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Sep 30, 2005
Deal with the Devil??? Nah..just Mimic
A few months I made a deal with the devil...well...ok...ok...not the devil....but with Mimic. For those who don't know Mimic, you are missing out. Check out his website to see more of his work. Anyways, back to the deal I made...I had an extra Upso GID 2 inch Dunny, which was passed out to KR board members at SDCC. Since Jack had his, I didn't think I needed to keep mine. However, I felt very uncool to make any money off him, so I looked for a trade. And that's how I came in possession of the customs shown below. 2 Customs from Mimic...I think it was a fair trade...wouldn't you think so?
Learn more about Mimic with this interivew.
"TEQUILA REVEALED" PART 15!!
It was time to paint a prototype of Muttpop's Tequila figure. Paint application is a very crucial stage of development. Even though paint attributes to a small portion of the costs in creating a vinyl toy, it has a MAJOR influence on its perceived quality. Using the pantone colors suggested last week, the manufacturer creates a prototype of the painted Tequila figure. The figure is made with the same rotocast process that is used in the figure's mass production.
Although a noble first attempt, the manufacturer got many elements of the Tequila figure wrong. The Muttpop crew quickly addressed every concern they had with the initial paint application and provided the manufacturer with reasonable solutions. You can see some of Muttpop's solutions below.
I have to admit, I wasn't prepared to see Tequila in full colors. I can't wait to see the corrections made to make him even better. Be here next week to see the manufacturer's corrections in Round 2 of the Painted Tequila Prototype!
Sep 29, 2005
United States of Qee Series drops in October
The United States of Qee Series will be released in October by Toy2R. The 2.5" Qee series features the 14 winning designs from the United States of Qee Design Contest in which contestants were asked to base their design on one of the 50 United States. Toy2R will donate a portion of the proceeds from this Qee series to the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. Unlike many other Qee series, this one will not have mystery or chase figures. This series is really nice though I suppose I'm biased because of
the subject matter ;-) There's a fair amount of variety in design
(even though 2 designers contributed over half of the pieces) from
abstract to very character oriented. It's too bad we couldn't have 50
Qees, one for each state! If you ask me, state Qees are way cooler than state quarters.
The winning designs are Alaska by Tim Smith, California by Harry Oh, Connecticut by Jason Hobart, Georgia by Sanithna Phansavanh, Hawaii by Bupla (Clementine Derodit & Mathieu Quiblier), Maine by Sandy Gin, Nevada by Sandy Gin, New Jersey by Tim Smith, New Mexico by Sandy Gin, New York by Tim Smith, Oklahoma by Chad Mount, South Dakota by Hector Torrent, Utah by Tim Smith, Wisconsin by Sandy Gin. Tim Smith's Alaska inspired Inuit Qee (center of top row) was chosen as the judge's favorite and will also be made into an 8-inch piece. Congrats Tmboo!
Talking with Mark Begley
This week's interview is with Mark Begley who is the founder of Letter Pressed, a company that produces artist series cards. We all have seen these wonderful stationery in stores where we buy our toys, now find out more about them.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
Let’s
see. Born and raised in Fresno, CA. 36 years old. Ex-teacher. Currently
a stationer (that’s someone who makes stationery), and small business
owner. Married to an amazing woman who is the coolest chick ever, and
who I thank God for everyday. We have a naughty little black cat named
Luna. I have one sister, and one brother-in-law, a niece and nephew who
are the coolest, and my mom and pops. No kids yet. We all live in
Fresno, the Center of the Known Universe.
We’re pretty sure you collect toys; What do you collect?
I
started out collecting mini-figures, mainly Be@rbricks and Kubricks,
but then I really got into designer toys because of Critterbox’s
amazing pieces. I still kick myself to this day for passing on the Pink
Baseman Dumb Luck when I was in LA for my bachelor party (which was a
toy buying excursion for me). Must’ve seen four or five of them in one
day, but I wasn’t spending $50 on a single toy at the time. Stupid.
Anyway, I love C-box’s stuff, but it comes out so infrequently I try to
find other artist toys to obsess over.
I’ve gotten into Secret Base
lately, but only have two of the Super7 Ghostfighters. I’ve sort of
lost my drive to search out hard-to-find items, so I’m patiently
waiting for the SBxS7 Halloween figures. Oh, and I recently ordered a
Ghost version of Steven the Bat from Bwana Spoons. Not sure why I
passed on the glow version at SDCC. Gee, I guess I’m not much of a
collector!
