Wednesday saw the first day for the month of June in 2011, and we "celebrate" it with a full 20 x blogposts (my new "publishing cap" per day, with the sole exception of June 3rd's "Drawing Cumulus Day" - which is currently numbering 25!). The day also saw the results of the Munnyworld Megacontest being unveiled - which afforded quite a number of features and mini Q&As - which always makes for a swell read, editorially. Yes, I do editorialize my posts, and thank you for being patient with seeing your works being published, as they will in time.
TOY-STORY: As previously blogged, the Android Mini Collectibles Series 2 is the second series release featuring the Google Android mascot as a 3-inch tall toy as produced and released by DYZ Plastic. Each display case consists of 16 x blind boxed containing a randomly placed toy within, with CUPCAKE part of the basic assortment, with a ratio of 1/16 - which essentially mean you might get one figure in a selection of 16 figures.
This box of Androids Series 2 is courtesy of The Taken Shop (The Official Distributer of Androids in Malaysia). You are able to procure the set or single boxes online via http://www.takenshop.com.
** Especially for TOYSREVIL-readers - there is a discount code for worldwide free shipping! Remember the code is "toysrevil.blogspot.com" (without the quotes). The discount code is only applicable on purchases over RM400.00 with any items available in the store.
Designed by U.S.A.-based artist Gary Ham [Superham.com] - one of three invited artists for this series - I had asked Gary what his inspiration for his yummy Android design was from, to which he answered: "Cupcake came about by a simple Google search on Android. One of their past software code names was "cupcake" and I thought that would be a fun insider design for the Android loyalists but also appeal to the mainstream audience. Adding the scent was Andrew's idea and what an amazing idea it was."
I hadn't noticed the scent until I read Gary's reply, actually! And if you do not know by now, Gary also designed one of the three "chase" Androids - and it is revealed to be the Chocolate Cupcake! (one of my current holy-toy-grail at the moment). This is not Gary's first attempt at designing an Android, with his first being the special edition: Snowflake!
Although truth be told, I was a tad bewildered at the "chocolate" peeking thru at the back of the Android-form, but perhaps it was meant to be a taste-surprise rather than a design-sensation, IMHO. But hey, I'm not complaining here! LOL
One of my absolute favorites from this series, the exception of this design lies in it's inherent innocence and silent desirability to take a bite out of it, as well the exceptional cherry on-top! Yes, this may sound like hyperbole, but I reckon I'll let the design speak for itself :)
PRODUCT-PRESS: Toy2R invites ye aboard the Whispering Corsair and join the legendary crew known for their daring exploits and their miserable curse! From the mind of Jon Paul Kaiser, the crew of the Whispering Corsair is a figure collection any fan would trade his sea legs for. From the depths of the dark to the mysteries of the sea, Toy2R will unleash members of the crew…the first which is already upon us…Olaf the Mute, the 8” Pirate Zombie Qee released last year.
This year will see the arrival of the First Mate and the merciless Captain Stūrnbrau …so call for parley if you dare or be keelhauled, as the crew of ruthless marauders weighs anchor and prepares to give no quarter! Coming soon from Toy2R and Jon Paul Kaiser, the crew of the Whispering Corsair…set sail and prepare for adventure ye scalawag!
Somewhen soon, somebody needs to film/snap/photograph the entire Qee-crew by JPK on an actual scaled pirate ship, for full-on awesomeness! Somebody make that happen, please? :)
Folks like drawing while being film. Personally, I think we should have more of them. I've done my fair share of pencil-to-ink, and today we get to see two folks on show - with the above being Thunderpanda drawing "Perry the Sea Wanderer", while Dante customizes a 5" Mini Qee below. Meanwhile, hit me with URLs of videos that you made of you drawing on video!
On the above-left you'll see a "regular" Snybora-sculpt from Chris Ryniak (for visual reference, of course), while the above-right is of the sample glow test shot of Snybora - which has since been announced to have been donated to KFHC's Monster Raffle (with all proceeds going to Japan Red Cross)! Blogged on Lakemonsters.com: "This particular piece is Japanese vinyl pulled as a test shot before we decided to re-do the Snybora mold to make the neck joint better (more on that later). She’s unpainted and glows like nobody’s business."
Get your US$5 Raffle/s (yes, you can get more than one raffle ticket) online via kfhc.bigcartel.com now! Drawing will be on June 25th.
Dorcas Ng's self-published publication TALES OF PAO enters June 1st worth it's, well, June issue! And this time, she celebrates the happenstance with "color"!
