Garamania

GARAMANIACAL Coloring Contest updates

2012-01-31T13:56:00.001-05:00

A few updates on the Coloring Contest:

-Deadline has been extended to Wednesday, 2/08; entries must be received at FOE or mailed to reach me here in VT by that time.

-The random prize drawings will now take place on Friday, 2/10 at the opening night festivities!

-I still don't have a pic to share (hopefully soon), but I wanted to announce that the fourth item in the prize pool will be a one-off Garamon tribute Ojisan and Karakuri pair from Grody Shogun!

Click here to check out some of the amazing entries that have already rolled into FOE directly! Remember, all entries will be for sale during the run of GARAMANIACAL, with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children!

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your entries, Gara-fiends!!!

It's getting more & more GARAMANIACAL

2012-01-30T23:16:00.000-05:00

PLASEEBO/Bob Conge:

hellopike/Phil Staszkiw:

Robert Decastro:

Prometheum5/Ben Mininberg:

Michael Skattum:

Leecifer/Lee Gajda:

Mutant Vinyl Hardcore/Rich Montanari Jr.:

Ralph Cosentino:

MUCH more to come....

GARAMANIACAL previews & teasers

2012-01-26T18:49:00.000-05:00

Matt Sesow:

Gorilla Mouth/Troy Stith (work in progress):

Toybot Studios/Kirkland Jue:

GUUMON/Brian Mahony:

Munktiki/Miles Nielsen:

PaulKaiju:

Much, MUCH more to come... stay tuned!

Garamania & GARAMANIACAL stickers are here!

2012-01-24T20:02:00.005-05:00

These fantabulous 11” vinyl stickers (made by the good people of Sticky Brand) of Walter Parenton’s two terrific Gara-logos are now available for $4.00 each, mailed anywhere in the world. Paypal can go to manordstrom@gmail.com; be sure to specify in the body of your Paypal message which of the three styles (Garamania, Garamania Diecut, or the amazing two-for-one goodness of GARAMANIACAL) you are ordering, and quantity of each. Due to the insane level of busy-ness in prepping for all things GARAMANIACAL, I ask that online buyers allow 2 to 4 weeks for shipping. These stickers will also be available at GARAMANIACAL!

Mr. Atom Gray enters the GARAMANIACAL coloring contest

2012-01-23T20:18:00.005-05:00

Two beauteous hand-colored GARAMANIACAL coloring contest entries received from Atom today (you gotta embiggen):

YEAH!

omg. omg. OMG.

2012-01-22T02:52:00.000-05:00

Standing on the verge...

See more on The Becoming update page... and please help me rally to the goal!
Just four days to go!
We can do it!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, GARA-SUPPORTERS!!!

Thanks, Gara-backers!

2012-01-20T15:03:00.001-05:00

We are up and over the halfway mark with The Becoming, with six rally-days to go!

THANK YOU, Gara-backers far and wide!
I will not let thee down!

The Garamike face sculpt is still in its earliest stages, only roughed-in; Mike Ridge and I are keeping in very close communication on it, discussing and refining, but he’s doing a terrific job, and I can’t resist sharing a progress shot here:

More to come soon!

Douglas Adams told us…

2012-01-19T10:31:00.000-05:00

… that the ultimate answer is 42; Garamon famously did a version of one of his favorite 80s pop hits, Level 42’s “Something About You” on his (sadly out-of-print) 1995 covers collection, Just Smashing; and we currently have 42 artists on board for GARAMANIACAL*.
Prefect.

*Yeah, I know, the show poster's not up to date w/ the full list of names... working on it!

We interrupt our regularly-scheduled GARAMANIACAL programming...

2012-01-19T09:12:00.001-05:00

... to let you know that Miyazaki-san at Atragon G-K has pretty much finished his Garamon kit and it is, unsurprisingly, wonderful. He really dialed in on some true-to-the-suit details, and also made some very unique interpretive decisions. Check out the shape of the nose overall, and the nostrils in particular- real grotesque elegance going on. The strange vertical seam-like impression running down the torso is something I have never picked up on before, and it makes me want to rewatch the Ultra Q Gara-eps again soon, to see if I can discern it. As ever, he's included the heavy-duty zipper up the back, and the placement of the spikes to the left and right of it is exceptionally well-done, obscuring this great detail just enough to make your eyes want to dig in and find it. Can't wait to see his paint-up of this beast!

Check out these pics from his recent posts, then head on over to his site to check out the rest.

New GARAMANIACAL coloring contest entries & new prize pics!

2012-01-17T22:55:00.001-05:00

New shots of the prizes (all but one that is... the fourth prize I haven't received pics of yet... but I can tell you it's very Grody):

Download your images to Gara-color here!
Rules and details here!
Thanks in advance for your entry!

The Becoming of Garamike: Rally Time!

2012-01-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

I want to make a special offer to anyone who donates $10 or more to the project over the next 10 days: in addition to items from the first two Backer Rewards packages (shout-out on Garamania and stickers), you will receive the following from the $200 level: have Garamike speak, sing or chant any message of 222 words or less in a video to be broadcast via Garamania and YouTube, or sent privately.

