Incubot, a new toy company started by Matt Alt and Alen Yen, has released its first soft vinyl figure in the form of the Nekosaur. The figure was designed by Yen, sculpted by Kiyoshi Ikeda (Gargamel), and directed by Alt, and is the company’s homage to classic Japanese vinyl robot toys. The Nekosaur will be available for purchase first at this weekend’s SuperFestival 51 (January 10), and will then be available for order through the Incubot website.

In addition to the “crystal model” (pictured), a hand-painted custom version by Matt Walker will also be available for purchase.

Matt Alt and Alen Yen have teamed up to form Incubot Productions, a company that plans to release retro robot collectibles. First up are the Nekobot USB robots (pictured above), with a 2GB capacity, and now on sale through their site.

Muji has launched its annual Xmas campaign section, which includes the new collaborative project between Muji and Lego. Imagine a mix of paper crafts, using Lego blocks and pieces as accessories. I don’t know if these are sold at all stores — I don’t think so — but I saw a huge display at the Tokyo Midtown Muji store during design week.

I am very, very tempted by this: Bandai’s Jibun Damashii, a made-to-order figure that uses a photo you send for the face, at a cost of 13,650 yen. It was shown at last week’s International Tokyo Toy Show. Via Japan Today.

Pictured above, Matt Alt‘s glorious Kappa Machine at prototype stage. Matt created the figure for the “Kappa Exhibition” in Ikebukuro (runs until July 21), and he’s put up a post describing all the work that went into creating the green mech — and yes, you get to see the final version.

I’m sure you’ve all heard about and seen the giant 1:1 replica Gundam statue in Odaiba, but have you seen lit up at night? Very nice gallery here, courtesy of Pink Tentacle.

You can execute many exciting poses with the Obama action figure, and one of them is resting under a kotatsu, flanked by a Famicom.

Can’t afford a real track bike? Go for the Pedal ID Basic Set instead, a customizable mini version which you can then upgrade with various accessories (tires, chains, saddles, cranks, etc.) Better than Barbie! Via Craig.

What are omake? Matt Alt explains.

PingMag interviews capsule toy company Yujin. I was amazed to find out they come up with 25 new product ideas a month!

Starting today (April 21) and running until May 6, Laforet in Harajuku is hosting the “KIKS TYO x YONE x AKI HOSHINO Sneaker Lover Pop-up Shop.” The shop will have exclusive collaborations with Champion, New Balance, and G-SHOCK, and will also be selling the limited edition tee (Hoshino photographed by Yone) seen below. Also, the first 300 people to buy over 10 000 yen merchandise (probably too late now) will get a KIKS TYO x MEDICOM TOY X AKI HOSHINO Kubrick.

I’m a big fan of the TV series LOST — it’s the one show I watch religiously, every Friday night with my wife, as soon as a new episode is out — and here’s a surprising merch tie-in, Kubrick figures of the main characters from the show. Now, as much as I love Kubricks and their generic one-size-fits-all shape, I do have one question: which one is Kate?

Lisa has a post up about these toys/figures called Carnimals. I just think they look cool, but there’s actually a wacky backstory to them — they live for 100 light years!

I really like NHK’s mascot Domo-kun, and so does Mimibots it seems, according to this JoshSpear.com post.

Tokyo-based fans of Kidrobot rejoice! Rumour has it that they are set to open a retail space in our fair city, joining current stores in NYC, LA, and San Francisco.