Trve Cvlt Snowtrooper from Bombermat Toys x DKE

     DKE always has a ton of hand crafted figures as part of their booth set up for any convention and there's inevitably one that I fall in love with.  For this year's DesignerCon that distinction belongs to Bombermat Toys and his Trve Cvlt Snowtrooper.  Star Wars and black metal go together like peas and carrots and while the connection may not be obvious to some, let me open my big book of nerd knowledge and clue you as to why this is genius.  The ice planet Hoth scenes from The Empire Strikes Back were filmed in Norway, which is also the birth place of corpse paint and scary music.  See, they fit together perfectly.  And if the figure alone wasn't cool enough, that might be some of the best backer card art I've ever seen courtesy of Juan Machado.

     Only 11 of these exist in the world, so you better make a bee line to booth #2922 if you want one.

Mr. TMNT by Dead Greedy x DKE for SDCC

     We are all lucky enough to live in a time when if you're not happy with anything about yourself you can just go ahead and change it.  Through the miracles of modern medicine and sometimes just through sheer willpower/not telling the truth, we can transcend just about anything we see as an obstacle.  

    Who knew that deep down Mr. T had always identified as being a Ninja Turtle?  There's got to be a Diane Sawyer special any day now so we can hear his side of the story.  But until then we'll have to speculate that as a child he had an almost unnatural attraction to opening manhole covers, speaking like a surfer from Venice Beach, and craving only pizza for every meal.  The other kids thought he was nuts when he carried a little rat friend around, telling them all that he was his martial arts teacher.  But now Mr. T can live out his life the way he was always meant to, and to commemorate this occasion you can own one of these figures by Dead Greedy.  They will be available at DKE's booth at San Diego Comic Con for $55 each and are limited to just 25 pieces.    

Star Warhol by Killer Bootlegs x DKE for SDCC

    Oh man, I love when I unconsciously stumble upon a theme.  Let's see, we got Star Wars presented in an unexpected way, a DKE exclusive for San Diego Comic Con, and......ok, that's about it I guess, but a theme it is indeed that runs through both of my posts today.  Now let me tell you about my drive  home from work last night.

    Just as I'm leaving to come home (which is the only time bad weather seems to happen) the sky turned black and began to rain.  Then I got a notice on my phone about a tornado watch.  No big deal I thought, I'll just take off now and hopefully out run the bad stuff.   That is not at all what happened. The wind picked up tremendously, pushing my small car all over the road, as pieces of tree branches and road signs fell into the road.  I get stopped at what turns out to be the last working set of traffic lights and as I'm sitting there a group of power lines start shooting sparks into the air.  The rest of my hour and a half drive consisted of crossing a mud-filled median to the opposite side of a highway and thus around a group of fallen trees, and trying my best to avoid numerous power lines as they danced like electric eels on the blacktop.

    The moral of the story is I could have used an R2 unit to help me navigate the treacherous conditions.  All I had was an IPod, Amon Amarth's "Twilight of the Thunder God" (which seemed appropriate) and the will to not die.  I don't know if Killer Bootleg's Star Wars/Andy Warhol mashup could have helped, but the most intelligent soup can in the galaxy probably would have had a few helpful tips. Or he would have just beeped at me and smelled like tomatoes.  DKE will be offering 50 of these for sale at their booth during San Diego Comic Con and at only $75 each, they probably won't last long.  

Django Uncloned Heirloom Edition from Robin Van Valkenburgh x Good For You Toys x DKE for SDCC

     I think that is longest title I've ever written for a post.  I seriously got winded by the end of it and blacked out a little.  I gotta work on my cardio if I'm gonna tackle a title of that magnitude again, cause I'm not trying to embarrass myself in front of you folks.  TMZ ain't getting a picture of me drooling on my keyboard and shakin like Courtney Love in church.

    I bet you never thought you'd want to collect ceramics as bad as you do right now.  It's cool, life is weird like that.  And Robin Van Valkenburgh ain't exactly reproducing those creepy clowns that filled your grandma's house.  Nope, we're talking crazy stuff, like this Django Uncloned figure in collaboration with Good For You Toys.  Only 20 of these space cowboys will be available from DKE's booth #5045 at San Diego Comic Con for $110 each.  Get yourself one and blow a stranger's mind when they're perusing your estate sale.  

