This website is about any and everything that sparks the creative genius in all of us. By profession I am a Graphic Designer, and enjoy all aspects of design. From traditional to urban from resin to vinyl, these are all great mediums and deserve to be explored. On top of that everything from music to movies from guns to graffiti.
Well it appears that Toy2R continues to drop bombs, and in light of the upcoming Jumping Brain show at Toy Art Gallery this Friday... I see this info is only fitting as they just announced an exclusive release of what they are calling the 'Top Secret Hong Kong Edition' of Emilio Garcia's 5" vinyl Jumping Brain figure... in a wonderful looking coal black color pallet! There is no word on a release date, quantity, or price but we do know that if you are a retailer and would like to get your hands on this to contact info@toy2rusa.com ... so get on it! More info soon!
A while back we posted HERE about Tomenosuke-syoten and Lady Aiko's amazing three-dimentional "Lady Butterfly" figures... and now the second colorway of this elegant figure is set to drop this Friday, September 16th at 1pm JSP! This version, just like the last, was watched very closely from inside the famous art and craft city Hida Takayama, where Tomenosuke-syoten is located. Aiko came all the way from New York to visit the production site once again and did the final inspection! The 10" tall resin figure is limited to only 10 pieces world wide, it comes with very special cylinder packaging, and can be picked up HERE for $550 each! Don't sleep on this folks, the first colorway sold out in seconds!
The Gumpy Show will take place at Gunnzo in San Diego on October 8th at 7pm. The list of artists is packed full of talent, with all the artists not only being good at what they do, but also great people. The thing that sets this show apart from others is the concept of connecting the artist directly with the collector. What does that mean? It means no commission or gallery markup is placed on any of the pieces in the show. This ensures the pieces are priced reasonably and the artist gets all the money for their hard work and effort. Some other cool things included in the show will be a limited edition print done by Skinner that is free to the first 20 guests. Tabe barbeque featured on the food network will be serving up their Asian-Mexican fusion for our guests. DJ JoeMama will be keeping the party going with good music and for those 21+ there will be beer and wine.
This promises to be one of the biggest little shows that San Diego has seen in a while. The following is a list of the talent featured in the show, in addition to 50 Gomis customized by people all over the USA. And not only customs by Gumpy himself, but original artwork in some unique mediums: Frank Kozik, Beast Brothers, Skinner, J*Ryu, Nebulon 5, Marka27, NST, Saner, Pon, Ritzy Periwinkle, Dodgrr, SpankyStokes, Rhoby, Gary Ham, DrilOne, Leecifer, Task One, Andrew Bell, Paul Kaiju, Sketchbot, J.E.C., Shane Jessup, Ryan the Wheelbarrow, Sisterrez, 2bithack, BabyVtec, Gatchabert, J222, Scribe, Gumpy, Uncle, and Plastic Booty... and with a roster like that you know there is going to be some quality pieces! Source[Gumpy Press]
Mike "NEMO" Mendez has a long history of passing up more traditional platform toys in favor of working on super cheap pieces of plastic. In this case, he stumbled upon a treasure trove of bootleg Iron Man-esque 5" action figures in a Queens 99-cent store, and of course, he bought himself a case, and here is the first custom he made a Tenacious Toys blue & white custom 5" Steel Warrior- the first of many customs on this platform! Priced at $45, and available HERE. I really dig what Nemo did with this figure, pretty much made it his own with some much needed wear/tare/grunge!!!
Michael Fichtenmayer is one of the most skilled and gifted artists around, and looking at his latest recent model he designed and built it's little wonder that he has such a following. Hornethopter his latest creation is a 1:35 scale steam punk styled airship. this great little resin model kit features: 32 Resin Parts, 2 Photoetch Frets, 2 Pilot Figures, 2 Glass Cabochon Lenses, Clear Plastic Sheet, Rigging Wire, and Detailed Instructions all priced for $80 at Industria Mechanika. While the product shows sold out word is a second edition will be out soon, be sure to check back in at Industria Mechanika or contact them and inquire about a preorder.
