More Gumliens

Here's a peek at more  toy characters from Gumliens. It is always refreshing to see new toy characters in the market. However, news is slow coming as to how to get your hands on one of these. You will know as soon as we know. Stay tuned.  Click through for more pics ;-)

 

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Gumliens @ Design Festa

Design Festa is a  character design exhibition held twice a year in Japan and at the more recent show, Gumliens, featured a handful of their one-offs character toys. These toys sold out quickly and from the looks of things, they could very well create their own line of original figures.

Operation Fragmentation (12.16.06)

Operation Fragmentation brings together 20+ artists to customize both 9" blank Nade figures produced by Jamungo as well as accompanying military ammunition cases.   Operation Fragmentation opens on December 16 from 7 to 9 PM at the newly opened Bar of Modern Art (BoMA), a recently renovated church which now serves as unique art gallery venue for the city of Columbus, Ohio.  Sensing a need for increased awareness of the designer toy movement within the Columbus area, curator Laura Kuenzli invited a select group of artists to showcase the meidum through their creativity and innovation.  Want to see more?  Here's another clever teaser.

Participating Artists -

Angie Mason, Annie Owens, Bobby Dixon, Colin Christian, Dave Burke, Doktor A, Giant Japanese Monster, Bad!, Grant Fuhst, Jenna Colby (Soopajdelux), Jim Koch, Kathie Olivas, Mark Nagata, Mat Eaton (AZK), Michelle Steele, Mike Maas, Naoto Hattori, Stone, Todd Cameron, Tyson McAdoo, VanBeater & Ferg (Jamungo) and Walter King

Bar of Modern Art
583 East Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43216

Vinyl Toys Network: Holiday Toy & Art Show (12.10.06)

'Tis the Season to be jolly!!!....fa...la..la...oh...whatever!!! Yes, it is that time of the year but for vinyl toy fans, every season is a good time to make a few additions to our collections. The Vinyl Toys Network, an alliance of toy companies and retailers, is gearing up for the holidsay season with a 1-day vinyl toy and art show. On December 10th, 2006 at the Pasadena Convention Center, you will break the bank and open up your home to as many homeless toys as possible. Let your holiday season get  off to a bright and merry start!!

Pasadena Convention Center
300 E. Green St., Room 211
Pasadena, Ca 91101

Touma's mini exhibition III: Maocats (11.20.06)

Touma's mini exhibition III opening tomorrow (11.20.06) @ Fewmany in Japan stars his newest figure Maocat.  In addition to  the clear blue Maocats, Touma has created two small series of custom MacCats -- 10 Lucha Libre Maocats with resin masks, and 31 Mike Maocats each with different brown and black spray patterns.   Check out all the Maocats over @ Fewmany's exhibition page. Based on past exhibitions,  we believe Fewmany is accepting  overseas orders -- email shop@fewmany.com for inquiries.
 

Seen: Return of the Knuckle Bear (11.3.06)

A year after his first show at mixi-bang!, Touma made his return to the store on Saturday (11.4.06) for Return of the Knuckle Bear featuring several exclusives and hand-painted customs.  Turnout for the show was pretty heavy with a line for most of the night as folks waited for Touma to sign their newly acquired toys.   Three  toy exclusives were available at the show -- bone GID 6" Knuckle Bear, Black Mao Cat, and a clear blue Skuttle Alpha.  The new knuckle bear looks pretty fierce in dark colors including the Bone GID exclusive.  Mao Cat made his US debut at the show with the black exclusive and several very nice customs.  A nice giclee Knuckle Bear print, a sharp GID Bone shirt, and a Return of the Knuckle Bear show poster rounded out the show exclusives.

Touma also brought several customs including 5 really nice brown and tan Mao Cats, 6 Mao Cats with removable wrestling style resin-masks, and several beautiful metallic 6" Knuckle Bear customs. The metallic KB's really need to be seen in person to be really appreciated -- rather tough to capture with a camera ;-)  There were also several hybrid pieces consisting of a 2.5d painting with a Knuckle Bear relief  silhouette.  All of these one-off pieces were reasonably affordable (hovering around $200) giving fans a great opportunity of owning a Touma original. 

All in all,  the opening was a great night of toys and art with a rare chance to meet Touma in the US.   Several well-known artists also made the trip out to mixi-bang! to welcome Touma back to California including Simone Legno (tokidoki), Joe Ledbetter, and Ben (Nanospores).  Fans made the most of this opportunity having them sketch and sign their various toys from the new clear orange Sluggonadon to Mozzarella.  Many people stuck around to the the tail end of the show for the raffle which included rare Knuckle Bear Capsule Toys, show t-shirts, and Touma art books. 

mixi-bang!
36 W. Colorado Blvd. #5
Pasadena, CA 90015
626.507.8095

 

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Munny Shot (03.04.07)

Born out of a desire to see a huge smashing custom show in the UK, Ryan Coyle of Iksentrik has worked closely with Kidrobot on Munny Shot -- a monster of a Munny show to be held in Bristol, UK on March 4th 2007.  Munny Shot is organized as a contest with prizes for the top entires and a charity auction of show pieces to benefit Baggator which works to assist wayward Bristol youth.  If you'd like to participate in Munny Shot, please drop some e-mail to munny_shot@iksentrik.co.uk.  Vinyl Pulse is proud to be a media sponsor of Munny Shot. 

