New tokidoki plushes in stock now

Three new plushes from tokidoki are in stock and ready to ship! Stellina, Donutella and Kaiju are each 9 inches tall and made of cuddly soft fleece. $19.95 each in our tokidoki section.

Just 2 Days Left To Enter the Toy2R QeesMas Photo Contest

 Time to win a sleigh-full of goodies from Toy2R making spirits bright and happy with FREE TOYS – lots of free toys – in fact 4 holiday bundles valued at $500 each!!! How’s that for spreading cheer for all to hear!

Here’s the scoop – we want you to send us your best photograph showing us your love for Qee! Pose with your favorite Qee, Capture a Qee hanging out at its favorite place in town, or Create a special Qee setting showing off your true creativity – it’s up to you!

There will be two levels, Amateur and Professional, that way you can use your smart phone or a fancy-schmancy camera to capture your best creative moment. Toy2R will choose a winner from each level to win big! Also, there will be a People’s Choice Award - the best submissions (as decided upon our select group of Qee personnel) will be posted and voted upon on Facebook. And not to be outdone, there will also be a Santa’s Choice Award – a winning submission chosen by The Big Guy himself.

So get those Qees out and start snapping away. Whether you’ve been naughty or nice, you’ll have a chance to win, and win big, for the holidays! The contest starts today and runs through the December 10th – good luck!!

RULES:

The Qeesmas Contest starts November 21st, 2011. Send all contest entries to info@toy2rusa.com - and please include in the subject heading “MY QEESMAS”. Do not forget to include your name/alias, a title for your submission, your website, twitter name or other social networking info you would like us to share with viewers. Be sure to include the level you wish your photo to be judged: AMATEUR or PROFESSIONAL.

PHOTO SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Minimum 500 pixels wide or high (smaller images will not be accepted). Here are some basic themes we would like to see:
• Portraits – You and your favorite Qee(s). How creative can you be?
• Locations – Your favorite Qee visiting a landmark, favorite hangout, or hanging at home.
• Dioramas – Feel like taking it to the next level? Photograph your favorite Qee(s) in a diorama or setting you have created.
• Photos must include at least one Qee figure (the more the merrier!)

Submit as many images as you would like, there is no limit, but please do not duplicate images or send multiple images in single submissions – one image per entry. Photoshop or other programs to enhance your image is allowed.

SCHEDULE:
- Contest starts November 21st, 2011.
- Submissions deadline– December 10th at 11:59 pm
- There will be two levels for submissions – AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL.
- Our Qee personnel will select 5 images each week, from each level, for final voting.
- The top 15 images chosen from each level will then be subject to public voting on Facebook between the 12th through the 17th of December.
- Winners announced on Monday, December 19th, 2011 – 4 CHANCES TO WIN!
- PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD – as voted on by the people on Facebook
- AMATEUR LEVEL AWARD – as determined by Toy2R USA
- PROFESSIONAL LEVEL AWARD – as determined by Toy2R USA
- SANTA’S CHOICE AWARD – as determined by The Big Guy!


TERMS & CONDITIONS:
- Toy2R USA reserves the Right of Refusal for any entries submitted without the need for explanation.
- Any and all entries submitted may be used for promotional purposes by Toy2R USA at any time after receipt. Copyright of original photographs will remain with the submitter.
- In the event that no submissions are received for either level of the contest, the prize(s) will be forfeited.
- Contest Terms and Conditions may change at any given time without prior notice or alert.
- Submitting your entry/entries to this contest indicates that you have agreed to all of the above Terms & Conditions.

A very B.A.L.D. Christmas: new customs in his store

Avalanche The Yeti 7" Munny

Avalanche is the most feared creature in all the  himalayas and King of all Yetis.

The Yellow Snow Monster 8" Dunny

 What happens when a magician pees in the snow? The magical urine turns the snow into a gruesome snowman like monster.

 Melting Mel 4" BUD

The Snow Drifter 3" Dunny

All of the above customs can be purchased in B.A.L.D.'s shop here.

GID Visible Qee Bear now in stock

Click here to buy the 7" Glow in the Dark Visible Qee Bear by Toy2R

Scott Tolleson Uncle Argh Mini Qee now in stock

Click here to buy the Scott Tolleson Uncle Argh Mini Qee!

Slurg + das mo = IronCloud

Founded by Dust (David Stegmann), Slurg (Joachim Lau) and das mo (Timo Wirtz) in 2010, IronCloud was created to provide toy fans worldwide with handmade high quality designer toys and sculptures. Slurg & das mo have started casting their new toy a couple weekends ago.

Personally, I am a big fan of the work of each of these guys, so I'm really psyched to see what they come up with. For now, Timo has left me with a few shots of their studio and works-in-progress:

QiQi vinyl toys by Creo Design

OK, it's always a little difficult to figure out what's going on with new companies, or rather, foreign companies I've never heard of. Inevitably the names and characters presented in these press releases are alien-sounding, and the information is garbled at best. 

Above teaser is for an upcoming vinyl toy called QiQi, made by a company called Creo Design. This character was designed by "one of Malaysia's greatest Character designers, Monster Little creator ZIQI." I've never heard of ZIQI but I guess that's the name of a person. Ah yes: Ziqi Wu.

