Seen — Secret Base: Japanese Devil @ Toy Art Gallery

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On Saturday July 7th, right before comic-con, Toy Art Gallery welcomed the legendary Japanese toymaker Secret Base with the opening of ‘Japanese Devil’.  While we made it to the opening, its only now in the aftermath of SDCC that we’ve had a chance to pull together our photos and some excellent crowd shots from Frank Schaefer/TAG in order to bring you a comprehensive look at the exhibition which ends on Saturday (7.28). 

The show featured the debut of  the brand-new Karakasa Obake figure from Hiroshi Hirakawa of the famed Three Tides Tattoo.  Available in a gray prototype edition, the new figure is drawn directly from Hiroshi’s art which features traditional Japanese imagery. In addition to the vinyl, Toy Art Gallery continued its tradition of life-size figures with the release of the  fully-painted  Karakasa Obake fiberglass  figure ($2500). 

Japanese Devil also featured editions of some of Secret Base’s most popular figures including Salvation and Rebel Ink from Usugrow, Hasadhu Shingon Skull,  Miss Mysterious, Obake dogs, and more.   Of these, the Ganji-Obake dogs featuring beautiful hand-drawn tattoo style graphics were definite standouts. Additionally, the dark marbled Salvation inks certainly caught the eyes of Usugrow collectors.    Rounding out the show by bringing things full circle, TAG showcased the incredible Secret Base collection of Carl Kent Smith – one of the largest ever assembled.   If you can’t make it to the gallery by Saturday, definitely check out the exhibition pieces and toys on the web.











































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