Don’t miss this opportunity to severely delight and/or vex your family, friends and enemies! Years of singing and doing voiceover work have left me with an incurable case of golden throat! Even the barracuda-like sawtooth dental veneers in the mouth of Garamike won’t stop my sonorous tones from coming through (well, if sonorous is what you want… we could go with guttural or grating, too)!

What could induce a “WTF!!” fugue-state more efficaciously than a close-up vid of a grotesque meteorite monster croaking out the Bee-Gees’ “More Than a Woman”, reciting a passage from Ulysses, or giving Gara-voice to your own original song or word-creation!

Operators are (not) standing by… act now!

THANK YOU!!!

The Becoming... 11 days left...

2012-01-15T00:06:00.001-05:00

3 of about 222...

Getting down to the wire with the Kickstarter fundraising... huge thanks to those who have backed the project so far! I greatly appreciate it! Progress is being made, and Garamike is going to be nothing short of *AMAZING* in looks and performance (ultra-expressive and very durable)... but costs (latex, foam, epoxy resin, alginate, platinum silicone, special paints and thinners, Ultracal, labor costs for the mask-sculpting and painting) are mounting! Please have a look at the Kickstarter page; there are some great Backer Reward packages. I hope to have mock-ups of the two different t-shirts backers will be able to choose between very soon. Any bit of help in bringing this thing to life would be greatly appreciated; thank you very much in advance for your support!

Two new prizes added to GARAMANIACAL coloring contest!

2012-01-12T10:44:00.001-05:00

Pics coming soon, but two great new prizes have been added to the coloring contest:

M1-GO Semi-Ningen (dapper green-suited version, brand new (from 1991) in unopened bag!
One-of-a-kind GARAMANIACAL exclusive Grody Shogun Ojisan and Karakuri pair!

Get crackin', Gara-fiends!

Edmiston does Garamon

2012-01-11T16:17:00.000-05:00

Jason's painting for GARAMANIACAL...

I have... no words...

Four more great additions to the GARAMANIACAL roster!

2012-01-10T17:31:00.000-05:00

Amazingly, the show roster has grown a bit more!
We're now up to 40 contributing artists!
Toybot Studios/Kirkland Jue and Michael Skattum both got on board almost a month ago now; I added their names to the original GARAMANIACAL announcement, but just wanted to bring it up here, too.

Last week, we added Northampton's own Rob Kimmel (have a look at his great father-son daily comics blog, Wander Monster, too) and rising street art phenom Street Grapes (maybe you've seen his stickers in any given East Coast city... or in Sao Paulo...).

Stay tuned, Gara-fans!

Oh... have I mentioned...

2012-01-04T09:48:00.001-05:00

...that there's a GARAMANIACAL COLORING CONTEST?

There's a GARAMANIACAL COLORING CONTEST!!!

WIN AMAZING GARAMON TOYS!!!

HAVE YOUR GARA-ARTWORK ENTRIES SOLD AT FOE DURING THE RUN OF GARAMANIACAL, WITH ALL PROCEEDS SUPPORTING THE GREAT AND CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT WORK OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN!!!

GO!!!

Sorry for yelling, dudes.
I'm just excited...

Double Walters On The Dime

2012-01-03T10:05:00.003-05:00

I have to take a minute to mention that there are two great Walters participating in GARAMANIACAL: header card/video art master Walter Parenton, and someone who just got on board in the last few days, the esteemed sculptor Walter Chauskoskis.

The severely kickass new Garamania header logo above? Walter Parenton delivered that magic, as well as a GARAMANIACAL version that you’ll see here and @ FOE, as we get closer to the show. Full Garamonic salute to Mr. Parenton; awesome work, man.

Chauskoskis has been on fire for a while now; he is perhaps best known for being the clay-pusher being the figural realization of Jeff Lamm’s Greasebat. (Have you seen his recent Kung Fu-stance, betailed Greasebat custom? WOW…) Walter C. is a major fan of Garamon, I’m delighted to have him on the roster, and I can’t wait to see what he does!

GARAMANIACAL opens Friday, February 10th at FOE Shop & Gallery in Northampton, MA.
Be there as this cozy little corner of the Northeastern US becomes the center of the Garaverse!

The Becoming of Garamike: Lifecasting Session

2012-01-02T09:34:00.002-05:00

rrrrmmmmmfffff...

More pics and info on the Kickstarter page!

I'll be adding an update later this week which will preview some of the Backer Reward merch, including the t-shirt image and some ephemera... stay tuned!

Also... now that the presents are all unwrapped... all turkey and ham and champagne and chocolates and ham-flavored champagne chocolates have been consumed... laffs have been had... don't slip into a downcast post-holidaze slump... let the fun continue with the GARAMANIACAL COLORING CONTEST!!!
WIN GARAMON TOYS!!!
SUPPORT THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN!!!
GO!!!

Coloring contest entry

2011-12-27T00:23:00.004-05:00

Here's one your ol' pal The Proprietor did; of course, I can't win my own prizes, but this one (and any more I can squeak out before opening night, as time allows) will be going in the show to benefit the MSPCC.

