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Behind The Figure: 1000toys x Moderythm


Go Figure News is proud to present an interview with one of our favorite toymakers from Japan, 1000toys (Yuta Tobari) alongside designer of the phenomenal Mechatro WeGo robot toys, Moderythm (Kazushi Kobayashi). Their figures are in the balance between commercial products and designer toys, with that extra sense of quality and craftsmanship. If you haven't seen our September feature review on them please have a look here as well as our earlier preview. We have been so impressed with their artistry over the past few years as we also previewed the 'Synthetic Human' demos at NYCC here. These are just here to whet your appetite, though we are so excited to chat with the two creatives that make things tick behind the scenes, so let's get to it....

TJ/GOFN: Greetings, it is a true pleasure to speak with you today. Can you tell us more about you and what you do?

KK/M: Hi, my name is Kazushi Kobayashi (Moderythm). I am the original designer and sculptor of MechatroWeGo. I work on 3DCG modeling for visual works, and also original sculpts for toy products. My affiliation with 1000toys started when they came to me asking for commercialization of MechatroWeGo.

TJ/GOFN: Very nice to say hello, as you know from our review we were very excited and interactive with your figures. How did 1000toys get started, and what is your overall concept?

YT/1000: Hi, my name is Yuta Tobari of 1000toys (Sen-toys). I used to like toys myself, but ever since I got to know threeA, I have greater interest in toys which freely portray one’s artistic world and are more close to the users’ point of view in making them, and that became a trigger for me to start 1000toys. When starting 1000toys, I started with a simple concept of action, to ‘launch original toys by Japanese creators.’ TJ/GOFN: You've most certainly succeeded to date, they are innovative, and we only want more. We are so excited about the evolution of the MechatroWeGo series. Can you tell me about the collaboration/relationship?

YT/1000: I am also with a Japanese toy company called ‘Sentinel’, and was selling 1/35 scale die-cast version of the MechatroWeGo in Japan. Even at the point of launching the 1/35 scale version, we adopted the artistic qualities of color variants, such as the Be@rbrick series by Medicom Toys, but when we displayed the 1/12 version of the MechatroWego at last year’s DesignerCon in Pasadena, the design of WeGo was tremendously well received by the attendees so we decided to sell WeGo overseas through 1000toys. TJ/GOFN: What is your background as a designer or did you have a career in other industries prior?

KK/M: I worked on various games and animations, doing clean-ups for rough designs done by other creators. My first 100% original design was the ‘CHUBU-01’ in 2006. MechatroWeGo is my 2nd original design (below).

TJ/GOFN: The MechatroWeGo seems to take the concept of action figure to a new level altogether. To me it's a sort of vehicle or craft to transport other smaller figures that fit snuggly inside. Is that the idea?

KK/M: Originally, I have designed the MechatroWeGo as a robot which is used by grade school students for commute. I thought if this was made into a toy, many users will play with WeGo by having various figures riding inside. But in Japan, many people became to see and treat MechatroWeGo as a small autonomous robot, or a living character such as a fairy. I was really surprised at this, and it is so delightful to see such diverse ways people play with MechatroWeGo. TJ/GOFN: We love the whole concept of robotics, how does this play into the creation of this series?

KK/M: I thought that if I become too conscious of real-life technology, the designs might get too plain and boring. So this time, I prioritized the shapes and forms that I like, aside from being realistic. Also, it was important that the designs be simple in detail as much as possible so that anyone can draw a picture of it after just having a look.

TJ/GOFN: You have multiple types from the MechatroWeGo series, can you explain a bit more about these and maybe about about the process of making them behind the scenes?

KK/M: Although these are not made into products yet, I am thinking of many variations according to various purposes, such as Power Type, High-Speed Type, and Roller Skate Type, etc. In many cases, I exchange opinions with the director at 1000toys and build it up from there together. TJ/GOFN: We are very interested in your other machinery type toys like the TOA Heavy Industries series as well as the Kugutu and Izmojuki figures. Some have the semblance of showroom dummies and cyborg/android combined. Can you tell us a bit more about these lines as well?

