Oh, the Urbanity

Newsflash: designer-toy freaks are getting left out in the cold (or blistering heat, if you're talking about Tokyo this summer) by manufacturers who deliberately avoid producing enough of their product go around. I got an earful about this from several fans at Wonderfest, but you can read another account here in this thread on the "Skullbrain" BBS, where irate collectors talk of lining up outside a certain designer toy shop for days on end in an attempt to score their favorite pieces. "I was in front... by 6:45 am... [but] everything, Everything, EVERYTHING was SOLD OUT by the time I got in," moans one collector. Meanwhile, "a guy I know was in line for 24hrs," sympathizes another. This is all for the privilege of paying 7000 yen ($60) and up for a piece of polyvinyl chloride in the shape of a cute-looking monster.

It's just another day in the life of that sub-sub-species of otaku known as the "urban vinyl collector." So what are "urban vinyls?" Just what the name implies: little vinyl figures designed by and for a hip, "urban" crowd. They've grown over the last five years or so from an ultra-niche fad into an enduring cottage industry. They're also known as "designer toys," and unlike the playthings churned out by behemoths like Takara-Tomy or Bandai-Namco, they're intended purely for adults. They're also often (but not always) parodies or totally original designs, the better to squeeze out every last yen of profit by not having to pay for an actual character license. And perhaps most importantly, they're made in far shorter production runs than toys for kids. 1000 units is a huge run for a lot of these guys. 300 or 500 is more common, and runs of 50 or even 20 aren't unheard of. The numbers are critical to convincing consumers that they aren't buying "toys" (perish the thought) but rather limited-edition "art" worth spending all day in a line to pick up.

If you're even slightly familiar with the Japanese fashion world, you're probably feeling a sense of deja vu reading this. Case in point: BAPE ("A Bathing Ape"), the legendary chain of boutiques founded by former DJ and current fashion mogul Nigo. For a time the undisputed purveyor of togs for hipsters everywhere, BAPE popularized the now standard Harajuku sales schtick of only allowing a handful of customers into tiny (and often unmarked) stores at a time, forcing huge lines -- and hype -- to build outside. Combined with the tactic of deliberately restricting production runs to super-limited numbers, A Bathing Ape pioneered the art of getting consumers to dedicate hours of their lives to paying extraordinary prices for T-shirts, hats, bandanas, and other accessories seen as commodity items by regular fashion companies.

The overlap in the consumer demographic for designer toys (well-heeled, young, discriminating "early adopter" types) and that of the clotheshorses who hit Harajuku boutiques means the similar approach shouldn't come as a major surprise. Still, this year marks the first time I've heard anything even remotely resembling a backlash from fans, who until now have played along and rolled with whatever punches the manufacturers dish out. But the most interesting part is that that the grumbling's mainly coming from foreign customers, and it seems the BAPE store in Soho has its share of detractors with similar complaints. Will Harajuku-style sales tactics cripple Japanese designer-toy makers' ability to reach a broader audience? More to the point: do they even WANT to reach one? Only time will tell.

Comments

[Roger]

Separated at birth?

http://altjapan.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/08/21/urbanvinyl_2.jpg
http://www.humorinthenews.com/archives/pinaspix/images/powter.jpeg

[Steve Harrison]

Naturally, I'm of two minds on the subject.

On the one hand, there's nothing more funny than otaku whining and crying about their hobby, the sense of entitlement some have, the mad crack habit desire...geeze, there's someone we both know who often snaps up this stuff and turns around to sell it a week or a month later. Now, I'm all in favor of free enterprise and all but seems to me if people just bought the stuff they ACTUALLY WANTED there would be less crying and moaning.

OTOH, the circle is getting tighter and tighter. At some point the collecters are going to say 'screw this' and focus on vintage sofubi again, and those few garage companies that license.

Seems to ME that if making sofubi is as low tech as I seem to recall and you're a specialist manufacturer, you'd want to make as MUCH as the market will take, and reserve wacky variations for special events. and maybe that's what's happening and I don't know because it's not my thing.

All I know is I want my Balanadon and gang of Gamilas officer sofubi. And I want that circle to make Earth chara too.

And I want one of those smoke emitting Godzilla hand puppets.

[Chal Richards]

Ugh, "Urban vinyl"? I think you should head over to kidrobot.com for that garbage. There is NOTHING urban about what you have in that picture, I see nothing more then TOP OF THE LINE JAPANESE VINYL. Get your facts straight before writing more god awful articles littered with innaccuracies.

