Now in it’s third run, Toy Karma, in association with Max Nagata’s Max Toy Company, will be finally opening it’s doors at the Rotofugi gallery on September 10th. Celebrating the weird and wonderful world of Japanese Kaiju toys (made famous by the likes of Godzilla, Mothra and Ultraman in the 70’s), the exhibition has been host to well over 200 world renowned artists over the past 6 years including Itokin Park, Marmit, Bob Conge, Paul Kaiju and Tru:Teknology Files favourite, the legendary Buff Monster. Confirmed way back in March last year, Toy Karma 3 promises to be THE show for the discerning Kaiju collector.
Curated by Nagata and close friend Yo Miyamoto, the exhibition will be featuring a number of highly anticipated original pieces (2009’s Toy Karma 2 debuted the exquisite Jumping Brain Kaiju by Emilio Garcia, covered in the T:T Files earlier this month) alongside an extensive collection of custom toy creations, including Nagata’s own mighty Winged Kaiju Eyezon (pictured in various stages of build below).
Whilst not to every toy enthusiasts taste, Kaiju (roughly translated as strange beast or monster) has seen a huge resurgence in recent years through the growing popularity of art toys, with industry leading illustrators including Frank Kozik, Tim Biskup, Joe Ledbetter and even David Horvath (of Ugly Doll fame) creating pieces in this very unique style. With highly desirable companies such as Bounty Hunter and Secret Base only producing limited runs of their various toy lines (usually only in their 10s or 100s), the popularity and (unfortunately!) price of these figures has sky-risen in recent years- a few examples in our own personal collection have been valued at well over $300 a piece!
Toy Karma 3 will be running throughout September at Rotofugi’s Chicargo based gallery, with a selection of the artworks on display available to purchase through their website upon close. A dedicated blog has been created for the event, featuring previews, videos from the two previous shows, and step by step builds of some of the exhibitions greatest customs for Kaiju fans to whet their appetite before the grand opening.
Footage from 2009’s Toy Karma 2, courtesy of Toy Bot Studios.
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