Giant Chiteidako Zoromederu by AnrakuAnsaku

Here's another AnrakuAnsaku! Meet Giant Chiteidako Zoromederu, or Dako as we American guys seem to call him.

The name Dako, seen at the end of the word Chiteidako, has something to do with octopus, and you can see that in this figure. And like the Gogamejiras, on www.anrakuansaku.com you can find Flash movies of Dako up to no good as many giant monsters like to do.

In these movies, you can see Dako flying around on what appears to be helicopter-like spinning feet, and his tentacles constantly flail about. Also, Dako seems to be able to light up his eyes like flashlights and even shoot what are possibly electrified beams from them. He destroys buildings and airplanes and lives under the sea as any great monster should.

Due to the yellow/red color scheme of this particular Dako, I first saw it called the Mustard/Ketchup Dako, but my favorite one is the Hogan Dako. If you know a little about Hulk Hogan, you may remember at a certain point in virtually every Hulk Hogan wrestling match, he would look beaten and then at the last moment would "hulk up" and make a comeback. It's funny because when Hogan would hulk up, he would begin the process by staring up at his opponent with wide, round eyes and wildly exhaling through pursed lips and blown up cheeks... pretty close to the face of this toy!

And again, you can see the artwork for Dako on this print to the right of the Gogamejiras:

Header //4.75 out of 5//:
This header is more like the Goga header than the Mescalgon header was. I've said it before about these, but I really like the homemade "zine" feel they have to them. I like this one a lot. The front of the header features artwork similar to what would appear in one of the website's Flash movies... Dako rising from the sea. I actually wish my Dako was painted to look like this particular artwork. The back of the header is darker. Dako appears here with much more text that I don't understand in a cool, shadowy image composed of basically 1 color (2 if you just count the creepy yellow eyes.

Sculpt //4 out of 5//:
As far as moving parts go, the Dako also is simpler in its design. There is a seam at the waist, and this one also has one at the neck although, because of the tentacles, you can't really turn the head. I would like some movement in the tentacles as well.

The body shape reflects the aquatic nature of the character well looking almost spongy. The texture, as on the other Anraku pieces I have written about, is fantastic and very detailed - with tiny additions like suckers on the tentacles. The oversized head while looking like an octopus, has an almost humorous human-like face that seems to say oooooo!

Judging by the flash movies, the lower part of the body should be turned as I have it below (in the rear shot), but there are 2 feet that would allow you to logically rotate the lower half and give the figure what would be sort of a webbed apron as opposed to the cape that it does now.

The vinyl is nice and heavy with a nice glossy finish, and the figure is well balanced.

Paint //3.5 out of 5//:
This is a decent paint job, but not as impressive as other Anraku pieces out there. It's pretty simple overall with host of the application being spray red over yellow vinyl. There is a dark brown spray on the feet that is a nice touch, as well as hand applied black eyes and blue mouth.

Technically there is nothing really wrong with the paint, but I just don't find it all that exciting.

Coolness //4.5 out of 5//:
I will always think Anraku toys are cool and make a big toy statement. The bright color of this guy will draw the eye on a shelf as will the facial expression and raised tentacles.

Value //2 out of 5//:
Picked this one up secondhand again, which is going to put some hurtin on the bank. At retail, Anraku pieces are definitely worth the cost!

Overall //4.25 out of 5//:

Positives: Bright, large, nice texture, Hulk Hogan similarities, reversable lower body

Negatives: Pricey, limited poseability

Another homerun by AnrakuAnsaku. If only I could get on "the list."

Mescalgon by AnrakuAnsaku

From my favorite low-run vinyl toy producer AnrakuAnsaku comes this frightening figure: Mescalgon

Like Gogamejiras, there isn't much background provided for Mescalgon... actually there is even less from what i can tell. A theory forwarded to me by miami on the skullbrain.org message board is that Mescalgon is named as such due to his resemblance to the mescal (or peyote) cactus from which mescaline is derived. Mescaline is a hallucinogenic drug for those of you not in the know. :) Miami thinks that Mescalgon also looks like the opium poppy, and I have to say I can agree there.

Time for fantasy world! Maybe Mescalgon not only has his bulk and most likely some sort of breath weapon, a water based corrosive acid mixture, but also can unleash hallucinogenic chemicals that will send his opponents into a dreamlike state in which Mescalgon can really do some damage.

Those head tentacles could probably do some boring into brains when his opponent is sitting in a lifeless state, dreaming about riding a bike or other such nonsense. As i said in my review a couple months ago about Gogamejiras, this company makes some pretty unique and old style monsters... and all to me have an almost kewpie doll feel to them in a way with their outstretched arms and big bellies.

The artwork for Mescalgon is on this print here on the lower left as well as some of their other beasts.

Header //3.75 out of 5//:
While the header card does reflect the art style of Anraku, it also seems just as much an ad for MonStock, the store where many of these figures are sold. It is a heavier stock paper than the Goga header and overall looks more professional. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, I liked the homemade "zine" feel of the Goga packaging and thought it fit the style of the toy better.