Designer Con Exclusive Bounty Wrestlers from Healeymade x DKE

    Did you watch Hell in a Cell last night?  How crappy was that ending to the Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose match?  You've got two guys putting on one of the best matches of the year and then you end it with the lights going out and Bray Wyatt interfering.  I like the possibilities of Ambrose vs Wyatt, but the way that ended was just a disservice to everyone involved and the people watching it.  I'm still mad.  

    But I love my wrasslin, and I love Star Wars, so thank God someone finally got wise and put em together.  Healeymade cast up 6 sets of these Bounty Wrestlers as exclusives for DKE at Designer Con.  They come all framed up looking fancy and ready to elevate your collection's wow factor.  You can impress your momma with these.  

SDCC Exclusive NekoFukurou by Jeff Soto x Blackbook Toy x DKE

    You know why these are great?  You don't have to answer cause I'm gonna tell you.  These are more than just toys: they're uber functional design pieces that you can change with your mood.  There's a cat on one side, an owl on the other, and they come in two different colors.  You can mix, you can match, you can drive yourself absolutely crazy with the possibilities.  And they're hollow, so you can get all DIY and put a little LED light under them.  Or those awkward photos that your best friend knows to burn in case you ever turn up dead.  I'm not here to judge.  

    Jeff Soto and Blackbook Toy created these and they will be another DKE exclusive at San Diego Comic Con.  I'm not allowed to have these because it would cause me to have a melt down trying to decide how to display them.  They're just teasing my obsessiveness.  

SDCC Exclusive Resin Bones Series from Killer Bootlegs x Mike Egan x DKE

    

    I am officially ready to make my pick for greatest thing available at San Diego Comic Con this year. And being that my logic has proven to be beyond reproach, you're gonna want these so bad.  Killer Bootlegs shrunk Mike Egan's Bones figure down to action figure size and painted them, and get ready for this cause I'm about to push the whole thing over the top:  each card back was painted BY HAND by Mike!!!  This is as original as original art gets.  Who came up with this, because it is genius.  There are three different styles modeled after three different classic toy lines and only twenty of each version were produced.  These are exclusives for the fine folks at DKE, so I would make sure I hit their booth up pretty early and maybe rob some cosplay kids on your way in so you have a ton of cash.  Not that I condone criminal activity mind you, but I'm just saying you gotta make sure your funds level is sufficient so you can get all your treasures back home.  Just don't try and rob anyone cosplaying as a cop, cause that will end poorly for you.  

SDCC Exclusive C-3P-Ho from Manly Art x DKE

    While walking around Atlantic City it is not unheard of to be solicited by one of the working women that litter the corners.  Prostitutes make people think of a lot of things, most of which I would never type here to be preserved on the internet forever, but when I see them all I can think about is this Sifl and Olly video:

    How great is that?  You don't have to tell me it's the best, cause I already know.  It was naturally the first thing I thought of when I saw this new figure from Manly Art.  Ok, the first thing I thought was "that's hilarious", then I started singing the song, which caused my cats to look at me like I lost my mind.  This scandalous droid is another DKE exclusive for San Diego Comic Con and will go splendidly with Manly Art's previous Pimp2-D2 figure.  

SDCC Exclusive Astronocchio from Dave Bondi x DKE Toys

    I know what you're thinking:  What would it look like if Astro Boy and Pinocchio had a baby?  I also know the other things you're thinking and frankly, I'm kinda grossed out.  You should talk to someone about that.

    DKE is releasing so many exclusives for San Diego Comic Con that I can barely keep up.  Dave Bondi made this little resin mashup of two of the world's most famous artificial dudes.  Oh, the hijinks that will ensue when a robot and a pathological liar are joined in one body!  I'd watch that cartoon.  

SDCC Exclusive Ceramic Statues from Robin Van Valkenburgh x DKE Toys

    I love going to estate sales.  Not only can you find some amazing stuff on the cheap but it's kinda fun to snoop through people's houses without fear of the cops being called.  Yeah, so people clean up before you get there and throw out the most scandalous stuff that may or may not indict them in criminal or at least questionable activity, but it still feels like you're doing something wrong which makes it fun.  I think all the crap I own would make a pretty killer estate sale, but the jokes on you cause when I die I'm having the whole house burned down with everything in it.  Unless my wife is still alive, then that would be in poor taste.  Then she'll have to make sure it's torched when she goes.  It's the ultimate collector's dream, to ensure that no one else ever gets your cool stuff.  I'm takin my toys to the pearly gates, son!

