Back for Seconds Custom Toy Show from Zard Apuya at PIQ

    Looking at these custom figures from Zard Apuya is making me ridiculously hungry.  I've been stuck inside all day from a snow storm and have just about eaten through all of our emergency rations.  Even the stale food that I somehow keep forgetting to throw out is starting to look appetizing as my boredom level reaches unprecedented heights.  And you know what's really cruel?  Most of what I would normally watch on tv is either in reruns or have been ditched in favor of continuous weather coverage in which they send reporters to different areas to confirm that yes, it is indeed snowing.  You know how interesting that is after about 20 minutes when all you want to do is go to the store and buy junk food?

   This Saturday you should really have a little something to eat before you see Zard's "Back for Seconds" custom show at PIQ in New York.  In case you have yet to scroll further or have not yet picked up on the prevailing theme of this post, everything is food related.  Just look at some of them and tell me that they don't make you feel like you haven't eaten in three days.  Those candy bar dudes especially look like the real thing, so if you're going make sure to exhibit self control and try not to bite one.  

    The show is opening at their Grand Central Terminal location right in Manhattan, and Zard himself will be hanging out from 2-4pm.  If you can't make it, the 60 (yeah I said 60) customs will be available online that day at www.piqgifts.com.  

It's a Very Munny Christmas at the Mothership Art Gallery

    If anyone was to ever ask my advice, which surprisingly no one ever has, the number one thing I would instill in them is at a young age pick a career that you will love and will give you freedom.  That second part is important, cause you can trick yourself into loving what you do to a certain extent through tried and true brainwashing techniques, but freedom is more than a state of mind.  Freedom doesn't leave you beholden to a company that sees you as an easily replaceable part in their larger machine.  Freedom doesn't leave you feeling trapped and hopeless.  No, freedom allows you to write your own ticket and tons of other cliche things that are escaping me right now.  Freedom also allows you to not miss cool events because no one else will work for you even after you explain to them that your happiness is in direct relation to how miserable you can make them.  It's simple math folks.   

    The Mothership Art Gallery is a relatively new store in Philadelphia that I still haven't made it out to see yet, and sadly I will not be able to break that streak this Friday when they host A Very Munny Christmas show.  Literally a butt ton of artists are participating with custom Munny ornaments from Kidrobot and a blind box resin series to boot.  All the details you need are in the picture so you can go and hang out and get some affordable custom figures/tree decorations.  One day I'll make it there.  One day.  

Seen at Toy Fair: Kidrobot

    Toy Fair is a weird experience for a website such as ours.  Most of it is filled with stuff for kids and doesn't really cater to the adult collector.  In the days leading up to it we get bombarded with emails from different companies wanting to show us the latest in technology for entertaining toddlers, which if they'd ever seen what we write about they wouldn't want us anywhere near them.  But Toy Fair can still be insightful and a good time for those of us that collect designer toys and my favorite booth to visit every year is the one manned by Kidrobot.

    Unlike past years where everything was a surprise when I got there, I had some ideas about what they would be showcasing because of the various teasers that have popped up on Instagram.  Lest you think that diminished my excitement level at all, because two toys in particular had planted their images in my head and I just had to see them in person.  

    Gaze upon the glory that is the collaboration between Franks: Kozik x Frazetta.  I feel like these two vinyl titans should come with their own fog machine and Norwegian black metal band.  These were the prototypes on display and we should be expecting at least one of them to be available this Summer.  I already have a space ready.

   Now for something a bit more on the precious side.  These vinyl renditions of Horrible Adorables felt sculptures are going to be must-own figures for me.  Not only will they look great in any toy collection, but they look like they could be used as accent pieces in some fancy home decor magazine shoot.  

   I believe these will be sold in window boxes so you can pick the ones you want, which is obviously all of them.  

    Jason Freeny is a man of curiosity, which is mainly focused on the inner workings of some of the world's most beloved characters.  Soon you'll be able to own this anatomical representation of Bugs Bunny and marvel at all the bits and pieces that make him tick.  I've got a cabinet of curiosities just begging for a bit of humor, and this would look lovely next to the electro shock machine.

(By the way, all of these toys were expertly produced by Klim and his team at Bigshot Toyworks, who are on point when it comes to making cool stuff.)

    Ok, if you don't own a really nice table top display case yet, let me give you a great excuse to buy one.  This Dunny Chess set from Otto Bjornik is truly a work of art and when you're not busy owning your friends in the classic game you're going to want to make sure it has a place of distinction in your house.  You will be able to buy the pieces in packs of two or you could just skip all that and get an entire set.  Either way, the figures come with squares that form the game board and buying them will probably impress your mom with how much culture you have.  

   Of course these are not all the new things Kidrobot had on display, these just happen to be my favorites.  There's new stuff coming from The Simpsons, Street Fighter, TMNT and more Labbits and Dunnys than you can shake a stick at.  Have you actually ever seen anyone shake a stick at a group of things?  That whole saying would be way more effective if you saw people doing that.  

    See more pictures at www.facebook.com/TheToyViking 

Nathan Jurevicius Presents The Nightriders Mini Series from Kidrobot

    There are mysterious goings on in the dead of night, and I'm not just talking about that family of raccoons who have been treating your trash cans like a casino buffet.  I'm talking about more mystical happenings involving otherworldly creatures who are not in fact interested in pillaging your mom’s green bean casserole.  These are the Nightriders, a group of bird spirits that can travel between worlds as they carry with them information of things unseen.  See, even when you think no one is all up in your business your secrets are still not safe.  If they weren't so dang cute I would be at the store right now buying aluminum foil to cover all my windows and make hats out of to confuse their secret-gathering methods.