This one's all paint markers and spray cans and wrapping paper, for fong's sake! As I said, ANYTHING GOES!!! And you could win AWESOME GARAMON TOYS for your submission!

Work it any way you wanna... keeping your finished piece half a standard page in size is the only rule!

ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

2011-12-25T10:20:00.003-05:00

Noel.

GARAMANIACAL coloring contest!

2011-12-21T19:51:00.001-05:00

WIN TOYS!
SUPPORT THE MSPCC!

Want a chance to win some amazing Garamon toys? Want to have a piece of your own art in the GARAMANIACAL show at FOE? Want to help the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children continue to do great work?

DER ROOLZ
please read carefully

Download the entry form here, featuring two images of Garamon stomping through Tokyo. Contestants will print hard copies of the image(s); printing may be done on paper, cardstock, acetate, cloth… whatever you wish. Each image will count as one entry; in other words, the file linked above has two entries, one with Garamon facing left, the other facing right. You may submit as many entries as you wish.

Contestants will artistically enhance the image in whatever way they wish. It may be simply colored in by hand, with paint, markers, crayon, etc; it may be electronically altered, and then printed; it may be cut up and rearranged/collaged… the ONLY requirement is that the total area of each entry be no bigger than ½ standard page size, or 8.5” x 5.5”.

Contestants will mail their entries, with an enclosed entry fee of $2.00 USD per entry*, to:

GARAMANIACAL
c/o M. Nordstrom
68 Blodgett St
Burlington, VT 05401

*Please no personal checks; cash or postal money orders are fine. Alternatively, you may pay via Paypal to manordstrom@gmail.com; if you do this, you must include a note with your mailed entry saying “Paid via Paypal”, along with your name, the email address the payment was sent from, and the dollar amount sent.

Entries may also be dropped off at FOE (28 Pleasant St, Northampton MA) in person!

Contestants may enter as many times as they wish during the contest period, from Monday, 12/19/2011 through Wednesday, 2/08/2012, and may include multiple entries/entry fees in one mailing.

TWO WAYS TO WIN!

1. On Friday evening, 2/10/2012, the names of four entrants will be drawn at random at the opening night of GARAMANIACAL! These lucky weirdos will each receive an awesome Garamon toy: Yamanaya’s 2002 Event Exclusive pearlescent red Garamon and blue Semi-Ningen set; the new Garamon figure from Buta No Hana (regular version); a green-suited M1-GO Semi-Ningen; and a one-off Garamon tribute Ojisan and Karakuri pair by Grody Shogun! All prizes are new, in mint condition! Each entry will generate one instance of the contestant’s name being entered in the random drawing pool; more entries = more chances to win!
All prizes will be mailed to winners during the week of 2/13/12.

PRIZE PICS!!!

(pic of Grody pair coming soooooon!)

BUTA NO HANA GARAMON!
Chunky!

M1-GO SEMI-NINGEN!

Dapper!

LTD EDITION YAMANAYA GARAMON & SEMI-NINGEN SET!

Feel the Pearlescence!

2. On Thursday, 2/09/2012, all entries will be brought to Northampton, MA, to be featured in the GARAMANIACAL show at FOE Shop & Gallery… just in time for opening night.

GARA-CHARITABLE GIVING!

100% of each $2.00 entry fee will go to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. In addition, for the duration of the show (Friday, 02/10/2012 through Sunday, 3/04/2012), the entries will be on sale in the gallery for $2.00 each. This is your incentive to do your artistic best: 100% of the proceeds from sales will go to MSPCC. Make a little piece of Gara-art that will move someone to buy, and you will have helped MSPCC to do their incredibly valuable work!

Garamania readers who would like to support the organization but do not wish to enter the contest may visit this page for information on how to give.

Questions?

Email garamaniac@gmail.com.

Hello, I am mutating...

2011-12-20T09:46:00.000-05:00

.... and you can help!

Click the pic of Minoru Takahashi for further info...

GARAMANIACAL

2011-12-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

I am thrilled to finally announce this... an event so Garamonically epic, it may rend the very fabric of reality...

Astromonster/Alex Wald

Bill Nordstrom

Bob Eggleton

CUPCO/Luke Temby

Dave Dopko

Gargamel

Gorilla Mouth/Troy Stith

Greasebat/Jeff Lamm

Grody Shogun/Luke Rook

GUUMON/Brian Mahony

hellopike/Phil Staszkiw

Isabel Samaras

Jacquelyn Heloise

Jason Edmiston

Jim Groman

Josh Herbolsheimer

Koji Harmon

Lauren Stutzman

Leecifer/Lee Gajda

Mark Dabelstein

Mark Nagata

Matt Sesow

Miles Nielsen

Monster Worship

Mutant Vinyl Hardcore/Rich Montanari Jr.

Paddy Charles

Paul Kaiju

PLASEEBO/Bob Conge

Prometheum5/Ben Mininberg

Ralph Cosentino

Robert DeCastro

Steve Seeley

zapatoloco/Benoit Robitaille

Walter Parenton

Toybot Studios/Kirlkland Jue

Michael Skattum

Walter Chauskoskis

Rob Kimmel

Street Grapes

Stay tuned... much more to come on this!!

