While I wait in the lobby for Josh and Ed to show up, a portly Death Star gunner and a diminutive Stormtrooper show up. While the gunner explains to the cops why he's carrying around a giant black rifle, I can't resist asking the Stormtrooper, "aren't you a little short?" A female voice responds, "Yeah, I hear that a lot."

Sunday, February 22

While I wait in the lobby for Josh and Ed to show up, a portly Death Star gunner and a diminutive Stormtrooper show up. While the gunner explains to the cops why he's carrying around a giant black rifle, I can't resist asking the Stormtrooper, "aren't you a little short?" A female voice responds, "Yeah, I hear that a lot." This surprises me at first, but then it starts to make some more sense: she's not scratching her groin like the other Stormtroopers I see at the Chiller Theatre convention. There's no way that these people are paid actors, they have to be fans that just showed up. Weird.

After Josh and Ed show up and we finish our registration, we run into a charming older fellow, who starts to regale us with tales of the old days. Something about how he did cartoon voices for a living, or imitated people who did cartoon voices for a living, and bought Mickey Mouse off of Disney for a dollar, and blah blah blah blah and now my legs are starting to fall asleep. Ed and Josh are staring and drooling like they just got a gallon of Thorazine pumped into them; this old coot has put some sort of brain lock on them. I snap them out of it by interrupting Mr. Mouse in mid-sentence and reminding them that we have a meeting to get to. As we not so gracefully part ways with the old codger, Josh says, "I knew there was a reason we wanted you around."

After cruising to a couple of the smaller companies' offices, we go to our appointment at Bandai. We hob-nob with a couple of marketing folks in a fully catered meeting area. We hear a lot of Japanese being spoken, something Josh and Ed say is a big difference from last year. After a brief wait, we file into the multi-chambered showroom area, and the Big Bandai Show begins.

The first display is Power Rangers, Bandai's premier breadwinner for the past decade. Two guys, roughly our age and dressed from head to toe in black, begin demonstrating the new SPD lineup with all the verve of a flight attendant pantomiming what to do with the safety equipment at the beginning of each flight. Occasionally the demonstration is punctuated with the occasional light-up feature, or firing missile. At one point, the demo guys even talk to one of the toys, an electronic police dog that barks when you transform it. I feel strange inside when one of them mechanically strokes the dog's head and tells it calmly, "Heel, boy. Heel."

Next up is Teen Titans, which has been a surprise hit for the company. The "collect them all" mentality is in full swing here: nearly every vehicle needs to be connected to the other vehicles in its' set to have any significant play value. To their credit, though, Bandai has been paying a lot of attention to the figures themselves, and it seems like every character that's ever been animated will see plastic. Taking a cue from anime, there's even a set of vehicles that will combine into a giant robot.

After Teen Titans, we see the Gundam room. It is dead silent. There is no demo person. Inside one of the cases, a Duel Gundam has fallen off of its perch and is now doing a headstand on the shoulder of the Ginn figure below it. It almost looks like a strange re-enactment of the rain kiss scene in Spider-Man. There is nothing to see here. We move along.

We see a demo of the new Dice stuff, which looks interesting. The next set of figures will have an Egyptian look to them, and more giant transforming dinosaur vehicles for them to ride will be made. We breeze through the Strawberry Shortcake, Tamagotchi, and card game areas. By the time we exit the showroom, I've realized two things: all of the demo people inside were Caucasian, in contrast to the completely Asian staff outside, and that I need a Tamagotchi.

We don't have any more appointments, so we head over to the Javitz Center to see the general exhibits. Josh guides us through the Hong Kong section, in hopes that we'll encounter some cool bootlegs ("localized versions," we agree to call them so as not to offend the vendors). Back in licensed toy territory, we pass by the booth for Master Replicas. A salesperson walks up to Josh and I and gives us a couple of their lighsaber replicas. We have an impromptu duel in the aisle, decide these things are incredibly fun, and make mental notes to put them on our wish lists.

The urban vinyl aisle is pretty damn crowded. We see one booth with a figure of Jesus in a space suit. I tell them that personally I wouldn't be interested in that, but I salute them for the guts they're showing. I can imagine the shitstorm that will ensue once it comes out.

I'm getting the feeling that urban vinyl is just about to hit the wall, the same way black and white comics did during the glut of the mid-80s. After a few minutes of looking at the dozens of offerings from only a handful of companies, it all seems to run together. There doesn't seem to be any differentiation. The only thing that sticks with me is a set of monsters that one company did in ABS - they've jumped from urban vinyl to urban styrene.