   This is the kind of stuff I would kill to find at an estate sale.  I love the crazy ceramic work of Robin Van Valkenburg and these two new figures will be exclusives from DKE at San Diego Comic Con.  These would make great additions to my future funeral pyre.  

    

SDCC Exclusive Butt-Face in Space from Falcon Toys x DKE

    You know what's great about DKE?  Just look at the picture, cause everything important that you need to know about this toy is right there for you.  There's nothing for me to get wrong.  I can now focus my attention on being snarky, which I'm a lot better at than rehashing facts.  

    I suppose if you had a butt for a face, outer space might be the appropriate setting for you.  You'd be pretty much by yourself, except for those guys at the space station, but from what I understand it's pretty easy to avoid other folks in the cosmos with it being all endless and whatnot.  And if you were to have a butt face you probably aren't that good at making friends, since people aren't going to just let that go unnoticed.  As if you weren't aware you could make your chin fart! 

   Butt-Face in Space is the creation of Falcon Toys and will be exclusively sold at this year's San Diego Comic Con.  I want to give DKE serious props, as they are focussing their efforts on limited run, hand-made items, which is pretty cool.  Not only will you get something truly unique, but you'll be supporting artists who aren't afraid to take risks.  

SDCC Exclusive Infected Androids from Scott Wilkowski x DKE Toys

    Well, it looks like it's that time of year again where I show you cool stuff that will be available at San Diego Comic Con that you'll have to pray is available after the show.  Or if you're lucky enough to be going, it will be the stuff that you'll want to make sure you're early in line for.  I only talk about the cream of the crop son!

    I'm never not impressed by the work of Scott Wilkowski.  First off, he makes these crazy freaky looking skeleton things in the shape of popular toys, then he casts them in resin so they look like some kind of horror movie candy that while tasting delicious, will implant a fetal poltergeist in your gut.  DKE will be selling these exclusive Infected Androids in 4 different colors with 100 figures per.  Buy 1 or buy all 4, just don't put them in your mouth as I can guarantee you they don't taste as good as they look.  Plus, who wants to risk having some dark entity burst out of your chest and call you its momma? Not this guy.  

    

DKE Exclusive Bones Figure from Mike Egan at Designer Con

    This, is by far, the best Mike Egan toy release ever.  You lucky folks that are going to Designer Con this weekend will be able to score this hand painted Bones (the first time with wings!!!) figure housed in his own hand painted coffin.  DKE Toys will only have 25 of these morbid must-haves and they will be $150 each.  I am officially jealous of everyone who lives in California.  We really need something like this on the East Coast, like during the Spring when nothing else is going on and the weather is nice.  Someone make it happen and then give me credit for the idea.  Thanks.  

My Top 10 Things I Want from SDCC

    It seems the popular thing to do on blogs is to create lists.  Fearing criminal prosecution from most of the lists I would like to post, I instead decided to make a list of 10 things I would like to own from San Diego Comic Con.  These are in no particular order.

    Anytime someone around me is complaining of any physical ailment I always tell them that their symptoms are consistent with that of a tapeworm living in their gut.  Thus far, I have only been successful at getting one person to actually go to the doctor with this concern, but I keep trying.  

    Ferg x Grody Shogun made this Young Gohst with a major parasitic issue for Lulubell Toy Bodega's booth #5045.  Get one on Saturday for $45.

    Ferg also made this big ol suicidal cat for Rotofugi's booth #5248 starting tonight for $120.

    I pretty much want everything Frank Kozik makes, but I narrowed it down to two things I really really really want.  First up is the hand painted Mr. Monsanto.  This releases tomorrow at 2pm at his booth #5051 for $100.

    The second thing is this Mishka collaboration Labbit from Kidrobot.  I haven't even seen what it looks like but I know it's a must have.  These will be $99.99 at booth # 4995 on Saturday at noon. 

