Paralyzing Toyz Soft Vinyl Devastator, Omega Supreme, Shattered Glass Soundwave & Blaster Figures Available At Wonder Festival 2023

These are awesome I especially like the Grimlock and Bumblebee! I bought the Soap Studios Optimus Prime cartoon and metallic versions. I never found a Bumblebee unfortunately although I looked and I had Starscream and Megatron preordered but they were cancelled which really sucked. However IMO those were more fine tuned then the original look of a sofubi and instead of paint on just the front they molded the colors I believe. However Ilike both & totally understand the market for such toys. Great thread guys (and if anyone h'as a SS Bee, just saying)

RickyLeeSTF

It’s amazing how many of the collectors here don’t see the artistry and craftsmanship going into these vinyl figures to make them nearly identical to the style and quirkiness of the original Takara softvi from the mid80s.

Is it incredibly niche? Yes. That’s why this hobby is so great. To me, these are infinitely better looking than 80% of the Generations offerings from Hasbro/ Takara Tomy.

I'm guessing he's a younger dude that hasn't seen these yet. Probably associated them with KO toys or something. I see the value bro.

EatingSand

It’s astounding how many people don’t understand sofubi and the culture surrounding it. These aren’t supposed to be mass marketable figures, they’re pieces of art created by independent toy makers. Given the opportunity I’d gladly pick these up!

Me too especially that Bumblebee!

Predaking000

Just watched this little cartoony guy from yesterday's Wonder Festival get flipped for 23,800 JPY (~$181 USD). There were probably about 50-100 of these made exclusively for Wonder Festival, and they sold out instantly and are now getting flipped for 4 times the cost or more. Clearly, there's a cash-ready audience for this, a subset of TF fans who adore and get their nostalgic hit off of this stuff. So it doesn't really matter if you "question" the merits of it.
by doing so?
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Ooooh, I want one!   

Swindlerfan

These are meant to invoke a specific style of vinyl toys of which Transformers got a few of in the 80s. It's a niche market but there have been many of these kinds of figures made over the years. To the point where independent toy makers do small runs of new toys that emulate the old ones.

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Thanks for the information.
It does put things in context.
I still question the merits of this pursuit though.

"Paralyzing" ?
Perhaps not the most auspicious branding ever? lol

Anyway, reminds me of a little adventure at a 7eleven near Miami in 1989,
going in for some cola's and finding the "BendaBots" which were supercheap robot toys
that didn't have actual limb joints, but you'd be able to bend the plastic at the elbows
and hips and knees. Yeah, super low effort stuff.

Mummy!!! The Japanese toy show is selling niche recreations of a specific style of toy!!!!!! Mummy I'm crying!!!! I'm so upset about this!!!!

Some of these comments on p.1…sheesh. The sheer frigging ignorance on display. And the novels some of you have written just to sh*t on things you don't like or understand. It's like watching an eight year old try to process cauliflower.

E.g., "What I do have a problem with is an onslaught of toys that don't genuinely represent the character in the fiction and don't transform." Never mind that these retro vinyls are done precisely as tributes to Takara's vinyl figures from the 80s. Never mind that they're meant for Japanese collectors who grew up with that stuff and not for you.

Oh, and look at Yutani's Soundwave and tell me it doesn't "genuinely" evoke the style and proportions of the G1 Soundwave toy.

Calling these figs "lazy" or comparing them to Funkos is like saying of a Reaction figure, "Why doesn't it have 20 points of articulation? Are they stupid or lazy or something?"

If you're going to simply sh*t on something, at least know the history of what you're sh*tting on, the history of the toy fandom that you're supposedly a part of.

Full disclosure: I collect mostly retro-styled sofubis these days (mainly Japanese robots and kaiju and Tokusatsu charaacters), so I have most of Yutani Shoten's releases, and am hoping to pick up a painted Omega. I also have a smattering of modern stuff, and it's all neat to me. I'd rather spend time posting about things I love than crapping on some toymaker's efforts without even understanding what he's going for.

I sold my MP collection years ago, and these "lazy" and "cheap" vinyl figs actually cost as much as, if not more than, most standard-sized MPs. Handmade in Japan, extremely limited batches. In fact, these are the only TFs right now that are still made in Japan.

When I got rid of my MP collection and started collecting sofubis hardcore, I found that I was spending many times more money than I was before. It's surprising even to me how expensive the hobby can get.

EatingSand

It’s astounding how many people don’t understand sofubi and the culture surrounding it. These aren’t supposed to be mass marketable figures, they’re pieces of art created by independent toy makers. Given the opportunity I’d gladly pick these up!

