Introducing Guardian Saga: Aquanoids 3-inch PVC Action Figure Line by StarLight Attic

A little while back we were contacted by Chris, whose Singapore-based company StarLight Attic has just released their first PVC toy line: the Aquanoids.

Chris sent over some samples for us to unbox and check out:

Very cool little figures. I dig the articulation- for 3" figures these have a lot of articulation. I think I count over a dozen points of articulation. The figures have a nautical / sea theme and they are brightly colored, which is a big plus for me. On a personal level, the black and gray toys sort of get lost in the shadows on the toy shelf, so I prefer bright colors.

Chris sent me a Nauticus (the guy with the Cthulhu tendrils) and a Takonoid. Packaging is tight, each comes in a blister tray with a couple accessories and an ID card. The website says that these figures are the "maiden wave of Go!Bud Figurines ~ Battle-ready Buddies that follow you on the Go!" so I guess there may be more lines in a similar layout/platform coming soon.

Also included in my care package was a sweet full color comic book that lays out the backstory:

All in all, a very well-thought-out and well put together toy line release. Looking forward to seeing what StarLight Attic comes up with next! Check their site for these figures, apparently the Nauticus colorway they sent me is almost sold out. These figures run about USD$15 each at the current exchange rate.

These would make great platforms for customizing as well!

Here's the copy provided by Chris:

Guardian Saga: Aquanoids

Introducing a new line of 3” PVC articulated figures by indie toy studio StarLight Attic.

Each figure is intricately sculpted, painted, accessorized with weapons, all ready for

battle.

Guardian Saga: Aquanoids draws its inspirations from various 80s & 90s toy-toon lines,

powered with an aquatic flavor. With an army of characters waiting to be unleashed ~

from crustacean monsters to bio-suits ~ come join us in the saga!

Who says good toys need to be big? We Deliver good experiences in little packages.

Currently available in very limited quantities at www.starlightattic.com.

Choose your Aquanoid, and go set the world alight!

Shop: www.starlightattic.com/shop

Instagram: www.instagram.com/star_attic17

- Benny Kline

Angry Toy Reviews #3: Kidrobot Yummy World Vinyl Toys, Hat and Backpack

Angry Artist Reviews a Few Kidrobot Yummy World Items

I'm not going to lie to any of you. I knew beforehand that Matt the Angry Artist would HATE anything Yummy World I sent to him to review. All the Yummy World products are adorable and well-thought-out and EXTREMELY popular, but the Angry Artist don't give a crap about any of that. He likes spikes and boobies and squid monsters and shit like that. Which is cool... but I needed a laugh and Matt delivered.

Doesn't he look absolutely ridiculous in that strawberry hat? I mean, he didn't even know what fruit it was!!! ROFL! Watch this epic video below:

Don't forget to leave a comment under this video on YouTube for a chance to win the items in this review!

If you're not feeling like a cheap bastard, all Yummy World items in this video are available for purchase here at extremely reasonable prices: http://ss1.us/a/v6xhKEnH

Our homepage is here: https://www.tenacioustoys.com

Our IG and Twitter are: @tenacioustoys so give us a follow.




Definitely follow Angry Artist here:
Angry Artist IG: Instagram.com/Angry_Artist
Angry Artist FB: Facebook.com/matta.angryartist
Angry Artist Email: matta.angryartist@gmail.com
Angry Artist Shop: Storenvy.com/Angry_Artist

Go Figure News Review and Unboxing: Luke Chueh Prisoner & Ron English Smack, Crack & Pot

Our friend TJ at Go Figure News has uploaded a drug-fueled unboxing and review video of two of our recent additions to our prescription medication inventory:

• the 1.5" resin Prisoner figure (Vicodin Edition) designed by Luke Chueh and produced by Munky King
• the Smack, Crack and Pot 8" vinyl figure by Ron English and his Popaganda label

We always love TJ's extensive reviews on GOFN - if you are ever wondering about the details of a piece that you are considering, these superb reviews will help you make your decision. TJ not only shows you the pieces from every possible angle, plus packaging, but he also discusses the context and meaning behind each piece. Check the full blog post on GOFN here.

