Shibara Halloween

Konatsu Koizumi is a Japanese artist and toy designer best known for her adorable yet fierce kaiju (monster) art toys, particularly her signature character, Negora—a cat-inspired kaiju. Her work blends traditional Japanese aesthetics with modern sofubi (soft vinyl) toy culture, creating highly collectible and charming figures. Her most famous creation, Negora, is a cat-like monster with a playful yet destructive personality, inspired by classic Japanese kaiju movies like Godzilla and Ultraman. Beyond Negora, she has designed other animal-based creatures like Shibara (a Shiba Inu kaiju), Pigora (a pig monster), and Daioh Negora (a larger, more powerful version of Negora). Her work has gained a strong following among sofubi collectors, kaiju fans, and designer toy enthusiasts, making Konatsu one of the most recognizable contemporary sofubi artists in Japan. 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. Established in 2004, myplasticheart is a toy store and gallery dedicated to bringing the best in both the designer toy and contemporary art world together in one place. Located in the Lower East Side in New York City myplasticheart provides one of the largest selections of designer art toys anywhere. From mini figures to plush to art books and prints you will find a wide range of unique art and design products related to the designer toy culture. The myplasticheart gallery hosts monthly exhibits showcasing many contemporary underground pop and urban artists and illustrators from all over the world. myplasticheart has exhibited works by Julie West, Chris Ryniak, Shawnimals, Andrew Bell, Scott C., and Aya Kakeda to name a few. You can learn more about our gallery and shows at myplasticheartnyc.com myplasticheart also operates mphlabs, the division of the company responsible for product development in the form of limited edition art and design collectibles. Since 2006 mphlabs has produced various projects with many local artists as well as artists from overseas. You can learn more at mphlabs.com Mo. - closed Tu. - Sa. - 12:00 pm - 07:00 pm Su. - 12:00 pm - 05:00 pm