Thank you for getting it.

JomasterII

Fuck yeah, love me some retro Sofubi. I've got a shitton of vintage Kamen Rider ones so this is right up my alley; shame the run's so limited though.

I've got a bunch of Medicom's retro-styled Riders. They're wonderful.

RickyLeeSTF

It’s amazing how many of the collectors here don’t see the artistry and craftsmanship going into these vinyl figures to make them nearly identical to the style and quirkiness of the original Takara softvi from the mid80s. Is it incredibly niche? Yes. That’s why this hobby is so great. To me, these are infinitely better looking than 80% of the Generations offerings from Hasbro/ Takara Tomy.

Exactly.

View attachment 29823110 View attachment 29823113 View attachment 29823114 View attachment 29823112 View attachment 29823111

It’s amazing how many of the collectors here don’t see the artistry and craftsmanship going into these vinyl figures to make them nearly identical to the style and quirkiness of the original Takara softvi from the mid80s.

Is it incredibly niche? Yes. That’s why this hobby is so great. To me, these are infinitely better looking than 80% of the Generations offerings from Hasbro/ Takara Tomy.

Lord Of Tetris

I, too, usually don't jump into a topic just to say something negative about a product I don't intend to buy, but come on.

These look worse than Action Masters, and they appear to have worse articulation than Action Masters. Based on the size relative to the hand, they look like they're about the size of Action Masters.

I suppose these might have some use if you had, say, several large Titans and you wanted to put Omega Supreme and Devastator in there for a scale diorama, but I would even only want these if they were very affordable. Whatever they cost, it's probably too much.

I sometimes get concerned about dilution of the brand. The cohesion of the brand was probably at its strongest with Beast Wars, Animated, and the first two Michael Bay movies. Everything transformed. The McDonalds toys transformed. For the kids, there were Fast Action Battlers, Legends, and Activators. Even the DVD case for the first Michael Bay movie transformed. Sure, some products were better than others, but this is a franchise about transforming robots, and almost everything transformed.

Just on the first few pages of TFW2005, I see posts about these figures, Flame Toys Jazz, awful-looking VHS-style posters, Funko Pop Devastator, Jada Cast Optimus Prime truck, etc. I was actually fine with Action Masters when I was a kid because something transformed, such as the larger vehicle or a weapon, but when there are that many options for a character, and so many of them don't transform, the brand of "Transformers" is getting stretched thin.

Let's say you're a huge fan of the Optimus Prime design in the first Michael Bay movie. The more mature fans could buy the Leader class toy. Those on a budget could buy the Voyager toy. Young children could buy the Legends class toy or the Fast Action Battler. I suppose very young children could get those Revoltech-style non-transforming figures or the non-posable super-deformed figurines. But most of these figures were genuine attempts to represent the onscreen look of the character, and most of these transformed. I don't have a problem with multiple toys of the same character. If you wanted a toy of that particular Optimus Prime, there was a reasonably high-quality transforming product that looks more-or-less like the character for fans of every age and budget point.

What I do have a problem with is an onslaught of toys that don't genuinely represent the character in the fiction and don't transform. Off the top of my head, let's take Devastator. There's Paralyzing Toyz Devastator, Super 7 Devastator, Funko Pop Devastator, and probably more that I'm forgetting. The only mainline Devastator that represents the G1 character is Combiner Wars from almost a decade ago. I suppose you can argue that Paralyzing Toyz Devastator represents the cartoon-accurate version of Devastator, which you're not exactly getting with Combiner Wars Devastator, but you could also buy Super 7 Devastator for cartoon accuracy. I really don't think Funko Pops Devastator appeals to Transformer fans who like Devastator. Devastator has never looked like that. Rather, the Funko Pop Devastator probably appeals to people who like Funko Pops and have a passing interest in Devastator. I suppose that gets Hasbro some more revenue in low-effort merchandising, but I really, really, really think it's hurting the brand when you're not able to get an actual transforming, combining Devastator and the last one was a decade ago, while there's plentiful options for non-transforming, and (in my opinion) hideous low-effort (licensed) third-party figures.

Instead of 10 different Devastators to choose from, I'd rather have all that time and money go into, oh, let's say three different Devastators of various sizes, complexity, and price points so that there's a transforming product for everyone.

