World-famous contemporary artist Mr. Takashi Murakami's character art vinyl figure
『Kaikai＆Kiki（BLUE eyes ver.）set』will be available at INSTINCTOY as we are the sales coordinator for this edition.
Takashi Murakami is known as the founder of the "Superflat" postmodern art movement. His works internationally in fine arts media, such as painting and sculpture. His magnificent solo show at the Château de Versailles in France was a great achievement. He is not only well-regarded for his fine arts media achievements; his collaboration with Louis Vuitton was a huge commercial success. Recently his UNIQLO line in collaboration with the famous Japanese animation character "Doraemon" also attracted a lot of attention from people of all ages.
We would like to introduce a『History of Takashi Murakami's works』 before we introduce the new product.
Mr. Murakami embarked on his first figure-making project with a famous Japanese manufacturer, KAIYODO. In 2003, their sculpture『Miss Ko×2』(1996 ) was auctioned at 567,500USD at Christie's in NY. This was recorded as the highest price ever, for Japanese contemporary art. (The other work 『HIROPON』was auctioned for 380,000 USD. ) In 2008,『My Lonesome CowBoy』,which was completed in 1998, made headlines when it was auctioned for 15.2 million USD at Sotheby's. He transformed Japanese OTAKU culture into the fine arts, and he was the first one to establish his figure work as art pieces.
In 2004, he used some of his work designs, which were all highly regarded as art pieces, and made miniature versions. They were known as『Takashi Murakami's SUPERFLAT MUSEUM 』and sold with snacks as a free gift from KAIYODO.
Mr. Murakami talked about what he thought of his artworks being sold at 350 JPY (3.2 USD) at convenience stores. He said, "I myself believe that the top of the social hierarchy is actually occupied by the masses. And I am very glad that my original artworks that I put my artistic vision into, became a toy and was able to reach their hands." I was very impressed by his views on this issue.
In 2009, he cooperated with MEDICOMTOY to produce one of his art works『inochi』. The figures were sold at the exhibition 「inochi」at the Kaikai Kiki Gallery.
That project was to make a dress‐up figure of his sculpture, and it took him a whole 3 years to complete, as he insisted on having it the same quality as his sculpture.
In 2016, Mr.Murakami became a main host at COMPLEXCON 2016 which took place at Long Beach, LA. During the show, the 2 colors of Mr.DOB that were produced by BAIT were launched.
The next year, in 2017, another 2 colors of DOBTOPUS (produced by BAIT) were launched at the same show.
These products were sold out very quickly and in high demand. However, this COMPLEXCON exclusive project was carried out by the manufacturer. Mr Takashi Murakami allowed them to use his design's licence, but he was not in charge of its production. Thus, it was not a project that he was fully satisfied with.
Afterwards, Mr. Takashi Murakami hoped to take control of the entire production process, including the design, supervision, quality control, and the sales. In 2017, Obitsu Manufacturing in Japan became his production base, and Obitsu Manufacturing started producing character-art SOFUBI 『Kaikai ＆Kiki』.
The production took about a year and the finished works 『Kaikai ＆Kiki（GREEN eyes ver.）』 are shown here.
It debuted at COMPLEXCON, which was taking place in LA in 2018. The first sale was at the Kaikai ＆Kiki booth!
Actually, I was a fan that went to LA, and queued up on the opening day. I got there at 6am to wait for entry to the hall, and as soon as it opened, there was a long queue in front of their booth. The Kaikai ＆Kiki was sold out 40 people ahead, before my turn came. I once again experienced both the joy of heightened popularity and the difficulty of obtaining rare products.
After that, this work was released for direct sales at『Tonari no Zingoro』, which was a newly-opened store on the 4th floor of the NAKANO BROADWAY building at the time. And then they also sold them at the FUKUOKA CHERRY store.
The LOGO printed on the foot is a characteristic that shows the edition of the 『GREEN eyes ver.』 that was sold at the 3 different release locations.
This time we will be releasing a new colorway 『Kaikai ＆Kiki（BLUE eyes ver.）』 as an INSTINCTOY edition.
The charm of Kaikai ＆ Kiki is refreshed with a change in the eye color. When I got the pictures of the new version from Mr. Takashi Murakami for the very first time, I was so excited that I really thought “They are so adorable!” It looks like a secret edition of the blind box collection.
The Kaikai ＆Kiki figures have 5 movable joints, which are the 『neck』,『both shoulders』and『both ankles』.
The INSTINCTOY LOGO is printed on the foot of the『BLUE eyes ver.』 to mark it as an INSTINCTOY edition.
The package has a attractive design as well.
The product is packed as a set and shipped in cardboard.
