Bump

Bump is kind of an oddity, an odd experiment that maybe was a bit ahead of its time.

Most Japanese vinyl, lets face it, can be expensive. New standard pieces are close to a hundred bucks, with mini vinyls hovering around $40. Three years ago the prices were a bit less insane, but still out of reach of the casual collector.

Ghost Land figures were meant to be trading figures, like your average blind-boxed cheapo toy. But these weren’t some mass produced in China figure, these were authentic, Japanese vinyl minis, for about $15 bucks each.

There were so many great things about this line, it’s hard to believe.

First – the packaging. Each Ghost Land mini comes in a tin, with a removable lid. The tin is screen printed on all sides, even the inside and bottom, and no surface area does not have some sort of great design on it. The tin idea came about from a project Brian did with Fossil, the watch company. Because of his connection, he was able to figure out how to use the same tins the watches came in.

Inside each tin was a small vinyl figure. The figure came wrapped in a clear plastic bag.

Five figures were released, each available in an assortment of colors.

There are few things cooler than Translucent Japanese Vinyl. The vinyl is just so clear and firm, in a way that Chinese vinyl has yet to replicate. Each piece is molded in color and made out of two parts with minimal paint applications.

Unfortunately, when these things hit mass market, few outside of the existing fan base bought them. People not familiar with the Japanese Vinyl scene balked at the high price, when they could get another blind box toy for half the price. Sure, WE appreciated the cheap Japanese vinyl, but the mass market did not. And so, there never was a series two.

Brian and Super7 have continued to make Ghost Land related figures, such as Dokuwashi, but none as trading figures.