PRESS-TEXT: Titled 'The scream etc.', it is a continuation of the previous tale which ended with a scream. This time, Pao enters a space created by two lines and meets...PE. the story develops from there. In this issue, a comic drawing sets the starting scene, and continued by a short story. There's also a surprise in every copy(readers gets to redeem a poster).
Dorcas adds: "I've also used a different format for this, a 'one sheet one cut' technique, to make this issue … here's a link @ http://stamphenge.wordpress.com"
TOY2R-PRESS: Asia's biggest electronics event-COMPUTEX Taipei International Computer Show will be held May 31 to June 4. During COMPUTEX, several innovative and original products will be showcased including the newest collaboration between Choicee x Toy2R, a series of USB and card readers being produced for the market – focusing on the debut of the Choicee Qee Flash Drive! Standing in the same classic scale of the 2.5” Qee collection, this new electronic version should garner some new attention for the art toy genre and bring new opportunities to Toy2R to take Qee in new directions for the future. Pricing and memory capacity will be determined shortly after the Qee debuts this week.
While not an original concept (but they possess articulation more than Mimobots, I do agree) I do like the idea of toys reaching out to the masses who might not necessarily look at "toys" in the same light are you (who read my blog, bless you all) or me do - something I have learnt the hardway when I was lying in hospital bed last year for two months, while folks around me knew absolutely NOTHING about "art toys", beyond Transformers or Star Wars toys LOL.
Popped into my inbox is Igor Ventura's latest commission-Mad*L custom named "BAD LUCK" (should be ambassador mascot for Singapore's "Inttergrated Resorts" - which is a fancy name for "casinos" lol) - inspired by the ever-infamous one-armed bandit: the slot machine! Igor adds: "The concept behind it is the similarities between a blind box and a slot machine: there's an element of surprise, as you know what the grand prize is, but never know for sure what you'll get... not to mention both of them are pretty addictive! :D"
MEZCO-PRESS: "Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim; a bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob-omb. The 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams...literally. The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him. Originally displayed at Toy Fair, this version of Scott Pilgrim had to be removed from the initial wave of figures due to production issues. Now, thanks to overwhelming demand, this special edition is being made available to Scott Pilgrim fans! This variant figure wears a yellow shirt and comes with a removable cloth coat, the Power Of Love sword, and guitar. This is a non-numbered limited edition item. Edition size TBD."
Standing 6” tall, the figure features 8 points of articulation, and will premiere at San Diego Comic Con 2011. But you can currently pre-order him at mezcotoyz.com for US$20.
Aside, this news comes at a time when I only realized too late that my newly purchased DVD-Region-9 movie of Scott Pilgrim vs The World was unable to be played on my old-skool non-multiplayer system, and leaves me with a bittersweet aftertaste … awesome nice figure, I must say tho!
SF-based William Long is a robot builder. Will build robots toys, and they are awesome. Check out his flickr here, as well Facebooked images of his figure - and other goodness - on display at the recently opened group show "RETURN" at Lot F Gallery [event pics via]. The build in question is BRAMBLE LICK SHOT BOT - customed off a Bramble from 3A Toys, and spotted on my 3A-Toy-dedicated Flickr groups with a smile and a bird-flip via robot-fingers, which frankly, is hella cool! Don't you think?
ARTIST-BIO: Will Long was born on August 4th,1987 in Boston, Massachusetts. He comes from a family of artists and musicians. Art has played a large role in his life from the beginning. Will was always drawing or building legos. he started doing graffiti when he was 12, 'Graffiti taught me not to be precious with my work'. He is always experimenting and cycling through different media trying not to stay attached to one. Using mixed media he emulates a gesture he's seen in his surroundings. It could be something organic, industrial, or graphic. Will organizes and selects his materials and mediums, building and layering to create complex details to pull the viewer in. Will graduated from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2009, and currently resides in San Francisco California. [Bio-text from lotfgallery.com]
Giant Inflatable Labbit invades Urban Art Fest in Buenos Aires Argentina this past weekend while it's creator Frank Kozik spoke at a talk for the event. No, I do not think it's for sale. And yes, I think this'll look absolutely hilarious blown-up inside of a room/space. Now THIS is what I call an epic-inflatable!
Matt Anderson's MAD SCIENTIST custom-Foomi won his top placing in the "Best Use Of Electronics" category in the Munnyworld Megacontest and TOYSREVIL asked Matt for his first impressions of the win (FYI: The figure is currently at the Rusted Nail Gallery in Mesa).
MATT-A: "Well first off I'd like to thank the judges, Kidrobot of course and everyone one that voted. This was highly unexpected I must say. To be honest it took RsinArt sending me a text to even inform me that I had won, and my response was " Wait...I won something? " hah . There was an incredible amount of talent in this contest and quite frankly I feel it was absolutely one of the tougher contest to have judged."