I hope you are all ready for another LIVE review posted up here on SS.com because I am stoked to be bringing you my opinion on Alex Pardee's amazing new book titled “Awful / Resilient.”! I had the opportunity to sit down and flip through these pages on, and off, the camera and just gotta say that this book is the juice! The book features 172 pages, over 250 illustrations of disturbing monsters, graphic scenes, and everything you can come to expect from the mind of Alex! It measures 8.5″ x 11″ and has some seriously cool illustrations, drawings, paintings that not only fill up many pages, but span across the spread of the book as well so you can really appreciate the work that Alex does!
In the above video review we touch on a few pages, as we don't want to spoil the entire thing for you, but would totally recommend grabbing this book up! It's a great catalog of Alex's work over the past few years, and after reading through it I look forward to the next edition! You can snag up a copy of this HERE via UpperPlayground for only $30, or you can visit the Zero Friends site HERE for the same price above... the only difference is that this will come signed by Alex (kinda a no brainer)... so snag up a copy and freak out your friends!
Kat Brunnegraff continues on her "Día de los Muertos" kick as she introduces yet another fantastic skull wearing plush figure in her "Sugar Skellies" line of toys... her name is "Luna" and she's a sugar skull owl. This little birdlette stands 5" tall and according to Kat "Luna is a spooky little owl. She loves to swoop down from her hollow tree to give a fright to the little mice that scurry about outside of the graveyard church." She can be picked up HERE right now for the great price of only $10 and while you are there, check out her other awesome creations!
Remember the teaser we posted HERE last week, above is the special edition "Crow Crow Bear Cosmical" for 'Big Kev’s Geek Stuff' Fund Raiser that Matt Walker of Monster Kolor and Erick Scarecrow of ESC Toys got together to create! The figure is limited to 1/1 and will be available on September 22nd, 2011!!! This is a great colorway... seriously slick, and remember it goes to a great cause so don't sleep when this drops!
Toy Art Gallery is proud to present Emilio Garcia’s “Brain Evolution” Jumping Brain Custom Group Show where each artist that was asked to participate put their own spin on this already curious creation! “Brain Evolution” features exclusively produced 6” resin Jumping Brains customized by a huge selection of artists from around the world.
Participating artists include: Betso, Blobpus, Bob Conge / Plaseebo, Boris Hoppek, Brent Nolasco, Buff Monster, Bwana Spoons, Chor Boogie, Clay Ferguson, Cris Rose, Daniel Goffin, Doktor A, DrilOne, Greg Noppe, Hints and Spices,, Itokin Park, Jan Calleja, Jason Feeny, Jason Limon, Jermaine Rogers, Jon Knox, Jon-Paul Kaiser, Jryu, Keithing, Kenny Wong, Lash, Leecifer, Liz Mcgrath, Luke Chueh, Malota, Mark Dean Veca, Mark Nagata, Motorbot, Naoto Hattori, Nebulon5, Oliver Winconek, Okedoki, Paul Kaiju, Phu, Raymond Choy, Scott Tolleson, 64 Colors, Skinner, Spencer Ong, Tan-ki, Todd Robertson, Tokyo Plastic, Travis Lampe, Velocitron and Yosuke Ueno.
Come help TAG celebrate “Brain Evolution” in their BRAND-NEW retail showroom (located in the heart of Hollywood, CA) with a special night of fun, friends, and free door prizes! Enter thier raffle for a one-of-a-kind giveaway and visit with Emilio Garcia and tons of other artists as well as other attending guests. Marvel at the 36” Toy2R Brain Pattern Qee and make sure to pick up your own 5” DIY vinyl Jumping Brain to continue the evolution. As an extra added bonus, Han Cholo will be on hand with their Trunk Show for all of your pop culture-related jewelry and accessory needs!
TAG will also be host to some amazing exclusives from some of our favorite artists, available first come first served at the grand opening! You can expect TAG-exclusive editions of your favorite toys from the following artists: Paul Kaiju, Splurrt, Abell, Waotoyz, Velocitron, Cris Rose, and more! “Brain Evolution” and the grand opening event will all go down on Friday, September 16th, 2011 at 7pm and will run til 11pm. There will be a food truck and DJ on hand, as well as complimentary drinks. “Brain Evolution” will run through Oct. 10th.