Due to our extensive research (we read your
website), we know that the inspiration for Letter Pressed came from
your desire to make your own wedding invitations and also your love of
desktop publishing. How long ago did you start Letter Pressed? Has
it been what you expected?
I started thinking about LP a
few months before I got married, which was on May 1, 2004, and got all
my business licenses and paperwork on July 1 of that year. The website
launched sometime in late August. I started doing the artist cards
earlier this year, although I’d emailed a ton of artists during the
summer of 2004. I was helping assemble Circus Punks at the time, and
thought, “Heck, maybe some of these people would design a card for me.”
I really felt like I needed to do something I loved and would keep me
interested. I just can’t work in an office, or even in the school
system anymore. It was a big risk to start a small stationery business,
but my wife supported my decision so I went for it. Thank God these
artist cards have started to do well.
You named your company after the printing
process you use, letter press printing. Could you briefly describe
this printing process? Also, why this particular process?
Well,
let me set the record straight and make it clear that I am NOT the
printer of these amazing cards. I am a stationer. I liken it to toy
companies. Very few, if any, actually make the toys, they have
factories make them. But the company gets the artist to design them,
then a sculptor to sculpt them, the factory makes them, they’re
printed, etc. So in the same fashion I get an artist to do a design, we
discuss colors and paper choices, I order everything, then I have to
outsource the actual work, like the die-making and printing. My printer
does a form of letterpress called foil stamping, which I really like.
As opposed to printing with inks, pigment foils that come in huge rolls
are used. The metal plate/die that has the design on it is heated and
then it hits the foil and is pressed into the paper. A very noticeable
impression is left. With foils you get a very rich, saturated color.
Plus the freedom of design is pretty amazing. If it can be printed off
a computer, I can turn it into a plate and make a card out of it. Some
people don’t consider foil stamping true letterpress, but it’s the same
process done on the same huge old presses as inked letterpress. Most
people hear the term and automatically think of metallic foils, like
what gets printed on Bibles, but it’s much more than that.
Why letterpress? Because there’s nothing else like it, it can’t be copied on the computer or by any other means. My site was recently featured on a Latvian blog, which strangely enough Nathan Jurevicius’ dad translated for me, and some of the comments were that my text designs could be recreated easily at home. This is true, but the printing process can NOT be. The real big draw though is the impression itself. When you hold letterpress printed materials there’s a depth to them, it’s tactile and not just visual. But the visual part is great too, when held in different light you get great shadows, etc. It’s one of those things that certain people geek out over. I am one of those people. I stare at each card or custom job endlessly.
Letter Pressed’s Artist Series cards feature
amazing art from many “lowbrow” artists many of which are actively
involved in the designer toy scene. Which came first your love for
the art or the toys? Can you say a little bit about the motivation
behind the Artist Series cards? Is this a case of mixing your business
with one of your other passions?
In a lot of cases the toys
brought me to the art. I’d heard of Ron Regé, Jr. before, but it was
his Ouch! Twins figures that sparked my interest in doing a card with
him. I knew of Baseman and Biskup before they ever made toys, but TADO
and Nathan, MCA and Ledbetter were all brought to my attention through
the designer toy scene. (Baseman and Biskup have not done LP cards, but
I have approached them.) One of my oldest friends had suggested I get
some artists to do cards, and these were the people I thought of.
The
motivation was simple: selfishness. I approached my old small press
magazine much the same way. I wanted to print cards I was interested in
and would like to own. If other people were interested and would buy
them, that was just gravy. It is most definitely a mix of business and
passion, and has become the most successful aspect of the business thus
far.
Continue reading "Talking with Mark Begley"
Sep 28, 2005
Winner of Mao Dunny
So you all must be dying to know who won the Mao Dunny? Well let me first say, it was a tough contest and for those who entered, I thank you. Since there wasn't an entry with all 10 correct answers, we entered all submissions with 9 correct answers. Below you will find the correct answers and the winner is....Brad Smith and so if you are Brad, check your email and respond within 72 hours!!
Didn't win this round, no worries, another exciting contest is coming your way soon!!!
