It’s always fun learning about new artists and potential toy projects while surfing. Case in point — Konatsu’s ongoing Laicone, Space Dog, exhibition @ Fewmany in Japan which ends on 3.16.08. There are certainly scores of talented Japanese illustrators that we are not yet familiar with and Konatsu is clearly one of them. His style is kawaii (cute) but we’re really digging the illustrations that blend his cartoonish characters with traditional Japanese imagery.
The Laicone exhibition stands out because a sculpt of the Lacione figure with space saucer was shown. It’s one of several figures in Kaijin’s upcoming Space Racers vinyl figure line from Wonderwall. Each figure was sculpted by Kaijin (Super Jepel, Fulcraim and others). At this point, we’re guessing the other two shown flanking Laicone are by Kaijin as they definitely share toy DNA with his Steiny character. Thanks to Konatsu for the info. It’s hard to tell based on machine translation but it looks like these are slated for some sort of production. We’re trying to get more info and will update with what we learn. Check out all the show items available for purchase. Click through for more pics. [Pics from Konatsu’s blog]
