Heavy Metal Kaiju Eyezon

Bronze Kaiju Eyezon from Toy Art Gallery and Mark Nagata

Toy Art Gallery has produced a bronze version of Mark Nagata‘s Kaiju Eyezon. The figure was forged in the United States and stands 10 inches tall. It’s limited to 15 pieces worldwide, with a “special price” of $1450 for the first five of the edition. I’ve got mixed feelings about this bronze Kaiju Eyezon. On the one hand, why NOT make one of Mark Nagata’s kaijus in bronze? On the other hand, who exactly is the demographic for this? Among the most hardcore kaiju collectors, it’s not the dollar amount that will throw them, but the medium. Japanese soft vinyl (sofubi) is the material of choice, and heavy metal is for music, right?

It also strikes me as odd to suggest that this bronze edition “brings a fine art collectibility” to Nagata’s Eyezon. It’s just poor wording, but it reads like Mark’s hand-painted one-off Eyezons are somehow less “fine art” or “collectible” because they’re made of vinyl.  Then again, I increasingly find myself in the minority advocating for toys to be seen as art…

Bronze Kaiju Eyezon from Toy Art Gallery and Mark Nagata

All that said, TAG really only needs to find 15 people who want these. Hopefully, they’ll do better with this release than with Yosuke Ueno’s Hapiko bronze, which I liked, but showed up almost immediately for wholesale distribution. I appreciate thaty TAG is doing something different with the goal of elevating toy art culture, and I’m a big fan of Mark Nagata. The bronze Eyezons are available this Wednesday, June 29th 2011, at store.toyartgallery.com.