Dempagon by Longneck

Pile of junk or beautiful garbage? This one may be the classic case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder.

Here is the latest offering from the company Longneck. This hideous beast is called Dempagon (デムパゴン). This particular version is Dempa-gon ver 2.0 2008 according to the gold label on the header card.

The monster itself is a mish-mash of various items. It is in the theme of Junk Kaiju.... or junkheap... monsters that are made of various debris, or are even themselves moving trash heaps. Maybe Hedorah fits in this family too as he seems to be made from toxic sludge.

I've seen a few toys made in this theme, and I know of the monster Garuban from the old television show Captain Ultra. Hopefully I'll soon be reviewing a giant Garuban I got recently. The others I have seen have mainly been large pieces of trash forming a humanoid shape. One monster made by Kaijuken even has an airplane tail sticking out of his ass.

Dempagon is a bit different from these others in that he is made up of some pretty strange items. He is a surreal combination of household items such as a computer monitor, some sort of plug on one arm, an upside down old style television for a head, and what appears to be the Tokyo Tower for his right arm. Either it is a tiny tower, or the other parts are supposed to be enormous.

The color scheme on this figure is an homage to an old and very awesome vinyl toy of the Barom-1 demon Frankenruge. There has been a new version of Frankenruge made by Rainbow, as well as a Mutant Chaos by Real Head painted in this scheme. Dempagon is slightly different... you can see pictured here that the colors are mirrored from where they appeared on the original toy.

It looks like someone looked at Dempagon's horns one day (the feet of the upside down television) and thought they resembled the antennae on the vintage Frankenruge. It was a good find, regardless of how it happened.

It seems that Longneck is taking this Dempagon figure in these sorts of directions, as there is a version coming soon that is based on King Joe and one that even resembles a panda bear!

Header //1 out of 5//:

I have to say, Longneck has some boring headers. from what I can tell, they all look exactly like this, with the price on the front, and a sticker on the back with the name of the toy. No color except for the gold foil sticker, and the font isn't all that attractive. Meh.

Sculpt //3.5 out of 5//:

Nothing clean about this guy. This is the kind of sculpt, I believe, that people either really like or really dislike. I could be wrong, but sometimes it seems these messy themed toys attract a certain collector and repel many. I really like it, but there are a couple things I wish were different.

As I said above, this guy is a mash up of lots of different parts, most of which seem to be electronic devices... the television, some sort of monitor, the plug... There is even a keyboard and mouse on his back, a cell phone protruding from a black hole in his hip, and what seems to be an electrocardiograph for a pelvis! I really like the assortment of items that I have never seen in a toy like this before.

The addition of the Tokyo Tower for an arm is a bit strange given the size of all the other included items, but I can appreciate the random addition. I believe it makes the figure stand out more than if the arm were simply a sharp household device.

The figure has some nice textures in places, like the broken parts of the monitor on his chest, the cross beams of the tower arm, and the nondescript garbage textures on the left arm, legs, etc. However, I would like these textures more if they did not look so hand drawn. It is almost as if the main sculpt of the figure had a lot of thought and effort, and the surface was then glossed over. While this is a way to have the toy really feel like a do-it-yourself project, here it feels rushed. Another Longneck toy, Gas Bawer, has awesome texture, and it doesn't look this way. There are even lines etched into Dempagon where you can see where the extra clay was pushed into a ridge along. I think this would have really benefited from a little cleaning up and more thought out textures.

There isn't much in the way of articulation either. While I will admit knowing virtually nothing about the casting process, I think this toy could benefit from legs that rotate at the hip and a head that turns. As it is now, there is a big seam at the waist which is nicely concealed between two blocks that meet, and the arms rotate at the shoulder. The feet are a little off on mine, which causes some slight balance issues, but this can be corrected with the hairdryer treatment I am sure.

Paint //3.75 out of 5//:

As with the sculpt of this beast, there are parts I like and parts I do not like about it.

I think it is cool that it is an homage to the Frankenruge villain. It is an interesting color scheme and choice. I really like Dempagon's face/head with the large saggy eyeball and the metallics on the feet of the upside-down television. The paint here almost gives a plastic like texture... which sounds kind of stupid now that I look at it typed out because the toy is made of a plastic. But something about it just looks different, and I like it. The shading on the sides of the extended eyeball are a nice touch.

There is a lot of color here, and the application is nice for the most part. The fades and colors chosen all over the body are well executed, ranging from yellow highlights on the back of his head, to the deep, black pit on the left hip.

The part that bothers me actually is the paint on the legs and upper arms. Obviously the point was to mimic the veiny look of the Franenruge, but in my opinion the application is almost clumsy. The airbrush stream is a little wide, and on the red side in particular, it seems like a rushed trace over the sculpted cardiograph lines. While it probably can be argued that this application is reminiscent of a vintage paint application, I think it could have benefited from a little more care and time. This is, after all, an expensive figure, not a cheaply made toy meant for play in the sandbox by children of the 70s.

Coolness //4 out of 5//:

I'm a sucker for these oversized, ugly toys. It is appeasing to me to have someone see a figure such as this and have a "what the hell is this?" type of reaction.

Value //2 out of 5//:

I bought this in the US and paid twice as much as what it sold for in Japan. Ouch. Had I known that were the case beforehand, I probably would not have rushed to order it. But if you can get this for closer to the Japanese price, I think it is a much better value.

