Tag Archives: photography

Kaiju vs Heroes Japanese American National Museum show 2018

This AWESOME image by the extraordinary Photographer Brian McCarty will be the signature image for the upcoming “Kaiju vs Heroes: Mark Nagata’s Journey through the World of Japanese Toys ” exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. 

Here’s what Brian said about the image he took :

Shot for the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, the photo celebrates the upcoming exhibition “Kaiju vs Heroes,” featuring Mark Nagata’s unrivalled collection of vintage Japanese toys. Born out of the cultural ashes of World War II, these distinctive soft vinyl figures became both a means for Japanese Americans to reconnect with their culture and an apt metaphor for postwar relations between the United States and Japan.

The exhibit opens on September 15th, 2018 and will run for about 6 months into 2019. We have various events etc planned so stay tuned for more info on the exhibit in the coming months.

 

By the way, if you don’t already know, please check out the important work Brian is doing for his War Toys project – https://wartoysproject.com/

You know I just make these silly toy collectibles …but, out in the real world people like Brian are actually making a difference for these kids caught in very tragic conditions.

 

Alice in MaxToyLand Kaiju Negora set

I recently had the pleasure of collabing with Shifty toy photography ( @shifty_toys ) on this special 14 piece, custom painted Negora ( by Mark Nagata ) with print, Kaiju Negora set. Inspired by the Cheshire Cat & Alice in Wonderland ! The result was this stunning photo by Shifty !!

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Check out the process pics as well. The set is fully hand built with later photo manipulation. The result is a moody but fantasy filled image, with nods to Kaiju Eyezon ( see the tree hands !), and other “hidden” Max Toy figures  😉

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I’m sorry to say that Max Toy club members bought them all ;-(

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We had fun with this project, so stay tuned for another collab very soon ! 🙂

If you want a copy of this or other toy images Shifty has created, please contact him below.

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Image copyright by Shifty Photography 2015 – https://www.facebook.com/shifty.toys  https://instagram.com/shifty_toys

Negora character copyright Konatsu