CCAD Art of Illustration Show at Rivet Gallery Opens Today

Today Rivet Gallery in Columbus, OH is hosting a show featuring the work of students at the Columbus College of Art & Design.

Rivet is proud to be the host of CCAD's 17th Annual Art Of Illustration Show.

Columbus College of Art and Design annually host a school-wide art competition called the Art of Illustration. The AOI competition is held in January and juried thereafter by a panel of professional local illustrators. There is a student committee who organizes and manages this show.

This year's exhibition of 45 chosen works will be on display at Rivet for the month of April with a reception and awards ceremony held on Saturday, April 5 beginning at 7pm. Awards and refreshments have been provided graciously by community businesses.

Art of Illustration show Facebook event page  - Rivet Gallery Facebook page

- Benny Kline

Adventure Time Art Show at Gallery 1988

Click here to view and buy the pieces from Gallery 1988's Adventure Time art show!

- Benny Kline

Stars and Strips and all things Captain America

The Winter Soldier has just been released with great reviews, some even saying the best Marcel film to date!

There was no way that Hot Toys was not going to releasing the Stealth S.T.R.I.K.E. suit version, fans already was demanding this version long before it was announced, so I think many are happy that demands has been answered!

So Hot Toys is going all out with this Marvel Superhero steam train, some say a little too much, as many lines left unfinished and talked about non Marvel releases has yet to materialise.

Anyway.... what a set this is…. Captain America AND Steve Rogers, the Steve Rogers head sculpt is amazing

The Stealth S.T.R.I.K.E. suit version is available on its own, if your not wanting civilian Steve Rogers!

For full spec check out HotToys official page

For preorder  - SideShowToys OneSixthBruce + from Hong Kong Official Toy Hunters and Hot Toys Secret Base

Thanks for reading

WaiMan

www.onesixthbruce.co.uk

Amendment........

Forgot to add, Falcon on its way too!!! (pics courtesy of William Lau)

DamToys - Gangsters Kingdom - Juárez

I’ve been a fan of the DamToys Gangster Kingdom line from the very beginning, I first thought it was loosely based on British gangster flick actors, but past few releases steered away from that....

Most recent announcement from DamToys is this GK006 - The Gangsters Kingdom - Diamond 3 Juárez!!! 

Now I think you will know who the character is based on!!

This by far is the meanest looking release of the line, think a lot has to do with the bloody weapons!!

Almost all of the early releases have been sold out, besides the normal auction sites, you will be had pressed to find an early one at your local figure vendor.

With this release, DamToys have made an additioal 100 chase/hidden versions that will be randomly placed in with the regular, so if you strike lucky, below is what you will get - Good Luck.

Even as a stand alone piece this has got to be the one to have, so search out Juárez, before he finds you…….!

If you want to see the full range of the Gangsters Kingdom line, please click here DamToys will shoot you to the official DamToys page.

Now we have seen this announcement, I have noticed in various social media that people want El Mariachi next!!

Anyway we shall see!!

Thanks for reading

WaiMan

www.onesixthbruce.co.uk

Mundam Wing Redux - Custom 7" Munny by Josh Mayhem

 This piece was originally “The Mundam Wing” – a 7″ Munny created for the 2013 Art Without Borders show at Art Whino Gallery in Washington D.C. Josh writes:

The piece arrived at the gallery with a few pieces that had fallen off during shipping, which luckily they were able to repair before the show. The piece sold online to a collector and when it arrived after being shipped again it was in pretty bad shape mainly due to the fact that the pieces simply weren’t reinforced correctly. That combined with the fact that there were a few of my own minor imperfections in the paint the piece was then sent back to me to repair, but by the time it arrived, the entire thing needed to be completed disassembled, repainted, and rebuilt in order to fully restore it. 