2011-12-03T01:54:00.001-05:00

GARAMANIACAL

FOE
February 2012

US Toys Garamon, Semi-Ningen & saucer set

2011-11-29T10:07:00.001-05:00

Great-looking mini set from US Toys, to be sold in January 2012 at SuperFestival:

To my knowledge, this is the first time all three of these have been packaged together.
I’m not much of a vehicle enthusiast, but the Semi-Ningen spacecraft is an awesome toy (I used it, and the UST Semi-Ningen, in my recreation of Cicada-head’s punitive frying). Super-appealing paint ops on this set, and it looks as though the Garamon may be GiD.

Winter

2011-11-27T13:59:00.001-05:00

It is here.

Howl's Move-Outta-The-Way-Gary Castle

2011-11-24T12:11:00.001-05:00

Smashing new Garamon sculpt from X-Plus

2011-11-12T17:43:00.001-05:00

Pics of a new Garamon from X-Plus have hit, and sculpturally, it looks like a real winner (as ever, let's see how the paint ops turn out on the production piece... and in any case, let's hope they put this one out in a resin kit version, as they did with their Pygmon). Seems like he will be available with a Garadama or destroyed dam base. Nice!

They really kept this one under wraps until now; I had no clue it was coming.

Interestingly, the late-December release date of this one will roughly coincide with the release of Atragon-GK's Garamon...

UPDATE: Got some further info on this guy: he's about 15cm (6"), and the dam version will be the shorter-run variant and a bit more expensive.

Butanohana Garamon: painted sample

2011-11-12T08:53:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: new pics from the Buta blog!

With fangs (or is it drool?) and a chest symbol:

HOLY GARY-MOB!!!

Banpresto Gary has landed

2011-11-06T20:22:00.001-05:00

Hunted this one for a long while; at last he's here and he's freaking GREAT....

Made in China for Banpresto, 2004; 5" tall; seven parts, mostly rigid vinyl but the hands and tail are cast in a soft, rubbery PVC; apparently sold (foot is stamped "NOT FOR SALE") only in a large, blister-carded three-figure pack (the other two were Ultraman and Ultra Seven); flat-out amazing, unique, peculiar sculpt.

I'm thrilled with it in person; it's quickly made my short list of all-time favorite Gara-sculpts.

Marusan Garamon

2011-11-05T19:05:00.000-04:00

Yeah, it took me way too long to post on this guy... but here you go, some shots of Marusan's great new Garamon sculpt (which, right off the bat, I like a lot better than their Pygmon sculpt from a few years back). Here we've got the original clay sculpt, the red first-release version, and the upcoming gold and pink glow releases:

Galtamon

2011-11-04T13:57:00.000-04:00

Garamon x Galtan.

Brought to you by Walter Parenton.

Butanohana Garamon preview shots

2011-11-02T11:08:00.000-04:00

From the Buta blog:

Atragon-GK keeps chuggin' along...

2011-10-31T13:52:00.000-04:00

...towards a truly superb Garaccomplishment:

Are you keeping up?

"Calling to report that our Trandoshan friend...

2011-10-30T16:27:00.000-04:00

... has been neutralized."

And the Yamanayas keep marching in...

2011-10-22T14:22:00.000-04:00

Pics of the third of three Fall 2011 Yamanaya releases hit this morning:

This is another "Revenge Of Garamon" edition, featuring the other chest symbol shown on a Garamon in that episode (it's the astrological symbol for Leo, actually).

Pretty cool... yet, on each of these, there's just a little something about the sprays that keeps me from loving them. The color combos are tasty, but as I've said, I feel that the accent sprays are heavy-handed; in this case particularly, the green sprays on the legs just come off as disharmonious stripes. If I got my hands on one of these, I probably wouldn't put it up on the shelf without some significant fixin'....

Three jaw

2011-10-08T17:59:00.000-04:00

"This kit will provide a three jaw.
So you say can change the opening of the mouth by the replacement of parts.
Neodymium magnets are embedded in the filtration 差Shishi as replacement parts can be fixed firmly,
We will devise a strong magnetic force easily dislodged."

http://atragongk.exblog.jp/15803960/

They always come in pairs...

2011-10-07T12:22:00.000-04:00

...so it's no surprise that another new version of the Yamanaya Garamon is set to drop in November:

I like this one, but not quite as much as the September release; on both, actually, I feel that the oversprays on the face and body are a bit heavy-handed.

Like earlier versions which have sported chest symbols, this one is considered a "Revenge of Garamon" release, the chest symbols being featured in the Ultra Q episode of the same name.

JAW

2011-09-28T22:10:00.000-04:00

Gnarliest set of chompers on a Garamon EVER!!

I really think, when all is said and done, that Miyazaki's piece is going to be unlike anything we've seen before; every in-progress shot he posts amazes me. Go back and check out the hands pic from a few days ago. Really, really special; so much heart and soul going into this one...

THERE IS STILL TIME!!!

2011-09-23T20:50:00.000-04:00

To get in on Astromonster's lottery for 5 one-offs of the new Red Mercury Garakutagigas!
Not much time, though, citizen- you have until midnight tonight!!
RUN!!!
(Well, click.)