[annoyed]

I guess you can't stop every moron from talking shit about subjects they know NOTHING about. Nice newsflash, you retard.

[andy]

Something you need to understand is the reason these figures are so limited is not to manufacture an illusion of scarcity but because they are HAND PAINTED (in many cases, by the artists who designed them). Companies usually consist of 1-3 people doing all the painting. Many sofubi companies conist of ONE person doing EVERYTHING, and then selling figures at shows.

So, it's not a conspiracy to create uber scarcity and whip up collector frenzy, as is the case with "chase" figures from companies like Medicom, Kidrobot, etc. whose decisions to produce 1 or 1,000 are entirely based on marketing considerations.

Also, your numbers are off. Most "new kaiju" figures are made in runs of 50 or less. Again, a major reason for this is because they are hand painted by a small number of people.

[Scary Andy]

It's on the internet so it must be true . . . . NOT!

So much wrong information in a such a short feature!

[Matt]

Wow. Looks like I struck a raw nerve.

Just for the record, what I wrote was in no way intended to denigrate the effort of the many talented individuals working in the designer vinyl medium. Anyone with the passion to go through the expense and effort of producing short runs of toys, "pachi-mono," licensed, or otherwise, is a mack daddy as far as I'm concerned.

However, I don't buy hand-painting as the sole reason for the short production runs. Marusan and Bullmark, among many other companies, released similar hand-painted soft vinyl figures in large numbers from the late '60s through the '70s, so the hand labor isn't what's holding the numbers down per se. It's because the vast majority of Japanese designer vinyl makers insist on producing their products in Japan. They could just as easily produce them in larger numbers in China with a hand-painted feel, but choose not to for a variety of reasons: partly for the quality control but mainly for the "made in Japan" cachet.

Since there isn't a huge market for the products that a lot of these companies produce, they're dependent on the "lifestyle" aspect to discriminiate their products from those in the so-called mainstream. This isn't necessarily a negative thing -- in fact, it's pretty savvy -- until your business expands. When it does, customers who bought into the "outsider" hook begin accusing you of selling out, and new ones start getting left out when there isn't enough supply to meet demand. The point I was making isn't that they're "bad" or "wrong," but that that this sort of business model (and it is a definite business model) is a delicate balance.

[andy]

I think you need to learn to differentiate between "handpainted" by someone on an assembly line in China and "handpainted" by the actual artist who sculpted the figure and came up with the paint scheme. There's a huge difference.

If you think everything's about money and marketing, well, there's nothing more anyone can say, is there. Can't argue with a hardened cynic. ;-)

[Matt]

Do you really believe the original artist who sculpted the Bullmark vinyl kaiju painted each of them by hand....? They and most vintage Japanese toys, including the ones that inspire many designer vinyl makers today, were assembled and painted by people working on assembly lines. Does that devalue them in your eyes, out of curiosity?

[andy]

I was referring to new sofubi. I love vintage toys. My comments weren't directed at them, but at your characterization of the independent sofubi scene. Your analysis seems clouded by preconceptions of the manufacturing and marketing of Western vinyl. Apples and oranges, that game and pachi kaiju.

At the end of the day you mostly come across as kind of bitter. Kick back, have a cold one, pop in some old Ultraman tapes. Otaku Up, baby! ;-)

[rhinomilk]

I think your article should have included how the internet has an effect on this stuff... especially when 80%+ of the production run for BAPE and the toys usually ends up on ebay or YJA. just seems empty w/o mentioning that.

[Roger]

Chal Richards, annoyed, and Scary Andy seem like sober-minded, well-reasoned individuals.

To sketch out what I see as the core of Matt's essay with crayons:

Toys = Fun

Toys - Availability = Less fun

I'd sketch more but I'm out of construction paper.

[annoyed]

"They could just as easily produce them in larger numbers in China with a hand-painted feel, but choose not to for a variety of reasons: partly for the quality control but mainly for the "made in Japan" cachet."

You're a fucking idiot.

[hillsy]

Way to get the kiddies riled, Matthew. You idiot, you.

By the way, pissed off skullbrainers are annoying little buggers. Way worse than the worst TBDX days...

[Matt]

This'll probably blow your mind, but I love a lot of new kaiju toys too. I've got a Zagoran sitting on my shelf, and you can see a U.S. Toys Baltan and an Empire set of "Daikaiju Trump" I picked up at Wonderfest just a few posts down.

All I'm saying (and if the defensive, invective-filled replies I've been getting are any indication, it seems to have struck a chord) that the stance of many designer vinyl companies is carefully crafted. It's designed to avoid destroying the perception of "outsider" cred they've built up with their fans, rather than determined by the limitations of manufacturing or the forces of the marketplace.