Tenacious Toys & Matt A* Announce Angry Artist Reviews Episode #1: Funko Hikari Gold Skeletor Unboxing Video

Tenacious Toys is nonplussed at our own announcement of our new unboxing and review video serious by none other than the angriest artist in the toy scene: Matt "Angry Artist" Anderson!

Our buddy Matt destroys packaging, talks shit and points out the flaws in various toys that we stock!

He was doing this shit on his own crappy social media channels, and it was hilarious, but no one ever saw it because, frankly, most of you stopped paying attention to Matt about 3 years ago.

But, he's always been a friend, and he has thus far refused to take off that filthy monkey onesie, so we thought we'd stick the maniac on camera and blast his mean mug out to the world.

When I suggested this idea to him, I knew from the get-go that I'd be sending Matt stuff that he doesn't like. He doesn't like much, honestly, so like 95% of what we sell would be something Matt would rather shit on. Funko is definitely a company that Matt does not enjoy. So we sent him for his first review one of the 750 "24K Gold" color variants of the Masters of the Universe Skeletor Hikari figures made by.... Funko!

Video #1 is below:

 Matt will be reviewing toys on our YouTube Channel weekly, so stay tuned for next week when he reviews a Jason Freeny x Mighty Jaxx item! We promise to occasionally send Matt something he likes, although we are not sure what that might be.

Tell your mom.

- Benny Kline

Unboxing Video: GoFigureNews Reviews 3A Action Portable Wave 2 Ka-Mumb Action Figure

Our friends at Go Figure News reviewed one of the 3A Action Portable Wave 2 figures that we sent to them: the Ka-Mumb! Check out the review on their site here or watch the video below:

GOFN Reviews the Luke Chueh Headspace Set A by Munky King

Our friend TJ at Go Figure News reviews the latest Luke Chueh Headspace set (Set A). Great, in-depth review. Must watch, video embedded below:

Or click here to watch the review on YouTube.

Jason Freeny Brick Baby by MightyJaxx Review and Unboxing Video by Nick Curtis

Big ups to my man Nick Curtis for the sweet video review of the Jason Freeny Brick Baby sculpture which we debuted for MightyJaxx at NYCC 2016! Check full video below.

We managed to score a second batch which are available as preorders on our website here. This second and final batch will ship to customers in late December. Don't miss out, people were absolutely scrambling for this piece at the show. A handful of preorders left.

Kidrobot Yummy World Mini Figure Unboxing Review Video by Go Figure News

Our good friends at Go Figure News have posted up another unboxing and review video which we've sponsored, and this one features the BRAND NEW 3" vinyl Yummy World mini figures by Kidrobot. This is a new, larger blind boxed figure series following the previously released, smaller, blind boxed Yummy World keychain series.

Watch the video here:

So fun to see people opening blind boxes! No matter how many times you've opened one, you always get that rush of excitement... here's TJ freaking out about pulling the figure he wanted:

Huge thanks to GOFN. Go check out this post on their blog here, and PLEASE BUY SOME YUMMY WORLD MINI FIGURES HERE! You won't be sorry. They make great gifts for kids and for light-hearted adults.

Video Unboxing of Kidrobot x Travis Cain BFFs Series 3 - Love Hurts by Go Figure News

TJ of Go Figure News does THE BEST unboxing videos! Here he unboxes the BRAND NEW and awesome blind-box mini figure series by Travis Cain: BFFs Series 3 - Love Hurts. This is a new series by Kidrobot which we sent over to GOFN for the video. You can purchase blind boxes here for $9.99, or if you prefer to get ALL the figures in one shot, you can grab a full sealed case here for $150.

Video Review and Unboxing of Kidrobot Andy Warhol Dunny Series by Go Figure News

AWESOME review of the Andy Warhol 3" Kidrobot Dunny Series by our friends at GOFN! Check the original post here and the video on YouTube here or just watch it below. Buy Warhol Dunnys from us here.