Also available: 15 standard edition pieces... dig it:

Gary's day at home: nappin' with baby, bothering dogs, nappin' with coffee

2011-09-11T15:31:00.000-04:00

Wunnerful snaps from the photostream of one jhateball1....

Atragon-GK: work on the Gara-head continues...

2011-08-28T16:00:00.002-04:00

Looking great so far; as you'd expect, Miyazaki-san is putting his usual careful, masterly thoughtfulness into this one.

Click to embiggenate, and read all about it here.

New Yamanaya Garamon coming in September

2011-08-14T01:20:00.004-04:00

Thanks, Yamanaya... always great to see you guys poppin' a new color of your amazing Gary.

If you don't own one of these, you need to... and this would be a fine place to start:

Nice color scheme, truly... kinda what I was thinkin' when I commissioned this custom back in '07:

Blue Flying Squirrel Garamon

2011-08-08T22:55:00.000-04:00

Atragon-GK Garamon

2011-08-06T10:35:00.002-04:00

Aaaawwww yeah... it's begun...

Stay tuned to the Atragon-GK blog for the latest in-progress shots... and start saving up your yen!

CCP Pygmon and Sufrans set

2011-07-28T22:20:00.004-04:00

New mini set from CCP, meant to complement their upcoming full-size Monster Lawless Zone releases.
This little dude stands about 4cm tall; the Sufrans is 6cm (and can be served lightly steamed or sauteed with garlic and tamari):

Here's hoping that CCP does a full-size Garamon one day... their stuff is top-notch, always!

Choice Garaflickrings...

2011-07-27T21:02:00.001-04:00

... from some of my favorite photostreams...

PK (an oldie but a goodie!):

REdYOdA:

six7777:

bbbbfish:

kurumonz:

redchicken:

kist!!:

COOP666:

Garakutagigas sightings

2011-07-27T20:37:00.000-04:00

On the floor at SDCC (in the hands of the man himself):

Visiting with the great Geof Darrow:

On Atelier G-1's table at WonderFestival:

Unpainted red looking quite sweet!

Check these Astromonster posts for the latest info:

Garakutagigas Order Info

Garakutagigas in process

Garakutagigas: FIRE! & ordering info!

2011-07-20T18:38:00.000-04:00

Here he is, a second utterly knockout color version... decisions, decisions:

... and here they are, in these nifty promos from Astromonster:

Ordering info here!

Garakutagigas Astromonster color versions are GO! Ordering opens tonight!

2011-07-19T16:17:00.001-04:00

I'm a little late in reporting on the awesome "Storm" color version, pictured above; here's today's scoop from Astromonster:

Garakutagigas Orders Open Tonight

Colorway no. 2 Fire was painted last night. Photos are still in preparation. I will post photos of both colorways and order info tonight at midnight, July 20.

Monster Invitational @ FOE: show report

2011-07-17T18:30:00.003-04:00

WOW is all I can say about last weekend! It was great in every way... and it all kicked off with the Monster Invitational @ FOE Shop & Gallery in Massachusetts, in which I showed 10 of my custom kaiju toys (I'll save most of the self-aggrandizement for the end of the post).

FOE is located in the bustling downtown of Northampton. I had never been there before, and being invited to participate in the show seemed like a great reason to make the trip. I really like the town a lot, and definitely plan to go back sooner than later. FOE's owners, Jim and Nicole, are really great people, and, after so much communication via phone and email over the last few months, it was very enjoyable to meet them in person and get to hang out and talk toys a bit.

The opening took place on Friday night, 7/08, from 6:00 - 9:00. It was very well-attended; kaiju connoisseurs mixing with curious locals and passers-by, everyone seeming to enjoy the tremendous range of monsteriffic eye candy on display. I was really struck by the fact that, although the show was representing a world of creature worship that can be so arcane and esoteric, it was easy for most anyone who walked in to find many things to connect with. I saw a lot of wide smiles and a lot of heads being shaken in wonder at their first exposure to this realm.

Here are some pics I took... I tried to cover everyone's stuff!

Osiris Orion:

Brian Mahony/Guumon:

Nine AWESOME canvases by the legendary Mr. Stephen Blickenstaff:

Ben Mininberg/Prometheus Rising Studio:

Ben's terrific Viras... if I wasn't saving for a big trip in August, I'm pretty sure I would've made this one mine...

Hard candy gloss and a velvety matte together... gotta love it!

Velocitron:

Halfbad Toyz:

Todd Robertson:

Dream Rocket:

Mark Nagata/Max Toy Co:

Why, it's the man himself!!

Paul Kaiju:

Ben Reigle:

Splurrt:

Paddy Charles:

Bob Conge/Plaseebo :

Jeff Lamm/Greasebat and Monster Worship:

Eric Talbot:

Finally, my own stuff...

