MAD's Got Dolbees, MAD*L's and Sqwerts

If you're looking for MAD's latest figures go check out his store.  Straight from his personal samples come  the Black Guard MAD*L (run of 300), his brand new Green Slimeball Sqwert (run of 500), and his ATP Madness Dolbee.

Andrew Bell's Altars @ Lulubell

Andrew Bell created three limited-edition Altars sculptures with production by Hobbymaster 2K3 Studio for his recent Burning Desire show in LA.  There's All Seeing (3 pieces), Skull (5 pieces) and Big Mouth (3 pieces).  Each hand-painted piece is 30" tall and available from Lulubell Toys for $1000 (+ s/h) each. Click through for more pics.

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Koguma Contest @ Saki Wrote What?!!

NYC Blogger Saki is giving away one all-black baby Koguma.  Visit the contest post on her blog and leave a comment to win. Hurry!!! You  have until Noon EST today (Saturday).   This is an early all-black version of the lil ' guy that is part of the upcoming Tokyoplastic Koguma set from mphlabs.  In case you're curious, this advanced black version is limited to 150 pieces and was given  away as a special gift from mph.  If you're a Tokyoplastic fan, go enter... NOW ;-)

Saturday @ Philips Auction, Featuring Designer Toys (4.26.08)

We usually think of eBay when talking about the secondary market for designer toys.  So you can understand why I'm intrigued by the inclusion of several vinyl toys in the  upcoming Saturday @ Philips Auction (4.26.08) by Phillips de Pury & Company at their New York Location.   There are a few KAWS pieces up for auction including the Dissected Companion above (est. $1000 - $1500) and the recent Darth Vader Compansion ($600 - $800) as well as a few Kaiju pieces. 

Additionally there are several custom toys from Steve Forde of Go Hero and Mark Nagata of Max Toy Company.  Finally, some of these figures are quite new including the two recent Junko Mizuno figures from Kidrobot (with a somewhat surprising estimate of  $400-$600 for the pair).   A little digging on the auction house's site indicates that they have been auctioning Kaiju in small numbers for well over a year.   Interesting stuff for sure.  Thanks to Andrew Hosner of Thinkspace Gallery for pointing the auction out to us.

Amanda Pulse?

Morning Kids!

So my good friends at Vinyl Pulse were foolish to trust me with the keys to their headquarters. So today we're going to have some fun at Amanda Pulse. Or at least I will.  Now we have a lot to go over, so lets get started.

Today is my 30th birthday and to distract myself from how much that disturbs me I'm going to give away a Baby Eating Crocodile made by my friends at STRANGEco, then hand painted by me. This croc has been living on a diet of poop and fish and sewage. He's crawled from the sewers to eat your babies and grant me a birthday wish. This is a one of a kind! Woo-woo!

So we'll choose someone  at random from all the people commenting on this post today (3.26.08). If you're a jerk I will veto it.

Also keep in mind my AxEphunt metal sculpture drops today at 11am at Fully Visual.  This dangerous figure wont last long so hurry up. Open at your own risk!

Joe Beats x Munky King

You always need tunes to pass the time away whether it's surfing or obsessing over vinyl.   Munky King is collaborating with samples producer Joe Beats to bring you some fresh new music.   First up is an exclusive podcast that's going down as I write this. Download it here... after 10 PM PST tonight.  Joe will also be performing  at MK's favorite spot - Bordello Bar, on April 26th 2008 (9-2 AM).  He will also release his  new limited-edition vinyl record featuring two new tracks created just for the event.  So come out and relax with toy people and normal folks too ;-)

Bordello
901 E. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA  90012   
213.687.3766

DGPH on Glass for Nike in Buenos Aires

DGPH is going glass for Nike's upcoming mega Dunk event in Buenos Aires.  Enjoy the shots of their installation on the large front glass windows of Nike's store.  Moles rule! Click through for more shots.

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February 29th = 30% off sale at SoS

It only comes around once every four years... February 29th.  Span of Sunset is celebrating with a one day only 30% off sale on their entire stock.  The offer is good only today 2.29.08, both in the store and on their website spanofsunset.com (30% discount does not apply to shipping). So if you've been eyeing a toy or an apparel item, today is the day.

