Tony Gil Reveals Diamond Free Runner Mickey with Full Fabrication Video

Our buddy Tony Gil, the man behind our blog's Tenacious Ninja mascot, is at it again, this time with a Mickey version of his classic Free Runner character. Tony pulls back the curtain with this run of customs by recording the entire process from start to finish! Check the "making of" video below:

Watch the video on YouTube here, and while you're at it, follow Tony on YouTube as well.


To pick up one of these super limited Diamond Free Runner Mickey customs, head over to Tony's shop here.

NEW from Tony Gil - MAD-Runner Red Custom

Tony Gil is BACK with more freerunning madness! This is Tony's most recent custom toy: MAD-Runner Red, free running throughout urban streets. Perfectly balanced on one hand.

Limited to 5 pieces. These are hand crafted and painted. Some minor differences are expected.

LINK TO SHOP:

http://giltstudios.bigcartel.com/product/mad-runner-red

 

In case you are new to Tenacious.ninja, Tony Gil's Diamond Ninja character is the mascot of this blog! 

New Custom from Tony Gil: Diamond Ninja Black Edition (Black & Gold)

Diamond Ninja black edition by Tony Gil

Lurking through the streets spreading his art without a trace - Ninja style. He'll never be seen without a trace. You might catch a glimpse of his shiny gold skin.

Available at Tony's shop here: http://giltstudios.bigcartel.com/


Super excited about this because, as you may recall, we have designated Tony's Diamond Ninja character as the mascot for this blog! And I even have Diamond Ninja stickers now. Hmm... now how should I begin giving those away to all of you? Need to arrange some sort of promotion or something here via comments or via G+... ideas welcome, please leave a comment.

tenacious-toys.blogspot.com is now Tenacious.Ninja

OK, Benny, now just what the hell is going on with the Tenacious Blog today? The domain changed? What's this Tenacious Ninja thing?

Glad you asked, thanks for noticing.

Lemme explain:
I've been building and writing this blog for about 5 years on the Blogger platform. It's free, so that's awesome, and there's a built-in communication between Blogger and Google search simply because it's a Google product. I love that.

When you first start a Blogger blog, you get to choose the beginning of the URL for your blog, but it'll always end with .blogspot.com unless you set up a "vanity" address using a domain you've purchased. Making that switch isn't hard, or expensive. SpankyStokes.com and ToysREvil.net are two examples of blogs you probably already read that have set up custom domains for their blogs a long time ago.

I sorta never did this... I'm not sure why. It didn't seem like a priority to me until I realized we have been blogging for 5 years and had over a million pageviews. Only then did it dawn on me that my blog's domain was wack... by that I mean, too long and cumbersome. tenacious-toys.blogspot.com ... man, that's a mouthful and really not a pretty URL to stick on a business card. Also, hard to remember offhand.

Thankfully, we have the Google, so this blog is very easy to find and comes up #1 on Google if you search "tenacious toys blog" so you can understand why I might have placed this whole custom domain concept on the backburner.

This year, however,  I've spent a lot of time setting up new domains, websites and social accounts for other people and companies. I started thinking about domains a bit more clearly this year. I also noticed in GoDaddy that they began to offer new "extensions" which are basically new endings that replace .com or .net or .info or those other more common endings.

Out of curiosity, I logged onto GoDaddy and searched for new, short domains with the word tenacious in them - I wanted to keep my Tenacious branding but establish a short, memorable URL which could be easily communicated. I found .club, .nyc, .today, .buzz, .reviews and all kinds of other ones I could use. But nothing seemed to fit...

... until I found .ninja.

Tenacious. Dot. Ninja.

I was actually laughing out loud at the absurdity of that idea, and bought it right away.

I mean, what the hell, GoDaddy? .ninja is STILL funny to me! Why the hell is there a .ninja?!

So my mind starts racing... maybe this blog could actually have it's OWN mascot! A ninja! And all of a sudden, it hit me: Tony Gil (Gilt Studios). Many of his custom toys are little ninjas! And they're awesome, simple and tight characters with personality, and they are fun. They were perfect:

So I reached out to Tony (who I've worked with in the past) and basically told him the whole story, and he was into the concept - his character as this blog's mascot. And Tony is a very talented sculptor and painter but I had one specific guy in mind to translate Tony's 3D character into a mascot, because he so expertly designed our pitbull logo for the Tenacious Toys store: Alex Rivera (Playful Gorilla).