Sculpt //4.25 out of 5//:
Mescalgon is ultimately a simpler piece in its design than the Gogamejiras. It has fewer "moving" parts as only the head is articulated.

The sculpt is what appears to be a plant like head and a flying sea creature body. The head even could be seen as aquatic as the tentacles on top look like they could be from an octopus. I like the look of this figure quite a bit.

With all the other Anraku toys I have seen, the surface texture is phenominal. Rarely can you find plain, smooth surfaces, and these textures vary as you move to different body parts. The small scales worked into the large scales on the chest are great, and the ridges down the back add even more variety without being overwhelming. Even the eyeballs have dimension on this toy. It really shows great attention to detail.

I only wish there was somehow more stuff to pose outside of turning the head.

Paint //5 out of 5//:
I have no problems with the paint on this figure. The base is orange vinyl and the paint applied compliments/contrasts this color as it should. The application shows the highlighting areas such as the top of the head/face and torso as vintage figures would have been painted. There is even hand painted areas such as the eyes and teeth.

The head tentacles, which to me are an important part of the sculpt, are given added dimension by the under stray of the red to match the top of Mescalgon's head.

The blue and metallic gold farther down on the figure work well together and offset the head well. The streak down his back looks really nice.

Coolness //4.5 out of 5//:
Anraku toys are ones that, if you are into this genre, you just feel cooler owning. It is very unique like the Gogamejiras (and the Hogan Dako that I will write about soon! :) ).

I gave it a 4.5 because I still think the painted Gogas are cooler and I don't want both to be perfect! haha

Value //2.5 out of 5//:
Unless you are on the magical list, you're going to pay probably about double what these toys retail for. While I got a much better deal on this than the Goga, it was still pricey.

Overall //4.25 out of 5//:

Positives: Great paint and texture, unique character, bulky, photographs well

Negatives: Pricey, no poseability other than a turning head

Mescalgon was another one of those toys that sort of fell in my lap as Anraku toys seem to do. The texture and now color application are both some things that will keep me coming back to this company.

Angel Sanda round 2 - I shook up the gold!

Before then after shots.

thanks to LASH for the assist

A thorough shaking to the gold made it a completely different paint. The gold looks so much better now.

I went back and added to the original yellow layer and gave a light misting to the brick looking areas of his skin for a very pale yellow and the hint of glitter

Angel Sanda

From the same set as the Demon Gaira. This was also unpainted flesh colored vinyl.

flat white with varying shades of gloss gold

darkest golds are top of head, shoulders, hips and crotch

The Man with the Golden Crotch!

The gold doesn't come across perfectly in the photos... it looks yellow even though I used no yellow

All in all, I have to say I like the results of silver VColor better than gold for sheen and coverage, and if i were to do it over, I think I would go for a gloss white base on this one as opposed to the matte

I was told to try shaking up the gold even better, so I may add more to this one

Demon Gaira

More custom painting work by yours truly

Gaira and Sanda were the two giant monsters from the War of the Gargantuans movie made by Toho in the 1960s

This figure started as plain flesh colored vinyl

flat black with red/silver fur highlights.

eyes are plain silver.

I feel like this needs something more - more color? highlights or something on the scaly looking areas? Painted mouth?

comments welcome!

Chaola the Ugandan Mutant

My first real custom paint job!

I am by no means a Real Head (リアルヘッド) fan... in fact the set I bought of unpainted figures was my first figures from the line outside of one figure what was part of this year's Super7 Halloween set.

(and my Super7 Halloween set has since been sold off)

Here is the set:

Mutant Chaos on the left, Jinja-R next (which I did not get as it was a random drawing), Akrokaiser with the big head, and Mutant Evil on the right with the antennae. They honestly still don't do anything for me outside of perhaps the Chaos. Perhaps.

Anyway, I busted out the hairdryer and my concentration face and mixed them all up because ultimately I wanted a Chaosman to customize. Here's what I came up with:

The Chaosman:
(Mutant Chaos head on Mutant Evil body)

Caveman Akro:
(Akrokaiser head on Mutant Chaos body and Mutant Evil right arm)

Cell Evil:
(Mutant Evil head on Akrokaiser body and "damaged" Chaos right arm)
I hope to actually paint this one to look like Cell from Dragonball Z

Now that I had my blank Chaosman, time for the inspiration!

AND... drumroll............ the finished product!

they say you are your own worst critic, and right now i am feeling this one is a near-disaster from a technical standpoint

looking on the bright side, though, i practiced a lot of techniques on this figure, so more than anything it was, and will continue to be, a learning experience.

problems i had were
-not mixing the paint to the right consistency... leaving a dusty looking finish on the brown surface
-trouble with masking... definitely need to practice this
-mixing colors. elementary stuff here- brown! and i still seemed to mess it up. wasted a lot of paint being impatient
-hand painting - i need to figure out how to get the brush strokes out. i could start with a better brush.... my bristles were too long i think

if any of you pros have tips on these problems or anything you may notice, please feel free to share. everyone can learn from my mistakes!

anyway... here is attempt #1 at a real custom. after more practice i will probably strip this and try it again.

My toys lead a dangerous life