Span of Sunset
7527 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA. 90046
323.512.3807

Relaunch of Munky King Gallery + Peekaboo Monster Print

Munky King Melrose will relaunch their back room gallery tomorrow - Thursday, February 7th, 2008  @ Noon PST with the release of a new limited-edition print from Peekaboo Monster and a selection  of original paintings from several artists including Yoskay Yamamoto, JShea9, Dez Einswell, Tanner Goldbeck, Deseo, David Flores, akirophoto, Peekaboo Monster and more.  We've got a preview of some of paintings -- after the jump, check 'em.

Peekaboo Monster's Beware  the Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder giclee print is limited to 25 signed and numbered pieces, measures 13" x 19" (including border area).  Peekaboo will be on hand to sketch for fans along with Ghengis -- his fearsome canine.  The print will be available in the store and online @ munkyking.com.

MK's back room gallery will  regularly feature new prints and paintings from selected artists.  More to come soon. 

Munky King
7308 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323.938.0091

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KAWS OF Spring-Summer '08 Stickers

Instinctoy has the scoop with full pics on  OriginalFake's just released set of six 'color by number' KAWS stickers. From what we can gather from two machine translations, the stickers are apparently a  leadup for the  KAWS Spring-Summer '08 exhibition.  The question of course is, will any of the newer designs (other than the standard Companion and Chum) drop as toys ? Half the fun with KAWS is the mystery.

Continue reading "KAWS OF Spring-Summer '08 Stickers"

Toy Saves Children Auctions

Toy Saves Children, a charity project organized by Japanese design house Furi Furi, auctions vinyl figures customized by top-notch artists and designers.  In '06 the canvas was the Deko-boko Boys set and for '07 Bocky was the featured toy.  The auctions are set to begin shortly on eBay.  The custom Deko-boko Boys will be auctioned from January 21st through January 28th, 2008.  The custom Bockys will be on auction from January 28th to February 4th, 2008.  The proceeds will be donated to Save the Children Japan.

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Steve Talkowski's Guavaroo

Spotted this the other day and thought it was pretty sweet. Steve Talkowski is the Director of Animation for visual effects studio Guava.  He created Guavaroo to further character design and animation within the firm. Figuring it might be cool to turn his TV dude into a vinyl toy, he sent the 3D model to 3D Art to Part and received a rough proto.  He then worked with toy sculptor Peter Kelley who produced three urethane casts of it.  After a hiatus, Steve is about to paint up two of the three urethane figures with the goal of producing them as rotocast vinyl. We're looking forward to seeing what's next for Guavaroo.  The design while familiar has a charm driven by the pose and proportions which give it lifelike poise. For more info, check out Steve's extremely detailed summary of the project on his blog. Btw, Steve is customizing a Moneygrip for the Get a Grip show @ myplasticheartnyc.
 

Sneak Peek - Two Week VP Feature

Pssst... Here's a quick sneak at special interactive feature that will start this coming Monday.  It's our way of seeing what you think --  should be fun. It also marks a first here, a two-week long feature with an installment every weekday.  So be sure to check in on Monday, January 14th to see what's it all about.

Brian Castleforte - NiceBunny.com 2.0

Brian Castleforte (NiceBunny) has released NiceBunny.com 2.0, an overhaul of his site for '08.  Along with the new web digs, he's put up new prints, apparel, and has a new Artist Series of Hedcase Paper Toys.  Also keep an eye out for Brian's upcoming NiceBunny vinyl figures from Kaching Brands.

Huck Gee - S4 Skullhead Dunnys Charity Auction

Trying to track down both of Huck Gee's S4 Skullhead Dunny Chases?  Huck is currently auctioning a pair (GID and Red) with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.   If you can, bid generously for these two sweet signed 3" figures.

Tamo Custom Contest @ Custom Toy Lab

Custom Toy Lab has just announced a  Halloween Tamo design competition.  While Alfredo Mejia's Tamo ("Te Amo") by Crazy Label is often used for 'cute' designs, this competition shakes things up a bit in the Halloween spirit by focusing on the dark, scary, and if you must... scary cute designs.  Submit  up to three designs using the Tamo template (front view only) by October 31st.   The creators of the top 10 designs as selected by the judging panel (Custom Toy Lab, Crazy Label, Vinyl Pulse, Toysrevil and UrbanRetro) will each win five blank TAMO DIYs for their efforts.   Check out the official contest page for the lowdown and the template.  We're stoked to be one of the sponsors for this competition -- let's see if you can scare the &#$@! out of us.