1. Little Inky Blue - David Horvath
2. Sket Pharaoh Dunny - Sket
3. Red Skull Reaper - Tristan Eaton
4. Voodoo Dunny - Tristan Eaton
5. El Loco Dunny - Tristan Eaton
6. Anarchy Dunny - Frank Kozik
7. Wings - Deph
8. Star on the head 3 inch dunny- Dalek
9. Racing Dunny S2 - Huck Gee
10. Eishu Yosida for Cube Works Japan Dunny
The Pony Project at Milk Gallery (10.21.2005)
Custom Pony by Lisa Petrucci
Hasbro Toys and Thunderdog Studios join forces to present The Pony Project at Milk Gallery in NYC opening on October 21st (7 to 10 PM) and continuing through the 25th. The Pony Project features 18-inch renditions of Hasbro's beloved My Little Pony toy customized by nearly 50 top female artists and designers including Betsey Johnson, Junko Mizuno, Amanda Visell, TADO Design, Queen Andrea, Fafi and Lisa Petrucci. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sale of the Pony art pieces plus additional merchandise will be donated to the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps which is dedicated to helping children with serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions. I'm really excited about this show as it's really one of the first to focus on designer toys from a female perspective. So mark your calendars or just check the Vinyl Pulse Event Calendar.
Milk Gallery
450 W. 15th St. (corner of 10th Ave.)
New York, NY 10011
212.645.2797
Vinyl Abuse Project - Custom Vinyl
Steve wrote in to tell us about the Vinyl Abuse project from Future Plastik and Vinyl Abuse which features custom vinyl records by 30 artists from around the world. This project puts a fun spin (heh! stop groaning!) on "custom vinyl". At a date to-be-determined all 30 pieces will be displayed and available for sale on the Future Plastik website. Urban art continues to grow and spread across a wide range of seemingly endless canvases. Pervasive art is becoming more and more of a reality which is very cool IMO. The 30+ participating artists include: Razzle, D-Sifer, Mimic, Midge, Fluff, Tmboo, Tesselate, Okkle, Rob Schwager, Doktor A, Peskimo, Young Sparta, Sket, Lunartik, Schizo, Pavid, MAD, Hixtril, Bytedust, Playskewl, Schnook, MooDude, Bax, Rainbow, idlechimp, Clutter magazine, Sichi, Bran, D13, PhuEk and No.L. Thanks to Steve we have some pics of some of the project pieces. Keep your eye on Future Plastik for the arrival of additional pieces!
Sket One
MooDude
Midge
Tesselate
Midge
SEEN: Phony-Baloney Toy Release and Signing at KR SF (10.28.05)
Kidrobot just recently announced a toy release/signing of one of SEEN's Phony-Baloney toys will be held at KR SF on Thursday, October 28th from 6 to 8PM. I'm sure most of you are familiar with SEEN, but if not... He's a legendary NYC graffiti writer and often referred to as the "Godfather of Graffiti". While he's now retired from the graff scene he's actively involved in gallery shows and several of his own toy lines. Phoney-Baloney is a fairly large toy line featuring the Pig Cop in various embarassing situations. In addition to the toy line, SEEN's Phony-Baloney character has also been featured on a 20" custom MAD*L (MAD*L 2k5) and a production Circus Punk. So while LA and NY have had several sweet events in the past few months, San Francisco should be stoked to have SEEN on October 28th from 6 to 8PM. Mark it on your calendar or just check our event calendar.
Kidrobot (San Francisco)
1512 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
415.487.9000
Show us the MUNNY!!
Ever since the revelation of Munny by Kidrobot, the buzz about this new toy has been non-stop and I am sure we all have our calendar marked for its release party on November 3, 2005. Not only is it a charity event benefiting Feed the Children, it is also a mega party happening at SF, LA and NY during the same time. Don't take my word for it....straight from Kidrobot's press release:
The MUNNY Show in New York and Los Angeles will start at 7:00 pm and will continue until midnight, with open admission for all, priority given to guest list. The MUNNY Show in San Francisco will start at 9:00 pm and will continue until 2:00 am. We'll have enormous tables filled with art supplies -- pens, crayons, glue, scraps of fabric, plastic junk, you name it. We are also having clothing designers who will be providing seamstresses and signature material so people can have clothing made for their toys on the spot!
