Photo Review: Clear Sharkman

[hypnotator]

This is the only my second Medicom purchase, my first being the Cocoboy vs. Skullbonz set. Thanks to Guy for pointing out that these clear Medicoms feature “Chaosman” under the costume, who is basically a clear version of Skullhead Joe, which most of us cannot afford.



I like the transparent costume idea. When the main appeal of the figure is the fact that it is transparent, it seems a shame to cover him up with a costume, and I draw the line at buying two to display both ways. But the transparent costume means you can display and enjoy both the inner figure and the outer costume.



The Sharkman costume is a nice reworking of the Fishman or Amaluk, similar but just different enough, but the original version had a flesh coloured human inside. According to Moonlabus only 250 of these clear reissues were done, along with Cyclovillain and one other, the Stag beetle man I think, all featuring Chaosman.



The skull head has a rough texture, unlike Skullbonz who has a very smooth skull. Perhaps someone viewing has Skullhead Joe and can tell us whether this head is from the same mould.



I understand Medicom change the design of their bodies regularly, although this one is almost identical to Cocoboy’s and Skullbonz’s, only bigger, of course. Again I would like to know if this is a different body from Cocobat Joe and Skullhead Joe. The body is very well articulated, but it feels fragile and you have to pose it carefully. Articulation of Cyborg 99 is superior, I my opinion, because the joints move more smoothly and you don’t feel like it’s about to shatter in your hands. He has no heels, so his feet tuck into the boots nicely, but he doesn’t balance well without them. The hands for the inner boy come taped to the underneath of the backing card, which extends under his feet like a step. They are hard to find and I was quite convinced there were none for some time.



I also got this clear Material Force figure recently.



Les deux enfants sont menaces par un…. poisson.

[johnnyhaggis]

Veeery nice! How come we never got a cocoboy/skullbonz revue? Man, that last one had me laughing out loud! Something about the floating shark, but sespecially the wilting lily type fearful positions of the figures!

Such a nice head! Very nice photos too. It's funny to see his bare feet through those boots.

Man, those Medicom bodies are truly a pain. They break like peanut brittle. The dangerous part you have to watch out fo is the rear of the pelvis, aka the arse. Make sure you move the legs gently. Those things will break, and the heads of medicom don't fit well on other bodies. It's amazing how expensive those things are, and then how badly made. My Mach Roid came with two broken buttcheecks! I got a refund, but who wants to buy another one and have the same problem? I had to improvise a solution with screws. Andy Warhol came with a broken arse as well. Unbelievable. Then you see the nude bodies going for $30 plus shipping, and you think it's becase these are great bodies, but it's beacuse, people need them to replace their broken figures!

[hypnotator]

I did review Cocoboy and Skullbonz! It was some time ago, though.

robotjapan.proboards12.com/index.cgi?board=Takaramicro&action=display&thread=1091094032

[jwm]

Hypno:
Outstanding photography. I love those bigger than life close-ups.

JWM

[johnnyhaggis]

hypnotator said:

I did review Cocoboy and Skullbonz! It was some time ago, though.

robotjapan.proboards12.com/index.cgi?board=Takaramicro&action=display&thread=1091094032

Can't believe I missed that, must have been during peak madness time. Very nice fiures as well!i

[GUYx1]

AND NOW THE REST OF THE STORY...

Hypno. I am not certain that Moonlab's information is 100% on track. Moonlab is admittedly a DEALER in these toys and not a collector. He does not purchase directly, rather makes his purchases on the secondary market - primarily YAHOO JAPAN.

This set is more than just a MEDICOM set. It is a SECRET BASE exclusive Medicom figure, sold one day last year on their Anniversary.
As far as I know I have never heard of SB making runs as large as 250, but who knows. I have seen more of this set than of some SB costume sets, so could be 250, but below is what a Big SECRET BASE collector in Japan told me.

In January 2005, I was sent emails fron a friend on Japan named Takayuki (aka REVODADDY on Yahoo Japan) about the clear medicom figures.



Takayuki (seen here) waited in line all night just to have a chance at Secret Base's 3rd anniversary Clear medicoms.



Takayuki purchased the figures in person.
He said on Feb 2nd, 2005
"The thing in the photograph was obtained...
The third secret base anniversary. Three transparent figures.
Photographs are three transparent figures that stay up all night by me, queue up, and
are bought. Each of 100 numbers was put on the market.
Because I was the 30th person, it was possible to buy it.
thanks,
takayuki"

The 3 Figures produced were Sharkman, Cyclovillain & HachiOtoko (Human Hornet aka BEE Man)







STAGBEETLE has nothing to do with Medicom, or secret base.
I can post photos of that costume series later if you like.
That is another costume series (sold on Obitsu Bodies) by Dark Side Heroes. Those are created in runs of 50 or less.

Now about the Skullhead Joe. To clarify things, Yes your inner head is from the Skullhead Joe mold. Your clear head is skullhead joe.
Guess you had to be there at the time, but Cocobat Joe was POPULAR. VERY POPULAR.
The Band itself... Nothing to write home about, but I bought their first few CD's. At the Time, Cyborg was not what it is now.
Back then you could not point and click to 250 Cyborg items on Yahoo Japan every week. You bought what you could find.

