Max Toy Co’s 5th Anniversary

Saturday night, Double Punch hosted a celebration and art show in honor of Max Toy Co‘s 5th Anniversary. Max Toy Co, of course, is Mark Nagata‘s one-man toy company, which he runs out of his house-slash-Ultraman-shrine in San Francisco. For the show, a roster of predominantly Japanese artists submitted their own 2D interpretations of Max Toy Co characters. As for 3D, two shelves showcased just a sampling of Max Toy Co vinyl releases over the past half decade.

Mark put together a special 5th Anniversary Mini Kaiju toy set representing the initial standard size colorway of each character. Naturally, these sold out, but I got mine, and Mark was kind enough to sign it after jokingly lambasting me for being such a “fanboy”. Guilty as charged! That’s Mark above in a toy blogger sandwich with Kirkland from Toybot Studios and Joe from Kaiju Chronicle on the ends.

In addition to the art and toys, there was a section of postcards from Japan. Each card featured a hand-written and/or hand-drawn congratulatory message from an artist. Despite this wall of accolades, Nagata remains one of the most humble and down-to-earth people in the toy biz. When asked what he’s learned over the last five years, he spoke about the importance of staying in touch with other artists and the community. Judging from the night’s turnout (and the disappearance of Mrs. Max Toy Co’s cupcakes), the feeling of community is reciprocal.