Two British girls with hair like you might see on My Little Pony dolls are hanging around the Medicom booth. We strike up a conversation with them: they work for Clutter magazine, and they're looking for writers. What a coincidence, I tell them, Josh and I have written for Super7. As one digs out a sample copy of their magazine, I try making eye contact with the other one. No dice. I think she's allergic.

We survey some other selected aisles of the Javitz center, since trying to see it all in one day is impossible. It seems the use of the word "extreme" in marketing children's products is still a fresh concept.

Monday, February 21

I wake up to discover that Hunter Thompson has committed suicide.

Our first appointment is with Yamato. I finally get to meet marketing manager Douglas McNeill face to face, after corresponding with him via email for months. He's very friendly and interested to hear what I think about the items that Yamato offering for the show. I tell him again that I'm crazy about the Scopedog, and he shows me the purple Melkian Soldier version that's coming soon. Other things on display in the room that jump out at me are the upcoming trading figure of Bonaparte (from Dominion), and the Banpresto Huckebein, which has a decent heft to it and a noticeable amount of die-cast.

Douglas gives us a lot of information about the toys and what Yamato is currently up to. As we saddle up to leave, he stops us and tells us that he has a little thank-you gift for promoting the Scopedog. He brings out a sealed case, and from this he produces a Scopedog for each of us. I am floored by this incredibly generous gift, but it gets even better when he flips up the box cover to show us that these have red shoulders. I am amazed. I thank Douglas profusely before we leave. We are all pretty stunned.

We head up one floor to our final appointment: Toynami. George Sohn, company president, has just finished talking to a TV crew. When we tell him that we're chogokin collectors, he seems eager to tell us about his own collection, some pieces of which came from the president of Bandai himself. He tells us about how he wants the spirit of those original toys to carry into items like the Masterpiece Voltron they're developing. Unfortunately, before we're able to sit down, our visit is cut short; George tells us that they have an important meeting and they need to hustle us out of there so they can use the room.

We quickly grab our things and shuffle out into the hall, a little confused after this episode of toyus interrupus and reflecting the contrast between this appointment and the previous one.

Soul still intact...

Battlestar Galactica and Halo 2

Joyride had on display a number of items from their new Battlestar Galactica License. Included are carded Cylon Raiders and Colonial Vipers, both featuring opening cockpits, retractable landing gear, removeable pilots and display stands. The figures of Starbuck, Apollo and the Gold Cylon were prototypes, but the production versions will feature 10 points of articulation, a blaster, and a removable helmet

Halo 2

The epic saga continues with "Halo 2," the much anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed game "Halo: Combat Evolved." In this sequel, the battle comes to Earth, and Master Chief, a genetically enhanced super soldier, is the only thing standing between the relentless alien Covenant and the destruction of all humankind.

On display were 1 1/4 scale prototypes of Series 3,4 and 5 from the line, due out this summer.

For more information, visit Joyride Studios at http://www.joyridestudios.com/

Star Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith Model Kits

ERTL / AMT had some cool Star Wars Episode 3 art for some model kits they are going to be releasing, as well as an excellent fully painted Millennium Falcon and X-Wing. Check them out!

Micronauts Evolution, Nightmares of Lovecraft, Street Fighter and more.

SOTA had on display prototypes for their new Micronauts Evolution Series, featuring Space Glider, Lobros, and Baron Garza. Although these are large, fixed pose prototypes, the final versions of the figures will be 6-inches tall with multiple points of articulation and interchangeable parts.

We were blown away by the detail in SOTA's Nightmares of Lovecraft line.

Street Fighter continues to be a huge hit. The figures are 6" tall, to be in scale with the Marvel Legends line. You can re-enact all your favorite Marvel vs Capcom moments!

Sota's Now Playing Series 3 will consist of figures based off of the classic movies LEGEND, DOG SOLDIERS, DUNE and THE THING. This is the first series that will include the release of a boxed set recreating a classic scene from a movie. The first scene being recreated is the Dog Kennel confrontation from THE THING. This third series is also the first to incorporate actor?s likenesses into the line, that of Kurt Russell as R.J. MacReady and Kenneth McMillan as Baron Valdimir Harkonnen.

Contact SOTA Toys at http://www.sotatoys.com/

Big, ABS Kaiju toys aimed at 8 year olds!

