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Court of the Dead

May 28, 2014

Custom of the Month (The Customizers FB-group)

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The custom of the past month (May) of The Customizer group on Facebook is...
customizer Krunster
Nerds Clothing's 

Follow Krunster here: Facebook

May 27, 2014

Cars - An 80's formula revisited.

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In the 1980's a whole range of what were essentially 22 minute long television commercials raged onto the airwaves to support an explosion of toylines. G.I. Joe, He-Man, Thundercats, Care Bears, Rainbow Brite... the themes and styles ranged far and wide, but all followed a fairly standard formula of toned down violence and a lesson to be learned in the end. Anyone in their late 30s can recall this time, and toy companies and copycat lines of product were everywhere.

"Cars", the Pixar Studios release, was very much a personal project for director John Lasseter, as it was a product of a series of months he spent out with his family taking the scenic backroads of America.

A little over twenty years later, in April of 2006, Mattel began releasing 1:55-scale die-cast models of characters based on, and in marketing support of the Disney-Pixar film, Cars.When I first got wind that Pixar would have a Mattel based line up of diecast cars coming out, I imagined it would be maybe a few of the major characters that would see the light of day, and that if I was smart, I would beat a path to the nearest toy retailer to procure them before it was too late. In fact the night that I went to go see the movie, I went quickly to Walmart right after the show, only to find ten pegs all but standing empty save for a Lightning McQueen, and two Sarges.

The initial wave consisted of Chick Hicks, DJ, Doc Hudson, Fillmore, the King, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sally, Sarge, Sheriff, Wingo, and Lizzie (who seems to have been the early unintentional chase/rare because of how Mattel short packs certain characters). This was just the beginning as Mattel would have a run away success on their hands that would polarize collectors ranging from niche theme collectors, to facing down the dreaded bane (in this blogger's opinion) of getting to a retail peg section after the Hot Wheels fans have picked it over, to the incredibly bizarre way that Mattel handles box contents, to the short run non-sensical exclusives.

"Cars" the movie was essentially Doc Hollywood (the movie that had Micheal J Fox out as a fish out of familiar waters to the backset of a romantic comedy), but had some great voice acting talent, and a decent storyline that talked about moving on, Route 66, family, and being true to yourself, or more importantly, FINDING yourself. The movie was, as most Pixar movies are, visually stunning and stuffed to the brim with various characters of all makes and models of cars that literally begged to be made into toys.

Fast forward again, and you can find the Cars toy line everywhere from Wal-Mart to Aldi Grocery Stores to ToysRUs, but because of the popularity of the line, distribution of some sub-sets, chase cars, and even some of the more commonly made ones, differ wildly from store to store, state to state, with some stock on hand barely moving in one city, to another city maybe only 30 miles away not seeing any new stock for weeks or months at a time.

I have over the years collecting this line, amassing a large investment of time, money, effort... and going about it the old fashioned way of staying as far from Ebay as possible, and doing store hunts for the personal satisfaction and fun of it, the one thing that has not changed and should have in my opinion is the distribution of the toy line.

Pictured above are examples of Mattel's "Super Chase" and "Chase" selections.

The joy of being able to find a random toy perhaps in a blind box assortment, or maybe track down that one short packed female action figure from a recent big budget blockbuster like Captain America is one of the things that the kid in me revels in.

So as this packaging says on the back, no more than 4,000 of Trike Feldman will be made and found out in the "wild". For a Super Chase as it is though, I found 4 total at my local Aldi grocery, and none in any of the other places where I normally go toy hunting, which includes a list of at least 25 different venues in a 40 mile radius.

But not when it gets harder and harder to collect toy lines because of bad distribution. And Mattel, for all it's presence in marketing and brand recognition, does not know how to get enough variation out to the markets.

I really think that the Carla and Nigel ones should have just been variations that were generally released with the normal versions prior as opposed to counting them as Chase vehicles in this way.