Overall //4 out of 5//:

Positives: Large, nice paint for the most part, interesting combination of junk parts to make a unique monster

Negatives: Expensive, bulky, not many poses available, certain elements of its production feel rushed

Yeah, I know I had some issues with parts of this toy, but something about it just draws me in. It's a mess, but in a good way. I don't own anything else that looks like it, but at the same time I think it goes well with such toys as Gas Bawer and Bemon.

Gas Bawer by Longneck

Since I reviewed my new Bemon and drew the BIG BATTEL scene between the Bemon and his arch-nemesis the Gas Bawer (in my mind anyway), I decided to finally review the Bawer figure. I picked up this figure from Super7 a few months ago on a whim and it has remained a focal part of my rapidly changing collection.

Like the Bemon, the Gas Bawer is shrouded in mystery for me, as I honestly know very little about him. With the Bemon at least I have some background though the old Smogun header. But as far as I know, the Gas Bawer's only background is that he is a relatively new character created from scratch. It has been speculated that the figure was designed by the same person that designed the Bemon figure, and evidently the Gas Bawer was sold in the same Japanese shop. I would like to verify this!

What draws me to him like the others is the pollution aspect. What makes the Gas Bawer unique is that where essentially all pollution themed kaiju are what appear to be mobile piles of sludge, he seems to be a mobile volcano spewing his noxious fumes over the land.

This was the only Longneck figure that I knew about until they released this:

I'm not positive what is name is, but the head on this snail creature is very phallic. I figured surely it coincidence until photos of the snail's undercarriage showed up!

No mistaking what that is supposed to be!

Anyway, back to mine, this new figure got me looking at the Gas Bawer again. As I was drawing the Bawer in my sketch posted earlier, I noticed how the arms had a phallic appearance as well. And the folds on the chest began to take on a whole new vaginal appearance! Could this be a common theme in Longneck figures? I guess we'll see when a new Longneck beast comes our way. Just thought this was kind of interesting.

There are several color schemes of the Bawer from a black, grimy looking one to an almost completely white albino. There is a pink one with spots that is supposed to resemble a strawberry, and one painted to resemble Mt. Fuji in Japan. I really like the color scheme of this one I have, although I just don't think it has the popularity of the Bemon.

I compare it so much to the Bemon mainly due to the two figures' similarities... general shape, the pollution theme, etc.

Sculpt (3.5 out of 5): This figure has a unique look for sure. Unlike the other pollution monsters around, the Gas Bawer is a walking mound of cracked stone, and this is reflected well in the sculpt. The cracked texture of the surface is nice... it reminds me of Marvel Comic's Thing from the Fantastic Four.

The giant smooth eye in the front becomes the obvious focal point in that is essentially the only smooth surface on the entire figure. There is also a giant, creepy vertical eye on his back that adds to the oddity of this monster as well.

Another nice touch in the sculpt is the "chest wrinkle" and what appear to be exhaust tubes around the waste. I can image the noxious fumes spraying from the chest and mid-section of the beast as his head explodes up top.They look almost rubbery or fleshy and add more contrast on the otherwise rocky surface.

The body is a little too barreled in my opinion. There is no distinction between the chest, waist and pelvis of the creature except for the skirt formed by the exhaust tubes. The legs seem a little too stumpy (it looks as though he would have trouble moving well) and the arms are posed at a bit of an awkward angle.

I would also have liked to see articulation at the hips and/or under the head instead of the big seam across the figure's belly. I suppose this was needed somehow in the sculpting process due to the shape of the head or something, but the seam under his chest is distracting and could have been hidden better I think. Granted, the legs couldn't really be posed, but it would have been really nice to be able to turn the head and have the seams hidden a little better.

Paint (3.75 out of 5): While there aren't as many colors as the Bemons (and no hand paints as far as I know), the Gas Bawers sport some great paint jobs... all very different from one another. This particular figure has an overall red scheme in the vinyl which is contrasted well with a cool blue and black sprayed on top. There is a metallic gold used for highlights as well in the large eye, on the tops of the claws and on the tips of the exhaust valves.

It is a pretty simple paint application despite all the colors involved. I cannot help compare to my Bemon which despite having only one paint applied, the mix of clean application to the eyes and messy runs that mesh well with the sludge surface. This Bawer figure has a uniform, airbrushed approach throughout which works for the rocky texture, but could be more interesting with a more fluid application I think. With the gaps left in the blue in the front, I believe a runny feel is what the intention is anyway, as if the red were running down the chest.

I do really like the colors used, and where they are used. The black top of the head really adds to the volcanic feel and the blue on the front helps to add variety and add a more organic feel to the hot rocks.... like there is some sludge mixed in with that volcanic, gassy ash.

Decent paint application, and good color selection, but could have a more interesting application.

Coolness (4 out of 5): To me this is still a very cool figure. I'm a sucker for uniquities, and even though this is another pollution monster in a large collection of them, this is the only rocky themed kaiju I own. What's not to love about a hideous volcano monster that spews gas and has a giant cyclops thing going on? Well, unless hideous just isn't for you I guess.

Value (3 out of 5): In the United States, these have a hefty pricetag. In comparison to similar toys, it's about par, however. Guess I'm just not a high roller. It is very large and comes in crazy colors, but it just does not have the same cool home made yet still professional feel that some other comparable toys do.

Overall (4 out of 5):
Positives: Unique approach to the pollution monster theme, nice colors, large in size

Negatives: Somewhat boring paint application, awkward joints, seam across belly

I would recommend this toy to any collector interested. In the battle of pollution beasts, I still view him as my favorite underdog (to Bemon). Secretly I want him to win in the battle that I drew earlier... well, that's not so secret anymore.