I really didn’t feel very inspired to recreate the same exact toy again (honestly I don’t know how many of the popular customizers out there do multiple versions of the same toy without going crazy) but luckily the collector was okay with me changing the color scheme and design. After a long while the new and improved version ended up being a lot cooler and more refined then the original. 

This incident forced me to start reinforcing nearly every piece on all of my following toys by drilling a hole in both the piece, and the toy, then placing a small metal bar to connect the two. This is a very time consuming process but it has proven to be absolutely necessary. Also this forced me to step up my packaging process using double boxing and other methods to ensure a safe arrival. It actually turned out to be a great learning experience.

Make sure to check out my recent feature on www.geekexchange.com if you’d like to get an inside look at what inspires me artistically, my design process, and my toy collection:

http://www.geekexchange.com/josh-mayhem-makes-awesome-custom-toys-with-old-gundam-kits-108977.html

- Benny Kline

Back the March of Robots Art Book Kickstarter by Dacosta!

Dacosta! is an incredibly talented graphic artist with a strong interest in robots as a subject matter. He has really inspired a bunch of our contemporary artists and illustrators to share their robot artwork, sketches and digital pieces online via his "March of Robots" social media campaign. I know my friends Steve Talkowski and Klim Kozinevich have participated by sharing and tagging their own robot pieces. You can look at all the insanely cool artwork contributed to Dacosta's March of Robots campaign here.

Dacosta is now taking his own robot artwork and compiling it into possibly the most exhilarating and colorful art book I've ever seen- all robots, all the time, front front cover to back!

I have backed this project, the artwork is just TOO COOL to pass up. I want to introduce my kids to art and illustration via books like these. And I can say I know the artist who created it- talk about Cool Dad factor.

CLICK HERE TO BACK THE MARCH OF ROBOTS BOOK ON KICKSTARTER

The book is the main reward on this Kickstarter, of course, and you can preorder your signed copy for just $30. There are tons of other cool robot-related rewards as well.

There's only 11 days to go, so make sure to act quickly to get Dacosta up to his funding goal! So close!

 

Resin Cosmic Jellybots and Jellybot Plush by The Jelly Empire at MoCCA

Our friend Selina (The Jelly Empire) will be selling these awesome, OOAK resin Cosmic Jellybots at MoCCA Arts Fest in NYC on April 5 & 6, along with a few different Jellybot plushes!

Meet the Jellybots that accidentally swallowed up stars and nebulas on their way to Earth!  Now they are filled with little cosmic power ready to take over! 10 pieces in total.

I will also have more plush for event and it also includes a special edition to go along with some regular ones.  It's all about the moustache. 

Any leftovers will be uploaded into my online shop after this weekend at www.thejellyempire.storenvy.com

MoCCA Arts Fest

128 East 63rd Street, NYC

April 5 & 6

11am - 6pm

- Benny Kline

Two RESTORE Debris Japan Exclusives at Mintyfresh Booth at ToyConUK

If you're a fan of the Debris Japan figures by RESTORE, you gotta see this: TWO (2!!!) different exclusive Debris figures at the Mintyfresh booth at ToyConUK. Apparently, if these don't sell out at ToyConUK (yeah right!) you'll be able to take a crack at them via this lottery.

Pricing and info:

Debris Japan SFB Glaciation Edition exclusive by RESTORE for Toycon UK, available at the Mintyfresh Stand, for £90 GBP (incl. TAX) 
Edition size > EXTREMELY SMALL (they don't want me to tell but it's less then 25)

Debris Japan SFB Blue Edition exclusive by RESTORE for Toycon UK, available at the Mintyfresh Stand, for £45 GBP (incl. TAX) 
Edition size > SMALL (Less then 35 Restore might offer this in the near future)

There's also a third exclusive at Mintyfresh:

The INC Dropleaf exclusive by Instinctoy for Toycon UK,

will be available at the Mintyfresh Stand, for £95 GBP (incl. TAX)

Edition size: 50

Flocked version for toycon and 50 GID versions for online sales (flocked and GID are the Nose, Mouth and Claws)

- Benny Kline

Coffee and Fried Chicken!