The fact is that at this point in collecting Cars, it can be both incredibly fun even if you don't like the movies, just because of the huge spectrum of car types and characters that were created. That said, it's probably also one of the most frustrating collections I try to keep up with.

(top and bottom left) Megan Carrar (top and bottom right) Trike Feldman

I'll end this with a brief overview of the two characters that I found at the same Aldi. The first, "Magen Carrar" looks a lot like a repaint/retooling of the main character Sally (who is also a Porche, so I guess that is to be expected, and the Cars toy line is rife with repaints and retools of existing cars). Nothing really stands out about this character, and I think she was seen for just a few seconds in Cars 2.

Now "Trike Feldman" is one of those in the Cars line that I really like to find. He is a fairly unique model, and has a great bit of color and variety that adds to his appeal and is what I would expect from something labeled as being a Super Chase.

As I move forward in these reviews, I will try to hit sets, unique editions or variants, and cover some of the weird places I managed to find some of the ones that were harder to get.

Until next time!


May 22, 2014

The Iron Giant......

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Meanwhile... Its the late 1950's.....  in a small town in the state of Maine


Earlier today, over at  the limited edition poster/screen print creators Mondo, there was a rumbling.........



Batteries included.

#notaposter

Now I take that as either an action figure or some sort of statue, my guess is Mondo will produce a 1/6 scale action figure of the Iron Giant, as many Iron Giant goods go for quite a high amount of money, especially the figures..... This will be great news for fans of the film and collectors alike.

Not much info at the moment as its only a teaser thus far, but I will keep you all updated.

Thanks for reading

WaiMan
www.onesixthbruce.co.uk

Zombiez 3" Dunny by kOmega

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They're aliiive! Kind of. What would you say they are, kOmega?

"The fosl virus encountered a few zombie creatures who seemed to only posses half a soul. After infecting their guests the parasite was not able to fully develop... creating a fosl that was still half living. Resulting in an evil race of fosls that would torment the world for centuries."

Exactly. Though if you're a visual learner, you could watch the super cool video trailer for these Zombies instead over here

Parasite Grimm 3" Dunny

These little fiends released on kOmega's eStore here and are looking to spread the infection. For more of kOmega's work, check out his Facebook and Instagram @komega


Grossetta 3" Dunny



One Eyed Girl at Popzilla Gallery PopCade

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Kasey "One Eyed Girl" Tararuj has 2 pieces on exhibition with Popzilla Gallery's POPcade exhibition - Popular video game characters being the theme.

"Bowsy", pictured above, is a custom sculpted and painted 4" Kidrobot Bub, available for $175 here.

And a mixed media 3D-sculpted painting "Piranha Pipe Invasion" listed for $225 here.



We just launched a Kickstarter for the Little Maddie Cthulhu figure by Bigshot Toyworks

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Little Maddie Cthulhu by Bigshot Toyworks on Kickstarter
We are pleased to announce the launch of a new Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of the Little Maddie 6" collectible figure by Bigshot Toyworks. Little Maddie will be the first figure produced in the Four Horsies of the 'Pocalypse line of collectibles, which is comprised of: Maddie (caretaker of the 'Pocalypse), Raven (famine), Clash (war), Calamity (pestilence) and Ghost (death).

Little Maddie started as a rough 3D render digital "sketch" that Klim Kozinevich posted to the Bigshot Toyworks Tumblr. The concept art got picked up and republished by large websites such as iO9, Neatorama, Geeks Are Sexy and Laughing Squid, and generated a lot of positive feedback. Based on the feedback, Klim decided to flesh out the Four Horsies concept and launch Little Maddie as a Kickstarter campaign to bring her to life.

Four Horsies of the 'Pocalypse backstory:
www.4horsies.com
Twitter: @the4horsies

It’s the end of the world as we know it…or is it?

