This is Ryu, also known as Akashi from MEDICOM TOY.
I was away on business in Hong Kong right from the start of the New Year.
This time, I'd like to talk about KUBRICK.



Around 1999, Japan experienced an unprecedented boom in character toys.
Looking back, I feel that was truly an era when anything could become a toy.

There were dioramas of Hoshi Ittetsu flipping over the low table, with Hyuma recoiling like Neo from The Matrix, and highly detailed figures of a special effects hero that aired on TV for just a few months about 20 years ago. The momentum felt like it could go to the absolute extreme. (Laughs)

At that time, we were thinking: 'Will most characters be consumed within about a year, leading to a shortage of things we can make, even if we want to?'
'Will licensing become fiercely competitive, potentially preventing us from making what we want to make?'
'Also, the modeling technology of each company was reaching a peak around this time.'
'Further pursuit of modeling beyond this point would be mere self-indulgence, not aimed at consumers, and would only drive up costs unnecessarily, wouldn't it?'
Reading my own interview articles from that period, you can see this kind of struggle.

GAINAX・Color / Project Eva.
(BR) Production Committee

It was then that a certain feature in a magazine caught my eye.
It was a feature on miniature models that caricatured a certain famous animation work, and its method struck me as incredibly appealing.


The possibility of acquiring licenses through clear differentiation from competitors' product plans; cutting costs and time losses through the pursuit of modeling and specifications; and creating small, pocket-sized products with 'healing' as a keyword... these keywords crystallized into the product that was KUBRICK.
It was the birth of a new kind of toy: a 60mm tall toy that fits in an adult's palm, where the caricatured form, rather than articulation or gimmicks, was the biggest selling point.

In 1999, the development of KUBRICK was in the winter of our third year after establishing the company.
Early representative items included novelties for advance tickets to Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES, as well as Battle Royale and Evangelion.
From here, our product development began to expand significantly.

This will continue next time.
SEE YOU SOON!

Ryu as MEDICOM TOY


Next time, we'll deliver ACT 3 "MEET THE BE@RBRICK!"