Kaiju Kidz are the creation of Ralph Cosentino. Each toy is made out of ABS plastic (not vinyl!), and is about 10" inches tall. These things are big and blocky. Each figure has a door on the back that can be opened to hide whatever you like. A small "normal" version of each character is also included. I didn't get a picture, but it is also worth mentioning that the packaging for these is absolutely stunning.

For more information, visit http://www.kaijukidz.com/. Dont forget to check out the awesome Trailer on the site.

Stikfas Beta Female Warrior w/dragon and the Mechana Segmented Robot.

I had never met the guys from Stikfas before. I had always been a big fan of the toys since they came out in 2002, and I was excited to get the chance to meet the people behind this great toyline. They did not dissappoint, as the Stikfas people were probably some of the friendliest and most approachable in all of Toy Fair. They had some great products out, including the 14" Alpha Male Skeleton, the first painted Stikfas product. They had a bunch of custom stuff out, and some of the other unque sets like the Beta Female Warrior w/dragon and the Mechana Segmented Robot.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the Stikfas booth, but I was too busy talking to them! Hopefully we'll have some stikfas reviews up in the near future.

Additional pictures courtesy of Ed Sanford of Robot-Japan.com

Find out more about Stikfas at http://www.stikfas.com/

Korean Building Block System

Toyda appears to be a company from Korea, or the name of the product line. Either way, i'm pretty sure they are Korean, and they guys at the booth had no idea what I was saying to them. Most of the building block sets they had were the basic things - dinosaurs, motorcycles, etc, but these robot designs really caugtht my eye. Very Machine Robo Mugenbine inspired designs. Don't know if we'll ever see them in the states, but who knows..

Wheaty Wheat Studios are makers of far out Art toy, vinyl and plush products.

Wheaty Wheat Studios designs and distrubutes urban vinyl, art toys and plush.
They've got some pretty interesting designs, but the killer thing for me is
the Creative Peeples line. Basically, this is a blank figure that you decorate
and send in to the website. The top vote getters get made into actual production
pieces. What a great idea!

eggster by Sket one	Groob by Andrew Bell	b.b.birdy	Funny Club - Jack Glow	MAD*L
MAD*L	Mr. Bunny and Fire Cat by Joe Ledbetter	Cosmic Quigly Plush	Creative Peeples	Creative Peeples

Kubricks, Bearbricks and Babekup oh my!

Medicom had an insane booth, with what looked to be every single Bearbrick
and Kubrick ever made (probably not, but it was impressive). On display were
400% Bearbricks designed by artists like Pushead and Stussy, as well as an
assortment of Kubrick, Babekup and other Medicom Toys. The Medicom rep. said
that this was their first year at Toy Fair, and it was more to increase brand
visibility rather than trying to sell directly to the American market. Roger
was thrilled to see the Maschinen Krieger Kubricks, and I finally got a glimpse
of the new VINCENT Kubrick from Disney's Black Hole.

Medicom on the web: http://www.medicomtoy.co.jp/

Strangeco, Toxic Teddies, Friendswithyou and Amos Toys bring you the latest in vinyl and art toys.

Strangeco was back for this year's Toy Fair with some new goodies and some old favorites. According to Jim Crawford, Strangeco is becoming more of a distributor, taking Toxic Teddies, Amos Toys and Freindswithyou under their wing. Some highlights include the licensed Toxic Teddies Ramones set, Bunnyvan by Jeremy Fish and Vortigern's Machine by James Jarvis. They also brought back Neo Kaiju, the In Crowd, Mars-1 and I.nsurgents W.ilderness G.ruppo by Rocket World. The Mars 1 prototype shown here was hand painted by Mars-1 himself, and is missing a translucent dome that the final version will have.

Mars-1	Mars-1	Bunnyvan by Jeremy Fish	Ramones Toxic Teddies Set	Toxic Teddies Coffin
Friendswithyou	Friendswithyou Malfy	CIRCUS PUNKS	Vortigern's Machine by James Jarvis	Major Moultys Amazing Magical Plastic Band - James Jarvis
Tales From Greenfuzz		Dero by Jermaine Rogers	I.nsurgents W.ilderness G.ruppo by Rocket World	I.nsurgents W.ilderness G.ruppo by Rocket World
Steam Punk by Todd Schorr	Pupik by Gary Baseman	Treedweller Vinyl Figure by Nathan Jurevicius	Humpty Djinn by Todd Schorr	Kara Kara Tako Girl by Seonna Hong

For more information, visit http://www.strangeco.com