My Five Points Festival 2019 Review

   I love Five Points Fest. There, review over, please enjoy your day.  Just kidding, I'm kidding; but in all seriousness I look forward to this event every year and it does not disappoint.  This year Sharon and I didn't purchase a lot, but for me I was just as happy to be there and talk to everyone as I would have been to come home with a lot of stuff.  So without further adieu, here is my annual bullet pointed thoughts on this year's event:


- It was great seeing old friends and meeting so many new people.  For me, the day was very inspiring not only seeing everyone's creations but in laying the groundwork for my own.  Conversations were had, ideas were exchanged, and there are things in the proverbial pipeline.  Does water run through the pipeline and if so does having things in it threaten to clog the system?  Great, another thing to worry about.

- The layout of the venue was really good and I never felt like things got congested. They got a little hot and I got a little sweaty, so anyone that I hugged I apologize to.  Oh, and it's great that no one feels the need to cosplay with giant angel wings and swords like at other conventions because I've nearly lost an eye before to an impromptu photo session that happened as I was walking. I'm not trying to let someone dressed as a anime character rob me of my depth perception.

-  We didn't eat at the food trucks again this year because they were a little too exciting for my broken digestive system.  Instead, we took a walk to the Manhattan Three Decker Diner which was about the most old school Brooklyn thing I've ever experienced. You could even feel the subway as it passed underneath, which reminded me of those beds you used to see in movies that vibrated when you put a quarter in them.  I've never stayed anywhere classy enough to have tried one in person, but I imagine it's just as exciting.

 - There was such a crazy mixture of toys and vendors that I've only ever seen online before.  And I love to see what people are interested in versus prior years, and it does seem to fluctuate greatly. One particular booth that would normally be sold out and have a ton of people trying to flip their products on eBay still had items left at closing on Sunday.  Was it a matter of them making a lot more to combat the resellers, or has the hype died down enough regular folks can now collect them, without even having to be wealthy rappers?

- I love that the event has truly stayed focused on the word of designer toys.  There are plenty of other conventions that feature all that other stuff and it warms my heart to not see a single booth selling Pop Vinyl figures.  Don't get me wrong, I own a bunch of them, but I stopped going to a major convention in NYC because EVERY booth is nothing but Funko resellers.  It's boring, I can get them from Walgreens if I want them, and I just need something different.  Five Points is that difference.

      I want to thank Clutter Magazine for putting on such a great event and for having me at the show. I just uploaded a whole bunch of pictures to Facebook so if you want to see what you missed you can check out www.facebook.com/TheToyViking.

Five Points Fest Exclusives from StrangeCat Toys

Five Points Fest is this Saturday and Sunday and I have been keeping a mental tally of all the stuff I want so far.  I've just about reached full mental capacity, so I've had to forget some things in order to make room.  Strangecat Toys has got so many exclusives that will fill their booth #423 that I have compiled the ones I know about so far here for you to keep track of.  That way you don't have to go and forget stuff like where you live, how to drive a car, or the fact that you're allergic to shrimp.  I'm pretty much saving lives.

Tenacious Toys Exclusives for Five Points Fest

   Five Points Fest is happening in Brooklyn next weekend and we are starting to see those ever important exclusives pop up online.  Tenacious Toys will be holding it down at booth number 426 and were kind enough to put detailed descriptions in each picture as if they anticipated that I would be running late for work today, limiting my ability to make witty comments about each.  That's forward thinking at its best.

Five Points Fest Recap

    The second annual Five Points Festival has come and gone and it was an amazing time.  I spent lots of money, saw a lot of old friends, and made a lot of new ones.  An event like this is so important to not only bring collectors and creators together, but to offer so much inspiration under one roof.  While my wallet might not be looking forward to next year already, I certainly am.  Here's my random thoughts from this year's show:

- The venue change from Manhattan to Brooklyn made getting to there a little more difficult, but the walk offered a lot of spectacular views.  Sharon and I got to see a lot of different street art and you couldn't beat the view of Manhattan.

- There seemed to be way more designer toy vendors this year, which I was happy to see.  Artists that rarely make it to the east coast had tables full of items I've never been able to see in person. It was overwhelming in the best possible way.

- The venue itself was nice but could have used a serious upgrade in the air conditioning department. I apologize to everyone who thought I was going into diabetic shock, but me and the heat don't get along to well.  Granted it was in the 90's all day, which combined with a city setting is not unlike being cremated.

-  When heading back to Penn Station we saw a lady try to stab a guy with a pair of scissors.  I yelled "Worldstar" but couldn't get my phone out quickly enough, so you'll just have to use your imagination like the old days.

