AboutShiniGami Expertise I can answer any question about Action Figure and Toy Design, Prototyping, Manufacturing and Production Management. Over 20 years in the Toy business with clients including Bandai US/Japan/Europe, Hasbro, Kenner, Mattel, McFarlane Toys, Playmates, etc., and also specialty companies including Toy Tokyo, The Showroom NYC, Kid Robot, Wheaty Wheat and many others.
NOTE: I travel A LOT, so during overseas travel (Japan, Hong Kong, China), I do not check for questions. Thanks.
Experience
Past/Present Clients: Designers including : Gary Baseman, Ron English, Frank Kozik, Pete Fowler, Futura, Stash, David Horvath. Companies including : Bandai Japan, Bandai US, Dark Horse, Hasbro, Kenner, Lucas Films, Maharishi, Marvel, Mattel, McFarlane Toys, MTV, NIKE, Playmates, Reebok, Sony, etc.
Expert: ShiniGami Date: 10/5/2007 Subject: Cost of materials?
Question Hello,
I am researching toy recalls and I want to know the average costs of materials used for producing them. Materials such as: plastic, PVC, any metals, vinyl, etc. If this question is too vague, please respond with the specifications that I need to provide.
Thanks a lot,
Brinay
P.S. Does your name refer to Duo Maxwell? :)
Answer Had to do a search to see who Duo Maxwell. I've had people ask me if that was a Gundam name before. Sorry, but it's not. I'll put the explanation at the bottom of this message. I've been designing under that name for maybe 20 years.
There are no average prices, especially with oil being at an all time high. Some plastics have doubled in the last month. Same with paint, there's cheap, and there's normal, and specialty, glow-in-dark, etc. If you want to call I can probably answer this quicker than a very long e-mail.
The problem with the paint is not China. It's the toy companies. Mattel has several project managers that travel back and forth from the US to China weekly. They use the cheapest, worst factories you can find. Ones that just dump toxins in the river, workers are basically held there by the factory, and live at the factory, etc. I don't use any of those factories, but I've seen them in person.
Also, if you'll look at many of the recalls, they are design problems. Not how China made them. China makes them exactly how they are told. The baby crib that choked infants, that's a design problem. The Mattel toys the magnets fell out of, is a quality control issue. China could have corrected the tooling so the magnets would not fall out. Quality control (That would be from Mattel)probably said we can't wait for a tooling correction, just glue them in.
You can get pant with component data, that states it is below US allowed lead levels. I have them for projects I'm doing now. Has all test data.
It's like house paint. You can buy Glidden Evermore for $20 a gallon at Home Depot. Colors, especially red, can take 4 or 5 coats. They use lots of fillers and clay to keep the cost down. Or you can buy Benjamin Moore. $40 per gallon, but coats perfectly in 1 coat. Pure paint, no fillers.
Again, the problem isn't China. Mattel could use nicer factories, and they don't. Like Nike, some of the most horrific factories I've ever seen.
And the problems with food from China. The agent in charge of checking the food supplies was bribed $800,000.00US to just look the other way. So who paid that bribe? I'm sure the importer did, or OK'd it. China executed the Chinese man who took the bribe. But I haven't heard anything about wo paid the bribe. $800,000US is like $80 Million in China.
Anyway
David Reeves
636-290-0255
636-410-6242
dsr@npt.com
I'll be in LA most of next week.
Thanks
Oh, almost forgot, here's what ShiniGami means, I used to work on video games, and that was my handle.
ShiniGami, Angel of Death, last thing you see when killed on battlefield.
Gami are the level of spirits associated with major gods, that are called Kami.
As in KamiKaze (God's Wind)
And no kiddies, it's not for the character of same name in the Gundam movies.
Shinigami (死神 lit. "death god" in Japanese) is a term originally used for translating personifications of death, such as Death and the Grim Reaper, but later evolved into unique fantastic characters in original Japanese works of fiction. The term "ShiniGami" may also be used more loosely to refer to any God associated with Death. Although Death Deities have existed in Shintoism, they are usually not referred to as ShiniGami.
ShiniGami does not have a single clear definition since it varies from one source to another. However, they typically have a job of bringing Souls to the World of the Dead. ShiniGami appear in various Rakugo and other works.
A popular urban legend in Japan is that the Shirogane Tunnel in Meguro ward in Tokyo should be avoided, as it is the gateway ShiniGami use for the path between the Lands of the Living and the Dead. There have been reports of screaming faces set into the silhouettes of the tunnel's pillars.
One theory states that this Rakugo is based off of an Italian opera Crispino e la Comare which was in turn based off of Der Gevatter Tod, a German fairy tale recorded by the brothers Grimm. Perhaps the first use of the term "ShiniGami" in Japanese.
Rakugo (落語 literally "fallen words") is a Japanese entertainment form based on comical monologues. It was originally known as karukuchi (jokes). The oldest appearance of the kanji which can be read as Rakugo and refer to this form of show date back to 1787 (but at the time were normally read as otoshibanashi - fallen discourses).
The origin of this art form can be traced back in time to the story collection Ujishûi Monogatari (1213-1218). Gradually the form turned from humorous narrative into monologue, probably upon the request of the Daimyo, feudal lords, seeking people skilled enough to entertain them with various kinds of storytelling, including comic routines. In the earlier phases of development of the art, it is almost certain that only the upper classes were able to enjoy the show. During the Edo era (1603-1867), thanks to the emergence of the merchant class of the Chonin, the Rakugo spread among the lower classes. Many circles and associations of estimators arose, and collections of texts were printed.
In the middle of the Meiji period (1867-1912) the expression Rakugo first started being used, but it came into common usage only in the Shōwa period (1926-89).