YT/1000: The TOA Heavy Industries series, is a work based on a Japanese comic artist, Tsutomu Nihei, who has a unique world of his own, and who I was a fan of since high school. The concept of the Synthetic Human when I asked for the design were these two : ‘a non-mechanical artificial human made of material which does not exist in present day and ‘allowing a character of its own just by the presence of the body itself, such as classic Japanese toys like Henshin Cyborg or Microman series.’ Based on these concepts, Mr. Nihei designed the mask-off gimmicks for the head, and the total outline of the model itself. I still remember how excited I was when I saw the initial rough sketches.

IZMOJUKI, by Junji Okubo, is a series of realistic heavy equipment designs which could actually exist in this world. I loved his simple but realistic designs and wanted to make products from them someday. I got to know him by being introduced from a mutual friend, and started to work on this original heavy equipment series in 1/12 scale right away. Concept of the toy is a ‘high-end assemble toy’ (chuckles). With 3 sizes of mutual joints in Large, Middle and Small, various assembly is possible. Also the core unit of the mid-class can switch its form into 3 types to adjust itself to various usages and situations.

TJ/GOFN: When I first saw the work of Tsutomu Nihei I immediately thought of Bjork's "All Is Full Of Love" video (1997). What inspired him to develop these? Are they built to be synthetic beings? Are they loosely based on any specific science fiction films, or simply a taste of the futuristic?

YT/1000: Bjork’s “All is Full of Love” is also one of my favorite music videos! Chris Cunningham rocks! I don’t think Mr. Nihei was influenced in particular by the video when designing the Synthetic Human, but I did refer to the android’s porcelain-like surface texture when coming up with the paint finish for the Synthetic Human.

TOA Heavy Industries is a corporate which is featured in Mr. Nihei’s various manga works. The Synthetic Human is made by TOA Heavy Industries, and serves its mother company working as agents in various missions. Its image is like a corporate country in the distant future. And of course, there are also opposing forces against the TOA Heavy Industries. TJ/GOFN: And can you tell me about the articulation and function of the figure itself?

YT/1000: The engineering of toys from 1000toys are kept as simple as possible. Since I always deal with robot toys which has over 300 parts at Sentinel, I keep gimmicks to a minimum and focus on having simple structure and wide range of articulation.

TJ/GOFN: We are looking forward to reviewing the figures in person. What can you tell us about your sculptor/s, painters and costume makers?

YT/1000: The original sculpt for the Synthetic Human is outsourced to Mr. Takayuki Higashi at Higashi Koubou. Mr. Higashi used to work at Capcom as a designer, and we have asked him to make a solid form from Mr. Nihei’s design sketches. The finisher/painter (who works on the paint master) is Yoji Hayakawa who works with us at Sentinel. He is the one who came up with the porcelain-like finish for the Synthetic Human. Garments are done by Naoto Yoshida, a designer who has his own outfit brand under the name CARTRIDGE CASE. He produces the garment samples and also the patterns for production. Production for the garments are done at Nectory, which is a factory in Gifu prefecture, Japan. We are always disputing with the factory as Mr. Yoshida’s samples are too high in quality for mass production (chuckles). TJ/GOFN: Well, no one will complain about that! What is in the upcoming future for 1000toys? Any sneak preview (or teaser) you can share.....

YT/1000: For the future, we will continue to launch figures in 1/12 and 1/6 scale for TOA Heavy Industries, IZMOJUKI, KUGUTU and WeGo series. Also, we are working on collaboration with other properties such as what we did with G.I.JOE this summer. As for TOA Heavy Industries, we are currently planning a 1/6 scale motorcycle and female type Synthetic Human, and also an original 1/6 scale series by Mr. Shinkawa Yoji (Kojima Production) displayed at this year’s SDCC.

TJ/GOFN: We realize you have done a few conventions already to date, are there any events upcoming that we should watch for?

YT/1000: My personal favorite event is DesignerCon, which we will be participating in November again this year. (Publisher: Great! I will be able to meet you in person!) I would also like to return to basics and have exhibitions at galleries like we used to do when we first started. Someone please plan one for us! We’re willing to answer any calls! (chuckles)

TJ/GOFN: Well, if I still ran my gallery, Soundvision, I would invite you in a heartbeat, though we closed back in 2003. I'm sure we will see your amazing figures out there illuminating people's lives. Thank you for being our guest today, it is our true honor.

YT/1000: Thank you for having us today. It was an honor for us too.

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