Catching up with Sket - Shirts, Hats and Trucks

Sket One's  a busy man.  Toys for sure (lots of stuff in the works),  but today we're talking merch.  First up is his new Ripple Shirt soon to drop from Funkrush.  While the exchange rate isn't favorable (UK) and shipping can be a bear... it sure is nice ;-)

Next, Monster Grind has just released an artist series of trucks for your trusty deck.  Sket's got three in the series -- peep 'em and get 'em.

Finally, if you missed out on the Sket's Kong hats at Kidrobot, he's got a few left in his eBay store. 

Where is Nuke ?

Is Kidrobot experimenting with novel marketing approaches -- at least new to the designer toy game ? It looks like that maybe  the case with promo for the Nuke (nice parody of Captain America) figure from eBoy's upcoming PeeCool series.   

Check out Where is Nuke?  -- it's a blog featuring pics people take of Nuke and send in to the site. In particular readers are encouraged to create mash-ups involving Nuke  -- many involve  well-known images  such as  celebs, pop culture bits etc; like the Brit Mashup (above) taken from the site.

Paul Budnitz's blog mentions the site and carefully words it as "Some fans have got ahold of some of our new Nuke PEECOL toys and started to take pictures of him all over the world".   While Nuke has been slated for an October 11th release, it looks like he may  already be out of the bag.  Budnitz's blog also links to Nuke's myspace page -- perhaps as he suggests,  becoming friends with 'Nuke' is key to getting the figure. 

So to recap -- Where is Nuke? for publicity and the Nuke myspace page as the possible means of getting the figure.  This appears to be a a word-of-mouth, new style internet marketing campaign.  Interesting stuff.

Seamour Sheep + Marty Mole - Toytastic Contest

Toytastic is currently running a fan art contest for a chance to win both of Metin Seven's figures, Seamour Sheep + Marty Mole, produced by Crazy Label.  To enter you need to submit fan art or a creative original photograph by October 31st.  First prize is both figures, while the second and third place winners will score a Marty Mole.

Art Auction to Support VTN

VTN is gearing up for the Holiday show on December 2nd in Pasadena, CA -- the biggest yet with 7000 square feet of exhibition space.  This time around, VTN will also offer an art show in addition to its vinyl shopping experience.  To manage the costs of putting on a show of this size, VTN is auctioning three original art pieces on eBay -- each created at the VTN UUP show this summer in San Diego.   Proceeds will go towards operating costs for VTN.  There are three pieces -- one by Touma, one by Chad Carothers, and a Collab artist jam piece done by Angry Woebots, Phallic Mammary, Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters, Miss Mindy, CJ Metzger and Skwak .

The First tokidoki store in Milan

Building on a rapidly growing awareness and fan base, tokidoki opened their first retail store in Milan, Italy this past Wednesday.   Definitely a great moment for designer Simone Legno who enjoyed the big turnout and welcome of his fellow Italians.  Milan was first, what's next?   Big props to Simone, Ivan, and Pooneh and the entire tokidoki crew.

c.so di Porta Ticinese 62
20123 Milano
Tel: 02.83242047

STRANGEco '07 Exclusives Available on 9.20.07

If you missed SDCC '07 or have been trying to track down one of the elusive 'Night' edition Minitreehouse Vinyls... your hunt has ended. STRANGEco will be offering several of their '07 exclusives in a special second-chance offering on Thursday, September 20th, 2007 @ Noon PDT from STRANGEco's web store and also via walk-in at Gallery 1988 San Francisco (1173 Sutter Street @ Polk).