MATT-A: "That being said, I absolutely Dig this new character in the Munny world series. There is alot of potential with this base , as we all have now seen from the entries, and it is definitely an easy fit with my genre and style of artwork. So short and sweet, Thanks KR and everyone for giving me the opportunity yet again to show you guys what I can do. And I'm definitely not finished yet. Keep an eye out for new upcoming customs....even one you'll like Andy....Swords and Be-headings haha....Thanks again Andy for getting me out there!"
He had me at "Hello" … nope, cheezy-movie-lines from Jerry McGuire will never get stale, lemme tells'ya! LOL
TyoToys is currently sponsoring a membership drive for a local art co-op called the Soundry. Phil adds: "It's a really cool place, gallery space, coffee shop, lots of space to work, lots of graffiti and vinyl customizers representing in the place, its open late and they describe themselves as a 'gym for artists'." [Read more here]
So if you're an artist local to the Washington, DC and Virginia area, get a membership at the Soundry and receive a free TYOTOYS DIY mini truck that comes with a limited-edition MQ sharpie. Offer only good through June 5.
CUSTOM-STORY: A hungry blue squid found a delicious tasty 'Beat Up Boxer' head somewhere laying down the seabed. The blue squid finds that the egocentric human mind is really tasteful if it is swallowed as a hole.
The egocentric ingredients in a human will make him get bigger faster than ever. So beware, The blue squid will try to find more heads to swallowed!
Scheduled for a release at the end of June 2011, is this KNUCKLE BEAR x ICE WATCH set - featuring a Bare Knuckle Bear 18cm tall figure from TOUMA (notice the "Ice Watch" printed at the back) and a wrist-watch with a Knuckelbear-design on the watch-front. Limited to only 200 sets worldwide, the watch comes housed in a block-packaging measuring 18cm tall. Currently orderable for 12,600YEN (approx US$154) on ZacPac. A time-piece with a toy, what can do wrong? Double-win! LOL
Who Drew This and Where Can people find you? You can say hi @DavidTheKiller and if you love movies informations (although it's in Indonesian language), you can try visit www.filmoo.com
What is the name of your drawing? Cheriff Cumulus (aka Young Cumulus)
What is it's story? 03. What I did in here is my vision on Cumulus before he become 'inspector' or I can say as a rookie (for me sheriff is 'rookier' than inspector lol), less experience, fatter, and still smoking cigarettes, but you can tell that he's always look cumulious!
In addition, and as alternative, I just can't help it to make his face using 'real' material, I just need to feel and know how it looks like. :)
What is the name of your drawing? TIME FOR A MURDER.
What is it's story? Jon's drawings are ace - so thought I'd pencil a tribute to Cumulus. I love the texture from pencils combined with digital - so that's what I went for... Hope you like him.
Took this photo after dressing up as the cloud based private eye - strange looks all round. 'INSPECTOR CUMULUS' - scribbled on paper and coloured in photoshop :-)
Brazilian artist Sergio Mancini of Red Mutuca won the Top Prize of BEST IN SHOW for his entry in the Munnyworld Megacontest with his PROJECT:MUNNY entry, and wins an 18-inch Munny (which he mentioned he'll do another custom of) and as well a spot in Kidrobot's Dunny 2012 Series! How cool is that?
These were the judges comments: "There are many aspects to why this piece is so brilliant, both in concept and execution. The clever concept really displays the true form of MUNNY. By taking the idea of "doing it yourself" crossed with a monkey character (inspiration for the platform), the simplicity of the platform is truly respected in this highly controlled custom. The striking execution is spot on and looks like a production piece already. You can tell the artist had his eyes on the prize, and was intent on taking a spot in Dunny Series 2012 when conceiving this design. Who wouldn't want this little guy in their collection. I do!"
TOYSREVIL had asked Sergio for his personal impressions of the win, to which he answered (having just got out of bed): "I got really surprise when I receive the news about the contest. I have never imagined that I would win it because some great customs started popping up in the Munny's page. Actually, to convince such important judges is not an easy job to do. I made 3 customs for this contest. I was going to send only 2, but I decided to make one more at the last moment because I had an extra Munny! The idea and execution came up so fast, so that it had no accessories and modeling. It had only a concept."
[P/S: This custom-Munny has since been sold before the announcement of the contest]
ARTRANSMITTE: We’re so pleased Toysrevil invited us to write an article with our thoughts on the mighty mini-toys that we’ve all grown so fond of :) From items that sold well at our store to ones we’ve collected or even missed out on due to ridiculous demand, here’s our best sales list from 2010!
