Pogola Dan - BE@RBRICK
DAN is an artist who creates original kaiju monster designs and sculptures. Many of their creations feature an incredible array of strange and unusual features that give DAN's kaiju an iconic style. DAN's first and most popular creation is Pogola, which was first seen in the late-early to mid-2010s and has since received many different sculpts, color variations, and more. In 2016 and 2017, BE@BRICK collaborated with DAN to create the "BE@RBRICK Pogola 400%," which merged DAN's Pogola design with the unique bear-like shape of BE@RBRICK figures.
Background to the DAN x BE@RBRICK collaboration
The first BE@RBRICK figure produced in collaboration between DAN and BE@RBRICK was the “Artist [DAN] 100%” figure, which, like its 400% counterpart released a year later, was inspired by DAN’s first kaiju creation, Pogola. As of early 2021, Pogola is the only kaiju monster created by DAN to have been recreated as a BE@RBRICK figure through this collaboration.
Planning and launching the collaboration
Although a 100% version of the BE@RBRICK Pogola was initially released in December 2016 as part of the Series 33 release, the 400% version of the Pogola was created in October 2017 as a limited edition and sold exclusively at Medicom Toy's Project 1/6 store. Project 1/6 opened in 1997 and offers a variety of exclusive Medicom Toy products that cannot be purchased anywhere else.
BE@RBRICK Pogola 400%
This unique product recreates DAN's first original kaiju design known as Pogola in the form of a massive BE@RBRICK figure. While many colorful iterations of Pogola have found their way to market, this BE@RBRICK figure sports Pogola's signature yellow design. Aside from the bright yellow color, this figure features Pogola's fluffy tufts of fur, sharp teeth, and sleepy eyes. The figure's bear-like ears also highlight the kaiju's signature magenta horns, which, along with its matching claws, add a bit of color variety. Like most other BE@RBRICK figures, the arms and legs are articulated, allowing the user to change poses a bit. Kaiju fans will definitely want to add this unique entry to their collections.
- Product Name: BE@RBRICK Pogola 400%
- Manufacturer: Medicom Toy
- Features: Painted and articulated plastic figure
- Height (approx.): 280 mm
About DAN
DAN is a Japanese kaiju designer and sculptor born in Fukuoka in 1987. After enrolling in the industrial design program at Musashino Art University in 2008, DAN began creating his own figures, which he later submitted to art exhibitions. The first example of this occurred in 2009, when DAN submitted his first figure to the Tiny Toys exhibition, an art festival organized by Musashino Art University. DAN went on to create a variety of different kaiju through Medicom Toy's soft vinyl figure line, Sofvi Tokyo.
About Pogola from DAN
Pogola is one of the kaiju created by DAN, who strived to create unique monsters that live beyond the human realm. This design would later be recreated as a vinyl figure. Over time, Pogola has received an incredible number of limited releases that featured a variety of different color variations, ranging from simple solid colors to incredibly complex palettes with beautiful finishes and gradients. Some Pogola fans enjoy collecting many unique figures of this adorable monster.
Other important works of the DAN
Although Pogola is DAN's most well-known monster, they have created several other kaiju. A few of these monsters are featured below.
Poundy Moo
Poundy Moo is a kaiju with several bear-like characteristics, such as rounded ears on top of its head, a short snout with fangs protruding from the bottom, sharp claws on its paws and feet, and small, button-like eyes. That said, Poundy Moo is considerably taller and more slender than an average bear and has a pair of long horns growing directly out of its head. Like Pogola, an impressive number of different iterations of Poundy Moo have been released as soft vinyl figures, making the kaiju very popular among collectors and fans of DAN's work.
Panda Moo
This kaiju was created by DAN as part of a collaboration between DAN and adFunture. It acts as a hybrid with the characteristics of DAN's Poundy Moo and adFunture's Fire Panda, resulting in a unique monster. Panda Moo has Poundy Moo's long horns and Fire Panda's body. The light blue body has a red flame pattern on its belly that contrasts perfectly with the yellow and red horns, creating a figure with a wonderfully balanced aesthetic.
Other related figures
Medicom Toys also released a pair of BE@RBRICK figures of Negora, a kaiju cat created by Konatsuya. This adorable feline monster is available in 100% and 400% sizes and was released in 2018. Negora soft vinyl figures are often featured alongside Pogola and Poundy Moo. As such, many soft vinyl figure collectors often associate them quite closely.