Alex was all for it, and Tony was all for it, so I set the wheels in motion. What Alex came back with was a brilliant, cartoony reinterpretation of Tony's Handplant Ninja character - the Tenacious Ninja. It's fun, it's blue, it's badass, it's adorable... it's the perfect graffiti-writing, ass-kicking mascot for an art toy blog:

If you're looking for tight, colorful and super-professional mascot or logo development in this style, I highly recommend reaching out to Alex on his FB business page (or friend him on Facebook and message him there). He is available for commissioned work.

Look for much more Tenacious Ninja action on this blog in the future - we will be creating awesome Tenacious Ninja t-shirts, stickers, and using the artwork in promotional materials, and I believe Tony is planning on creating actual custom figures of this exact character. Obviously, we will be posting about all of that as it develops.

Thanks for reading the new Tenacious.Ninja blog! Hopefully now it'll be easy for you to remember our domain name....

Dia de Los Muertos Freerunner custom Dunny by Tony Gil

Custom 8" Dia De Los Muertos Freerunner Dunnys 

Running through the urban streets the Dia de Los Muertos Freerunner can be seen representing the respect of those who have left us. He’s fast and rare to see but if you’re quick, you may catch one for keeps.

These custom 8" Dunnys are limited to just two, so head over to GILTSTUDIOS to add this unique piece to your collection today.

-The Highest Fever
@thehighestfever

Catapulting Pink Diamond Kid by Tony Gil

Another great concept from Tony Gil...


He hangs vertical from his rope, doing whatever it takes to get the job done from the tallest buildings.
If you have somewhere to hang him, get him. You are responsible for knowing how to tie and hang him well. Limited to 5. These are hand crafted and painted. Some minor differences are expected.

Follow Tony Gil here:
Site
Facebook
Store

       - Don P 

Catapulting Kid Ninja time lapse video by Tony Gil

Tony writes: "Everything starts with a sketch. Here's a time laps video that your readers might think is cool. It's a sketch of my next custom to come. "Catapulting Kid Ninja"  5 will be available."

Red Diamond Ninja with flag by Tony Gil

The latest from Tony Gil. It is up for sale in his store.

 Red Diamond Ninja with flag, 7 inch Munny

Follow Tony Gil here:
Site
Facebook
Store

       - Don P 

Free Runner Diamond Kid by Tony Gil

Tony shares with us this awesome Kidrobot Mascot he's customized to stand on one hand. Really diggin this piece. Tony says:
I'm excited to share with you my first ever 8" custom KR mascot. I've named him Free Runner Diamond Kid. I had to chop him apart to capture him in action. As always, I try to keep the original characteristics of the figure and sculpt it in an action pose. Bringing life to the figure, if you will.

This particular piece was made in a run of 5 pieces and they're now sold out, but you can still grab a few other customs from Tony by visiting his shop. Also check out the time-lapse video Tony made when he designed this piece:


Time Laps Sketch of Free Runner Diamond Kid from Tony Gil on Vimeo.

Focus Blue Diamond Ninja, Focus by Tony Gil

You gotta watch Tony Gil. His customs are sick. There's definitely something to be said for a customizer who comes up with simple, bold concepts that are executed well. This piece works for me even though there's a limited color palette... expert resculpting of this 4-inch Munny figure's arms and legs and a simple paint job make this one pretty damn cool in my book. Tony Gil made "Focus Blue Diamond Ninja, Focus" in multiples (5 pieces) and I think at least one is left here in his shop. 

This piece was one of Tony's entries into the Munnyworld contest, and of course, it was inspired by The Karate Kid.

SOLD OUT Tony Gil Free Runner Diamond Kid Mascot...

Tony Gil has just finished his first custom 8" Mascot and it is already sold out! Titled "Free Runner Diamond Kid" this custom was made by chopping apart the mascot build and then putting it back together in the design he wanted. This design is really clever on a Mascot and definitely has a Paw like inspired feel to it. Tony Gil also made a time lapse process video showing how he came up with the concept for this figure and it is definitely worth a watch HERE. Although he is currently sold out if you go HERE, you can check out what other amazing customs are available or just send him an email asking if he might make you a similar themed one.

Aztec Warrior Quauhtli 8inch custom Dunny by Tony Gil

Tony Gil just dropped on us these images of his beautiful 8-inch Aztec Warrios Quauhtli custom Dunnys. Limited to 5 pieces, you can find these beautiful customs in Tony's shop here. GREAT color and detail in this one!

Free runner style Aztec Warrior Quauhtli, the eagle of the Aztec Warriors, is ready for war. Battle and his incredible craftsmanship of weapons are his specialties. He will dismember you with his maquahuitl (macahuitl)-the Aztec sword- if you dare step in front of him.
 

If you want to follow Tony and read more about this custom, check out his blog here.