First off, "Shriek of the Wendigyango":

Just for reference, here's a couple pics of what this toy looks like unaltered, straight out the box:

"ESP Bagun":

"Dichroic Gablar":

"Carbona Hedorah":

And finally... "Who's the Boss: Little Showman Gary":

My "Not For Sale" shelf (w/ and w/o flash), with previously-sold pieces on loan (thanks again, all):

The Chief Garamaniac arrives in Northampton:

This was right before I backhanded all my pieces off the shelf in a fit of artistic dissatisfaction:

There were sightings of Greasebat-headed folk:

The great Jim and Nicole (sorry Jim, I think I caught you in 1/3 of a blink):

Thanks for looking!
MUCH more Gara-goodness to come this week, as I get caught up!!

Garakutagigas NUDE!

2011-07-01T01:37:00.001-04:00

Via Astromonster, naturally!

Monster Invitational @ FOE Store & Gallery

2011-06-30T13:28:00.002-04:00

I have so much to catch you up on, fellow Garamaniacs, including some cool new Gara-picture finds, news on Garakutagigas and other toy releases, and more… but it will all have to wait until next week, as I’m tied up with preparations for the Monster Invitational, kicking off on Friday/ 7/08 at FOE Store & Gallery in Northampton, MA:

This show is sure to be a blast; the folks behind FOE are wonderful, and are bringing some true, deep, and much-needed monster-love to New England! Yours truly will have 11 pieces in the show (including some Gara-works, naturally), and I’ll be there for the opening night- so come up and say hi if you’re a Garamania reader!

Volks resin kit build-ups in red and green

2011-06-17T22:41:00.002-04:00

Outstanding work on two copies of the 40cm Volks kit from the talented people at ZOOMS:

Garamirage

2011-06-17T22:29:00.002-04:00

Everything you ever wanted to know about Nakira....

2011-06-17T22:27:00.000-04:00

... but were too creeped out to ask...

Alex pointed out this page on the Sunguts site.

Astromonster to carry Garakutagigas stateside

2011-06-14T11:45:00.001-04:00

Garakutagigas, the Junk Giant, is coming!

http://kaijuchronicle.blogspot.com/2011/06/release-atelier-g-1-x-alex-wald.html

"... like the parrot that lives in the tropics."

US release this summer from Astromonster, Inc.

contact: astromonster@sbcglobal.net

http://astromonster.blogspot.com/

....and furthermore:

"Preorder announcement coming soon.There will be 10 each of two color versions this summer. Then in the fall, the alternate eye sculpt will go on sale at WonderFest. The Astromonster editions for US sales will always have colorways different than the Atelier G-1 editions. Ballpark price for the US is $125."

Garakutagigas painted proto pics!

2011-06-14T08:09:00.000-04:00

From Okuda-san's blog:

... and with alternate goggles in place:

Round-up: interesting Yahoo Japan auction pics

2011-06-01T21:41:00.001-04:00

Recent things of interest on YJA...

Fully-disassembled M1-GO giant Garys... nice colors:

Intriguing lifesize foamcast Semi-Ningen prop head... no discernible details on origin in the auction description:

New shades for Garakutagigas

2011-05-27T09:20:00.001-04:00

Fresh outta my inbox, Okuda-san shares a new detail on the Garakutagigas: alternate goggles!

That’s right, the finished toy will come with two pairs of swappable specs!
This thing just keeps getting better!

Garakutagigas hits the market next month!

Sunguts x Medicom Toy Project 1/6 Nakira

2011-05-26T21:30:00.001-04:00

Posted yesterday on KC... a new version of this Larry Fine-ish garacreature.
This B&W version creeps me out less... a little less....

More shots of the new Bandai Garamon

2011-05-26T18:52:00.000-04:00

Scratchbuilt mini Garamon

2011-05-21T10:35:00.001-04:00

Another great piece of Gara-fan art... this mini scratchbuilt Gary (found here) is superb!

From what I can gather, it was featured in a hobby mag at some point... check out the comparison between it and one of Bandai's Gara-minis:

Takahashi inside!

2011-05-20T12:59:00.001-04:00

Oh my god... how cool is this?!?!?
Atelier G-1 Garamon kit build-up painted with beauteous B&W tones... and a Minoru Takahashi head under the Gara-mask!!

Found here... GREAT work, love it!

The X-Plus "Big Garamon" statue...

2011-05-18T18:48:00.003-04:00

... is one of the most badass representations of The Spiny One out there, and one of the best things X-Plus has ever done. We know this. Let us take a moment to once again bask in the glory of its hefty, monstrously menacing presence, with this great series of snaps (from here):

"BEHOLD, humans!
The engine of your DOOOOOOOM!!"

Beautiful custom work on an Eye Scream 12" Garamon

2011-05-14T21:21:00.000-04:00

The pics (from this fantastic modeling blog) speak for themselves:

A couple of subtle, well-executed modifications and a velvety new paint-up... very well worth the work!
Love it!

Bandai Ultra Q 45 Anniversary three-figure set

2011-05-10T22:25:00.002-04:00

Bandai is set to release a sweet mini three-figure set commemorating Ultra Q's 45th, featuring Gomess, Pegila and Garamon!

This is by far my fave Bandai take on Garamon- looking really good!

More Garakutagigas!

2011-05-01T21:25:00.000-04:00

Most of these from Alex Wald's Flickr.
AWESOME.

Playing catch-up: Kaiju For Japan wrap-up! M1-GO charity piece! GARAKUTAGIGAS!