Meet Calamity (Pestilence), Raven (Famine), Clash (War) and Ghost (Death). They’re the Four Horsies of the ‘Pocalypse (or at least they would be if they could only get their act together)! This next-generation of doombringers are on a mission to destroy the Earth, but to do so, they'll have to beat the likes of Queen Chroma and her rainbow sprite army! Too bad they can’t crack teamwork to save their lives.

Led by Maddie (an older sister type with an affinity for destruction), these would-be Champions of Chaos are desperate to show their parents they've got what it takes to inherit the legacy. Cake and ice cream for eternity? Not if these freaky fillies have anything to say about it!

The rewards levels in the Little Maddie Kickstarter
GID Maddie: limited to 300 pcs
About the Little Maddie Kickstarter:

The Little Maddie Kickstarter is live right now and will run for 30 days, ending on June 19, 2014. Rewards range in price from $1 (for a set of Four Horsies digital wallpapers) to $160 for the Hyper Combo (Maddie, plus a Kickstarter-exclusive GID Maddie, plus a Maddie t-shirt, keychain, sticker sheet set and the digital wallpapers). There are several reward levels in between those.

As with all Kickstarters, no money is charged to the backers' credit cards until after the campaign ends in late June. If the campaign doesn't reach its mark, no money is charged at all. Kickstarters are open to international as well as domestic backers.

The success of this Kickstarter will lead to the production of the other Four Horsies, and the aim is to expand this concept to trade shows, exclusives, apparel, web episodes and, of course, more collectibles toys.

From the buyer's perspective, this Kickstarter functions much like a preorder: The $60 cost of Little Maddie includes shipping. No money is charged at the time of your order. Cards are charged in late June, pending success of the Kickstarter to meet the monetary goal. Once your cards are charged, the money drops into our account and we send the payment off to the factory to produce the Little Maddie figures.

Bigshot Toyworks has already heavily invested in this project, and the tooling masters for the Little Maddies has already been created. So when the Kickstarter ends, there will be little to no delay before the figures go into production.

About Bigshot Toyworks:
www.bigshottoyworks.com

Bigshot Toyworks is an award winning creative shop with a focus on the design, development, and production of unique characters, illustrations, toys and art objects. Our work can be seen in national print, and TV advertising campaigns, toy stores, and art galleries around the world. With roots deep in industrial design, toy design, digital sculpting and very close project management, the international team of designers and artisans at Bigshot have a unique ability to create incredibly vivid and detailed works of art that closely represent the heart, soul and vision of their creative partners. Unique understanding of design, a fine tuned development process and the endless drive to pull off the impossible are the driving force behind the studio.

About Klim Kozinevich (creator and producer):

Klim Kozinevich is the Bigshot at Bigshot, with nearly 20 years of experience in character based product design, and the entertainment industry. From developing mascot characters, hand-sculpting prototypes to overseeing production of best-selling toys for mass market, Klim has worked and innovated in every area of the industry. At Bigshot, Klim is the creative lead and oversees all character design and development. As the heart and soul of Bigshot Toyworks, it is Klim’s unique vision and undeniable talents that have provided the company with its reputation for quality, reliability, and innovation.

About Jason Bischoff (writer and concept development):

twitter.com/PrometheanWorks

Jason Bischoff is a writer/creator and 10 year toy industry veteran. Silently managing some of today's most-successful licensed collectible programs, in addition, Jason owns and operates Promethean Works, a guerrilla IP and Story development studio. When not contributing to world-class toy brands, comics and Television Shows, Jason pretends like he's sleeping to avoid the robot-suspicions of others.

About Tenacious Toys (KS manager and rewards fulfillment):
www.tenacioustoys.com

Tenacious Toys is a New York City-based online toy shop with nearly 10 years of experience selling and shipping toys. Benny at Tenacious Toys will be managing the Little Maddie Kickstarter campaign as well as fulfillment of the Kickstarter rewards and any further Four Horsies releases thereafter.
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