So what' available?  There are three SDCC exclusives and a print. Specifically, we're talking  Night Rider Mainframe by Dean Bradley ($60), the grayscale edition of Luey by Bob Dob (3 figure set, $75.00), the grayscale Mr. Bumper by Jim Woodring ($70), and the Ledkins diptych giclee by Greg Simkins and Joe Ledbetter ($100).  Rounding out the group are the 'Night' editions of Naal and Bennzi by Nathan Jurevicius (each @ $45.00)

The Vinyl Pulse Community - It's All About You

One of the best things about Vinyl Pulse is YOU -- our passionate readers.   Before today, the comments section was really the only way  for you to express your thoughts and contribute opinions.  It's worked pretty well -- things gets  lively from time to time which is awesome.  But...  we can do much better. 

So today we're happy to unveil the first major addition to Vinyl Pulse since we started this amazing ride -- The Vinyl Pulse Community.  What is it?  Think next-level Myspace  with bleeding-edge technology and an intense focus on vinyl toys and art.   It's loaded with features that you can use to share your passion and info with all of us -- from the scoop on the latest must-have toys to pics and videos of the coolest figs, customs, and events.    A quick run down -- member profiles, friends lists, community photo and video galleries, commenting and voting on any content (picture, photo, blog post, discussion topic, etc.), discussion boards, private messaging and very shortly - blogs for everyone. And that's just the beginning. We're actively working with the people behind this brand-new innovative  software to add more tools and features in the very near future.   Check it out at community.vinylpulse.com and be part of it from day one.  We think you'll dig it. 

Mobius - Designer Toys and Lifestyle in Koreatown

Looking for the latest designer toys and top streetwear brands?  Give Möbius a look.  Opened in mid-June in Koreatown (LA) by owner Wonhee Lee, Möbius smoothly blends art and lifestyle together as represented by the inspiration for the store's name -- the undulating 'Möbius Strip'.  The boutique offers a strong mix of the  latest  vinyl toys and streetwear (about 50-50)  in a stylish space that also serves as a gallery connecting people to artists.  Online shopping is coming soon but in the meantime go check it out in person.  Also be sure to take a look at Wonhee's blog for more about the world of Möbius. It's great to see designer toys spreading throughout the huge sprialing maze that is Los Angeles.

 

MÖBIUS Gallery + Store
3300 W 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
310.756.9988

Baby Tattooville - Limited Edition Retreat (10.5 - 10.7)

Baby Tattooville  to be held the weekend of Friday, October 5th at the unique Mission Inn (Riverside, CA) will offer a new experience for art collectors -- a 'Limited Edition Retreat'.  Organized by Baby Tattoo Books, Baby Tattooville offers collectors the rare chance to interact with top artists in the underground art scene in a relaxed environment over the course of a specially planned weekend.  The tentative list of featured artists includes Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Gris Grimly, James Jean, Frank Kozik, Ragnar, Tara McPherson, Jeffrey Scott, Jeff Soto, and Amanda Visell. 

In addition to a full schedule of events, attendees will receive several limited-edition art gifts. Highlights of the events include a personally guided tour of Jeff Soto's studio, and instructional/demo sessions with James Jean, Tara McPherson,and Ragnar.   Many of the events and gifts are linked interactively --    a screen printing with Tara McPherson, artist jam session resulting in a giclee, 'find amanda visell' for a custom doodle, 3D modelling session with Ragnar with a free art object for each attendee. Other highlight exclusive gifts include a  special pre-release Vivisect Playset Minifigure and signed copies of several Baby Tattoo Books (Baseman, Ragnar, and Amanda Visell).  Definitely a cool concept.  Check the tentative event schedule and  the list of limited-edition gifts in the full event brochure (PDF).

Baby Tattooville will be strictly limited to a maximum of 100 attendees.  The fee to attend is $1699 with an early bird rate of $1499 for those that register by September 4th.  The fee includes 2 night accomodations at the Mission Inn, all Baby Tattoville programming, plus various limited-edition art goodies. To register download the registration from from the Baby Tattoovile site.  Be sure to mention that you heard about it on Vinyl Pulse. 

Tim Tsui x eBay HK - Charity Auctions

Tim Tsui is working with eBay HK on a new  charity auction campaign entitled "This is Hong Kong - Online Toy Crusade" in order to raise international awareness of Hong Kong and the "special things" HK has to offer (such as excellent  designer toys).  To get things started,  Tim has put up three of his figures for auction with the profits going to benefit Orbis (eye charity).  Probably the most prized is a production sample of the 1st edition King figure.  Also up for auction are the Da Junior WAD edition, and the recent Darth Joker Da Minci.   Check out all three auctions and bid generously.