Cyborg NHC was turning into a flash in the pan and then out of the blue Cocobat Joe THE ACTION FIGURE was advertised in Hobby Japan and everybody who was crazy about cyborg had to have one.
The figures even came with cloth fighting outfits, but
even MORE fighting outfits created and Collectors purchased extra figures to wear them.
(The fighting suits often cost as much as a figure, so they don't fly off the shelves as much as you would think)

You may notice on Yahoo Japan that when a Japanese Cyborg collector cleans out the house, the occasional ALIEN & Predator Glow, Stealth, etc medicoms will show up for sale as "COSTUME ONLY". That is because the bodies are the exact same clear bodies used for Cocobat Medicoms.
Similarly if you ever break one of your COCOboy figures, I can probably tell you were to locate a cheaper, replacement medicom body in the same way.

Here is a skullhead joe and the PROMO PROSHOOTO t-shirt & head set. Same head as yours, but more annoying to obtain.



The "wrapped" vinyl Hands came with the COCOBAT grasshopper medicom dolls in smoke & clear colored vinyl, to match skullhead joe & cocobat joe. The bodies are 1st issue medicom bodies (aka the ANDROID body). They are more flimsy than a cyborg body and have NO INTERNALS.

Your later released bodies have a larger version of the COCOBOY bodies. Be careful with those bodies. A lot depends on the particularl release, but Johnny Haggis can tell you stories about medicom clear figures. If it does not want to pose a certain way, LUBRICATE the joints before attempting, as the hip joints in the rear end of the figures can be very fragile.
From what I have seen, the clear red Machroid was the big problem. No problems at all with Ruminaborg, or any of the human figures.

Oh well, tell me if any of this was helpful...
Perhaps you have a rarer figure than you realized...

[johnnyhaggis]

Whoah that picture of those people waiting at night for toys!! And he was on the the 30th person!!! I didn't realize these guys were so rare! WHy are they so much cheaper than Skull Head Joe?

[GUYx1]

Johnny, the Japanese collector has a different mentality.

The Japanese seem to love the extreme challenge. Once they actually have the toy, they may show it off a bit, but many modern japanese just resell it and move on to the next challenge. They usually take a LOSS when selling the item.

Personally I think that SB actually produced a bit TOO many of the clear figures, because there are enough around to be visable. The Bee is not AS visable as the other clear figs, but maybe because the japanese love him so much.
Most SB toys you see ONE seller with a set, continually relisting them on Yahoo Japan. That is it.
Seldom two for sale at the same time. The SB suits just float around collections, selling lower one month, selling higher the nest month. You never can tell the value. I just know as much of a pain in the arse it CAN sometimes be, the Japanese already did all the work before the toys ever popped up for sale on Yahoo or Mandarake, or what have you.
You just have to point and click. They stayed up all night, or won the lottary to obtain the item, or even paid a big fee for a MYSTERY BAG that contained the special costume.

I got hooked on thes things thru those colorful SB cyborg SKULL HEADS.
Those things were apparently DOOR PRIZES if you spent over $100 at the store and purchased a cyborg or a walder. Something like that anyway. I would never have a set if I had to drop that much on every single head...
Think about that next time you hesitate before spending 1,200 yen on one.

[hypnotator]

Let it be known that the Hypnotator waits in a line overnight for no toy. I am their god, not vice versa. So I'm very pleased to have picked this one up so easily and cheaply on Ebay.

So is it 250 produced or just 100? Maybe it's 250 in total, 100 each of the Sharkman and Cyclovillain and 50 of the Bee Man? Anyway, I do appreciate that I have a rare figure and I'm surprised that these sat untaken on Ebay for so long.

[GUYx1]

Have the TOYS SHOW days really been that long ago?
The Old Collectors would save up their funds for this ONE SHOW of the year.
I remember getting up at 4:30am to go on that long drive, just to try and get first dibs at the old vintage finds for the year.

In Japan, You can still find ToyShows that have the STARWARS era queues camping out and lining up around the building.
The toy companises market to the insanity.

Hypno, Trust me, you personally will never – EVER- have to stay up all night to acquire these toy. But SOMEBODY probably did.
Hard to believe, but You have it relatively easy.
You just decide “can I afford it Yes or No?”

You didn't have to decide on the spot if you wanted to buy it. You have the luxury oy waiting for the ultimate price.

Just take one look on the Super7 board and you will find evidence of people who are into this solely for the challenge.
In Japan, there are always toys that will be produced in small numbers. IT NEVER ENDS.
Items the collectors will get ONE CHANCE only to acquire.
Lucky for you, each month there will be just as many NEW toys issued in small quantity as there were the month before.
That is why you may occasionally find some toys that are LIMITED to 10 produced. Somebody weight things out and let it go in hopes of obtainign that NEW rarity.
There is such a pleathora of new toys to buy in Japan, that collectors in Japan have to routinely pare down their collections and sell them off at a loss just so they can keep up with the latest items.
We never see all the real action, because as foreigners, we can only accept what we are allowed to purchase on the secondary market. That is probably a good thing, as the prices can often be a lot less once collectors have “MOVED ON” to the latest rarities.

I just want you to know what all goes into the acquiring of these toys, so you understand how the system works and that
No matter what frustrations we may go through in the west, they are minimal to the challenge that came before us.
Before I can sink my teeth into something new, I appreciate knowing where my meat came from and be respectful of what went into obtaining it.

You may even feel like you got a better deal knowing you didn’t HAVE to stay up all night plus - not to mention you may have obtained it for LESS MONEY than it’s original price IN JAPAN.
Scary, Huh?

[GUYx1]

Here is a photo of the Head & T-shirt PROSHOOTO promo pack: