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Court of the Dead

Jul 2, 2012

MegaSeth custom by Lisa Rae Hansen for The Heavy Metal Qee Project

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The Heavy Metal Qee Project is the brainchild of Daniel Perry. The show started on the 12th of April for one week only at The Forbidden Planet megastore in London, where it ended on the thursday 19th April with a meet the artists session. A lot of the artists were on hand to sign their spread in the very nice 64 page glossy book that Daniel put together for the show.

The customs are all up for sale now on Dan's site www.fugi.me and proceeds of the sales go to a fantastic cause: The Garden House Hospice.

Lisa Rae Hansen made a video for her HMQ to showcase it:




Here's a link to the short version: http://youtu.be/43c0E07zSJs and the full length version:  http://youtu.be/dvRmwGkON7o    

Heavy Metal Qee Presents...Iron Maiden Plus Special Guest MegaSeth
This 8-inch Dog Qee has been customised into a Russian-Doll-inspired torture chamber.  Open the Iron Maiden's magnetic doors and entombed within you'll find MegaSeth, a 4-inch, original hand-sculpted toy, who's just possibly the worlds greatest Heavy Metal Guru.
Iron Maiden comes supplied with an A3 gloss poster to pin up alongside your prize rock memorabilia.





Lisa Rae just started blogging on her new blog www.ibreaktoys.com where she plans to post mainly about her own working process... but she'll also cover other artists here and there as well. Go follow her! If you want to buy some of Lisa Rae's work, click through to her store: www.lisaraehansen.storenvy.com

OsirisOrion video blog: Tenacious Toys Presents "The Candy Coated Custom Show"

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Tenacious Toys Presents "The Candy Coated Custom Show" @ The London Candy Company 4/21/12 NYC from OsirisOrion on Vimeo.
 

OsirisOrion - Art and Custom Vinyl Toys: Tenacious Toys Presents "The Candy Coated Custom S...: Tenacious Toys Presents "The Candy Coated Custom Show" @ The London Candy Company 4/21/12 NYC, featuring artists from the bEast Coast, Texas, Cali, and the U.K. doing their thing on vinyl and resin toys. A big group of our closest friends and associates.
Buy customs from the Candy Coated Custom Show here. See more pics by professional photog Matt Siegelbaum here. Props to OsirisOrion for creating this excellent video coverage of our show! Subscribe to the OsirisOrion Vimeo channel here. And of course a big heartfelt thank you to The London Candy Company for hosting the event.

GoBoy Junior custom Android by Brixpix

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After the Candy-Coated Custom Show, Brixpix got in touch with me and showed me his work. Thought I'd highlight one of his pieces I thought was cool: an Android he turned into another version of his GoBoy teenage superhero character. Seen on his blog at the following link:

Lego, Barbie and Hot Wheels: the old staples are cool again

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One thing I find myself saying a lot now that I'm in my 30s: "I hate being grown up." I think this probably sounds silly to older people. My dad is in his 70s, so people of his generation still look at me as a child of sorts. And in fact, that's not far off: I started a toy store with my wife 7 years ago, so in some respects I am still grasping desperately at the last vestiges of my childhood.

On the other hand, I have very real, very grown-up issues like paying for rent, health care and credit card bills, which force me to think like an adult on a day-to-day basis. I think this is why I, like my customers, repeatedly come back to the "comfort food" of my childhood: toys.

I grew up as an introverted child who woke up very early. What that meant for me was daily Lego sessions from about 4am to 5:30am when no one else was awake. My older brothers left to me a literal giant sack full of thousands of Lego pieces. I can still play for hours with Legos. They are an integral part of my childhood, and as a 30-something, I still love them.

Another staple of my childhood, perhaps from an even earlier age than Legos, were Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. My mother told me that I used to play by myself on the stairs with about a dozen cars, moving them all one-by-one to the next stair, lining them all up on each stair like a truly OCD infant. She said the mention of a Hot Wheels car as a reward was the tipping point that got me potty trained one day. Not kidding. By the time I grew into my early teens and stopped collecting, I had amassed 100+ 1:64-scale vehicles. They're all still packed away in my dad's house in the attic. I can't let go of them.

Now I'm a big boy and I run a designer toy shop. Much of what we sell is totally new-school: vinyl and resin art toys created by artists. But you can see the old-school toy concepts like Matchbox, Lego and Barbie creeping their way back into the art toy scene. People never really change. Everything always comes full circle, again and again.

