A Sit Down with Boy In The Corner

So it's no secret in the designer toy world that there's an art battle going on between Boy In The Corner and The 3D Hero. We here at Tenacious.Ninja took the time to sit down with these two artistic brutes and find out what's driving them through this competition.

Quick Review:
 Just in case you missed it, there's been some banter between these two artists via Instagram. It began with small, sly comments on each other's posts but on January 31st it appears that The 3D Hero decided to see who's the better artist once and for all and officially called out Boy In The Corner.
Needless to say as dramatic as The 3D Hero is, he created a video with all the specs that you can see here.

Now for the good stuff!
Heath Duntz aka Boy In The Corner was gracious enough to take a few minutes off the battlefield to answer a few quick questions for us. Let's see what he has to say:

Pryncx Mydnyte: Thanks for agreeing to meet with me Boy In The Corner. I know things are pretty crazy right now with you preparing your piece.

Boy In The Corner: Sure thing! This is my first interview so I'm rather excited.


PM: Is this your first battle?

BTC: I guess? lol. I've done many shows but I've never been challenged personally. Honestly, I've been doing this for a long time and this is the first time I've seen something like this.

PM: In that sense, do you feel like you guys are making history?

BTC: In a way. I see this as a way to keep stepping up the toy game. This is also a way for us as artists to learn all types of new techniques.


PM: So why an art battle?

BTC: It's a good platform to showcase what exactly each artist is capable of. A lot of us are invited to be in various shows and we're limited by that show's theme. This way we can do what we want, when we want and how we want.

PM: Can you tell us ,without saying, what we can expect from your piece?
BTC: The platform that we're using for this competition is the TEQ63 by Quiccs (3D's choice). He chose the theme of Earth. I chose water. Just know that there will be high quality marble and glass.

PM: What's the overall goal of this battle? Charity? Dominance? Bragging Rights?
BTC: It's all in fun :) ... Well for me it is.

PM: When is the big debut?
BTC:  You can expect to see teasers for the rest of the month. The official unveiling date is TBA but it will for certain be some time in March. Stay tuned for that.

PM: Do you have any words for The 3D Hero?
BTC:  I'm always up for a good challenge! I couldn't be happier to have you as an opponent!

Thanks again to Boy In The Corner for doing this interview with us! Be sure to follow all the battle banter on  Tenacious.Ninja , Boy In The Corner's Instagram Page and The 3D Hero's Instagram page.

Joe Ledbetter's Mr Bunny, now available in glass for IKEA Art Event 2017

Joe Ledbetter's Mr Bunny, now available in glass for IKEA Art Event 2017

We heard about this IKEA glass art project a little while back via SpankyStokes - gotta admit, I thought it was a joke. But, nope, IKEA really is tapping some of the biggest names in sculptural, collectible toy art to release a whole collection of glass sculpture. I guess these are home furnishings?

I've seen Jeremyville posters at IKEA and probably some other items which stood out to me as having something to do with the bigger-name artists in our little scene. I always love seeing this type of project. This is the kind of thing that can lead a "regular" person down the rabbit hole into collectible vinyl art toys!

That's a great thing! Well, I think it's great. Cuz I sell the toys. Maybe some other people see this as an over-commercialization of the art, I'd expect. There seem to be an outspoken minority in our scene who can't look past their own collectings habits to just be happy for the artists involved. And of course, there's always like 2 artists hating on projects like this because they didn't get chosen.

Life is too short for that shit. Go buy some JLED glass from IKEA. Here's the link... just kidding, IKEA has made purchasing these items completely obtuse. I have no link. I assume the glass pieces would be in this section, but it's all posters. I guess they are trying to replicate the maze-like shopping experience of their stores? If anyone discovers an actual like, pls leave it in the comments section.

- Benny

A Peak At New Resin From Kid Ink Industries and Forces of Dorkness

Our friends Kris Dulfer of Kid Ink Industries and Scott Kinnebrew of Forces of Dorkness often share work-in-progress shots with us on the various Facetograms and Twitbooks.  Today we get some serious teases for upcoming releases.  First up we've got Mr. Kinnebrew's Boba T.  Intergalactic bounty hunter and gold-necklace laden muscle man, he's gonna pity the fool that does grab one of these new resin figures at NYCC this October and all that jibba' jabba'.

Next we've got a whole slew of pieces from Kris Dulfer.  Sharing some of his classic pieces like Delskull and Love-Chain key chains and PonderBoxes in new Heisenberg-approved glassy clear and ice blue colors.  Also, a bag of... well whatever that might be.  

Watch Scott Kinnebrew and Kris Dulfer's FB pages for more info.  

-The Highest Fever

@thehighestfever

Glass Destroyers by Eric Frank

Toy journalist Eric "Toygodd" Frank has been delving in glass lately as a medium for his Destroyer figures. Pictured are glass versions in 4 inch, 2 inch and 1.5 inch sizes. More info to come on his progress! Guess which kick-ass shop gets an exclusive shot at selling these cool figures?

Glass Dunny Bottles by Henry Puxley

Up and coming Irish glass artist Henry Puxley is proud to present his first foray in to the world of art toys with his latest creation, the custom Dunny Bottle. 

Originally featuring at the West End House Gallery, Kent, the beautiful 10 cm x 5 cm pieces come with a detachable clear cast Dunny stopper, with bottles available in either light blue or pink colourways. Hand cast using a lost wax technique, the Dunny Bottles are custom made to order for just £65 plus shipping. Available to purchase by e-mailing him directly, the Dunny Bottles will also be making an appearance on the soon-to-be-opened MAN-E-TOYS store in the near future...

Glass Mini Destroyer: Toygodd dives into alternative medium

You might remember the Destroyer figure- it was a 5" resin figure produced not long ago by Argonaut Resins for an emerging artist named Oh Negative. Oh Negative turned out to be none other than the Almighty Toygodd- Eric Frank, editor and writer of the Toygodd, Hangar 3A and Vinyl Shack columns on Action Figure Times. If there's anyone who covers as many different topics in the toy industry as I do, it's Toygodd. I hang out with him several times a year when he comes to town for the Toy Fair and NYCC.

When Toygodd was here a couple weeks ago, he showed me his latest creation: a mini 2" version of his Destroyer figure, but this time in glass! Glass is a medium that is being used a little bit these days, but no one is making figures as detailed as Toygodd. They are super heavy, and cool to the touch. Such a fun medium! He even melted GID powder into a few of them and I can personally sttest to the fact that once you charge the GID ones up, they glow INSANELY bright. They even have an inner glow visible in a lit room- it looks like a tiny lightbulb. Watch for more info on the evolution of these figures, both on Toygodd's blog and mine.