This just has to be seen to be believed…

This past weekend, Shinto Gangu, the home base shop of Japanese designer toy company, RealxHead, played host to an outrageous plethora of collaborations and mashups between RealxHead and another really cool Japanese company, SkullToys.  The results are really impressive and, naturally, were only made in limited quantities available only to those in attendance.  Therefore, you’ll have to be pretty lucky to get your hands on one of these guys outside of Japan.  However, based upon the fact that the results of this collaboration were so cool, maybe we’ll actually see one of these figures mass produced.  Who knows?

More pics after the jump! (more…)

Allowing us to look into his creative process, Giant Japanese Monster, Bad! has recently posted even more pics of some experiments that he’s working on with more Eternia’s Rejects resin bootleg figures.  Seen here are a a hollow cast blue resin figure with a GID fill, a “Mirrorman” figure with mirror glitter mixed in the resin (want), and a hollow cast resin figure.

Hollow blue resin figure detail.

Hollow figure with GID fill glowing.

For more of Giant Japanese Monster, Bad!’s work, check out his official blog here, or his Flickr here.

There’s going to be another amazing opening at the Rotofugi Gallery this Friday, February 19th, featuring the work of none other than Josh (Shag) Agle. The event will coincide with the Shriner “Gallery Prototype” Edition.

From Rotofugi:

Red Star, Black Eye
New Works by Josh (Shag) Agle

February 19-March 14, 2010

Opening Reception, Signing and Toy Release
Friday, February 19, 2010, 7-10PM

Music by DJ Sean Doe

The new Shriner “Gallery Prototype Edition” figure will be available at Rotofugi beginning at 7pm. Josh will be signing in the gallery from 7pm until 8pm. Thanks!

Artist Bio

Josh Agle (probably better known as Shag, a contraction of the last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last) is a painter, illustrator and designer working in southern California. His intention to establish a career as an illustrator-for-hire was sidetracked when his original paintings began to garner considerate attention from galleries and collectors. Since his first gallery show in 1997, Shag has had successful solo exhibitions in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia.

The paintings themselves celebrate consumerism and consumption on vividly colored, sharply rendered panels; the characters drink, smoke and eat in lavish, stylish surroundings. But Agle sees the visuals of his work as window-dressing or stage scenery. He’s more concerned with the narrative of the art. “Most of my paintings are set in the middle of a story or situation — characters are interacting and reacting to each other and to outside events.” Agle doesn’t offer too many clues about the stories, preferring that the viewer create his or her own narratives to fit the situations.

Currently Shag paints in a large studio with panoramic views of a wooded valley in the hills above L.A., part of a mid-century modern home which he shares with his wife and two children.

This will be Josh’s first exhibit at Rotofugi Gallery and we’re extremely excited and honored to have the chance to show his works.

For more info on this and other upcoming shows at the Rotofugi gallery, check out their official site here.

To get a further sampling of the awesome art that Shag makes, check out his official site here.

Giant Japanese Monster, Bad!, the artist who is responsible for the “Eternia’s Rejects” line of resin art bootlegs of a few years ago, has been relatively quiet in terms of toy making, as of late.  However, he has recently begun posting new images of some new resin “Rejects” on his Flickr.

I have been in contact with him and these are, in fact, a warm up for future projects.   So, stay tuned to Nerd City for all of the forthcoming resin bootleg awesomeness!

Jump for even more pics/links! (more…)

I’ve been watching this sculpt from Nerd One as it delevoped from concept to prototype and I’m really jazzed to see how cool it came out in its first production colorway.  This version of Steregon is an exclusive for this year’s Wonder Festival in Japan (which was yesterday, I believe).

Anywhoo, I really like everything about this guy from the concept to the pose to the super cool texture/ paintjob combo.  If you want more info on him, check out Nerd One’s official site here, and kudos to you if you can read any of it!

Square-Enix has confirmed (via Kotaku) that Final Fantasy XIII will be 3 Discs when it launches for the Xbox 360. Of course the game will be on one single blu-ray disc when it comes out for the PS3, but that is just one of the advantages of a better system (yes I am biased). Final Fantasy XIII launched in Japan this past December and looks to be released in the US around March 9th for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Looking at the clip below, the game looks fantastic….I’m just waiting till they go back to Thief, Mage and Ninja classes.