M and R, stars of the Coffee and Fried Chicken blog

And now for something completely different...

Coffee & Fried Chicken (in addition to being a delicious gastronomic combo) is a new blog from Kun-I Chang and Shihwen Lin.  The New York-based duo's blog features the daily life and interactions of R, a white rabbit who lives on coffee and M, a black monkey who loves fried chicken (that's straight from the description, don't send your letters and postcards my way).  I'll let the creators explain it.

Coffee & Fried Chicken was born on April, 7th, 2012 When M and R exchanged their vows. 

M designed the monkey & rabbit characters as the body doubles for themselves, and together they share their story with friends and families through the two characters. 

Since both M and R are a bit camera shy, they decide to use monkey & rabbit to capture little moments in their lives.

While the concept seems strange, the characters are cute, the photography is beautiful and the stories look fun to follow.

-The Highest Fever

@thehighestfever

LEGO Architecture - Empire State Building: Overlooking the details on a minimalistic model.

A particular line that had me intrigued when it first came out was the black box clad seemingly upper level collectible model line of LEGO Architecture models. The line pursues an effort to showcase a range of cultural building icons that range in size and price, with from what I can tell a random sort of application to how scale is approached.

The particular model I will be talking about today is the LEGO Architecture - Empire State Building set (21002).

The packaging is totally the opposite of all the rest of the LEGO lines that have come prior, with an emphasis on sort of an Apple inspired "premium" format kind of presentation that is visually striking on store shelves and looks right at home in places like Barnes and Noble and the like.

 I wanted to start out with a smaller model from this line, because I was not sure the minimalist approach to the overall look of the models was something I was too crazy about. As luck would have it, I managed to find the LEGO Architecture - Empire State Building set on sale for $12 (it normally retails for around $20 in most places).

Once you get past the facade of the outside though, you'll find it's pretty much just another sort of normal bit of contents for this model (which of course is always presented very well to aid in assembly in all other kits)

The contents included two poly bags of bricks, a set of instructions that also carried a minimalist aesthetic that mirrored the outer box.

A nice little add in, a small spot light on the artist, and a two page are of facts and history of the real Empire State Building.

I found the rating on this set to be an odd one. It's recommended for anyone 10+ years old, but the overall design and build aspect of this model would be hard pressed to give much of a challenge to your average 6 year old. I wager to think that the reason for the age approximation is because of the over abundance of vastly smaller bricks for the set, many which of course could present choking hazards for younger unsupervised kids.

The major criticism was in the design towards the end: (left) 1. the overall stability of the model and (right top and bottom) 2. what seems to be a rare oversight in quality control with the model design.

Everything about the LEGO Architecture - Empire State Building set really plays it up as a sturdy and fairly faithful minimalist rendition of the real thing. The problem is it has a few hits against it for me.

1. Shown in the above image on the left, is the fact that when handling the model a long stretch of the side of model is actually only attached by stacking a count of over four 2x2 bricks without any sort of "lock in support".

2. Which brings me to the connected issue (pardon the pun) of the other side being more than adequately secure because of the usage in place of a normal 2x2 brick, with a 2x2 brink that has an extension lock lug.

The reason I find this irritating is because on far more insane sort of complex models (like anything out of Ninjago or the new Chima line), every effort to make almost redundant levels of stability shine in many ways so that the playability factor of the toys are in top form, is just par for the course for LEGO.

In my mind, the LEGO Architecture - Empire State Building set (as shown in the two right hand images above) just plain left out a second 2x2 with lock lug. Why do I say that? Because there are two receiving blocks that are part of the top section of the model! The top right image shows that there is one that is just there. No function for it.

I know this seems like I am making a mountain out of a molehill, but considering the low brick count in this model, the high esteem and slick polish to all else about the presentation of the model... and somehow, quality control seems to have just overlooked that aspect of the final build. Kind of disappointing especially for the running retail price of between $20 to $30.