    It all of a sudden got real cute in here.  Balance is the key to life my friends, so I've gotta balance out the blood and guts with some sugar and spice.  Brandi Milne's Sugar Lamb, Go! fits the bill.  For $90 you can get this at 3DRetro's booth #5051.  

    Also from 3DRetro comes this little ice cream dude from Gary Baseman.  He's only $55, which I think is a deal.  

    Retro Outlaw has given the galaxy's greatest bounty hunter a new mission:  jump over Snake Canyon on your motorcycle, while on fire, while watching Breaking Bad on Netflix.  Piece of cake, dummies.  Visit booth #929, give 'em $120, and live forever in glory! 

    Classic He-Man figures with Charles Manson heads and custom paint jobs from Skinner? Yeah, I'll take one of those.  DKE will be selling 50 of these, each one unique, for $150.  Get one Friday at 11am.  

    Speaking of Skinner, look at these guys.  He designed the one on the left while Paul Kaiju designed the one on the right and sculpted them booth.  Get the set for $55 from Lulubell Toy Bodega booth #5045 on Friday.  

Last, but certainly not least, is this 8 inch Dunny from Jon-Paul Kaiser x Kidrobot.  Again, who knows what it looks like, but who cares!  It's not gonna suck.  Get one Friday at noon from booth #4945.

Well there you have it.  I'm sure I forgot some stuff.  As always, presents are always appreciated and tax deductible.***

***Probably not though

More SDCC Exclusives from Mike Egan x DKE

    I was wondering how long it would take for Mike Egan to release a follow up to his incredibly popular Bones toy.  And here is my answer.  He has once again teamed up with DKE to produce a killer figure, this time it's that bearded devil Lucky.  You can get him in either orange or black, but I say:

    I already told you about his Death Goes Pop book that will be available at the con, but did you know you can buy all of the original art from it?  And for only $75!!!!!!!  He's taken some of the most iconic characters in entertainment and given them his classic folk art twist.  This is the best deal you will find the entire time you are there.  You probably can't even get a hot dog for $75.

Even More SDCC Exclusives from DKE

    Skinner just won Comic Con.  He took classic He-Man figures, replaced their heads with that of Charles Manson, and painted em up all nice and pretty.  Every idea that everyone else has ever had is officially dumb by comparison.  And they're only $150?  You can't even get him to think about painting something for you for $150, let alone get a complete, carded figure.  He's a busy man, and time is money.  I wonder what he did with all the heads he cut off?

eeeeeek!

    Didn't I just do a whole post yesterday about The Sucklord and his DKE exclusives?  Well, they snuck another one in there while I was napping.  Jason Freeny cut this sucker up to see how he ticks and rather than bury him again he's gonna sell him to you!  Everybody needs to know how autopsies work so they can better dispatch of their enemies without getting caught, and what could possibly be a more fun way to learn?  

    Jabba the Hut and those shut ins you see on tv really aren't that different.  Jabba just had money so he could hire a bunch of fools to do all the stuff he needed, like get him Chinese food and wash his back.  Alex Pardee has effectively captured the likeness of the galaxy's greatest invalid in this Bunnywith figure.  Now bring him some chicken and put his stories on.  

SDCC Exclusives from The Sucklord x DKE

    What would any comic con be without The Sucklord peddling his pink wares like snake oil?  Well, it would be less interesting, and the only people yelling at you would probably be security cause you couldn't wait in line anymore for the bathrooms and just peed in the corner.  

    The Sucklord will have a few new releases with the fine folks at DKE at San Diego Comic Con, and two of them will feature duos who we always suspected had much more going on than the working relationship they swore to.  Bert and Ernie and Batman and Robin get the Gay Empire treatment for these two releases.  We always suspected it and finally we got a little bit of honesty from them.  

    But this, this is worth standing in line for hours to obtain despite the smell of those fellow nerds around you who put more effort into their costumes than hygiene.  Scott Wilkowski made a cool skeleton and then put it inside this resin trooper.  How does he do it?  Who care, just worry about how great it will look hanging on your wall.  

More SDCC Exclusives from DKE

    I read an interview with DKE owner Dov that was conducted by Tenacious Toys that basically said you better bring some cool stuff with you that no one else has if you're going to bother setting up at conventions.  Of course, there was more to it than that, but you can clearly see the philosophy put to work in not only the amount, but the quality of exclusives that he is bringing to San Diego Comic Con.  