First the bad news, these are only available in Japan. The good news is that Capcom, through their Capcom Unity Blog are asking American fans to step up and demand these so they will be released in the States. So if you want to have your voice heard, head over to the blog and let Capcom know you want to see these cool Kubricks sold in America.

Sony announced today that their new motion controller will launch in Japan this fall. With no official name for the motion controller or what games will use the new controller, it’s interesting that this news would come without any additional support information. There have been rumors of the motion controller supporting a new version of Resident Evil 5 and many FPS games so those could be interesting to try. The tech demo for this new controller that was shown at E3 was very impressive, so it’ll be interesting to see what Sony can come up with. Of course this only semi-appeals to me as my laziness would not want me to be moving around all the time while playing a game.

Super 7 is about to release a definitive book on the Neo-Kaiju scene, featuring all of its prominent brands and icons, with their new “Encyclopedia of Kaiju”.  Produced in collaboration with Hyper Hobby of Japan, this awesome resource should be available through the Super 7 site any day now.  This book is really a great opportunity to have images of all of these amazing toys in one place.  And, since Super 7 s behind it, you know that the overall design of the book is going to to be top notch.

A few more pics after the jump… (more…)

Seriously.  How cool is Udon Publishing?  From their Street Fighter and Mega Man art books to their currently running Street Fighter monthly comics, they have an approach to our favorite Capcom properties that is 100& Nerd City certified.  Now, they’ve decided to import the original Mega Man (Rock Man) manga from Japan and translate it into English just for us!  I am down.

From Udon:

Of all the characters in CAPCOM’s vast video game library, arguably none is more recognizable worldwide than Mega Man. With more than 100 games to his name, Mega Man is among  the most iconic figures of gaming, but despite this, the original blue bomber’s Japanese manga adventures have never been available to English readers. UDON has decided to rectify that, with the release of Mega Man Megamix Vol. 1 in January 2010.

Written and drawn by mangaka Hitoshi Ariga, the Megamix manga is a 3-volume series beloved for its stupendous artwork and exciting stories. Outside of Japan, Mega Man fans have dreamed of one day being able to enjoy these adventures… and now they finally can!

The series features appearances by all the franchise regulars like Proto Man, Dr. Wily, Dr. Light, Bass & Treble, Rush, Roll, and tons of villainous Robot Masters! UDON has gone directly to Megamix creator Hitoshi Ariga to obtain the original artwork files for the series, and ensure the best localization possible. Each volume of Megamix is also packed with character profiles, sketches, gag strips, and creator interviews. This is a series no Mega Man fan would dare miss out on!

Mega Man Megamix Vol.1 arrives January 27, 2010 everywhere manga is sold, while volumes 2 & 3 arrive in April and July, respectively.

Check out even more preview pages from Udon here.

Muscle March is popular in Japan, I’ll let you watch the trailer and see for yourself as to why. Think it’ll be popular here?

Square Enix has officially named the North American launch date for Final Fantasy XIII to be on March 9th 2010, just three months after its Japanese release date. To go with this announcement, Square has released a small development video showcasing the look and new gameplay for this highly anticipated game. FF XIII will be available on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 next year and it sure looks purty.

In a press conference yesterday, Nintendo announced that starting November 21st in Japan the DSi LL will be available for 22,000 yen (or $220 US). The newly designed DSi LL will come with a much bigger screen than the recently released DSi as it will be 4.2 square inches compared to the DSi’s 3.2 inch screen. The new DSi LL is geared towards the user who would use their DS for web browsing and music as it will offer a bigger screen for navigation and reading font. But of course it will be great to play games on a bigger screen as well. Currently there is no release date for the United States, but I assume we’ll be hearing news on this shortly.

(DSi LL on left, DSi on right)

This weekend the Motaku con will be held in Kansas City (Park Place Hotel in KCMO). This convention will highlight all things Anime and Manga and looks to be pretty fun. The con will feature plenty of cosplay and costume contests, lessons on Japanese culture, anime music name that tune and many other fun things to do. Of course there will be plenty of items to buy and trade like any good convention and guests include such voice talents as Spike Spencer (Evangelion, Battle Angel, Suikoden, Tales of Vesperia, Steambot Chronicles and Star Ocean) and Cassandra Hodges (Glass Fleet, Hell Girl and School Rumble). Weekend passes for the 24th and 25th are $35 and a one day pass is $20 at the door. For more information on everything, including directions to the con, please visit their website at www.motaku.org or check them out on Facebook.