The companies that made the toys that influence the designs of many urban vinyl manufacturers -- think Marusan or Bullmark or Takatoku, or Popy -- were run by people who put business ahead of art. If it had been possible to make their toys in China for cheaper back then, they would have (as evidenced by the fact that the majority of mainstream Japanese toy production occurs there today). Ironically, that that same approach appears to be anathema to many designer-toy companies and consumers. As a fan of desinger vinyl yourself, why do you think that is?

[andy]

A major reason is because the quality of the vinyl and paint used in China is horrendous compared to the materials used in Japan. Quality control is also seriously lacking for the "designer toys" made in China.

You seem convinced that pachi kaiju companies are part of a cartel that carefully crafts its image to sell collectors a "lifestyle package" which subverts people into buying their figures. Again, I have to say I think you're mistakenly lumping sofubi with Western (or "urban") vinyl. I'll say it again: apples and oranges.

[Roger]

"You seem convinced that pachi kaiju companies are part of a cartel that carefully crafts its image to sell collectors a 'lifestyle package' which subverts people into buying their figures."

Matt will have his own reply, but I would actually agree with this paragraph, Andy, if the words "cartel" and "subverts" weren't part of it. I don't believe that these companies are working in concert with each other, and I think collectors are making their own purchasing choices without being coerced.

I would definitely agree, though, that the ultra limited edition aspect of these enhances demand (and after-market pricing) far beyond what it should be. But does it have to be like this? Marmit, M1GO, Marusan, etc. have been selling figures for years, in runs of hundreds using the same "hand painted" methods. And they're not huge operations compared to some of the pachimon folks.

And I think the "lifestyle package" phrase definitely fits here, because many of the same outfits like Secret Base, Gargamel, etc. do sell clothing and jewelry along with the toys.

"Again, I have to say I think you're mistakenly lumping sofubi with Western (or 'urban') vinyl. I'll say it again: apples and oranges."

Distinguishing these companies by using "Western" and "Eastern" or "Urban" and "Pachimon" or whatever really doesn't make much of a difference when they're using the same sales and/or marketing strategies.

[andy]

I wanted to add I *do* think there is at least one major sofubi company that regularly engages in the "intentionally limited" game to rustle up otaku fever. And yes, I would say that particular company is going after the "lifestyle" jackpot. (I'm not talking about Gargamel, BTW.)

So I don't mean to say all sofubi companies are created alike. Just as we should not lump Western vinyl and pachi vinyl companies together, so should we look at each sofubi company on its own merits (or shortcomings) case by case.

Also, in my mind, it's *critical* to note that in some (a small handful, anyway) sofubi companies, *all* of the painting is done in house, typically by one or a small number of people. For example, when I buy a Charactics toy, I *know* it was painted by Takahashi-san and not by someone on an assembly line. That may not be important to some collectors, but it is to me.

I'm not going to get into the art vs. toy run around discussion, but (to me anyway) the craftsmanship and artistry involved in the creation of these figures should not be discounted.

[Matt]

I appreciate your insights. I am as much a proponed of soft vinyl as an artistic medium as anyone, but I am fascinated to see a material once used to reach as many people as possible (i.e., kids, the main clientele back in the '60s) being ever-restricted by price and limited numbers to a clubby inner circle of die-hard collectors and "investors." This is essentially the complaint I heard repeated from a variety of individuals at Wonderfest and on the internet.

[andy]

Hmm, I hear what you're saying, but I was also at Wonderfest, and very few sofubi companies totally sold out of everything. There really is plenty out there for the choosing. Also, if anything, the number of figures put out for each new run is *increasing* to meet the larger demand. I've seen this from nearly every sofubi company.

Anyway I think most hobbies are made up of "clubby inner circles" (or maybe several separate clubby circles) - at least when it comes to the hard-core collectors. ;-)

[yiminy]

This post seems pretty accurate to me. I'm pretty sure many of the "designer sofubi" companies are still learning the marketing game, though. But they will learn from Bandai soon enough and then things will be as boring as SOC. Or maybe NOT!

[Matt]

I can see where you're coming from with the categorization issue. But I do find it a little ironic that a group of people so image-conscious that they are offended by the term "urban vinyl" seem to be equally offended by an observation that their hobby is largely founded upon image-consciousness.

Also: the fact that very few sofubi makers sold out of everything at the show could well be the first hard evidence of the fad starting to fade. Only time will tell.