BEST MINI-TOYS #1: Andrew Bell’s Android (www) was such an incredible success last year. While we missed out on this toy, we quickly realized it was going to be a hot item. Seems like they were able to mix the toy buffs and the techie crowd.. and of course, backed by Google this toy was sure to be a success!!
BEST MINI-TOYS #2: Lunartik in a Cup of Tea Mini Series One (Buy Here) - following Lunartik’s previous success with his Cup of Tea, this mini series has been selling really well with the cute factor, epitomising English charm.
BEST MINI-TOYS #3: Jibibuts (Buy here) - Noferin sold their Pecan Pals products so well that with the launch of this adorable series with small wooden figures, they went flying off the shelves! Great thing with this series was that you were guaranteed a complete set if you bought a box -- kudos to noferin in looking out for their fans!
BEST MINI-TOYS #4: Blankie (Buy here) - this eclectic mix of artists weren’t necessarily known in the scene, but came together through the Aarting community and were selected by toy lovers around the world to create this fun series.
BEST MINI-TOYS #5: Droplets Series 2 (www) - Following the success of series 1, Jam Factory x Crazy Label went further to create a toy to capture the hearts of many (from those unfamiliar with the toy world to toy experts) by using bold colours and new features.
BEST MINI-TOYS #6: Dunny Series 2010 (www) - There were definitely many artists designs that became accessible at a reasonable price point with this Kidrobot series. But realise there were a few low points - what with all the drama of previously seen/done toys and all.. nonetheless, we were overjoyed with an Aya Kakeda’s Centaur and the prospect of other designs.
BEST MINI-TOYS #7: Tic Toc Apocalypse mini series by Amanda Vissell (www) has built up a steady following over the years and created these fantastical toys that seem to appeal to our present-day apocalyptic world view in such a light-hearted sense of humour that she is always so good at!
BEST MINI-TOYS #8: Miss Cupcake (Buy here) - with all the spin that cupcakes have had over the years, olive47, did well to produce these fun, colourful and tasty looking toys. Don’t you just wish you could eat them, too? ;)
BEST MINI-TOYS #9: Peecol (Buy here) - Even though these toys have been around for some time, they’re still a hit! This series collaboration by eBoy and Kidrobot remain relevant with their design. We think their playmobil charm with a modern edge keeps people coming back for more.
BEST MINI-TOYS #10: Hoots Keychains (Buy here) - while these Kii Arens figures aren’t a true toy as such, they have shown great success at a small price during the recession. Providing something that’s useful (keychain) and an extra special place to hold candy or small secrets.
And our most promising series for 2011 are the following:
- Android Series 2 (www)- after it was sold out on the 1st day it went to sale, the 3rd quarter release is sure to do well
- Treeson & Other Stories 2 (Buy here) - The Crazy Label series 1 version was a great success and series 2 is bound to be the same with bubi’s lovely characters that have enchanted us all!
- Unicorno Series by tokidoki (www) is set to storm the world with cuteness
In our world it’s been the cute factor over the hard-core that seem to have sold the best, which to be honest is a bit surprising knowing how many of the die-hard toy-fans there are out there and amazing toys/series that are radically cool!!
I recently emailed Matt Siren - the creator of Ghost Girl - for his impressions of the recently launched Ghost In The Machine group-custom show @ myplasticheart [Event Pics] featuring his Ghost Girl released in DIY-form, and as well being interpreted into so many forms.
TOYSREVIL: What do you think of the show? And what folk's varied interpretations on the Ghost Girl form had meant to you?
MATT SIREN: I absolutely loved the show... I couldn't wait to see what the select group of artists came up with. The artists were all proven top notch masters of their craft and I knew what they were all capable of, but when I started seeing the work come in, my jaw would drop every time. Each interpretation had unbelievable charm, extremely conceptual & all visually mesmerizing.
TOYSREVIL: Which is your ultimate most favouritest custom-GG from the show? And why?
MATT SIREN: I love every single piece, but two just took things to another level for me. DrilOne's piece "US GKS-66 Blackwidow" and j*ryu and Brent Nolasco's "What Came Before Will Come Again". Both pieces told a great story, with beautifully crafted detail and textures and colors that were so authentic. Both have the power to draw you in for hours...
TOYSREVIL: I'm sure you have gone on at length about your inspirations and origins of Ghost Girl and it's creation - what do you see in her now? With so many interpretations and incarnations of her via customs now - what future does Ghost Girl now hold?
MATT SIREN: I think my eyes were opened up as to how she can be used in future collaborations. I would love to see how she could be more manipulated for dynamic effect, while keeping the features that make her iconic.
Purchase the custom Ghost-Girls for the show here, and get your own DIY Ghost-Girl here.