- It was great to see so many artists who are independently producing their work and that are able to have it presented on such a large platform.  Every person I spoke with had such an inspiring story to tell not only about their creations buy the journey towards making them a reality.  It makes me want to work harder with what I do and with what I want to do.  

-    On the ride home we were sitting next to a couple who was obviously on their honeymoon.  He reached into a bag and pulled out two cans of Diet Coke.  She reached into her purse and pulled out personalized koozies from their wedding.  As I watched them load up their drink holders to prepare for sweet liquid refreshment I couldn't help to think what would have happened had Kelly dropped the ball and left them back at the hotel.

Tom: "Alright babe, prepare to have your thirst quenched because I got us matching Diet Cokes.  All we need now are our personalized wedding koozies so that our hands stay dry and warm while our beverage of choice maintains its coolness."

Kelly:  Exploring the contents of her purse:  "Oh drat, honey bug.  It seems that I've left our personalized wedding koozies back at the hotel.  Now what will we do?"  

Tom:  "Oh, well I guess I should have listened to my mother when she said you weren't wife material."  He the forcefully slams the Diet Cokes into the trash, unaware that the tariffs on aluminum imports will soon make those cans a luxury he can no longer afford.  

New Jersey Transit never disappoints when it comes to great theater.  I don't even know why people bother paying so much to go to Broadway when you could ride the train all day and be way more enthralled.


That was my experience at this year's event.  If you've never been you need to make it a priority to make it out for next time.  This is the east coast version of DesignerCon and I expect it will continue to grow even bigger.  If you want to check out all my pictures I took you can see them not at www.facebook.com/TheToyViking.  

Tenacious Toys Exclusives for Five Points Fest

   Seems to me that Five Points Fest has just exploded from last year.  There's so much being released that I can hardly keep up, but I'm doing my best over here in between moments of life.  Of course Tenacious Toys is gonna be there and of course they have exclusive stuff for you, some of which is pictured here.  I'm sure there will be other surprises as well, which you'll have to check out in person or be stuck watching the fun through various social media accounts (mine would be a great place to start).  If you are attending, go and say hi to Benny at booth #234 and pick up some new toys for yourself.

Lulubell Toys Exclusives for Five Points Fest

   Lulubell Toys always has one of the best booths at any convention they do and it isn't by accident.  There's blood, sweat, and probably a few tears involved in trying to put together such a diverse lineup.  It also doesn't hurt that they produce a ton of the best stuff coming out of Japan, much of which will be on display this weekend at Five Points Fest.  Go ahead and take a look at just part of what they will decorate booth #331 with.

Astro Crash from Josh Divine x StrangeCat Toys for Five Points Fest

   Do you ever think how insane people were who pioneered flight?  Today flying in a plane is safer than driving a car, but dudes like the Wright Brothers were strapped to wood and fabric contraptions powered by garage built engines and a handful of theories.  The amount of things that could go wrong mostly involved terrible maiming or death, so the fact that anyone pushed so hard to make it happen is kinda shocking to me.  Then I remember things I used to do growing up in rural Virginia and am suddenly thankful that someone already checked this one off the list.  Teenagers plus boredom rarely leads to innovation as much as it does disfigurement.

    Astro Boy surely had his ups and downs when it came to mastering the sky life, as evidenced in this figure from Josh Divine and Strangecat Toys.  You may know Josh from his day job at Kidrobot, but he's got more ideas than can be contained by a standard nine to five.  And sometimes those ideas involve a beloved Japanese character scraping his face off as he falls to Earth.  Don't act like that's weirder than how you unwind after a long day.

    This dude is made of resin, limited to 25 pieces, and will be available exclusively at booth #423 during Five Points Fest.  Josh will even be there on Sunday from 1pm-2pm to sign yours and answer all of your questions about love, life, and whatever else you can think of.

Black Drove Invades Five Points Fest

   Black Drove is so far ahead of the curve that I think half of the artists exhibiting at Five Points Fest don't even exist yet.  I am seriously having to do some research on some of these names, but that just means the toy world is a constantly growing entity.  Booth #340 will be packed with some of the craziest bits of plastic you've ever seen and you'll even get to see toys coming to life as artist VideoVomit paints live during the convention.  You can try and pick up tips or pick up a new figure as the paint still dries.  Tickets are still available for the convention and can be purchased by visiting www.fivepointsfest.com.  Meanwhile, take a gander at some of the items they'll have available:

Plaseebo x Planet X for Five Points Fest

     It's that time of year where turtles are trying to cross the road in order to meet what smells like the loves of their lives.  If you happen to see a turtle on the road who needs a bit of assistance on his way to make babies you should always put them on the side they are trying to reach.  Those little dudes do not quit and if you put them back where they came from they will turn around, shoot you the bird, and then end up in the same predicament.  I respect how headstrong they are when it comes to love, but they really could channel some of that into those little legs and get there quicker.  And if you don't help them they might turn into horrible trash monsters and kill you in your sleep.  Just sayin.