We have tons of celebrities, rock stars, rap stars, and famous artists who have agreed to decorate MUNNY toys. These will be auctioned off at the party and online for charity as well. We expect a significant number of celebrities to attend the event. We already have MUNNYS from Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani, Diddy, Beyoncé, Gary Baseman, and many others.
That's not all, check out some of these customs that are going to be available at the party....
customized by Pharrell and autographed by Destiny's Child, Diddy, Gwen Stefani, Nelly, and Pharrell
Bill Griffith ("Zippy the Pinhead")
Sep 27, 2005
Designer Chocolate Bars from Yoyamart and Chocolate Bar
Wow the art we all love is starting to appear everywhere. From toys to ipod covers to USB flash drives to chocolate bars. Yes, that's right Chocolate Bar in collaboration with Yoyamart are introducing a fall line of gourmet choc-o-graphic Artist Bars featuring labels from ten artists including: Gary Baseman, Nathan Jurevicious, David Horvath, Sun-Min Kim, Rolito, Toy2R, Friends With You, Tim Biskup, Dalek and J.D. Boujnah. A portion of the sales of Artist Bars will be donated to childrens' art education efforts. The bar flavors will include Milk Chocolate, Bittersweet, Crispy Rice, Dark Chocolate with Almonds, Dark Chocolate with Mint, Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts, Dark Chocolate Espresso and the boutiques old favorite Salty Pretzel. The bars will be sold in a boxed limited-edition (naturally!) "gallery set" for $40 starting in November online at www.chocolatebarnyc.com, Chocolate Bar stores and Yoyamart. For pre-orders please call 800.481.2462 or email info@chocolatebarnyc.com In case you haven't heard of Chocolate Bar, they are a trendy brand producing chocolates for adults and have been featured on the Food Network.
This project will likely increase the exposure of the involved artists and hopefully urban and lowbrow art as well. The box set would make a nice holiday gift but I can't see collecting it though I'm sure some people will! One thing is for certain, it's for a good cause: children's art education.
Nakanari x Bloo Empire: Ghosts in the Machine @ Uberbot (10.15.05)
Nakanari and Bloo Empire's duo show, Ghost in the Machine, opens on Saturday October 15th at the newly opened Überbot in Winter Park Flordia. Show pieces will be on display from 10am to 11PM on the 15th and the artists' reception will be held from 7 to 11 PM.The show will feature canvases, clothing, custom toys, and plushes from Bloo Empire and Nakanari. Both artists will customize their pieces on the spot at the reception. Bloo Empire and Nakanari are really excited about finally having an urban toy show in their stomping grounds, Central Flordia, at Überbot which is one of the first stores in the region to carry a range of designer toys. With any luck urban art and designer toys will gain a following in Flordia. There will also be a charity raffle of two Nakanari custom toys benefitting the ASPCA Disaster Relief Fund which helps animals that are victims of natural disasters. We're proud to be a sponsor of Ghosts in the Machine. Nakanari and Bloo Empire have very complimentary art styles and are going to pull out all the stops for the show. So if you're anywhere near Winter Park, Flordia come on out for the show and meet 'em! Don't forget to mark your calendar or just check the Vinyl Pulse Event Calendar for this and other designer toy events!
Überbot
480 N. Orlando Avenue
Suite 126
Winter Park, Florida 32789
info@uberbotonline.com
407.788.UBER
Gary Baseman: 8-inch Egg Qee
Wow. Raymond sent along these pics of the production 8" Gary Baseman Egg Qee coming shortly from Toy2R. The first 100 pcs will be at the end of October in Tawian. Information on additional availability will be coming shortly. This design is quite nice and should be quickly snapped up by Gary Baseman's legion of fans.
Mini Smorkin' Labbits Series 2 drop on 09.29.30
The Mini Smorkin' Labbits are coming! The Mini Smorkin' Labbits are coming! The Mini Smorkin' Labbits are coming! Yup, Frank Kozik's Mini Smorkin' Labbits Series 2 are coming from Kidrobot this Thursday, September 29. There are 13 total designs including 2 chase figures. The figures will be sold in blind boxes for $4.95 each.
