Kiaida-kun

Self-produced art toys are designer collectibles created and manufactured independently by the artist or small teams without the backing of a large toy company or mass-market brand. These toys are often highly personal, artistic expressions and are usually made in limited runs. Key Characteristics include independent creation where the artist is in control of the entire process from concept, sculpting, and painting to production and packaging. These are usually made in small batches, often 10–100 pieces, which adds to their rarity, made using materials like resin, sofubi (Japanese soft vinyl), or 3D-printed components. Shigeta Tanaka is a self-taught illustrator and designer renowned for his distinctive contributions to the sofubi (soft vinyl) toy scene. In 2007, he established Goccodo, a creative studio where he began producing original soft vinyl figures that blend nostalgic elements from 1980s and 1990s manga, anime, sports, and subcultures with contemporary design sensibilities. Beyond his original designs, Tanaka has collaborated with numerous brands and artists, contributing to projects involving well-known franchises like Marvel Comics, as well as popular manga series including “Kinnikuman,” “Captain Tsubasa,” and “Fist of the North Star.” His design expertise extends to creating logos and apparel for various entities, including professional wrestling and martial arts organizations. The Tokyo Wonder Festival (ワンダーフェスティバル), or Wonfes (ワンフェス, Wanfesu), is a semiannual (February and August) event held in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is sponsored by the Kaiyodo manufacturing company. The main focus is to display and sell "garage kits", which are sculptures that usually represent anime and game characters, but also popular mecha/sci-fi characters and creatures such as Kuratas. These models are extremely detail oriented, and many of these sculptures appear in very small quantities due to the amateur nature of their reproduction.