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Hi, everyone. I'm the art toy advocate, Nick Curtis, and I love a good post-apocalyptic
tale, especially one that involves zombies. This sort of story has taken many forms over
various mediums, such as Shinji Mikami's Resident Evil video games, Robert Kirkman's The Walking
Dead comic books, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later film, Brian Keene's The Rising novel series,
and sculptor Abe Junnosuke's Neo Japan designer toy line for his brand, RESTORE.
Neo Japan is a comprehensive universe that several of Abe's releases have emerged from,
including this Iron Meat sofubi figure we'll be examining today. But before we closely
look at this stunning 8.25" piece, let's take a quick overview of the universe it belongs to.
Neo Japan takes place at an unspecified point in the future, a time when Tokyo is overtaken
by an epidemic known as "Zombing," an outbreak that makes the faces of those infected become
identical, making them lose their sense of individuality, and the only common factor
seems to be that these are all people who have become dependent on a mysterious company's
quote-unquote "STUFF."
This epidemic was the direct result of a scientist known as Dr. K trying to unlock the secrets
of the universe through human experimentation, medical tests that accidentally created a
monster who almost immediately escaped. The monster fell into the clutches of the mysterious
company and their exploitation of the creature resulted in "Zombing."
To combat the outbreak that he inadvertently caused, Dr. K modified and revived the dead
body of Mr. Motofumi Okada, giving birth to the Ultraman-esque hero NEO JAPAN. But NEO
JAPAN is not alone in his fight as he is joined by one of Dr. K's failed human guinea pigs,
a man reborn as the cyborg named IRON MEAT.
The Iron Meat character first appeared as a more realistic looking, Garage Kit-style
sculpture, but the recent soft vinyl versions have a lovely, playful, cartoonish toy feel
about them. In addition to this light-colored Magical Iron Meat version, which was released
at the 2015 New York Comic Con & Taipei Toy Festival, I also have this still sealed Medicom
exclusive Iron Mega Meat edition.
Immediate first impressions make you think that the exposed brain under a clear dome
is the standout element of this figure's sumo-like body. And while the irony of a combatant against
a zombie-esque outbreak having an exposed brain isn't lost on me, and the execution
of this element is absolutely spot-on, I'm much more impressed by a little detail that
is easy to overlook: the openable CD-ROM drive in the back of the character's head.
Already loaded with a disc that reads RESTORE on it, you'll also notice that the brand's
name is emblazoned on the gauge in the figure's belly. With loads of articulation to maximize display options…
…the removable arm rockets are a definite highlight for me, though
I wish the forearm ended with something more defined.
Typically produced in very small, hand-painted editions, the major drawback of these — and
most RESTORE releases — is that they are difficult for the average collector to get
their hands on. But my fingers are crossed that this will change and more readily available
versions will be forthcoming.
To keep up-to-date on RESTORE's future releases, please visit their website at restore-created.com
and follow them on Instagram under the username restore_created.
Thank you for watching me, Nick Curtis, the art toy advocate.
Do you agree or disagree with me? Let me know your thoughts on RESTORE's Iron Meat sofubi
by commenting below as well as liking — or disliking — this video on YouTube. And please
remember to subscribe to the CoART YouTube channel to be kept up-to-date on my reviews.