    America, it is almost time to embrace the behemoth that is SUM.  Plaseebo and Planet X are bringing these monsters to our shores via their booth at this year's Five Points Fest in Brooklyn.   These will all be one of a kind painted by the man himself and available only at booth #328.  After the show there will be a larger release sometime in July, but this will be the first chance for many of us to own one of these pissed off turtles.  Each one features led color changing lights and loads of revenge in their eyes.  I'm excited to see one of these things in person.

Wonder Goblin for Five Points Fest

   I hope when that sink hole at the White House fully forms that something looking like this pops out of it , spouts off a few quotes from The Mask, and makes most of our problems go away.  Tell me that wouldn't be the greatest thing to ever happen; that some dormant creature of unexplained origins is all like "you know, this has really gotten out of hand" and comes to save us all.  It only quotes The Mask in the throes of battle and is really only interested in the safety of our pop culture, not so much mankind itself.  Who can really blame it.  On a side note I'd like to welcome all my new followers from the various government agencies that have red flagged this post.  

    Of course this is not the means of our reckoning, but the Queen Hagopus from the demented mind of Wonder Goblin.  I'd like to think that upon his birth, after many hour of painful labor, his mother held him in her arms and actually named him Wonder Goblin, but who can say for sure.  What I do know is that he will be bringing that monstrosity you see above with him to Five Points Fest next week along with another dude by the name of Budfoot.

    These are no mere action figures, as they stand 9 inches and 14 inches tall respectively,  meaning you're gonna need to clear some shelf space to take them home.  And if you want to take them home you're gonna need to find yourself at the Brooklyn Expo Center on June 2nd and 3rd to snag these and whatever other madness may pop up at his booth.  

    

Superplastic's Kickstarter Campaign is Now Live

     I hope that Paul Budnitz of Superplastic will be at Five Points in June, because I need to learn the guy's secret.  Not only did he strike gold in the art toy world as the founder of Kidrobot, but he has returned to the exact same spot and found a giant oil reserve.  The Superplastic Kickstarter went up today in an effort to fund their new Janky blind box series and assorted other figures and it has already blown away its goal.  There's still 30 days left to go and it's already a guarantee that these figures will be produced and will be in the hands of collectors around the world.  It certainly takes a bit of the stress out of the whole process for people that backed it.  Now after you've selected the tier that your comfortable pledging all you have to do is sit back and wait for your figures to arrive in the mail.  Or if you're forgetful like I am you will be pleasantly surprised as you return home from a hard day's work and find a random box on your porch filled with things you forgot you ordered.  To me it ups the excitement level, or at least I tell my wife that in an attempt to stop her from making fun of me.

    There's still an entire month for you to get in on these limited edition figures, featuring art from Huck Gee, Junko Mizuno, Dalek, and many more.  Just visit this link here, select a price range that feels like it matches your baller status, and be a part of the birth of an entirely new toy company.

Five Points Fest Booth Visit: Black Drove

    If you wanted something different from your typical cutesy vinyl toy, then Black Drove was the booth for you at Five Points Festival.  Their collective was a mix of different artists and their limited edition nightmare fuel that would keep even the toughest of dudes from sleeping.  And they featured a visit from Mutant Vinyl Hardcore, whose lottery grabbed the attention of nearly everyone in attendance and drew a crowd large enough to shut down the entire aisle.  

   Check out many more pictures from the event at www.facebook.com/TheToyViking and catch the remaining releases (including some that didn't make it in time for the show) at http://blackdrove.bigcartel.com today (May 26th) at 3:33 pm est.  

    

Five Points Fest Booth Visit: The Sucklord

    You can't have a convention in New York without having The Sucklord there.  The man runs the resin syndicate of Chinatown and he was there slingin his insane creations all weekend long.  He had new figures, old figures, and even a bin of discarded bits and pieces that was so popular I barely could take a picture of it.  I give him credit though, because once I elbowed my way through it was kind of fun digging through the archive of miscasts and trying to make your own mash up.

    Check out more of my photos at www.facebook.com/TheToyViking and see what The Sucklord has left over for you to buy at www.suckadelic.com.

   Oh and if you have an hour to kill, like your in the middle of surgery and that crap is just getting boring, check out The Suckhour featuring Frank Kozik.  I watched some of it last night and if you're a creative type who wants to make a living at it the first half hour will smack you across the face with some valuable knowledge and hard truths.