Touma - Return of the Knuckle Bear @ mixi-bang! (11.04.06)

One year after his last solo show, Touma is returning to LA ;-) Return of the Knuckle Bear featuring limited-edition exclusive figures, customs, and a signing by Touma opens on Saturday November 4th from 7 PM @ mixi-bang! in Pasadena, CA.

mixi-bang!
36 W. Colorado Blvd. #5
Pasadena, CA 90015
626.507.8095

Fitzsu Grand Prix - Custom Cars for Charity

The Fitzsu Grand Prix is an art charity project featuring PLAYSAM Streamliner toy cars customized by 33 top international designers.  Participating designers including Michael Graves, Syd Mead, Tim Biskup, Dalek and Touma, have each taken the original PLAYSAM Streamliner designed by Ulf Hanses in 1984 as a starting point for their own artistic intrepretations.  Organized by the Fitzsu Society, a retailer tabletop and home acessories, the Fitzsu Grand Prix will benefit the World Childhood Foundation  by donating all net proceeds of the eBay auctions for the one-of-a-kind custom toy cars.  Check out all the eBay auctions now as they end shortly (Monday, October 23rd @ 1PM Pacific). 

Images via fitzsu.com.

Seen: Graphic Contents Custom Qee Show @ mixi-bang! (10.14.06)

A decent-sized crowd outside was more than matched by a much larger-crowd inside mixi-bang this past Saturday (10.14.06) for the opening of the Graphic Contents Custom Qee show.  No wonder.  The show brought together some of the top minds in the print and motion graphic design biz to work their magic on Qees. Most of these designers had never seen a Qee, and this unfamiliarity paid off and how.  What's the path to innovation and wild design?

One answer is to throw budgets to the wind and fire up the rapid-prototyping machines to fabricate mind-blowing 3D additions. Extopolis' installation like piece featuring two Qees joined by an undulating wave is a sight to see.  As are the two very different Logan pieces -- one a wild cosmic warrior and the other a surreal black "skier".  While these pieces are costly to produce ($1500 - $3000 apparently), it's great to see folks trying new approaches that open up the possible to the raw imagination. 

Other design houses explored the limits of the possible with largely unused surface treatments from laser etching to the use of highly-reflective safety material mixed into the base coat for a luminous experience.  Others found their own unique way of pushing art forward.  From fabricating a wire-mesh Qee (dodemo),to creating a custom  gimp suit (Buck LA), to  going traditional with beads (Tennant McKay).

All in all this was a great show -- one of the best in recent memory.  Fresh. Innovative.  Maybe new eyes and new minds really do help to jump start things ;-)  If you live in SoCal and missed the show, go check it out.  Graphic Contents runs through November 3rd, 2006.

Wanna see more?  Click below for the full post with the complete gallery.

mixi-bang!
36 W. Colorado Blvd. #5
Pasadena, CA 90015
626.507.8095

Continue reading "Seen: Graphic Contents Custom Qee Show @ mixi-bang! (10.14.06)"

Seen: Peanut Butter and Jellyfish @ Uberbot (10.14.06)

October 14, 2006: Überbot, Winter Park's designer toy and comic Utopia,
celebrated it's first birthday by playing host to the first gallery exhibition of a groundbreaking design studio. The unified creative forces of local artists Jorge and Kelly Aponte, Dave Quiles, Julius Santiago, Spider, Oni and Nakanari, now known as Me Llamo Jellyfish, made their debut with an arsenal of artwork in numerous forms.

"We want to explore and use as much media as we can," says Nakanari of the studio, which he spearheaded. And explore they have. The walls and display cases of Überbot were crammed with prints, vinyl, Boblbee bags, skate decks, canvas, PSP plates, plush and spray cans. Nakanari's Munny contrbution to Rooted Movement was on display as were four custom Boblbee bags by Quiles,Santiago, Nakanari and Kelly Aponte which will be auctioned off on eBay to benefit local charity The Mustard Seed.

Thirty-minutes into the show, artists were still adding pieces to an already prolific display. Invited guests and well-informed fans poured in as the growing crowds beckoned passers by of every age. More than a few parents were seen lifting their kids up for a better view of the cool toy designs. Artists were busy autographing pieces, answering questions and chatting with fans. As an added attraction, Nakanari sketched Munnys and signed his B.B. Birdy creations. Good conversatioon, great art and tastey peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were enjoyed by all. The artists, however, could not escape the fate of all who claim the spotlight... the interview.

When asked what one thing they hoped to achieve through the Me Llamo Jellyfish collaboration, the answers were as diverse as the art. From Dave, Julius and Nakanari's desire to push creative boundaries and grow as artists, Jorge's quest for the preservation of the jellyfish and Spider's plan to blow up the moon, the future endeavors of Me Llamo Jellyfish will be worth following.

Text and photography by Jim Carchidi

For more information on the eBay auction and the artists go to:

Me Llamo Jellyfish
Überbot

To see all of Jim's pics of the opening, click below to the full post.

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Buck Qees @ Graphic Contents (10.14.06)

Top print and motion graphics design houses were asked to turn their skills and talent to customizing 8" Qees for the Graphic Contents show which opens tonight (10.14.06)  from 7 - 10 PM @ mixi-bang!  Here are the two Qees designed by Buck from their LA and NY divisions.  Love the custom gimp suit that Buck Los Angeles dreamed up.

mixi-bang!
36 W. Colorado Blvd. #5
Pasadena, CA 90015
626.507.8095

Pics: Opening of the Double Dutch Custom Trexi Show (10.05.06)

Double Dutch featuring 10-inch custom Trexis from a lineup of Holland's top artists opened last Thursday (10.05.06) at Outland Records.  Thanks to the show organizers, Trexi Nederland, we have  pics of the opening and the pieces for you. It's definitely nice to see some variety in platforms used for custom shows ;-)

Click below for all the pics in the full post.

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Psycho Zliks Launch Party @ Madame X (10.13.06)

Andrew Bell is celebrating Friday the 13th  (10.13.06) in style with a launch party for his Dead Zebra Variant Psycho Zliks @ Madame X in NYC.&