Other than the cute stickers of Kaikei & Kiki on the box, there is a hologram sticker that shows the names of the artist and companies involved in making this product. A special sticker for INSTINCTOY edition is also there.
The Kaikai ＆Kiki（BLUE eyes ver.） INSTINCTOY EDITION will be sold via lottery sale at the INSTINCTOY on-line store and the INSTINCTOY INTERNATIONAL on-line store.
【Information regarding the lottery sales】
Please read the following Terms & Conditions before you send in your applications. Sending an application will indicate an agreement to abide by these rules.
＜Terms & Conditions＞
・These products are available in limited numbers, so only one lottery entry will be accepted for each individual postal address.
・Customers can send an application form only once. We will not accept more than one application from the same person.
・If you have a Facebook account or Instagram, please paste your account link in the remarks column when you make your application. （*OPTIONAL）
・Please note that applications cannot be cancelled after the entry period is closed.
・Customers who have previously cancelled their order or did not make their payment are not allowed to join our lottery.
・After you receive the invoice from us, the payment has to be completed within 1 week.
・Customers will need to pay for the shipping fee besides the product prices.
・Please understand the【Terms & Conditions】before you enter the lottery.
・This item is only available as a set, and we cannot sell individually.
Entry Period: 22nd March (Friday) till 31st March (Sunday) 2019 2359h. Japan Time
Prize announcement: Emails will be posted on 4th April (Thursday) until 1900h. Japan Time
※ Only winners will receive a prize announcement mail. After getting the mail, if you have any questions regarding the lottery results, please contact us.
We will start shipping from 8th April Japan Time and when the payment has been received. Please be noted there is a possibility that the delivery will be delayed by 1~3 days for certain reasons.
Please understand the【Terms & Conditions】before you enter the lottery. The sale page is shown below.
For English, please use a PC or laptop to make your applications. (It only shows up in Japanese on the cellphone.)
Kaikai ＆Kiki（BLUE eyes ver.） INSTINCTOY EDITION Lottery page↓
We look forward to your joining in our experience.
【Product Announcement】Takashi Murakami × INSTINCTOY SOFUBI Project Launch!
I announced it in an SNS in the other day. Near the end of last year, fate smiled upon us and we got to collaborate with a contemporary artist, Takashi Murakami. INSTINCTOY was tasked with making his character art into a vinyl figure (SOFUBI) this year!
The first project is going to be Mr. Murakami’s very first character art, Mr.DOB. To prepare for producing his art works, I was thinking that the most important part of the production would be the process of creating the eyes, with their signature design and highly complex details. We came to the conclusion that we had to separate all the parts, paint every side of the individual parts, and assemble them afterwards.
Our goal is to make the miniaturized version of his sculpture come to life! When I saw the actual sculpture of Mr.DOB at the last Wonder Festival Winter, I felt as if I were being drawn into Mr.DOB’s eyes. This is exactly what we want to achieve, to give our customers that feeling, when they hold the 223mm vinyl figure of Mr.DOB in their hands.
（Left：Sculpture／Right：Prototype for vinyl figure）
※ the space between eyes and face is necessary clearance that is calculated when we produce a metal mold. The parts will fit perfectly even after they are mass-produced.
We are now concentrating our efforts to produce them, and the project is estimated to be completed by this summer.
The project reveal was made by Mr. Murakami with such a pleasant comment the other day!! Please let me share with you. Thank you very much.
(Repost from Mr.Murakami ＠takashipom)
I am going to collaborate with INSTINCTOY @instinctoy_hiroto_ohkubo on vinyl toys to be released starting early summer of 2019. Our first project is going to be on my very first-ever character art, Mr. DOB.
I first read about Hiroto Ohkubo, INSTINCTOY’s president, in a Facebook post of Shuichi Miyawaki, @sennmusann Kaiyodo’s @kaiyodo_pr president. Mr. Miyawaki, normally a merciless critic when it comes to figure production, earnestly praised Mr. Ohkubo as the very best in vinyl figure production, so I knew he was the real deal. Immediately after reading the said post, I searched INSTINCTOY online, got in touch with the company, and sent two of my sculpture staff from Kaikai Kiki to go meet Mr. Ohkubo that very day at their headquarters in Shiga Prefecture. The minute they met, there was a spark—I am told they spoke non-stop for two days straight. I have since met Mr. Ohkubo in person and, having been exposed to his tremendous passion for vinyl figures, logical analysis of the industry, and clear vision for the future, have become a total fan. These are the images of the masters for the vinyl parts being produced by INSTINCTOY. I’m sure you can sense at least a hint of their obsessive attention to details, the earnest passion for figure production.
Please look forward to the SOFUBI Project of Takashi Murakami × INSTINCTOY!
©Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co.,Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
©Fujiko-Pro
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