Well, the cat’s outta the bag ! … We are happy to show the exclusive Hello Kitty Kaiju figure only via EMP Museum in Seattle ( http://www.empmuseum.org ) ! Each is fully hand cast in soft vinyl ( sofubi ) and hand painted in Japan by Master craftsmen.
The Hello Kitty Supercute exhibit travels from Japanese American National Museum to EMP museum with an opening party Friday night November 13th, 2015 ( I’ll be there π ) and public opening on Saturday.
The figure will be available in their store ( but please check with them in terms of online sales etc ) It’s exclusive to EMP, so I will not have any to sell sorry to say.
Sanrio X Max Toy x EMP museum, with special thanks to JapanLA !! Meow !
Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since founding Max Toy Company ! I thought I would share some behind the scene pics from the early days. We start with my original character, Captain Maxx. Named after my son Max … whom the company is named for as well π While we’ve gone on to make Captain Maxx in other sizes and in Japan, this first China made version remains my favorite.
Fun Fact: I use “Max” so much (company name, Characters etc) that people think my name is Max ! I’d say about a third of the emails are addressed to MaxΒ π
Before launching the character I posted up a secret web site, which gave the back ground details on where Captain Maxx came from: www.captainmaxx.com
By the way, it’s a fictitious story but fans still think there was a vintage TV series in JapanΒ ;-P
Here’s the sketch I did that the factory used to base the sculpt below on. My influences for the figure included Ultraman, Spectreman, Mirrorman and Marvel comics 60s Captain Marvel .. all mashed up !
Sporting a “removable” mask which reveals a hybrid face underneath of Me (hair parted in the middle), Max ( his dimple on the cheek) and the generic Japanese toy male face sculpt.
Header card painting I did for this project. Acrylics on canvas.
Backing card with cutaway view of Captain Maxx. Pen and Ink with airbrush.
There’s nothing like seeing your logo on the foot for the first time π
Final figure, bagged.
And of course Captain Maxx needed his own theme song ! Hope you enjoyed this look back .. I’ll post up more throughout the year.
Captain Maxx theme song retro version by Yunck & Trierweiler.
Song written, produced and recorded by Yunck & Trierweiler.
Opening tonight, NO GHOST LOGOS, a tribute to the Ghostbusters logo and the man behind it,Β Michael C. Gross. Curated by the ever busy Chogrin at Creature features gallery.
http://creaturefeatures.com
Here’s my 80s chrome style logo .. with photoshop help by MaxΒ π I believe all the logos are printed on wood, with proceeds benefiting a Cancer charity. Check it out !
Sorry for the lack of updates been working on customs for various upcoming shows plus randomly dropping Ultimate SaiKobi customs in the web store (all sold out) Above is a test shot of a Saikobi on a tank .. part of a special series we are working on for 2016 debut π I’ll try to post up a few more as we go along. Its gonna be a very cool project ! Of course you can get daily random Kaiju posts from me via Instagram: @maxtoyco
Well it’s been awhile but we finally have a new Lady Darkness ! This Tropical version is available in two versions, Face and Mask types ( each sold separately π ) This particular figure sports close to 30 different masks … amazing painted details ! Lady Darkness is a villain of Lady Maxx ( for those who don’t know, buy our Lady Maxx comic book )
and below we also have the first factory paint version of our Kaiju Ultimate SaiKobi Mecha Dino figure !
Painted by master Kaiju painters, The Maruyama Brothers, in Japan. How can you go wrong with a half mecha Dino and half Dino, well Dino ! Both in our web store now !
On sale Friday, Sept 24, 2015 via our web store – http://www.maxtoyco.com – This is a one of a kind Ultimate SaiKobi. Hand painted by Mark Nagata, using Monster Kolor paints !
Color change and clear coated .. take him in the Sun for a nice sparkle look !
We’ve got a factory painted version arriving any day now… at a cheaper price point in case you want to wait ;-P
Opening this Saturday is a tribute show to the cult film Monster Squad. Curated by the ever busy Chogrin, the Gillman image to the right above is my contribution. Below are some random process shots of how I went about painting this piece. Both the original and giclee prints are available at the show / gallery.
First step is always a full pencil rendering on the board. Using Crescent watercolor board. Image above, has some paynes grey under painting .. just adding grey tones to the pencil work.
Using acrylics to tone the whole board. Paint has some matte medium mixed in to thin it down, but keep the bright color.
More toning, knocking some of the brightness back a bit.
Going back in and pulling out the reflective lights .. bring forms back into focus.
Face is just about done, moving to the background which is going to be a loose indication of a swampy area …