So, in a final word, if you plan on spending a small bit of time on a sort of overpriced smaller model, and you REALLY like the Empire State Building... then go for it. It really does look like the real one, in a very minimalistic style, but doesn't hold up too well for young hands/rougher play very well.

Solution? Order a companion 2x2 brick with locking lug for the set from LEGO, (my plan in the near future) and enjoy it as a desk/mantle set.

Until next time!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue

@theartisanrogue

Transforming Godzilla Eggs are No Yolk!

   Sorry for the puns but these new transforming Godzilla eggs are AWESOME.
Bandai has only released 5 kaiju eggs since March, but we're already looking forward to more!

   The four toys are Godzilla (from the 1994 film), King Ghidorah (From 1965 film), Gigan (1972 film), Mecha Godzilla (1974) and Mothra (1992). They are all easy to transform and are made of a high-quality, durable plastic. The Mothra comes with his alternate (larvae) form as a snap-on!

Godzilla (Gojira) 1994 Version.

Mecha Godzilla (1974 version)

Gigan (1972 version)

King Ghidorah (1965 version)

Mothra (1992 version)

These eggs look like a lot of fun to play with and will make a great addition to your kaiju display shelves......we all have those, right?

-Otaku Milf (AKA -Shonuf)

Komega's Amazing SoulDroid Dunnys

Komega shares with us this amazing fosl Mecha Dunny - "Soul Droid" . Soul Droid is ready for action, and has you in his sights. The ancient fosl skull is pretty awesome, but where's the Amazing?

Wait for it...

BOOM

Yup, he lights up. And, there's an ultra-tiny skull in there- more than one of them, I hear.

Komega's first figure is sold out, but 2 more are available here.

Be sure to stay up to date with Komega's releases on Facebook and Instagram @komega

-Tasha Zimich

threezero x Titanfall = Epic!

Do I really need to add anything to what you can see in the pic!!!

From threezero Facebook page

Today we want to share with you something BIG!

Witness the rise of the Titans, as we will be making figures from first-person shooter multiplayer video game, called: Titanfall.

In Titanfall, players compete on a war-torn planet, playingas mech-style Titans and their pilots. We will disclose more details about figures, which we are making as we get closer to showing the prototype (which will happen really soon), however we can already say that Titan on this teaser is about 20" tall and will come with the pilot.

Yes 20 inches tall!!! its going to be huge!! without checking, think it maybe similar size to the threeA Real Steal figures released last year, if so, hope they look into the 'top heavy' aspect of the figure as the Real Steal robots are quite difficult to secure once posed.

Anyway, I'm off to have a blast on the game, will update news as soon as anything pops up on threezero!

Thanks for reading

Wai Man

www.onesixthbruce.co.uk

Hot Toys Marvel Winter Soldier round up.

In the space of a few weeks, Hot Toys Marvel steam train rolled in with 3 new preorders tied in with the worldwide release of Captain America The Winter Soldier.

Liking the weathering on the suit!

Fans will love this new version of Black widow!!

Head sculpt on this is fantastic

Now we will have to wait and see if Hot Toys will release the Stealth version on his suit, I guess very likely they will...

BUT no so sure about Falcon...

I've watched the film and I thoroughly enjoyed it, fans will for sure get all three and the preorders will sell very well.

Captain America: Golden Age version, Black Widow and The Winter Soldier are all available from your usual Hot Toys vendor, as for the others mentioned above, we shall see!

Thanks for reading

Wai Man

www.onesixthbruce.co.uk

Custom of the Month (The Customizers FB-group)

The custom of the past month of The Customizer group on Facebook is...

customizer Jon Paul Kaiser

Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead

Totally amazing custom, love the depth and the clean lines!

Follow Jon-Paul Kaiser here:
Site
Facebook

 - Don P