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.

NEW Real x Head U.S.A. Forum

BIG NEWS! The kind folks over at October Toys have given Real x Head U.S.A. our own little forum in their uber-friendly Toy Community. George and Ayleen the self-described "creative misfits" who own October Toys have a lifetime of experience collecting toys and two decades combined experience working in the toy industry. In addition to creating GWINS and the popular Z.O.M.B.I.E. line - their ground-breaking podcast Toy Break is Must See -TV

About the forum - there are 2 sections- the first is Real x Head toys - where ya'll can discuss the latest releases and pick the brains of RxH old-timers about the rich pantheon of Real x Head toys. See if you can stump Sigmund - the forum administrator and self-proclaimed RxH "know-it-all".

We are really excited about the second section which is called the Mutation Zone. We would love to see what all you creative folks out there come up with when you interact with the Real x Head universe. Customs of existing figures are of course are welcome in this category, but what we would really like to see is original art, concepts and stories. Everyone has a "universe" in their mind (some of you have a more than one I am sure). We have seen what Chaos looks like in the Glyo-verse and when cross-bred with Pheyden. What does Chaos look like in your universe??? What if Mutant Clone Evil fought Snake-Eyes??? What if Hone Borg really was one of the ST-TNG BORG? Go crazy! Play Nice!

THANKS Ayleen! THANK YOU GEORGE! OBEN!

BattleGrip.com is one of the best toy review blogs out there. Phil Reed - the man behind it - writes thoughtful reviews of everything from commercial action figures to independent resin and vinyl toys with a smattering  of old cereal commercials thrown in for good measure. We recommend you start everyday with a healthy bowl of Battlegrip!
Check out his in-depth reviews of Chaos Q Bean (review here),  Pheyaos (review here and second review here), Pheyaos Man (review here), Mini-Pheyden (review here), Mini-Scar Pheyden (review here), and Mohican Hone-Borg (review here).

Lulubell Toy Bodega reduces pricing on Real x Head

The good folks over at Lulubell Toy Bodega have permanently reduced pricing on Real x Head across the board to be more in line with Japanese retail!

Lulubell says: Mori has a true love & passion for his art.  We have a special appreciation, gratitude and respect for Mori, and when we stand behind someone, it is because of that belief in the people behind the product, not solely the product itself.  Yes, the product must be a high quality, but it is high quality people and ethics that make that possible. And by lowering prices, we hope to be able to give more people the ability to appreciate what we do about Real x Head.  RHND!

Free shipping on orders over $100!

Check out their entire Real x Head line up!
These classic releases available now!

King Waru Bone Black
$50

Hone Borg Silver
$50

Evil Bat - Metallic Green Rub
$50

Mutant Zone Series 3
Kaizer Head
$50

Mini Jinja R
$20

Mini Mutant Head - Pink
$30

Mini Organ Bat - Pink
$30

Shonen Borg (Mini)
$30

Mutant Zone Series 1
Mutant Chaos - Brown Magic
$50

Mutant Zone Series 1
Mutant Bigaro - Pearl red
$50

Mutant Zone Series 1
Mutant Bigaro - Yellow/Blue
$50

BIGAROID
 Clear w/ Red, Silver & Black
$60

Real x Head Series
 Mutant Head - Bronze
$70

Chaosman Series
Chaosman #1 - Clear
$70

Chaosman Series Crossover Corps releases at Shinto Gangu

The heat in Tokyo shows no signs of abating. At Shinto Gangu, the Crossover Corpsmen from the Chaosman Series keep on coming. Many of these are on GID vinyl - all of them are bad-ass.

 I think I want this army on my side.

Biter Man - RxH x Paul Kaiju

Necromon - RxH x L'amour Supreme

Cy'Os - RxH x fig-lab

Callgrim - RxH x Rawshark Studios

Chaosman #2 - pure Real x Head

Devil-ish Necromon - RxH x L'amour Supreme

Welcome to the Official Real x Head U.S.A. website!

Real x Head is launching this website to reach out and connect with its fans in the States and all over the rest of the world. This website will be the place to find inside information, explore character stories from the Mutant Zone, preview exciting collaborations and pick-up exclusive web-only releases!

This is our way to try and say to all you old-timers -  "Thank You for all your support over the years!"  and as a way to initiate a new generation of fans - "Welcome Aboard!"

Big thanks to our pals at Onell Design who are helping out with logistics on the U.S. side of things. Matt and Marcus you guys are the best in more ways than we can enumerate. Also a special shout out to WTFunks for letting us slice and dice his beautiful photographs for the site header. Yo!

So much more to come!

What RxH did on his summer vacation...

Returning from breezy San Diego as soon as we stepped off the plane in Narita , the hot humid air hit us like a wall of sweaty fudge. Summer had come to Japan in full effect in our short absence. This August has been one of the hottest and muggiest in recent memory. In Japan the traditional summer festival of O-Bon is when most people leave Tokyo to return to their hometown and honor their relatives. Business for most practical purposes grinds to a halt. Sales are slow. People stay in to beat the heat.... but not Real x Head. Heading out on his trusty bicycle to see the master painter Goto-san almost daily - Mori has been produced a cornucopia of old school style micro-releases with something new going on sale at Shinto Gangu - the Real x Head store in Aoto - almost every day this month. Pictures have been trickling out over twitter and flickr, but we wanted to gather together pix of many of these releases for this blog post and soon we will put a proper archive of this batch of timeless classics.