2011-04-27T20:12:00.002-04:00

Wow... do I have a LOT to catch you up on, fellow Garamaniacs! Much new posting to come, I promise... but for now, here's three tasty bits o' news:

Kaiju For Japan was a great success, according to organizer Troy Stith; my thanks again to Troy for organizing this awesome sale, to all of you out there who bought items (especially to YOU, O Buyer Of My Pygmon Custom)! As of this writing, there are still a few items left in the store, so hurry on over to take a look-see!

M1-GO announced their new bronze colorway standard size Gary today; he'll be an exclusive at SuperFest 56 this coming weekend:

Ultra Garamon - East Earthquake disaster relief donations Price 2,500 yen / 50 / Color Bronze
East earthquake upon, I thought it might be a little work, all amounts are in nominal sales of this product donated to Ultraman Fund. Cooperation of everybody, thank you.

Finally... GARAKUTAGIGAS!!!
An amazing piece of news from Herr Alex Wald, which I was hit with today upon logging into the blog... here's the comment posted by AW on this post, from last April:

Tomorrow will be one year from the date of your original post. I wouldn't want you to think I've been sitting on my thumbs...what thumbs? Watch for an imminent announcement of a heart-stoppingly beautiful vinyl rendition of above-mentioned Junk Giant from the goodly folks at Atelier G-1. I shit you not.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!!?!?!
Good gawd...
So, I went right to Atelier G-1's blog... sure enough, he'll be posting pics of the finished model soon, with plans to have the vinyl ready for Summer WonderFest!
HUGE CONGRATS, Alex, and HUGE THANKS, Okuda-San!
Please, both of you, check in here and give us more insight on this, when you can!

Packaged and ready for Kaiju For Japan!

2011-04-13T17:45:00.001-04:00

Check it out... the Bandai Ultraman Max Pygmon, Garamaniac version!
Monster bagged, header stapled, and now he wings his way to Ohio for the sale.

Kaiju For Japan!
It's almost here!
Stay tuned to Gorilla Mouth!
Buy early and often!

Header design for Kaiju For Japan custom

2011-04-05T22:51:00.003-04:00

Rockin' (if I do say so myself) header collab betwixt me and Paddy C, for my Kaiju For Japan submission (go, embiggify, DO IT):

The sale date's coming up fast!
4/22!
Can't wait!!

Forming....

2011-04-02T12:39:00.001-04:00

Two great build-ups of the Atragon GK Pygmon kit

2011-03-18T17:21:00.000-04:00

Build-up pics of the fantastic Atragon-GK Pygmon kit are showing up here and there; here's a pair of fine examples from Japanese modelers... first, from this blog:

... and from this blog (can I say again how much I love the zipper on the back of this sculpt?):

New Pygmon t-shirt from Aristrist

2011-03-17T14:25:00.000-04:00

The clothing company Aristrist is planning to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the start of Ultra Q with a t-shirt featuring Pygmon:

Here is their blog post on the release.

CCP mini Pygmon

2011-03-17T14:19:00.000-04:00

CCP previewed this rough mini (6cm) sculpt of Pygmon on their blog on 3/07:

From reading the translated entry, it seems that this guy will come packed as an accessory to their upcoming Red King figure.

Kaiju For Japan

2011-03-16T00:14:00.002-04:00

Kaiju collector and customizer Troy Stith is currently organizing the Kaiju For Japan drive.
Troy is looking for contributions of custom toys and other original kaiju-related art which will be sold online, with all proceeds being sent directly to the Japanese Red Cross. Over 55 contributors are on board thus far, including some heavy hitters of the custom kaiju world; it's going to be a great selection of goods!
The proprietor will be contributing this recently completed Ultraman Max Pygmon:

The details of the sale are still being hammered out (it remains to be seen whether pieces will be posted at fixed prices or auctioned), but Troy has set Thursday, 4/14 as the due date for contributions, and Friday, 4/22 as the date of the sale launch. I'll post further details as they become available; you can also keep an eye on Troy's blog, or email him directly at troystith at hotmail dot com.

2011-03-11T15:47:00.003-05:00

My thoughts and prayers are with all sentient beings in Japan as they move through the catastrophe.

Ways to donate to relief efforts:

The Red Cross is accepting relief donations via text.
Texting ASIA to 30333 will make a $5 donation; texting REDCROSS to 90999 will make a $10 donation; or you can vist this page.

Global Giving is accepting donations- visit their homepage for info.

New Gara-tributes

2011-03-08T23:12:00.001-05:00

Perusing one of our fave online forums, I spied this JAW-DROPPING custom by NagNagNag mastermind Shigeru-san (look in the belly):

... which brings to life Coop's Violent Caveman Guts piece from a while back; Coop himself has just completed a disgustingly delightful (poor Akiko!) new piece of GaraNag art:

... which references the utterly great, four-eyed version of the NNN released last year. I've previously covered the other Gara-colored Nag releases, but not the four-eyes, which is not only a tribute to Garamon in its coloration, but also a nod to M1-GO's extremely popular "dolly-eyes" giant Garamon. Here's a pic (from Coop's Flickr):

But wait, there's more!
The wonderful Kumon, the first toy from the estimable Dennis Hamann/Shirahama, got a one-off Gara-color treatment for last weekend's big show at Thrash Out (pic from GAKYUDO_GOL-B's Flickr):

TASTY!!!