UNBOXING: Review of RIVALS COG DIY figure by Go Figure News

Go Figure News reviews the RIVALS COG DIY figure. Grab your own COG here! Thanks GFN...

GIVEAWAY: Toy Fair Exclusive Maisto 1:64-scale Corvettes

Every year at Toy Fair, in addition to meeting with reps, placing orders and talking toy business, we wander around and collect free samples from the companies that we personally enjoy but do not do business with on a wholesale level. For me personally, that means visiting all the die-cast car manufacturers. 1:64-scale cars like Hot Wheels and Matchbox were the first items I began collecting, and I mean EARLY. Super early. The story goes that my mom potty-trained me one day by promising me a Hot Wheels car if I used the potty.

Upon successful completion of my end of the bargain, my mom placed a frantic call to my dad to instruct him to pick up a Hot Wheels car on his way home from work.

Needless to say, I've been pooping in the toilet and collecting die-cast cars ever since.

Anyway, back to Toy Fair. Every year Maisto has a cool Toy Fair exclusive vehicle to give away, and this year I grabbed a few of these Corvettes. Since we get them for free, it's only right that I give them away.

I sent one to my man Rich for an unboxing video, the other 3 I am going to give away right here on this blog.

The rules are extremely simple: to enter you must leave a comment under this blog post telling us what your favorite 1:64-scale vehicle is: brand, which vehicle, and year released if you know it. That's it! 

Contest runs from NOW until Saturday March 8, 2014. 3 winners will be picked randomly from the comments below. Contest is open to ANYONE worldwide. I'll ship the Corvette to the winners no matter where you are. Good luck!

By the way, sometimes in contests I pick winners and then I can't get in touch with them to arrange the shipment. Make sure you're either available on G+ via email, or you check back here on March 9 and look at the end of the comments. I'll announce the winners both IN this blog post as an update at the bottom below the close-up image below, AND in the comments section via my own comment.

UNBOXING: The Big Bang & The Super Amazing Spectacular Collection by Dudebox

The other day I received an unexpected package from a new company: Dudebox, located in the U.K., sent me a care package. My immediate thought? Here's a company that GETS IT, finally. As a retailer, one area where the designer toy industry frequently comes up short is product samples. I really, really need to see, hold, touch, play with the new products before I can make an informed decision about what to buy. I'm a regular guy, with no outside funding. I work really hard to accrue every $500 or $1000 I spend on toys for the shop. Some of you have seen me mention that on Facebook... occasionally I mention a freelance gig. Yeah. I have to work just like the rest of you.

So, when a new company pops up, or a new product is put out on the market, it's hard for me to make a decision about it. Will it sell? Is it worth the price? Will the customer appreciate it? Who the hell knows! Often I'm looking at a .pdf sales sheet with illustrations of the products! Or no images at all.

So when the Dudebox care package arrived, I was very excited. The first thing I did was take the picture above. Then I posted it to Facebook. Immediately, I got hit with several inquiries: "OH are you getting those Mini Dudes? I wanna customize some!" That's a good sign for me.

What was in that package? First off, there was a high-quality, glossy and bound sales booklet with images and prices for all the Dudebox products (the green thing that everything's sitting on). There were several branded postcards, stickers, a DIY Mini Dude, one blind box from each of Dudebox's 2 mini figure series, and a stack of the ID card inserts that accompanies each figure:

But let's get down to brass tacks here: the main focus of Dudebox is, of course, the toys. And they're great.

I'll do a bit of a photo essay unboxing here: the first box I opened was from The Big Bang. Bright graphics all over the box, and the possible figures on the side with their ratios is a formula best employed by Kidrobot and Toy2R, and it works.

No news here, that's what we collectors are looking for. The artist roster for The Big Bang is as follows: Attaboy, Travis Price, Mark Gmehling, Bunka, Grapheart, Andreas Krapf, 2Much, Drunk Park, Dust & Sebastien Pie.

Upon opening the box, we get a foil baggie like a Dunny would be packed in, and a fold-out insert showing all the figures, listing the artists, talking about blind-box toys in general and Dudebox in particular.

