the years! Double=punch thru my throat, boss!
I am faithful to the anime than I am of the brands, to be honest. Sure, humanoid-based figures from Tamashii Nations has me down cold, but their affordability is a constant struggle, but for "sales" (My toy-Kryptonite)! And thank goodness for discounted sales, as that was how I started my collection of TIGER AND BUNNY figures, which in turn led me back to MORE S.H.Figurarts figures! As much as I adore the 1/6th-scaled brethren, I'm more than happy with the articulated and chibi figures :)
One of the primary reasons for the allure - and this is something I'd only realised not too long ago - was that whatever the toys based on anime were, they were not "judged" alongside a adaptation of a human being. And while we can argue the aesthetic value of a fictional anime / drawn-manga character made-into-toy, a "adaptation of a human being" - however costumed or styled to that fictional character on screen (big or small) - will forever be judged against the "real person", which in most cases might mean less than stellar or butt-fugly face sculpts, and c'mon, not everybody can afford a Hot Toys masterpiece.
Maybe folks don't care for much of this, but I certainly do - not in some "overt-OTT-toy-drama"-way, but call it a "personal preference", if you may...
I still fondly remember the days of 1/6th-collecting in the early-2000s, when Dragon Model or BBI were able to release head sculpts bearing the likeness of well know actors and actresses, from both Western and Eastern films! And how excited we were, although there were grouses that they were not 100% "accurate", I'd always attribute to brands not wanting to too aggressively cross the copyright of actor's likenesses, rather than "lack of artistic skill".
And even when South Korean artists came into the fore in the 2010s, names like "Kojun" proved without a doubt that artists COULD achieve likeness (of course he eventually worked for Hot Toys, when the Hong Kong company begun recruiting the sculptors and painters), all bets were off in the hobby as far as I am concerned!
But personally for me, I achieved more toy-joy from collecting the stylistically sculpted humanoid figures, with head sculpts stylized in the Urban Vinyl aesthetic, ala Michael Lau, Paul Leung, Brothersfree, even the deceptively simplistic Eric So - but still maintaining the humanoid characteristics of hands, torsos etc - very much like manga and anime!
Even when Ashley Wood's aesthetics were manifested by ThreeA, it was a toy-god-send for me personally!
Coming back to "anime toys" (versus the parallel "manga", but I personally read zero manga, so am focusing directly on "anime" instead, thanks), and even Super Sentai-styled humanoid-inspired figures in action form works very well for me, because most of them are masked or helmeted!
So whomever Kamen Rider looks underneath his helmet, does not bother me as much (unless I am collecting the larger scaled Action Figures), as would the articulation and coolness of the make and proportions sculpted - which includes anatomically-human, to stylized proportions, and that works fine for me!
And with "chibi" (which I admittedly prefer over most "Super Deformed", yes there is a difference) re-designs, I am able to have another physical representation of the fictional character - in this instance I have both S.H.Figuearts action figures AND chibi versions of the same characters.
Although it does not mean ALL characters work for me - one prime example of which are ATTACK ON TITANS characters, which I adored the Nendoroids, but have chosen not to buy/collect any of the Max Factory articulated figures - yes, no doubt because of the price-points, which I think does explain my preference, because I am able to collect the gacha versions instead LOL
One point of pride in my humble collection, are from EVANGELION. Inspired primarily by the three animated feature films, not necessarily by previous incarnations, the variations are what appeals to me. From gacha-PVC figurines of both the EVA Units and humanoid-characters, to statues, Kubricks and BE@RBRICKS, and even Pink.st, I have them front and center on the top-shelf of my one only toy-display in the HQ!
I've even offered in the past to trade my toys for 400% EVA Bearbricks - which no one picked up on, sadly! I've even started a dedicated-EVA-hobby blog which I do not maintain as much as I download and KIV images to post OMG lol
Is there a "moral of the toy-story" here? Not that I know of, buddy! Just a faint justification of one of my toy-collecting habits (like ANYONE needs any "justification" reading about toy collectibles own my blog ~ HAH), but more importantly., a chance for myself to share in my toy-geekouts, on my birthday (which was technically, "yesterday") ... but hey! ANY DAY is a GOOD TOY DAY as far as I am concerned!
Cheers And Thanks For Reading!
Andy TOYSREVIL
