REVIEW 1000Toys – JOUMON KUGUTU ENZI

Posted on February 21, 2017 by Knives

INTRO

I don’t always know how to start a toy review. When that happens, I’ll stare at my screen for half a hour and type nothing before giving up for the day… or just completely procrastinate by telling myself, “I’ll get to this tomorrow”.

It could be because I’m not super familiar with the related franchise so I’m hesitant to sound like an idiot in front of savvy fans and readers. Or sometimes, I’m very familiar with the franchise but am not a huge fan of it… making reviewing the related toy somewhat a chore, whether the toy rocks or not (cough, Bayformers). Other times, the review is for something that I know from the onset that I’m going to have a lot of “cons” to discuss and I just hate putting that negative toy energy out into the world… deserved or not.

But for a 1000toys figure.. it’s quite the opposite. It always takes me a few to start a review because the words “Wow, everyone should have this” play over and over in my mind. Anything after that is met with a bad case of writer’s block.

Sure, they’ve had a few (in my opinion) less than perfectly executed figures… to this day I still don’t love how they handle their soft goods… but the 1000toys gang is one of the bravest, boldest toy company’s out there and every new release and idea they take on brings with it a massive tidal wave of excitement.

They have a knack for working in the shadows.. releasing relatively obscure figures and characters while the rest of the toy world latches onto the latest DC/Marvel/Movie franchise. Even what is probably the most renown worldwide characters in their line up.. GI Joe’s Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.. are not hardly recognizable because 1000toys went all, “1000toys” on them, giving them some familiar notes, but heavily stylizing them in their own unique way.

And they build all this on one of the most cutting-edge engineered 1/6th scale bodies available today.

1000toys figures are freaky. They’re awesome. They’re eye catching… They’re incredibly well made.. and the figure I’m reviewing today threatens to be the very peak of all of those things combined.

Sculpted by well known Japanese sculptor, Takayuki Takeya… Joumon Kugutu is 1000toys biggest risk so far… and possibly their biggest accomplishment.

(This sample was sent to me for review, the pre-order for this figure as well as the variant colorway, Bokkoku starts February 24th (JPN) at 11:00am – click here for more info)

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REVIEW Devil Toys – Heavy Weapon Specialist WOO

Posted on December 30, 2016 by Knives

INTRO

Happy New Years!

I’d hoped to get this review together before the holidays, but well.. the holidays got in the way. So instead, we’re closing out 2016 with it!

It’s been a long wait since the last time we saw another Devil Toys WOO figure. Their last full release from their World of Order line of figure, Secret Master (which we reviewed) came out way back in June of 2015! In early 2016 they released a cool looking, unarticulated war wolf figure to play companion to the Secret master but we havn’t had a proper 1/6 figure to add to the WOO ranks in almost a year and a half!

Devil Toys must have sensed my anticipation because they were kind enough to send over this sample of their limited edition follow up, the Heavy Weapon Specialist.

I opened up the figure the second he was delivered and my brief, first impression was really positive. It’s time to put him under the review microscope and see if that impression holds up!

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Review Bonehead MKII by Machine56 & Glitch Network

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Knives

Intro:

I can’t pretend to know a ton about Machine56. I’ve seen his amazing artwork and character designs around on various blogs and sites. (Check his deviant art page for visual goodness) and now that his figures are being produced by Glitch Network, he’s been hitting my radar pretty consistently over the past year. But for the most part, I’m a Machine56 newbie, as well as an instant fan.

What I can honestly say is that few designers have caught my eye like Machine56’s hip, robo-urban inspired characters.
His designs, to me, feel like next generation Akira come to life. “Come to life” actually means something here because you can buy (or could, they’re sold out) and actually WEAR many of his designs, including his amazing looking fullscale, 1:1 Bonehead Helmets.
I have no idea where I’d actually wear one in Hawaii, but I’ve been keenly watching his Deviant Art page to try and get a bead on when the next one might come out.
Maybe there’s a robo-hula somewhere.

When Bonehead showed up on my doorstep, I was very pleasantly surprised. I’d spoken with a few guys from Glitch Network at SDCC this past year, (including Bryan Lie of God Complex fame) and they mentioned wanting to send me something to review.
I get stuff from companies all the time to review, but rarely do they just show up randomly out of thin air 6 months after it’s casually mentioned in conversation.

One thing is for certain, if the quality of the Bonehead figure can match the strength of of Machine56’s design, I’m going to have to donate a trunk full of art toys to charity or set them on fire to make room for my new obsession.

Lets see.
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Exclusive Preview of 1000toys CaRB prototype!

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Knives

We had the opportunity to play with an early sample of 1000toys next exciting release, their 1/6 collectible, CaRB!
Check out the video below!

To Yuta for shooting this sample to me, thanks pal! He turned out awesome and people are going to be thrilled when they ship out! Please follow 1000toys on their facebook page to stay updated on their future releases! You won’t want to miss them.

Also, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Instagram for more toy news, reviews, photos and videos! Until next time, Aloha!