Turns out I pulled the Andres Krapf figure, which is on the Dude platform. This one is listed as ?/?? so I'm not exactly sure if I pulled a super-rare figure, or just one with a mysterious unpublished ratio.

This figure has great color, a lollipop accessory and most importantly, SUPER CLEAN PAINT LINES. A little hard to see from my iPhone pics, but the edges of the paint were all even, sharp and printed clean. A great job. This little dweeb has a "Kick Me" sign taped to his back!

The Andrea Krapf figure from Dudebox's The Big Bang mini figure series

Next I moved on to the Super Amazing Spectacular Collection figure. The box employs the same tried-and-true layout as the Big Bang box: graphic front, descriptive back, and the figures in the series presented on the 2 sides.

Dudebox pulled together a somewhat overlapping artist roster for the Super Amazing series: Attaboy, The Yok, Jonny Wan, Mark Gmehling, Chauskoskis, Andreas Krapf, Suki Bamboo, Drunk Park, Travis Price & Junichi Tsuneoka.

The same delicious and easy-to-open foil packet holds the Super Amazing figure. Busting this one open, I uncovered a figure on a different platform: a figure by Jonny Wan on one of Dudebox's other platforms that sort of looks like a fox to me. Couldn't find a name for this shape but one thing I'd like to point out about both The Big Bang and The Super Amazing Spectacular Collection is that they both contain figures in 3 different Dudebox sculpts... this is a little different than Kidrobot's Dunny (all essentially the same sculpt) and Toy2R's 2.5" Qees (same bodies, different heads).

I really enjoy this and for me (not normally a big fan of collecting blind-box figures for my own collection) this extra added level of mystery really ramps up the excitement of opening a Dudebox blind box product.

Jonny Wan's figure is SUPER detailed. Like the Krampf figure from the Big Bang series, this one had crisp paint details, but a WAY more complex paint design. Coupled with the flag accessory, this one would really stand out in any collection.

Reminds me a little bit of Lunabee's work.

The Jonny Wan figure from The Super Amazing Spectacular Collection by Dudebox

Now, I know I don't do many reviews and unboxings on this blog. Mostly that's because I don't get product samples in the mail... so I am very pleased that Dudebox took the trouble to mail these to me. I realize that puts me in the precarious position of reviewing products which I later stand to make a profit upon, and that makes my reviews a little less trustworthy than those of a non-retailer... so I'll just say this: I really enjoy the Dudebox blind box mini figures. They are interesting to look at, well-made, expertly painted and present well. In addition, Dudebox is a European company, so they are tapping into a largely European artist base. This is a welcome change for Kidrobot's mostly American artist base, Medicom's mostly Japanese artist base and Toy2R's pan-Asian artist base. We just haven't seen production vinyl mini figures from many of Dudebox's artists, and that fact alone makes these two series a pleasure to explore. 

I'm expecting a large shipment of blank DIY Mini Dudes to arrive this week- that was the first product I ordered from them. So until those, and our next Dudebox shipment, arrives, go check out their fancy, clean website for more info and to buy these 2 series of mini figures. You'll like them.

Atomic Martians review WWRp Armstrong Gerry in Episode 38

Our friends at Atomic Martians review the WWRp Armstrong Gerry in their latest episode! Starting about halfway through. Killer review! Big thanks to Jason at Atomic Martians for the plug.

Unboxing the ThreeA WWRP retailer Armstrong Monet 0G figure

The ThreeA WWRP Armstrong Monet 0G unboxing and product shots. 7.5" tall, with articulation at the neck, hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, elbows, wrists and EACH AND EVERY JOINT ON EVERY FINGER AND THUMB. And the eyeball. And the rocket exhaust nozzle at the bottom of the backpack. That's roughly 42 points of articulation on a $45 figure. Are you sold yet? Hands-down, the best value in designer toys. Buy yours here.

Above slideshow is from a Picasa web album I've marked as public. Feel free to use any and all images in that album, as long as you credit Tenacious Toys and send some customers our way when you use 'em!