A year or two ago, Lego came back onto my radar with the release of their first series of blind-bagged mystery figures. The iconic Lego guy, released in a series of figures, but sold to consumers blind so that the buyer doesn't know exactly which Lego guy is inside the package. One of the figures pictured on the front, to be sure, but which one? That's the mystery. Now to some of you this might sound odd, but to those of us who cut our teeth on designer toys with Medicom's Bearbricks and Kidrobot's Dunnys, this idea is not new at all. And in fact, the mystery-packaging concept proved so successful for Lego that they are now on to the 5th series of their blind-bagged Lego guy figures.
I can't get these items for my shop, but you can shop at Argos for a range of Lego products, including the Lego Minifigure Series 5.

Another full-circle idea that I can't get enough of is the TYO Toys line of blank white 1:64-scale trucks. Sounds boring, right? But the whole point here is to redirect our fascination with graffiti and street art back onto a medium where it is legal and even encouraged: miniature tags and murals executed in 1:64 scale on the side of a tiny die-cast box truck. I recently attended a show at Dorian Grey Gallery called Street Artists Unite. One of the street artists in the show was Robots Will Kill (RWK). TYO Toys has tapped RWK as one of the artists they put into production, with his graffiti art miniaturized and printed on the side of a tiny box truck, and produced in limited quantities. This is a cool idea to both the 4-year-old me, and the 33-year-old me.

And although I didn't collect Barbies (boys don't deal with Barbies), I have to give props to my friends at tokidoki: somehow they took America's iconic apple-pie girl toy and gave her some street cred. Last year they released a tokidoki co-branded Barbie doll, which created and absolute sensation in the art toy collecting world (and really the Barbie collecting community as well).
The tokidoki Barbies sold out in the blink of an eye, launching the Barbie brand back onto the radar for many collectors who might have lost touch with their childhoods, much like what happened with me and my Legos and Matchbox.
I never was able to get that Barbie for my online shop, but you can visit Argos for Barbies of all kinds, including Barbie playsets with horses, fairy Barbies and Barbie Mini Cooper vehicles. Crazy.

I'm not sure what all this means to me. As I get older, in theory my childhood should move further and further away. I get old and crusty and jaded... I tell kids to get off my lawn. I stop smiling and laughing. Life gets heavier and weighs me down. Wrinkles and frown lines form in my face. I start collecting social security, I start complaining about politicians...

No. I refuse to go out that way. Gimme more toys. I'm never letting go of my childhood.


Jun 30, 2012

Uglydoll Grants Licenses to... Everyone. *le sigh*

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Uglydoll, in a decidedly mass-market business move, has recently granted the following licenses:
  • Callaway Digital Arts (mobile apps based on Uglydoll brand)
  • Amscan (complete line of Uglydoll party supplies)
  • Grasslands Road (ceramic ware manufacture & distro)
  • Anagram (Uglydoll balloons)
  • FAB*Starpoint (backpacks, bags, handbags, totes, etc)
  • Accessory Innovations (fashion headware, cold weather accessories, etc)
  • Thermos (Thermos FUNtainer products, lunch accessories, lunch kits)
  • Zak Designs (children's dinnerware)
  • Freeze (t-shirts and fleece apparel)
  • Komar (sleepware for children)
  • Richard Leeds (junior's and women's sleepware)
  • United Legware (socks and legwarmers)
  • Toy Factory (toys)
  • Thumbtack Press (art prints)

Honestly, I miss the days when Uglydoll just sold, well, Uglydolls. Since they went mass-market, I just can't move any of their products. It's not for lack of trying... I've bought a bunch of their different items over the past couple years. The market's just flooded with Uglydoll products. Nothing I get from them sells anymore. So sad. Used to be one of our top sellers.

A custom Munny by George Johnston

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Here's a custom by someone named George Johnston. It appears to be a 7-inch Munny. Aside from that, I got nothin. No links, price, info or anything. But it's a cute little bug-eyed dude, innit?

Rampage Toys at Tenacious Toys NYCC Booth 3121

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Future, originally uploaded by rampage.toys.

Jon writes: "NYCC is going to be AMAZING this year!"

Yes it is, Jon, yes it is.

NYCC Booth 3121. Be there in October...

Davemarkart customs and commissioned Androids

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"SILENCE IS GOLDEN" (4.5" custom vinyl toy)
You can buy Davemarkart customs in his shop here, or on our website here. Dave's a good guy. We're happy to support him and the sale and promotion of his artwork.
 
"WOODEN YOU LOVE TO LOVE SOMEBUNNY"
MINION FROM DESPICABLE ME

Kung-Fu Panda

ALIAH: A 3D ANIMATED SHORT FILM BY LAB81

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ALIAH - Trailer from LAB81 on Vimeo.



Between reality, dreams and dreams of reality, time goes by.
Seeing and listening the harmony of a carillon to find serenity in spite of the cruelty of war, through a dream and the eyes of an Afghan little girl. Aliah.
The carillon, symbol of memories and time passing, makes everything sweeter through its melody. Hope for a better world.


