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Toys & Collectibles

Bish – Bash – Ash: Kotobukiya Adds Evil Dead 2 to Anime Styled Statue Series

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Kotobukiya’s newest bishoujo style horror statue, “Evil Dead 2’s” Ash Williams. (Photo Courtesy of Kotbukiya)

We’ve been following the evolution of Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo (“beautiful girl”) statues for several years now. The series applies the playful sexiness and wide-eyed naivety of anime and manga art to popular film, comic book, and video game characters. We’ve seen DC, Marvel, Star Wars, Kill Bill, Tekken and Streetfighter figures all translated into the popular Japanese visual idiom.

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Toys & Collectibles

Dressing Down: Mezco Toyz LDD Halloween Costume Contest

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Toys & Collectibles

Kotobukiya 2016 ArtFX+ “Pre-Veals”

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Kotobukiya’s ARTFX+ rendition of “Batman Vs. Superman” much anticipated face off. (Photo courtesy of Kotobukiya)
kotobukiya, batman vs. superman, dawn of justice, dc comicsThe Toy Industry Association’s 2016 New York Fair is just a month away and things are heating up in Toyland. That includes some interesting “pre-veals” that have recently found their way into the SkeletonPete mailbox.

Punch Brothers…
We just received a communique from collectible figure artisans Kotobukiya unveiling their spectacular Dawn of Justice tableau with DC Comics icons Superman and Batman locked in combat. The ARTFX+ creation, scheduled for May 2016 release, is actually two individual 1/10 scale statues that fit together at the base to form the battle scene.

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Toys & Collectibles

Vault of Horror: Mezco Turns the Key for Collectors

Jason in a Colorfully Out of Character "Test Shot."
Jason in a Colorfully Out of Character “Test Shot.”

Hot off the Mez-itz 1966 Batmobile bash at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Odditorium, Mezco Toyz held their first “vault sale.” The two day event was split between an August 15th by-invitation only media and sales gathering, while day two was an open to the public event. Archive items, including many pre-production tests lined the walls of the Mezco’s Long Island City facility. The vault clearing unearthed an array of unique and out of production items. These behind-the-scenes curios represented franchises like Hellboy, Friday The Thirteenth, A Nightmare on Elmstree, Halloween, Thundercats, and Universal Monsters.
Bits and Pieces: Various Cinema of Fear Test Shots
Bits and Pieces: Various Cinema of Fear Test Shots

Parts Is Parts…
Perusing the room on arrival was a sensory overload of all manner of production oddities. Mold “test shots” tend to be created with whatever plastics are currently in the machines, so the outcomes can range from unusual to outright psychedelic, like a headless paisley Leatherface. Cardboard boxes harbored bloody Benecio wolfman samples, bits of Michael Myers, and a headless 18” Abe Sapien with several variations on his noggin sitting at his feet. There were multi-colored collections of limbs, torsos, heads, and weapons from Mezco’s Cinema of Fear series, Heroes, Kick Ass, and of course Mezco’s Living Dead Dolls peered up malevolently from their coffins.

Several “paint masters” were also available. These are used as color and finish control guides during production. The trio of “Scream Grab” paint masters were really exceptional, and I came very close to adding them to my collection. I did however treat myself to a birthday present and scored a beautiful all white Creature from the Black Lagoon test shot. He’s waiting for his close-up and I’ll present him in a future post.

In addition to the more esoteric test shots, another part of the room was stacked with boxes of long out of production collectibles like Scarface, The Notorious B.I.G., and some Hot Topic exclusives.

Fan Favorite Tiffany, aka Mrs. Chucky, gets the Living Dead Doll Treatment
Fan Favorite Tiffany, aka Mrs. Chucky, gets the Living Dead Doll Treatment

Spiked, Not Impaled…
During an onsite SPIKE TV interview Mezco’s Director of Special Projects Mike Drake noted that licensing choices where less than an exact science, but staff favorites, such as the line of Breaking Bad products, has often paid off. The exclusive hazmat suited, fly swatter toting, Walter White figurine drew long lines of customers at the recent San Diego Comic Con. Alternately, fan requests can be the catalyst like the just announced Living Dead Doll version of Tiffany, The Bride of Chucky.

In informal conversation I asked Drake if it was hard to watch so many one-of-a-kind artifacts leave the archive. He told me that the Mezco decided it was better to have these rarities in the hands of collectors who truly cherish their uniqueness rather than boxed away and so the vault sale was formulated.

Several Flavors of Hellboy's Abe Sapien
Several Flavors of Hellboy’s Abe Sapien

SkeletonPete Says…
Mezco’s press release noted that, “Test Shots usually end up on public display at such institutions as The Museum Of The Moving Image, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, or others. This is the only time the vault has ever been opened and multiple test shots made available to the public.” Despite their museum display level of rarity items were priced to sell and lucky collectors scooped up box loads in minutes.

I was really glad PiercingMetal Editor Ken Pierce – a longtime toy collector himself – and I arrived early as it afforded me the opportunity to document these uncommon goodies before they were whisked away.

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