"Yojimbo" Gin Gin

Hey, what's popping, folks? It's New Year's Eve and check it: I actually have something for y'all! HA! :P

Obviously, I've been pretty anxious about getting something to release for everybody...especially before the end of the year. 2010 has sure had some fucked up ups and downs, but I wanted to end the decade on some hopeful shit.

There was a delay with the molds for the final Gin Gin figure (are you surprised! haha!) so still no final, fully-painted joints...but one small side project has turned out shockingly sucka free.

Check it: "Yojimbo" Gin Gin



In honor of one of my favorite chambara of all time, Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, starring the brilliant Toshiro Mifune, this figure is a pull from an older mold featuring full embossed/engraved 3D detail.




The figure is all-pewter, lead-free, and just like the final figures will have, they feature magnetically-linked joints. Now, pewter normally comes out of the molds a very bright, almost gleaming white. What the fabricator has done here is applied a special rub to the metal to "antique" it. Think some secret family recipe barbeque sauce-type shit! Mmm...ribs... Anyway, the finish is lacquered for protection...and I happen to think the shit looks pretty fresh.



Keep in mind that the nature of the beast is such that there'll always be little cracks and crevices everywhere. These are hand-made figures made in the image of the classic Popy STs. I consider each of these a work of art from some very cool people I've had the honor of working with. The final fully-painted Gin Gins will have similar surface flaws, but with these "Yojimbo" joints, part of the beauty lies in emphasizing those flaws...

Anyway, some of y'all who're real familiar with Gorman/Gin Gin, and obviously Grendizer, should get a kick outta these next couple shots!

Ghosts from the past:


Punks step up to get beat down:


I wish there were a TFO in-scale with these ST-sized figures that I could show Gin Gin stepping on. Heh...I love this shit!

Aiight, so check it. This obviously isn't the "official" final toy. Hell, I wasn't even planning on using these molds ever again! Heads seemed down with this "antiqued" idea, so I decided to see how they'd turn out.

I'm only making ten of these motherfuckers. Five are ready now, but the other five will have to wait a few weeks (consider it a preorder...afterall, the final full-painted figures will pretty much be made-to-order, so everything will eventually be a fucking preorder).

This limited Yojimbo run will feature an older style of the box art that won't be printed again. Sorry--I haven't actually assembled the boxes yet, so no packaging pics...

Anyway, remember, this shit's kinda underground, y'knowmsayin? So if you like what you see, hit me up.

...

As y'all know, this is all a part of my love letter to ToyboxDX. The last decade's been pretty crazy, but I've made some amazing relationships with some pretty incredible people. Talented. Driven. Passionate. Creative. Without the 'DX, there would be no BN. Word is bond.

Here's to another year and another decade...where we take this silly hobby to another level! Go play. Peace.

Milestone 1, completed

Simple math lesson.

You take this

Plus this

And you get this:

And what that is, y'all, is the final prototype for this motherfucker!!

Last night, headed to my grimies' after work...got a little nice, got a little lifted...watched the Pats utterly LAY WASTE to the Jets. Got home around 1 and was greeted with this...work of art. Straight up and down, my photography ain't shit. You pick this thing up in your hands, it's like holding solid fucking water! That's how gods damn clear it is. Flawless like a gemstone. Blew my fucking mind. And maybe a little load.

Then I passed out.

This morning, I grabbed my shitty-ass camera and dipped to the suburban-hell backyard--crawling on the fucking ground & shit, freezing my nuts off--and took some more pictures. B-b-b-b-rrap!

At work, I very reluctantly boxed up this jewel and overnighted it to the metal caster. I was talking to my prototyper the other day--he was saying how excited they are that this shit's finally going down. Apparently, he and his crew have various multi-colored test shots laying around their office! That's what's up!

As I've mentioned before, they do lots of work for Hasbro and other big name toy companies, but this is pretty much the first time they've ever done something like this. Like, for real, who's this dick coming outta nowhere with the bomb CAD skills and a little scratch but no actual faceless corporation to back him up??? That's me, motherfucker, and we're doing it.

These guys know their shit, but they've never developed prototypes to be used in making vulcanized rubber molds for jewelers to hand-pour white metal. They're used to casting up simple, sharp resin bits for steel injection molds in China! Not this damn time--this shit stays local and stays gully. Heh...as "gully" as a homemade toy of a robot from a 30+ year old Japanese cartoon can be! WHAT!? :P

But I guess the point is that it's real nice to have these cats just as excited about this project as I am...even if it is mad underground and my "account" probably ain't worth a whole lot! One dude trying to make a little metal robot ain't exactly "supreme clientele", y'knowmsayin? But this is how we roll and they're on board.

And now, it's on the metal caster. Let's see what they can pull off...