Written & Directed by Lab81
www.aliahshortfilm.com

Jun 29, 2012

Manly Art 1-inch Hello Bertie customs up for sale now

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 We are very pleased to announce the launch of another Tenacious Toys artist exclusive custom series: Jason Chalker of Manly Art got his big Texan mitts on a bag full of tiny little 1-inch tall Mini Berties from infamous Hong Kong toy manufacturer ThreeA. He then proceeded to customize them in the least obvious manner possible for a Texan: creating a Hello Kitty homage x 3A mashup that works surprisingly well.

Jason painted up 18 of these figures, with the star graphic coming in 4 different variants as pictured above. Each figure is painted and weathered uniquely, and comes affixed to a grassy base. I think this was a smart move, given the fact that Mini Berties have feet that are about 2 millimeters long. Not very stable for your display shelf without being affixed to a base!

Additionally, each figure comes packaged with an original, Hello Bertie-themed sketch card by Jason. The actual figures that I'll be sending to customers, and the sketch cards each order gets, will be picked randomly (for example, if you pick the Hello Bertie with a star with no dark outline, I'll randomly pick one of the 5 pieces like that, and randomly pick a sketch card to go along with the order). Each Hello Bertie / sketch card combo is $25 and you can buy yours here.

Looking at the close-ups below, you have to keep reminding yourself that these customs are one inch tall. Painting those Hello Kitty faces on the Berties' heads must have been a real exercise in patience... To get yourself some of Jason's handiwork, head over to the Manly Art page on our website, or just click here for the Hello Berties. Many more close-up images available in each product listing.
Hello Bertie variant 1

Hello Bertie variant 2

Hello Bertie variant 3

Hello Bertie variant 4

all 18 Hello Berties in this series
the sketch cards that will be randomly inserted into each order

Jun 28, 2012

Joe Ledbetter appearance at Yoyamart tonight

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Joe will be appearing at Yoyamart ce soir in support of the Yoya Exclusive Burger Bunny Bop Bag! Llimited supplies of the Burger Bunny Bop Bags, an Exclusive Yoyamart print (edition of 50), Burger Bunny Men's and Women's Tees as well as limited Joe Ledbetter art toys will be available. Come on out and have Joe personalize your Bop Bag!
See you Thursday, 7-10p!
It's a summertime PARTY!!

YOYAMART
15 Gansevoort Street
New York, NY 10014
tel: 212-242-5511

WWW.THELOYALSUBJECTS.COM

Jun 27, 2012

COMING SOON: 3A Punter Bot Sniper figure

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 The BBICN "exclusive" Punter Bot Sniper 1/6 scale figure by 3A is almost ready to ship out to us. We have one or 2 left unsold out of our whole shipment. You can snap one up here, and be sure to check out the rest of our 3A inventory here- Adventure Kartel figures, Heavy Brambles, custom Mini Berties all available now!



COMING SOON: Shawnimals Pocket Pork Dumplings vinyl mini figures

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Nicely sized at 1.8-inch wide by 1.5-inch high and 1.6-inch deep, Shawnimals new vinyl Pocket Pork Dumpling blind-box mini figures are perfectly collectible!

What’s in the series?
The first series will consist of 12 total designs (9 main +  3 chase) in a blind boxed assortment packaged in adorable, mini take-out style boxes. Designs are a sweet mix of classic styles found in past plush series, along with many new designs never seen before.
 
Look for another post in the near future with more pics and a link to buy these sweet little mini figures!

Jun 26, 2012

Hello Bertie series by Manly Art coming soon

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We're very excited to announce our next custom series from ManlyArt's Jason Chalker: Hello Berties, a custom series based on the 1-inch tall Mini Bertie platform by 3A. There will be 18 of these figures in the series, in 4 different variations, and each will come with a sketch card by Jason Chalker. More info to come soon!

VA Paper Toys Tenacious Toys Street Dog

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Our friend Bengi (aka nati513) has modified VA Paper Toys' Street Dog template to create a Tenacious Toys Danger Dog paper toy! He kindly printed out and constructed one of these himself and mailed it to us (pics above).

You can do the same by clicking here. Download the paper toy image / template on that page (it's the huge image that doesn't fit on the page), print it out, and cut and glue it into the shape above!

Once you create your Tenacious Street Dog, take a pic and email it to us! We'll update the page with your images of the constructed Tenacious Street Dog, along with your name, location and a link if you want us to post that. Try to take a picture with a local attraction (like the Eiffel Tower if you're in Paris, or Big Ben if you're in London...).

Big, huge thanks to Bengi and to Willie Beren of VA Paper Toys!!!
BB-8 Star Wars Premium Format(TM) Figure
Court of the Dead The Chronicle of the Underworld Court of the Dead Book