ZIQI says the following about QiQi:

"QiQi is a cute and adventurous little red monster. He loves to explore and try out new things. He especially loves doing these with his friends. You will never get bored when you are with QiQi."

Apparently QiQi will come in 4 colorways, with an additional series of special Limited Edition versions. Soooo... basically there will be lots of colorways. More info will be announced in 2012.

I do sincerely hope that Jeremy Brautman appreciates my effort in this particular blog post. In an attempt to achieve the coveted unique content that Jeremy champions, I have broken down the confusing Creo Design press release email into smaller, more easily digestible chunks of confusing information. 

Jeremy, thank you for keeping me honest. Hopefully my next blog post will be a cut-and-paste job.

Rampage Toys Holiday Kaiju Invasion Monday Dec 12

I'm gonna piss Jeremy Brautman off and copy and paste what Jon Malmstedt just emailed to me. Jeremy is a great writer who is a big fan of doing your own research and writing your own copy for blog posts. I totally agree with his viewpoint, yet I am going to just plain paste this text in to my blog to see if I can get him all riled up:

So, amidst the longest wait I have yet to have for new Ugly Unicorn Vinyl (there's a serious back-up at the factories after the con season and all...), I decided it would be a good time to do some good ol' custom kaiju handpaints.  I had a handful of M1GO and Bullmark figures sitting around unpainted, and one or two blank Unicorns, so I managed to get quite the little bundle assembled :-)

These guys will go Live in my shop on Monday at 8PM EST (Stateside) - which is 10AM on Tuesday here in Japan.  Always a juggling event to figure out the right time for this stuff...

Anyway, I've attached a pic, and it basically tells the whole story - bright colors on various colors of vinyl.  It was fun to paint a bunch of different platforms - especially since things are about to TAKE OFF with Ugly Unicorn production!  Lots of projects in the works for 2012!  First up, a new color of vinyl for 2 releases - more on that soon (I hope!) ;-)

More pictures of the "Holiday Kaiju Invasion Squad" are on the Flickr, here.

George and his AMAZING BLUE DISPENSING MACHINEEEEEE!

This is a one off design by Tesselate, limited to just one.
George and his Amazing Blue Dispensing Machine is handmade in resin, foamex, acrylic and super sculpey.
Painted in acrylics, spray paints and decorated with posca pens, and finished off with a few coats of clear acrylic sealer. The Amazing Blue Dispensing Machine stands at 7.5inches / 19cm tall.

Head on over to http://www.madebytesselate.com to find out more!

Also coming soon to the Tenacious Toys shop from Tesselate: The Double B Squad custom Munny set! We're super stoked to start working with Tesselate!

The Police Brutality Coloring Book

A guy I recently met named Joe Heaps orchestrated, compiled and printed up this Police Brutality Coloring Book, which you can see and buy here for just $12. Featuring 46 contemporary artists, this zine/art project was created in response to the recent wave of excessive force used by the police in U.S. cities. I saw the first copy in person when I met Joe. It's wonderful. Worth the $12 just for the Shepard Fairey back cover.

Askew Rangers customs by Josh Mayhem

Josh Mayhem Presents: “The Askew Rangers” - Heavily armed creatures from the forest of the future battling for supremacy in a world where survival of the fittest is the only law of the jungle. 

This custom series displays vibrant colors and crisp lines utilizing simple paint foundations as complimentary backdrops to an overwhelming display of weaponry and accessories. A recycling element is seen as an underlying tone in this collection. Pieces of scrap metal, wires from vintage electronics and weaponry accessories from the creator's massive collection of vintage action figures serve as a reminder of the rooted toy history and originality each individual piece holds. 

Every Askew Ranger has some form of a working component to it including working lights, spring loaded and moveable devices, and removable elements that evoke the versatility of an action figure with the visual aesthetic of a vinyl toy.

See more images here.

Also, see more from the current group exhibition at Crewest Gallery.

TaskOne Jaws custom commission

high and dry (a custom Coarse Toys Jaws figure commission by TaskOne)
1. Lit. [for water] to recede and leave someone untouched. The waters receded and left us high and dry.
2. Fig. to leave someone unsupported and unable to maneuver; to leave someone helpless.

Argonaut Resins x Robbie Busch Holiday Release Dec 7th

This Holiday custom release will be with artist Robbie Busch, featuring custom work on the 8 inch resin Pharaoh Hounds. The Hell Hounds will be a five piece run with 3 RedHots, 1 blue chase Hell Freeze Over and a uber clear tint Red Hot chase and will come with a acrylic painting on the cover of each box by artist Robbie Busch.

Also included in this release will be a few 6 inch EL DIABLO resins for those who may have missed out on the other sold out versions, and a group of original art pieces painted up by Robbie Busch with Acrylic Gouache on 4"x4" inch canvasses.

The Hell Hounds, EL DIABLO's and mini canvasses will go on sale this Wednesday Dec. 7 at 9PM Est. time in the Argonaut Resins online store.