Sep 26, 2005
Ratio: 3 over 8 at Channel1 (09.30.2005)
Ratio: 3 over 8, a group show featuring art on boards with a 3:8 aspect ratio opens this Friday at Channel 1 from 6 to 9 PM in New Haven, CT. Participating artists will include: Abe Lincoln Jr., Amps, Az STAR 78, Bloo, Brat, Damion Silver, Dan C., Demo, Dylan Vitale, Eric Orr, Eros, Ethos, Jennifer Silver, Joe Dal Pra, Kevin Derken, Max Miller, Nathan Dickriede, Robert Matthew, Sket, Vaughn Fender, Win Vitkowsky, and more... The show is curated by Kevin Derken and runs through November 20th. Channel 1 is quickly becoming the source for urban art and street gear in Connecticut so if you're in the area drop by and check it. After the opening, we will have show pics up on Vinyl Pulse courtesy of Sket.
Channel 1
220 State Street
New Haven, CT 06511
203.789.0309
toll free @ 888.shop.ch1
Sket One x MAD: custom 12" CiBoy
Sket One and MAD are two of the top cats in the designer vinyl game and are tight buds as well. Ever wonder just how sick Sket One x MAD would be? They did too! Here's one small part of the answer -- a custom 12" CiBoy done by both Sket-One and MAD for Kidrobot (exact use is unknown at this point) earlier this year. Towering at a foot high this guy looks fab with a nice jagged merging of the two super-clean designs. Just in case you're somehow not familiar with the artists, Sket One's design is on the left and MAD's is hanging on the right side ;-)
Want more? You're in luck! Sket One and MAD are taking their collaboration up a few notches with their joint show, Controlled Substances at Toy Qube (10.22.05). As one of the show's proud sponsors (along with Wheaty Wheat, Playtimes, and Clutter), Vinyl Pulse will be bringing you an extended series of Controlled Substances sneak peaks in the weeks leading up to the opening on October 22nd at Toy Qube in Flushing NY. Trust us when we say that MAD and Sket One are working on some truly sick and inspired stuff.
Junko Mizuno @ Gosh Comics in London (10.27.2005)
Junko Mizuno will be signing in London at Gosh! Comics on October 27th from 5pm to 7pm in support of her new book, Pure Trance. Junko's art mixes cute manga style characters with decidedly darker themes. She has released several toys (plush and vinyl) as well as numerous art books. The vinyl toys appear to be hard to come by but her still available Dokuro-San plush, featuring a skull-like character in pleather, is fabulous. Want more info? Check out Junko Mizuno's website.
Gosh! Comics
39 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 2NZ
Phone: 020 7636 1011
Catalog Qee Wave 2 (HK)
Here's a look at the latest Catalog Qees which are available to customers who spend over $400 HK on two items (about 51 USD) at the Catalog store in Hong Kong. These are two of the winning designs from the Catalog Design-a-Qee contest held in April which was only open to citizens of Hong Kong. And we also have an image of several of the other winners of the Catalog design contest (which we just discovered via a gmail search -- doh!). These 2 Qees are quite nice as are the other winners showcased in the contest results below. I love that Toy2R continues to promote HK artists' through events such as this design contest and the recent HK Designer Qee series at the Taipei Toy Festival.
Sep 25, 2005
Come and get your HOT LUNCH!!
Growing up, my lunches were packaged in plain brown paper bags, so I always was envious of my friend's Spiderman, Barbie, Mickey Mouse...etc.... lunchboxes. Well, today I say BLAH to all those boring lunchboxes!!! With the ones offered at lalaland Gallery's Hot Lunch Show, who needs lunch??? I especially took a liking to SHAG's My First Cocktail and Amanda Visell's A Robot Wants My Lunchbox...Take a look at the pics for some not so ordinary lunchboxes...
Biskup
Baseman
Continue reading "Come and get your HOT LUNCH!!"
The arrival of the Nanospore
k...Special bulletin just in...a fleet of strange creatures have just made their landing at the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra. Confirmed reports say these little foreign creatures who call themselves Nanospore have come in peace and just want to be friends with the earthlings. Each uniquely shaped, standing at 2 inches tall, they don’t look too menacing except maybe the one that took the shape of human waste commonly known as fecal matter. It is clear that they are empowered with the skills of charm as a line of observers gathered for their chance to bring one home with them. Don’t believe me????…well take a look for yourself….the word is…they are planning to stay…..