    Like this gloriously massive toy from Kronk x Pobber appropriately named "Bad Ass".  That is one angry monkey and you can believe that this sucker is going to sell out the moment it's released.  Only 40 pieces were produced in this Forest colorway and they will be $95 each.  Better get in line early.

    And now for something completely different.  When you think about it, most of us aren't playing with the toys that we buy; we are using them as objects of decoration to make our dwelling more pleasing.  So with that thinking, the materials that toys or collectibles are made of are irrelevant.  Why not ceramics?  Even better, why not awesome mash up ceramic figures from Robin Van Valkenburgh?  I had never heard of this particular artist before now, but after seeing this picture and then looking through their Twitter posts, I am hooked.  Equal parts sweet and disturbing, I must now own every single one.  These could very easily be the sleeper hit of the convention.

    There's absolutely nothing sweet about these two.  In fact, they look as if they've crawled from an infected wound and are off to terrorize children at summer camp. I'm pretty sure Fuei Shokai would be thrilled if no one were ever to sleep again after looking at their creations.  If one bites you don't say you weren't warned.  

More SDCC Exclusives from DKE

    What's this?  A book?  I don't get to talk about my love for the printed page too much, but aside from collecting toys I do love to read.  And I really dig Mike Egan's paintings, so I would call this a win win.  DKE will have 100 copies of this book with a signed bookplate and hand embellished screen print.  All that for only $25!  That's a steal if you ask me.

    You wanna know what happens when you spray pesticide near Smurf Village?  Well, here are the results.  David Flores has made those little mushroom dweller 100% less lame by giving them the Deathhead makeover.  Only 50 of them were made in red and for $110, it will give your kids nightmares for years to come.  See, another great value.  

    If this is what's lurking in space then I'll be happy to stay with my feet firmly planted in New Jersey.  Killer Bootlegs is exposing what the government won't tell us with this crazy looking figure.  I can picture this guy riding around on top of the Mars Rover like a mechanical bull in between his rounds of interstellar terror.  I bet the Russians are behind this.  Only 25 were made and they'll be $100 each.  

DKE Exclusives for San Diego Comic Con

    DKE always has a butt ton of exclusives when they hit up San Diego Comic Con.  They've been releasing news everyday about them, but sometimes it's just hard for me to keep up.  So I've gathered everything together that I know so far into one handy post for you.  Now begin drooling over all the things you're gonna have to have.

    I'm starting things off big with this Kozik/Scott Wilkowski collaboration.  I'm not sure what these Labbits are infected with.  Maybe it's shingles.  You know, if you've had chicken pox the shingles virus is already inside you, lying dormant, waiting for the right time to make you miserable.  My father in law had it, and while he didn't become transparent and his skeleton didn't morph into an alien-like structure, he said it sucked pretty bad.  So maybe these don't have shingles, but whatever they're afflicted with they're cool and I want them both.  There are 75 of each color available and they will be $150 each.  You think that's expensive?  It's not, because those suckers can't be easy to make.  

    Maybe your collection is less sinister and more subtle.  That's cool, because they have something for you too.  This is a Ji Ja, and while I don't know what that means my keen detective skills tell me it is a bird-like creature ready to come home with you.  Mr. Clement hand painted 50 of these and they will see for $45.  

    Crapzombies!  What a great name.  And what a great deal.  You get 2 figures and a signed and numbered print for $25.  Van Beater knows about value like no one else.  That will leave you with enough money to buy a $20 hot dog and $15 soda so you don't starve to death.  FYI:  if you die at Comic Con everyone will think you're just doing a Walking Dead cosplay and it will take awhile before they figure things out.  Don't die at Comic Con.  

    I like tea.  Sometimes I get those bottles of Nestea from the vending machines and I get about half way through it thinking how healthy I'm being and then all of a sudden I just stop liking it.  I've never drank a full one.  They kinda taste like Pepsi at first and then I think I reach the part that's good for me and my taste buds revolt.  I've spent years developing my healthy food defense system and somewhere along the way I've forgotten how to shut it off.  But I like this guy.  Matt Jones made 100 of these guys chilling in their tea cups and you can have one for $22.  Again, that's a pretty good deal.  

Find these and more at DKE's booth #5045.