The Eel Cat of Shiba Mata

Altr. Tokyo is a small boutique in the sleepy time-slip neighborhood of Shibamata. Its 2 short stops from Aoto but feels like its a ride 50 years into Japan's Showa-era past. The area is famous as the locale for the long-running Tora-san series of films which spanned 48 installments (1969–95). The boutique's owner is Yuichi Hanzawa, a RxH Fortune cat collaborator since the historic RxH After School Event in June 2009 and who often has in-shop exclusive versions. His cats always have the characters 柴又 (Shibamata) on the coin.

Recently he unveiled an original figure - the Eel Cat. The same size as a fortune cat baby but mutated with a distinct caricature of the japanese eel - a popular creature in Japan. I am sure there is a nod and wink to the Eel Dog character from the manga work Tensai Bakabon by Fujio Akatsuka. The versions available at Altr. Tokyo will have 柴又 (Shibamata) on the coin and the versions available at Shinto Gangu wil have the characters 青砥 (Aoto) them.

Just in case you didn't have enough stuff to collect.

Rainbow Minis Are Go!

In the store now! Refresh!

**UPDATE** We thought we had plenty of these to go around but you guys are animals. Still a few left but we have engaged the LOW STOCK protocol.

**UPDATE** Shef Minis are gone, thanks everyone! A few Fortune Cats remain!

Sunday Busy Sunday

This past Sunday, October 17th was a very busy day in the world of Real x Head. After a long night of full-on preparation and little sleep, the day kicked off in Shinjuku at the boutique of Kaiju Blue. Kaiju Blue is located on the ground floor of  Marui One Department Store in Shinjuku and has a small gallery space that hosts monthly exhibitions featuring the work of “Kaiju Artists”. The current show is called (SHIN)JUKU BATTLE ROYAL and  features Real x Head, his second exhibition at the shop, which kicked off on October 14 and runs until November 17. 

When the shopping center opened at 11:00am there was a blind bag sale of an amazing assortment of RxH figures that were representational of many of the collaborations and themes of RxH circa 2010. All 12 figures available were standard sized characters from the Mutant Zone Series most in old school style sprays with a couple of twists. ChaoQ (2 versions), Chaos, Chaos Fighter, Clone Mutant Evil, and Mutant Bigaro represented the old school with new Colorway Mashups of the Mutant Dokurocks crossover with Skulltoys, Oni Mutant crossover with Yamazakura and the debut Chaosman crossover with Mirock Toys. Rounding out the line-up were Rainbow specials of Kaizer Head and Fighter Chaos by Shef of Cha-iro Brown. The representative figures are still on display but a frown-inducing sold-out sign was added to the display around noon. The Kaiju Korner blog has some excellent pictures of the show online and there are more at this flickr set.

But no time to rest. Back to the Shinto Gangu for the second event on the days agenda, an in-store event celebrating the Katsushika Night radio show that Mori takes part in. The show is on the local radio station Katsushika FM with a rotating cast of interesting characters from the Katsushika City area. Its hosted by talent announcer Shinpei and actress Sasa Handa, star of such of underground hits as Attack Girls' Swim Team Versus the Undead and Kekko Kamen, who were on hand for the event. The event started at 3pm - there were official t-shirts available and exclusive Fortune Cat Babies signed by Sasa. Well over 100 people came through the shop shattering the old one-day record of 26.

It made for a long and busy but exciting day... but it wasn't over yet. The Katsushika Night radio program is on every Sunday Night from 9 - 11pm. After closing the shop and biking over to the studio, Mori launched a new segment on the show entitled: 『リアルヘッドの２号店への道』. The more enquiring minds among you can run that through Google Translation.

All this sounds exhausting but there is still tons more coming up. There are 2 more release events at Kaiju Blue before the show finishes, an exhibition right after at Parco in Shibuya; and the grand opening of the Real x Head U.S.A online shop before the end of October.

Whew.

Taking it to the streets - Beat 3 in Asakusa

This past Sunday, on the sundrenched streets of the Asakusa historical district there was a small little festival called Beat 3. There was a small musical stage set up in a temple and art stalls on the street. The locals and tourists alike ogled at the strange vinyl monsters and other strange and crafty treasures on offer.

Nestled among the stalls with popular character artist UAMOU, a fresh young Akiba idol named Nemu-chan, and Ms. Ya-ko, a self proclaimed maker of Handmade dolls and Kitsch goods who looked like a doll herself; was our man Mori Katsura - always on the lookout for new markets and new customers. The regular Real x Head crew all came out and new fans were made as the day went on.

There was something for everyone inluding a fresh new batch of baby fortune cats that all looked resplendent in the summer sun;  clear green vinyl with green sprays and multi-colored heavy lame plus 3 stylish dyed versions by "rainbow Master" Shef in traditional Japanese  hues. There was also a new large sized Fortune Cat, and even a secret Chaos release.

As an added bonus there was the new Billiken-styled Angel and Devil finger puppets from Pop Soda, a freaky new Baby Eel Cat by Altr Tokyo and a bone-colored Honesuke from Gaikotsu Shokai (the new joint label by Real x Head and Skulltoys).

Lots more pictures over at the Flickr Set.

The Real x Head After School Club