Found!

Been searching for this for a while now. Pairajin from the movie "Aliens Appear in Tokyo." The aliens in this film were designed by Taro Okamoto. Marmit made this figure about 10 years ago. There's also a red version, as well as some mini versions. Usually very hard to come by.

Bwana Shoes!

Bwana brought me a pair of these last month. Vintage style canvas high top Converse sneaker, with colorful illustrations, different on each side, and Bwana signature printed liner. Very cool! I have not seen these for sale, but they should be out now.

Deathra!

I did this Deathra figure today. Purple, pink, and silver, on clear purple vinyl.

Earth Day Tokyo 2007

This weekend was the Earth Day Tokyo festival in Yoyogi Park. This year's event was especially big, with many non-profit groups, shops, organic grocery, and restaurant booths. Lots of good info, some music, and good vegetarian food. And no disposable cups or plates! To get food, you had to give a hundred yen deposit and borrow plastic utensils, plates, bowls, or cups. When finished the plates were cleaned and returned. No waste. They had this cool smog monster robot too, made of cars and trucks, planes, machinery, and oil. There were a ton of people this year. I think many are especially concerned about global warming recently. The organic food booths were pretty popular as well. I also saw lots of young people getting information on fur and vivisection. It's about time.

San Francisco Sightseeing

The four days I spent in San Francisco were all sunny and bright, perfect for sightseeing. And thanks to some really cool friends, the trip was awesome. On our first day, Mark (Max Toy Co.) took us on a short tour of the city. We visited the far side of the Golden Gate Bridge, and had a perfect view of the bridge and city. I also got to see Mark's amazing Ultraman collection. Day two was Brian's (Super7) tour, which included the nearer side of the bridge, a nice drive through Fisherman's Wharf and along the coast, some shopping on Haight, and some other shopping spots. The next day we went to Monterey, where we met a huge otter and visited the aquarium. On day four, another Mark showed us around town. We did quite a bit of shopping, ate burgers, went downtown, and had a nice dinner at the Tonga Room. The Tonga Room is an old tiki bar/restaurant in the Fairmont Hotel. It features tiki decor, complete with pond and occasional thunder storm, and serves Chinese/Asian food. A little pricey, but great atmospehere. I had such a great time in SF, I want to go back again very soon.

Kaiju Kollision Opening Party

Kaiju Kollision! I got to Super7 a little early on Friday the 13th to prepare my kaiju for display. There was a small group gathering in front of the shop for the event. I had the back wall of the shop to display my stuff, and the Gargamel Hedoran exclusive print set, while Josh set up his work along the side wall. As 7 o'clock came, the group turned into a line! Were they there for Kaiju Kollision, or were they the usual Super7 fans? I wasn't sure, but they did seem pretty excited. The party was a lot of fun. I got to meet a few friends, and some skullbrain.org members too. All very nice people. Plus I even sold a few pieces! The day before I left Tokyo, I painted a few prizes for a raffle (Gargamel keychains, Smogun keychain, Mini Hedoran, Bullmask, and standard Hedoran), which happened later in the night. I hope all of these made it to a good home. Thanks to all who attended as well as Josh and all at Super7. Such an awesome night!

Super7 Art Opening - Kaiju Kollision!

Super7 Store presents a Kaiju Kollision by two artists separated by the Pacific, featuring custom painted vinyl figures by Koji Harmon of Tokyo and paintings by Joshua Herbolsheimer of San Francisco. Koji will be offering over 40 hand painted one of a kind soft vinyl toys and a series of toy photographs! Joshua has created a colorful series of paintings on wood panels featuring landscapes and characters direct from his mind. Super7 has teamed up with both artists to release a toy and print set. The set will feature four 9"x12" two color silkscreen prints with artwork by Joshua and a 9" tall Gargamel Hedoran, each hand painted by Koji. The Hedoran is flesh vinyl with red/black/silver spray. Since Koji hand painted each one there is a secret surprise, 1 of every 10 figures will have a one of a kind paint job. Each toy is blind bagged. Limit 1 per customer. All items from the show will be offered first at the opening of the show, the remaining items will be made available at 11am Saturday April 14th on www.super7store.com

Kaiju Kollision Exclusive Hedoran

I just finished hand painting the exclusive Gargamel Hedoran release for Kaiju Kollision. The standard version of this figure is done in red and black, with some silver. In addition to the standard version, there will be a few original colored versions packaged randomly. The figures will be blind bagged with a header card, and come with a set of prints done by Joshua Herbolsheimer. These will be sold at Super 7 during the Kaiju Kollision art show, and possibly on their website. Limited to 55 sets.

There's Going to be a Kaiju Kollision

Got my tickets to San Francisco today for the the Kaiju Kollision opening party. Should be a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to hanging out in San Francisco. After a lot of work and spraying, I've just about finished the exclusive figure which will be released there. I just need to package them before I send them off.

Max Toy Co. in Tokyo

Following Punkspring yesterday, I headed over to Thrash Out to meet with the Nagata family and Dennis. We hung out for a while, had a gift exchange (I received this awesome original Zagoran painting!), and then had dinner. Everyone had a good time, and Max kept everyone entertained with his toys and cartoon talk before falling asleep. I think it was a little past his bedtime.

PETA at Punkspring 07

Spent most of the afternoon tabling for PETA (for those who don't know, that's People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) at Punkspring 07. The lineup at this year's event included The Toy Dolls, Dropkick Murphys, Jimmy Eat World, NOFX, etc. We were there at the request of NOFX, who contacted PETA just days prior to the event. Fortunately, we were able to set up a decent table with some literature in Japanese, as well as some free DVDs. Most kids didn't give us much attention until we added some handwritten NOFX signs. That brought quite a few more visitors. I wasn't especially into most of the bands there, but did get to see one of my longtime favorites, The Toy Dolls. Those guys still rock, even after all these years. All such talented musicians, and awesome guitar solos. And by the way, meat is murder!

Sakura

Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom this weekend in Tokyo. I have no time to really see them though. I am still cleaning up and arranging my new house, working on the Kaiju Kollision Gargamel exclusive figure, and preparing for Punkspring 07 tomorrow...