Mr. Clement - Hand-Painted Yeah Kou Editions

If you missed Mr. Clement's four hand-painted limited-edition  5" Polystone Yeah Kou figures earlier this year, you'll be happy to know a limited supply is about to hit retailers.  Keep an eye out for these rarer versions of his  lovable mushroom character.   Each of these special Yeah Kou  editions is limited to a total of 51 numbered pieces and is hand-painted by Mr. Clement himself.  These 204 special figures were created  using figures from the standard Red/White Yeah Kou colorway (500 pieces total).

First up we have  the fashionable Yeah Kou Matthew and Suzy, each  available for an SRP of $70.  For a subtler look, Mr. Orange and Mr. Yellow Yeah Kou each have  a suggested price of $54.   Please direct wholesale inquries to DKE Toys.   Also, if you're not familiar with HK-born, London-based artist Mr. Clement, check out his two bound comics - Yeah Kou Phobia and The Gorgeous Harbor - online at  his Factory and from select retailers.

Releases @ KAWSONE (Today - Noon EDT)

@ Noon EDT today (8.10.07), KAWSONE will drop both the KAWS x Real Skateboards Decks (edition of 200) and the Arkitip x Original Fake x Incase Latop Sleeves that serves as the packaging for Arkiti (edition of 2000).    The laptop sleeve is outta sight.  It's too bad that it only fits a 13" laptop but hey that only matters if you want to use it ;-) 

'The Vinyl Frontier' Documentary

Daniel Zana's upcoming The Vinyl Frontier documentary explores our favorite pastime / obsession through feature interviews with a broad cross section of artists and designers including: Dalek, Tristan Eaton, Ron English, Huck Gee, Jim Koch, Frank Kozik, Simone Legno, Nick Cowan, Raymond Choy, Tara Mcpherson, Joey Potts, Sket One, Gary Baseman and Tim Biskup.   The film is in the final stages of production, wrapping up shooting in California and New York.  Daniel expects to release Vinyl Frontiers in 2008.   Media coverage of the vinyl toy industry is really heating up with the recent wave of books released and several documentaries in the works.  The more the merrier -- there's alot of artists and angles to cover.

Another Chance to Win from VP Tomorrow

The Skwak Maniac contest ends tonight (7.25) @ 8 PM Pacific.  If you haven't entered, there's still time.  So what's on tap for Tuesday?  A chance to win a production sample of  a new sweet SDCC exclusive art toy before you can buy it!  It's our way of saying thanks for reading and supporting Vinyl Pulse. Which toy are we giving away?   Check back tomorrow for all the details. 

Balzac Fiendish Club International

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Fiendish Club International (FCi) is the newly created official overseas fan club of Balzac, the infamous Japanese horrorpunk band.  The club is the source for the latest exclusive news on the band and exclusive merchandise including limited-edition Balzac x Secret Base figures. FCi will be the place for all future hard-to-get Balzac designer vinyl.  These highly sought after toys will no longer be offered through Shocker World Wide.   

Two membership levels are available regular ($50) and gold ($100).  The Gold Level is designed for toy collectors -- the membership fee includes a free FCi exclusive Balzac x Secret Base Occulta Obake figure. The figure stands 4.5" tall, with a black body, and blood streaked rather than splattered sheet.  Gold members will also receive special bonuses when ordering FCi exclusive figures. Membership at the gold level is limited -- the memberships have been available as of June 7th and will not be offered after July 7th. 

SURU Exclusive Figures Available Online

SURU, a streetwear and vinyl boutique co-owned by Joe Hahn (Linkin Park) ,  has recently opened up their online webstore .  So if you've been waiting to get your hands on a Mr. Hahn Ningyo designed by Joe Hahn himself, a SURU Yira, or a SURU Droid, now is your chance. If you're in LA, drop by and check out SURU in person.

SURU
7662 Melrose Ave.,
Los Angeles, Ca 90046
323.655.0770

+44 Tour Bus by tokidoki