Yes, I understand that (licensed) third parties are forbidden to develop transforming products so as not to upstage Hasbro, but maybe that should be revisited! I'm not saying that, say, Flame Toys should be delegated to make the mainline figures, but maybe Hasbro can make the mainline figures really good, while companies like Flame Toys can make some Fast Action Battler-style toys for the kids, or crazy complicated Chogokin-style figures that cost thousands of dollars. I just really think something is wrong when you really like a character (again, let's take Devastator for example), and this is a brand about transforming robots, and you can't walk into the store and buy a transforming Devastator, but you CAN find Funko Pops, Super 7, etc.

/rant

Well said!
So much of this stuff is just landfill.

VVa

Maybe, but still. How many people are gonna buy them when damn near every G1 character has an updated version within the last 5 years that look infinitely better?

This is focused on emulating what was a very common style of old toy. These kinds of limited figure runs will barely crack a hundred or so toys. Wonder Festival has a lot of products like this.

Here's a vintage Gundam version of the same kind of toy. You can find many similar figures for lots of properties in Japan.

View attachment 29822843

Lord Of Tetris

I, too, usually don't jump into a topic just to say something negative about a product I don't intend to buy, but come on.

These look worse than Action Masters, and they appear to have worse articulation than Action Masters. Based on the size relative to the hand, they look like they're about the size of Action Masters.

I suppose these might have some use if you had, say, several large Titans and you wanted to put Omega Supreme and Devastator in there for a scale diorama, but I would even only want these if they were very affordable. Whatever they cost, it's probably too much.

I sometimes get concerned about dilution of the brand. The cohesion of the brand was probably at its strongest with Beast Wars, Animated, and the first two Michael Bay movies. Everything transformed. The McDonalds toys transformed. For the kids, there were Fast Action Battlers, Legends, and Activators. Even the DVD case for the first Michael Bay movie transformed. Sure, some products were better than others, but this is a franchise about transforming robots, and almost everything transformed.

Just on the first few pages of TFW2005, I see posts about these figures, Flame Toys Jazz, awful-looking VHS-style posters, Funko Pop Devastator, Jada Cast Optimus Prime truck, etc. I was actually fine with Action Masters when I was a kid because something transformed, such as the larger vehicle or a weapon, but when there are that many options for a character, and so many of them don't transform, the brand of "Transformers" is getting stretched thin.

Let's say you're a huge fan of the Optimus Prime design in the first Michael Bay movie. The more mature fans could buy the Leader class toy. Those on a budget could buy the Voyager toy. Young children could buy the Legends class toy or the Fast Action Battler. I suppose very young children could get those Revoltech-style non-transforming figures or the non-posable super-deformed figurines. But most of these figures were genuine attempts to represent the onscreen look of the character, and most of these transformed. I don't have a problem with multiple toys of the same character. If you wanted a toy of that particular Optimus Prime, there was a reasonably high-quality transforming product that looks more-or-less like the character for fans of every age and budget point.

What I do have a problem with is an onslaught of toys that don't genuinely represent the character in the fiction and don't transform. Off the top of my head, let's take Devastator. There's Paralyzing Toyz Devastator, Super 7 Devastator, Funko Pop Devastator, and probably more that I'm forgetting. The only mainline Devastator that represents the G1 character is Combiner Wars from almost a decade ago. I suppose you can argue that Paralyzing Toyz Devastator represents the cartoon-accurate version of Devastator, which you're not exactly getting with Combiner Wars Devastator, but you could also buy Super 7 Devastator for cartoon accuracy. I really don't think Funko Pops Devastator appeals to Transformer fans who like Devastator. Devastator has never looked like that. Rather, the Funko Pop Devastator probably appeals to people who like Funko Pops and have a passing interest in Devastator. I suppose that gets Hasbro some more revenue in low-effort merchandising, but I really, really, really think it's hurting the brand when you're not able to get an actual transforming, combining Devastator and the last one was a decade ago, while there's plentiful options for non-transforming, and (in my opinion) hideous low-effort (licensed) third-party figures.

Instead of 10 different Devastators to choose from, I'd rather have all that time and money go into, oh, let's say three different Devastators of various sizes, complexity, and price points so that there's a transforming product for everyone.

Yes, I understand that (licensed) third parties are forbidden to develop transforming products so as not to upstage Hasbro, but maybe that should be revisited! I'm not saying that, say, Flame Toys should be delegated to make the mainline figures, but maybe Hasbro can make the mainline figures really good, while companies like Flame Toys can make some Fast Action Battler-style toys for the kids, or crazy complicated Chogokin-style figures that cost thousands of dollars. I just really think something is wrong when you really like a character (again, let's take Devastator for example), and this is a brand about transforming robots, and you can't walk into the store and buy a transforming Devastator, but you CAN find Funko Pops, Super 7, etc.

/rant