Simply because....

2011-02-25T21:47:00.000-05:00

...with today's technology, we can:

Basketball, Garamon, and you

2011-02-21T23:48:00.001-05:00

From here.

B&W Crying Pygmon by Inspire

2011-01-23T13:15:00.001-05:00

Best version yet of this guy:

Very cool news...

2011-01-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

... from Atragon-GK!

Baikin's Gara-snaps

2011-01-17T21:14:00.003-05:00

Mr. Dennis Hamann (aka Baikin, whose presence first graced these pages almost three years ago, close to the launch of Garamania) has some wonderful Garamon and Pygmon toy pics in his photostream; here are a few good 'uns:

Also, I just learned (quite behind the curve am I on toy news that isn't Garamonically pertinent) that in 2010, Dennis released a vinyl toy of his own (sculpted by Kiyoka Ikeda), the deadly arachnoid eye candy that is Kumon (Yukigumon).

Round-up: Gara-graphic Greatness, Volume IV

2011-01-15T18:46:00.004-05:00

Here we go; this one's been building up for a while.... enjoy!

WTF, Beetlar?!? Come on....

Nordbot strikes again!!

AWESOME.
Wish I could remember where this came from, dammit...

Sweet.

FALLING!

SHOCKED!
Jeez...

What's new?

2011-01-10T20:54:00.002-05:00

Well, Marmit released a new version of their giant Garamon at SuperFestival 55 yesterday:

This custom Garamon, by Monster Kolor user Jack Fields, is clowntacularly demented:

Lastly, I, The Proprietor, have a new custom underway- a Bandai Ultraman Max Pygmon I've been dying to work on for some time:

Glastic eyes!

Green interference paint providing a jewel-like sheen that my camera can't adequately capture!

Neodymium magnets embedded in his feet for fridge-stickability!

Stay tuned for finished pics!

New X-Plus Pygmon resin kit is here

2011-01-08T23:25:00.000-05:00

... and it's fuggin' great!

I'll post pics when he's all built and painted... stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T09:47:00.003-05:00

All-Gary Xmas card by Sister Sara.

Corporate Gary!

2010-12-22T19:38:00.002-05:00

New Gara-art by Nordbot!
Yeah!

That is all.

WANTED: Banpresto Garamon mini

2010-12-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

This seemingly obscure mini (my sources say it's by Banpresto, and about 4" tall) popped up on YJP early in September. I missed it (drat!), and really want badly to find one for the Nerdstrom Collection.

There's one of these enigmatic lil' suckers in the wonderful collection shot below (circled), taken from here:

If any Garamaniac out there has a lead, I'd sure love it if you got in touch!

Custom Garamon by Skinner

2010-12-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

If you don't yet know the work of Skinner, you absolutely should; I think the guy is well on his way to ranking right up there with great contemporary psychedelic visionaries like Jim Woodring and Alex Grey.

He's done just a bit of custom toy work, including this M1-GO Garamon which he offered for sale at the recently-held DesignerCon:

The Ten Horsepower Arm collection- first print almost gone!

2010-11-30T21:52:00.003-05:00

It's.... the Ten Horsepower Arm collection, a new series of high-quality Gara/Pygmonically-inspired prints.

The first offering is this Golden Gate-twisting eye-popper, by master ink-slinger and screenprinter extraordinaire Paddy Charles!

If you have been waiting to order... well, wait no more, Sparky, because the first and only edition of ten prints is almost gone!

Click away... you NEED to see these embiggenated:

Large (17.5"w x 20"h) five-color print on 100lb French kraft coverstock; numbered and signed edition of 10; just $35 shipped anywhere in the United States; international buyers, please email garamaniac@gmail.com for a shipping quote.

Stay tuned for more Ten Horsepower Arm news!

Custom Gary wind-ups

2010-11-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Big thanks to Grumble Toy for pointing this one out!

Too freakin' great!

From here; wish the person behind it would post a vid of them hoppin'!

A taste...

2010-11-22T21:46:00.003-05:00

The very talented Jacquelyn Heloise presents us with a super-sweet Gara-sketch (drawn from the infamous DVD insert postcard by bulldup), done in the course of some further Gara-rendering she's currently hard at work on... stay tuned, kids!

Click it:

Hey... do you hear that? Like... a sort of... "Phi-Phi" sound?

2010-11-19T23:01:00.001-05:00

New photos of the Inspire Pygmon have hit, in and out of the packaging... first off, a look at the Tsuburaya Online Shop version:

.... aaaaand the standard retail version, looking pretty much just as the proto did:

The Nerdstrom Collection, Pt. 14 (word to Carlos)

2010-11-08T18:24:00.001-05:00

CGG

2010-10-28T23:39:00.000-04:00

Computer Generated Gary courtesy of this blog.

Way to go, X-Plus!

2010-10-24T23:05:00.000-04:00

Coming your way soon in gk form... yes!