Seen: Standard x Kidrobot Mega-event (1.25.06)

Last night, Kidrobot partnered with the Downtown LA Standard Hotel to pull  off what many called the "best toy party ever".  This heavily anticipated event married the Standard’s swanky decor and rep with Kidrobot’s toys and loyal fans. The hotel’s decor uses Hello My Name Is as a sort of theme for the hotel including HMNI room number plaques so it’s fitting that the 8" HMNI Dunny from Huck Gee is a Standard exclusive.  The larger version of Huck’s Series 3 Dunny proved to be extremely popular with the line wrapping around the side of the hotel a full two hours before the figure release and signing began at 7 PM.  The Dunny sold out in a few hours (or so) — let’s hope eBay doesn’t get too insane.

Overall the atmosphere was well… NUTS.  From the Dunny ice carving to the massive crowd to the amazing venue, we haven’t seen anything quite like this ever.  While there was some confusion about wrist bands for alcohol and such and whether or not one had to actually wait in line to go upstairs to purchase a figure, most people I talked to had fun once they got rolling. 

In addition to the Dunny Release, the event also featured a 20" Dunny Gallery, Munny work area to celebrate the release of Munny 3, a sweet ilovedust coloring wall (great graphics…), an open bar and more.   The Dunny Gallery was pretty cool and actually I think the first official KR Dunny show ever held in Los Angeles.  The show featured thirteen 20" Dunnys created by some of SoCal’s top artists including Gary Baseman, Deph, Dez Einswell, Blaine Fontana, Thomas Han, Joe Ledbetter, Michael Motorcycle, Nanospores, SEVER, SLICK, tokidoki, Sun-Min Kim & David Horvath, and Yo Gabba Gabba!  While there was some drama when a child apparently knocked over Blaine Fontana’s Japanese-robot themed piece, Blaine was able to repair it and have it back on display towards the end of the night.  Everyone had their own faves but my personal picks would include the pieces by Michael Motorcycle (gorgeous painting), Nanospores (sweet visuals) and Dez Einswell (really intricate line work).

What else… Hmm… Many people spent a fair amount of time watching MoCap performers bring a 3D model of a Dunny to life on a projection screen — walking, running, spinning, you name it…  There was also a large Dunny projection screen in the hotel lobby. 

The last event of the night (well official event) was the swanky VIP party upstairs at the Standard’s rooftop bar.  Thanks to the kind folks at KR who provided a silver star wristband, we went up stairs and hung out with  all the cool kids 😉   The bar’s quite nice with amazing views of Downtown LA.  As Jordan23 mentioned, the skyscraper filled skyline is so in your face it almost feels painted on or artificial — good stuff.  Tunes were  provided by DJ Tim Biskup.  KR had a cozy VIP section of the bar reserved complete with a pool (no one took a dip).  Check out the pics and enjoy.   Good times for sure.  Click through for the full post to see all 95 pics that made the ‘cut’.