In the US, some of the most common roadside attractions are the “World’s Largest Whatever”: World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle, World’s Largest Ball of Rubber Bands, World’s Largest Rocking Chair, World’s Largest Golf Ball, World’s Largest Ball of Twine, all real and all in the United States.
But why go big, when you can go small…like, really small. How about a 1.5cm (0.6 inch) tall Kamen Rider figure? What’s more, you’ll be able to get one of them in Japan really soon!
April 8 was the spring edition of the biannual Miyazawa Model Exhibition, an industry-only exhibition of the latest figures and their prototypes. Pulchra displayed a prototype 1/7-scale Mikasa figure from Attack on Titan, which shows her in mid-leap over part of a Titan’s hand.
What would you do if you had a father-in-law who made handmade gifts like the one in this photo? Well, if you’re a hardcore Gundam fan, you’d probably be pretty ecstatic. A few days ago, one Japanese netizen tweeted a photo of his father-in-law’s hand-carved Gundam figurine complete with giant bazookas. It gets even cooler because this isn’t even the first one that was made! You won’t believe the following photos showcasing one man’s incredible artistic talent.
It was just 10 days ago that we were detailing our adventurous reporter’s trip to the newly opened Omote 3D Shashin Kan photography studio to be scanned and turned into an ultra-detailed model, and we were told that it’d be a month before the finished product arrived. But would you believe it’s already here! In our sweaty little hands!
Just a few weeks ago, this writer excitedly introduced you to Omote 3D Shashin Kan, the new 3D photography and modelling studio in Tokyo that immortalizes customers as tiny, intricately detailed figurines for just a couple of hundred dollars apiece.
Despite wanting to head down to the fancy new studio myself and decorate my apartment with a collection of mini mes, after much discussion in the office and comments being made like “too handsome” and “they might not have enough plastic to model your nose,” the RocketNews24 crew decided it best to send reporting legend Mr. Sato to do the honours instead.
If there’s one thing Japanese people like to do it’s collect things. And when those things are small, cute or quirky characters, you can bet your bottom dollar that they’ll fight to get the entire set!
In the land of gachapon (onomatopoeia for the sound of a turning mechanism followed by the drop of a ball or capsule) capsule toys and free collectable figures, mobile phone charms and stickers, confectioners Furuta are well known for their Choko Eggu (choco egg) series that include a collectable toy inside the chocolate shell, not unlike Kinder Surprise eggs sold in Europe and Canada.
Since 1999, the company has produced collectible figures including Disney, Marvel and Nintendo characters as well as scale models of automobiles and cars. The figures are always of incredibly high quality and, with the chocolate eggs being sold for just a few hundred yen each, they’re a big hit with children as well as adults. In 2006, however, the company’s animal figure series, which features everything from cute rabbits to ferocious-looking dinosaurs disappeared from shops, much to the disappointment of collectors.
But now, to delight model fans and kleptomaniacs alike, Furuta’s figures are being brought back to the market as stand-alone models, and Japanese collectors are already going nuts.
Ever since I saw Han Solo get encased in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a plastic mould of my friends and family, albeit without sealing them inside the stuff…
Thanks to a little company in Japan called Omote 3D Shashin Kan, though, my dream may be about to become a reality!
Using both 3-D scanning and 3-D printing technology, the ingenious company has made it possible to turn yourself or those you love into a tiny, ultra-detailed figure, with three sizes to choose from.
You’ll have to excuse me if I’m jumping the gun slightly when I say this, but this is clearly the best thing ever!
Awashima Shrine is known as the shrine of “memorial dolls” (dolls given as offerings to the shrine) because of the countless dolls and figures that surround the main building and the grounds. It stands apart from the other shrines of Japan in the otherworldly atmosphere it gives off. Some say it has a psychic energy to it.
At the shrine there is said to be a doll with hair that grows. Who knows if there are really ghosts in the world, but you certainly get the sense there is something “present” when confronted with these eerie yet peaceful guardians.