Our homie Simone Legno has done it again. MORE Tokidoki vinyl toys and a blind-box set are heading our way to take the presidential flashcards out of our wallets and piggy banks! I just spent $160 on the rest of my tuition (J.C.'s are cheap, but not THAT cheap!) so how the heck am I suppose to buy all this stuff?
But I digress. The latest additions to the Tokidoki cactus vinyl friends are Bruttino and his feline pal Carina.
Look how cute Carina is! Check out her multi-colored fishbone bow. Eek! Too much cuteness going on!!!
And if you're done collecting the Moofia blind-box toys (like me!), then get ready for these little guys:
Every friggin' one is adorable. You can't go wrong with these pokey little canines! No word on exactly when all these toys will be released, but its expected to be sometime in November or December.
In 2004, the online retail store Ningyoushi opened up shop with Double Punch in San Francisco. Before heading to the Shooting Gallery for the Shag show, my friends and I stopped by Double Punch to check out the goodies they had to offer, and boy did we find ourselves in oh-so-cute-things nirvana.
Double Punch has a vast array of Japanese and Western toys (vinly, plastic, plush -- you name it), stationary, art books, art prints, t-shirts, baby clothes, and accessories. Tokidoki, Blythe, Gama-Go, Pinky Street, Uglydolls . . . soooo many things to name and list! It's absolutely ridonculous -- in a good way :)
The first floor of the store is filled with art books, tons of little Kubrick figures and little mini toys lined along the upper walls, display cases showing off vinyl toys and tables with little blind-boxed tokens from here [America] and Asia. There were even little do-dads from Hong Kong Disneyland (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of it)! I let out audible Oohs and Ahs every other second because I kept seeing things I wanted!
Bearbricks, Domokuns, and Gloomies . . . oh my!
Wall of art
Venom and Spiderman figures
A batch of Mini Uglys!
On the upper level, t-shirts and accessories can be found. It also acts as a gallery space showcasing art and exhibitions by local artists.
There was tons of Gama-Go gear up here. I also saw some Gloomy Bear and 12 Grain shirts.
This Gama-Go tote was on sale for $35.oo!
Current art on display by Christopher Lee
I managed to walk away with some pretty sweet swag . . .
The World Weapon Collection by Hot Toys are a set of 1/6 scale weapons that serve as accessories for 1/6 scale 12 inch figures (like GI Joes and other military figures). However these weapons are so painstakingly detailed that they are collectibles in themselves. Even their scopes, mounts, and magazines are detachable and movable. The attention to realism make you wonder if they fire little bullets!
If you're a gun nut like myself you'll appreciate the wide selection and very modern upgrades they have put in the gun setups. They come packaged in blind boxes and include two little fruity gumballs for you to chew on as you contemplate the irony of these tiny, almost cute killing machine replicas. There are 9 different rifles in all: a P90TR (my most wanted out of the set), SIG SG552 Seals, AK-109, FA-MAS 5.56 F1, H&K G36C, H&K PSG-1, FN-FAL L1A1, a M4-SIR, and one 'secret': Maschinen Gewehr MG 42 (see below).
FN FAL, FAMAS, FAMAS, G36C, MG 42
They even come complete with little gun racks to display them in! As you can see, I found the rare MG by chance! However this luck is flipped as I picked up two FAMAS rifles!
FN FAL, FAMAS, FAMAS, G36C, MG 42
I picked these bad boys up from a Japanese shop at LA's Little Tokyo. They are also available at Hobby Link Japan in unopened display box sets or pre-opened individually at Echo Base Toys.
©2007 JS3
I think these are great contrasted with colorful characters in a vinyl toy collection: Here I juxtapose the cold realism of the rifles with a fun Doma Acid Sweeties "Happy Capsule!" Awesomeness overload!
You may remember Cameron Tiede from our past post from the Pop Cling Show. He contacted us to let us know about his upcoming Projects.
Cameron is one of the artists featured in The Star Wars Celebration next week in Los Angeles May 24-28 (remember, Carmel wrote about Star Wars' 30th Anniversary on a past post?) Cameron paid homage to those Star Wars characters we've grown to love (and hate) and painted his rendition of the cast on a life size Darth Vader Replica Helmet!
He also has work featured at San Francisco's Gallery 1988 show, "The Onset" (which starts today and runs until June 16th) and will be a part of the artists lineup at this weeks show, "Vinyl Elements" hosted by Vinyl Pulse at Barracuda in L.A. this Thursday.
AND (yes, he's quite the busy bee lately) he has a Blind Box TV Guy toy being released this month through Kaching Brands.
Thanks Cameron for the inside scoop! =D
(All featured images courtesy of Cameron Tiede)
I really don't like the concept of Blind Boxes. If I know what toy I want, why can't I have the choice? I'm a consumer who wants what I want. Why must I leave it all to fate? I don't wanna get stuck with some bunk-looking toy. I want the super-duper cool one! (hee hee, boo-hoo, right?)
Well, if you are like me and hate surprises, you can't go wrong with this Hello Kitty hang tag Blind Box. Really, when does Hello Kitty look bad? Never! My BF got me one at Mitsuwa Marketplace in San Diego. There are five possible styles: Pula Loli Hello Kitty, Lolita, Punk, Gothic, and a Variant one (according to the box, this Hello Kitty would have a heart-shaped eye patch!)
The style I got was Hello Kitty Punk. I love the detail...her stitched top hat, lil punk rawk tie, striped lil knee highs, her black armband that screams rebel, and of course the trademark bow. She's made of plastic and all her limbs 'move' when in motion. She's my purse charm for now, but I think I might convert her to a necklace. OH, the possibilities...
This past Sunday Juligie, MURSE1, and I checked out the Vinyl Toy Network Spring 2007 show at the Pasadena Convention Center. It was 3000 square feet of great artists and vendors exhibiting some of the latest and greatest toys.
Chris Lee's new figure from The Urbanites - Mellow complete with jello! There's always room for jello!
Some great figures from the imagination of Dave Pressler.
I love the detail and creative styles - I could relate a lot to these little guys!
Brian Castleforte displayed some of his wonderfully stylized NiceBunny paper toys. They're free to download and make at NiceBunny.com.
courtesy of butweloveyou.com
Also check out his monstrously cool But We Love You 'plush toys from outer space.' The ice cold Gozz is my favorite!
Shane Geil wasn't pulling any humorous subtlety punches with the VTN show premiere of his 11 inch sperm plush!
He also featured some his yummy looking rotisserie chicken plush in the same containers that you get real ones in!
Michelle Valigura's Pistol Pedro plush - probably the last 2 of 13 ever made exclusively for the show!
courtesy of vinylpulse.com
Amanda Visell, Michelle's partner in crime in the girls productions offered another exclusive to the show. Amanda created The Dragon Scout Set which was limited to 25 pieces and consists of a wood sculpture and print. Mr. Dragon, I think you're supposed to just eat the cookies, not the girls!
The good guys at Munky King were happy to pose with Michelle's works: a Switcheroo Robot Girl and the Pistol Pedro plush!
We picked up a couple of vinyl toys including three figures that were given away to the first 100 people (then to us by a very generous collector!): a Kaching Brands Mokoten Harajuku girl, Toy2R Qee collection series 1 Chopper Bear, and Gimix Vice Do's and Dont's Becky! We also snatched up a ToyFul Hello Kitty x Rody vinyl bobble, Kozik Mongers Herman, Touma KnuckleBear, Nanospore series 1 Gunther (this one was a rare variant!), and some Red Magic CiBoys!
Check out the rest of the vinyl goodness in my photo album here!
See you at the next vinyl toy show!