Toy Art Gallery NEW LOCATION 7571 Melrose Ave. Hollywood, CA 90046 Hours: 11-8 Sun-Sat TF: 877-910-TOYS (8697) Local: 323-653-TOYS (8697)
Indonesian based artist Bowo Baghaskara sent up this trio of custom OMI's by Munky King for us to check out, and I'm liking the sculptural additions and cartoonish feel of these guys! From left they are "SpongeBone", "Death Spawn" and "Death Kitty", all ready to mount on your walls like hunting trophies from another world. Hit up Bowo directly to purchase one of these customs, or check out his website for other rad pieces and more awesome art!
Industria Mechanika has really been gathering steam quickly lately, and with some great talent coming on board fast. I'm pleased to see such great works in development from this little company as their work so far has been very cool and high quality. While we mostly cover vinyl toys here I can't help but love a good resin model kit and am excited to see this market growing in the US, where traditionally it's only been big in Japan. Industria Mechanika just announced today a new collaboration with Jake Parker, their first work will be the the Chompbot #5 shown above. Word is that the resin model kit will be 1:35 scale with pilot measuring approx 2 inch, and the Chompbot approximately 8 in tall. Very exciting indeed. I can't wait to see this thing when Michael gets into prototyping it up. No word on pricing yet but we'll be keeping a eye out for this one.
The fellas over at Trampt are at it again, and just like their last giveaway... this one is just as epic as they are giving away an 8" Jesse Hernandez "Jaguar Warrior" Dunny... rad right?!?! Well, if you have not signed up for this fantastic site yet, do so over HERE, and then all you need to do go to the Trampt listing for the Jaguar Warrior Dunny and add it to your want list. It's that simple. Users that have it in their want list are already entered... but wait there is more! They are giving out a mystery prize as well via twitter just follow @trampt and retweet: Trampt #WIWI Giveaway - Jaguar Warrior Dunny by Jesse Hernandez & Twitter mystery prize over at http://trampt.com/n/13 ! That's it, you can enter both contests until Sunday September 18th at 11:59pm EST then they will pick a winner and announce on September 19th via Twitter. For more info on the contest and Trampt, hit the link HERE.
It's no secret we've been following San Francisco artist Norio Fujikawa, ever since we first saw his work on Behance. His Rocket Boy in particular is something we still dream about seeing as a toy. So when we heard last year that Norio together with his business partners Woo Roberts, and Noah Hurwitz were starting a toy company we were very interested and made a point to keep a eye out for when and what they might drop. Spotted last year at SDCC was two of their prototypes, Fiver and Omar, both of which were exciting to see in person especially when you spend a lot of time drooling over Norio's 3D work on a computer screen. Today we see that Yotoy has released 2 of their 3 robot's at their store.
Fiver a 1:6 robot design measures 8 in and is priced at $120, and Omar is 1:8 scale and measures a whopping 16 in. tall and is priced at $220. My favorite, Flo is also 1:8, measures 14 in and is priced at $240. Flo is marked as coming soon so be sure to keep a eye out for that one as he comes available. All of these great robots can be found at Yotoy's store here. Also look for Norio's custom 3A Bothead design at the 3A Custom show in San Francisco at the 1 A.M. Gallery in Novemeber.
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This promises to be one of the biggest little shows that San Diego has seen in a while. The following is a list of the talent featured in the show, in addition to 50 Gomis customized by people all over the USA. And not only customs by Gumpy himself, but original artwork in some unique mediums: Frank Kozik, Beast Brothers, Skinner, J*Ryu, Nebulon 5, Marka27, NST, Saner, Pon, Ritzy Periwinkle, Dodgrr, SpankyStokes, Rhoby, Gary Ham, DrilOne, Leecifer, Task One, Andrew Bell, Paul Kaiju, Sketchbot, J.E.C., Shane Jessup, Ryan the Wheelbarrow, Sisterrez, 2bithack, BabyVtec, Gatchabert, J222, Scribe, Gumpy, Uncle, and Plastic Booty... and with a roster like that you know there is going to be some quality pieces!
