First Look kaNO Dragon King SDCC Exclusive!

One thing I have learned while collecting toys is to look at pictures artists post on social media of their workspaces.  A lot of times it can give insight into what the artist collects but more importantly, you sometimes get a sneak peek into what the artist has coming out.  Whether intentional or not it’s still pretty cool

The most recent one that was posted also could be one of the first confirmed exclusives at SDCC.

Today kaNO posted a picture on his that showed what looks to be the 5^th and final Red color way of his Dragon King figure.  It’s not exactly a close up but you can make out the shape of the figure in the picture.  kaNO also confirmed in a comment that it is the red version and will be released at SDCC.  No other information is known at this time. 

SDCC is only 2 months away so we should be seeing a lot more news about exclusives coming up.  Stay tuned because I am sure we will be having a lot of posts leading up to the con…so get excited.

 

kaNO x Kuso Vinyl: Dragon King OG Released

On the heels of My Plastic Heart’s exclusive Game of Death (G.O.D.) yellow colorway kaNO and Kuso Vinyl have released the original blue colorway for their Dragon King vinyl figure.

This has been one of my most anticipated toys of the year and I was one of the lucky few that were able to grab one of the 20 pre-released at this years Designer Con.  So now that the wait is over was it worth the hype?

The Good:

-Heavily influenced by the Legendary Bruce Lee, kaNO’s character design and styling translate extremely well to the overall sculpt of the figure.

-The Dragon King comes packed with 2 accessories, an old school Bolex camera and a green baton from Game of Death movie.

-The packaging; the Dragon King logo is printed on a thick cardboard burgundy box with a magnetic flip front that opens and closes nicely.  The outside is simple but works really well.

The Bad:

-The Packaging; The plastic enclosure the Dragon King sits in is a flocked plastic shell.  I am not a fan of flocked packaging due to the flocking can rub off easily.

-Articulation;  If you are someone that likes to pose their figures in many different positions you might be out of luck.  The arms (including wrists) and head are the most poseable parts.

The Verdict:

After the success of kaNO’s Moneygrip, Bodega and Hi-Def toys I believe the Dragon king is his best design to date.  I’ve been waiting for a piece that represents kaNO’s background in cartoon character design and I believe the Dragon King does just that.

I believe this is a definite pickup especially if you are a Bruce Lee or kaNO fan.  But if you are not a completist and the OG blue version isn’t for you, there are more colorways planned including a rumored an extremely limited “Green Hornet” version.

So what do you think of the Dragon King?

JOhn

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

kaNO’s first Dragon King Release

A late addition to the “must have’s” for NYCC 2011 but since this was just announced I couldn’t have included it in my original post. If you are a kaNO, Bruce Lee or just a vinyl toy fan in general it’s a definite pick up.

From the Myplasticheart website:

“From jack-of-all-trades kaNO comes his newest figure, 8″ Dragon King G.O.D. produced by Kusovinyl. Originally making an appearance as a prototype at SDCC this year, the Dragon King will be available at NYCC in a colorway based off of Bruce Lee’s character in the 1978 film The Game of Death. The figure features the yellow jumpsuit and green baton from the movie and a Bolex handheld camera.”

So how to get one:

Where: Myplasticheart booth #879

Edition size: 75 (Exclusive to MPH)

Price: $70

For more info checkout:

http://kanokid.com/ – kaNO’s website (@kano on twitter)

http://www.myplasticblog.com/ – Myplasticheart’s Blog

http://kusovinyl.com/ – Kuso Vinyl’s Website