    Will they reveal all of their otherworldly knowledge to you?  There’s only one way to find out when these critters from Nathan Jurevicius are released.  Featuring a mixture of Dunny and Munnyworld figures, this blind boxed mini series is beautiful in its simplicity.  And each figure comes with a bonus, stackable owl companion!  Now you can finally realize your dream of having a stackable owl companion named Felix who solves riddles and collects magic-infused gemstones..  That's kind of a weird dream to have when you think about it.

    These will be available starting Friday, January 29th on www.kidrobot.com and wherever you prefer to buy your designer toys.

Christmas Releases from Kidrobot

    Halloween is now two days behind us, which can only mean that it's time to be bombarded with Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!  I don't know how people ever forget to shop until the day before because everywhere you turn someone is reminding you that it's coming up.   Christmas is your vegan friend who keeps leaving their brochures from Peta all over your house.  

    Though it can start to inflict blunt force trauma on your very being, Christmas is also a fun time that you get to spend with your family, eat beyond what is socially acceptable, and a day to show off just how great your engineering skills are by assembling the most complicated toys know to man.  Oh, and there's presents, which I will remind you I accept all year round whether it is marking a major holiday or not.  

    Something that's on my perpetually growing wish list is this new Dunny from Frank Kozik and Kidrobot.  This dude is trying to bring to light the hostile working conditions that North Pole Elves are facing this time of year as they are pushed beyond the limits of their little bodies in an effort to make unreasonable deadlines.  You can get one for yourself and ask him how the arbitration is going starting tomorrow, November 3rd from www.kidrobot.com.  Just don't be surprised if he sets up a giant inflatable rat on your front lawn.  

    You know what's great about these DIY Munny ornaments?  They already look good, so any lack or artistic ability that may be hindering you is totally a non factor.  Just pop em out of the box and onto your tree and wait for your cats to knock them down and shove them under the fridge.  Your experience may vary.  These are also available tomorrow in a handy 5 pack.  

Even More New Releases from Kidrobot

    

    Kidrobot is going to town with all of these recent releases, so much so that I've collected the one's I've neglected thus far into one post to help you maximize your toy buying abilities.  Prepare to be overwhelmed with things you need.

    Let me tell you something.  Doesn't it sound real serious when I start a paragraph off with that?  Like I'm on the verge of snapping while interrogating you for a crime you just won't confess to?  Well I've got a witness, bub, and I'm ready to make sure you go away for a looooooooooong time for buying that Insane Clown Posse cd.  Kidding, but seriously, just steal the thing next time so it doesn't end up on your credit card statement.  That will haunt you if you ever need to take out a loan.  

    What I was gonna tell you is that Amanda Visell's Ferals mini series is beyond adorable.  Not that you can't see that for yourself, but sometimes it's nice to have a bit of reinforcement when you're declaring things the cutest you've ever seen.  Utilizing the Munnyworld and Dunny platforms for her animal creations, these will make even the toughest grown man squee with delight.  They're sold blind boxed for $11.99 each but I dare you to be able to just buy one.  You can't.

    I've coveted this Dunny from doubleparlour the moment I found out it was happening.  I snagged one this past weekend and completely love it.  It's really interesting to see their work transformed onto such a familiar platform and to have been done without relying on any sculpting.  Hopefully this will not be the last version of their work realized in graphic fashion, cause now I'm hooked.  These are available now for $14.99 each.  

    Halloween is coming and everyone would really appreciate it if you put more effort into your costume this year.  Stop going to that dumb store in the mall, buying what you think is "sexy" or even worse "funny sexy" and parading around like you're changing the game.  Instead of scarring your trick or treaters for life, why not get yourself one of these masks.  You can pick from the DIY ones you see above, designs from the new Dunny series from Brandt Peters, or Frank Kozik's uber popular Labbits.  Your friends will thank you.  Available now for $19.99 each.   

Kidrobot Clarifies It's Position on Customizing vs. Bootlegging

    By now most of you have probably read Kidrobot's newest blog post where they have defined how they feel about people customizing a toy they bought versus manufacturing their own versions of their property.  Basically if you bought a toy and decided you had a bang up idea for your own creation, you can paint, sculpt, cut holes in, let your cat chew on, set on fire, or anything else weird you can think of to make it unique and call it your own.  Now on the other hand, if you decide that the Dunny would make the perfect shape for you to cast up 100 of in resin, or wax, or monkey spit and sell as your own art, then there's gonna be a problem.  Cause that's called copyright infringement.  The same reason all those rappers get sued when they don't get permission to just rewrite a few words of a song and release it as their own.  And Kidrobot is being pretty nice about it too, just asking you to contact them first so they can decide whether to give you the required permission or not.  Most companies would just send you the standard cease and desist letter which may or may not be delivered by a heavy-set Italian guy carrying a crow bar (I'm from New Jersey, our courier systems are a little different).  Are people gonna be butt hurt about this?  Of course, cause there's the internet, which beyond cat pictures and e-commerce is really only good for complaining.  But look at it this way: it's not only protecting the existing work of artists but it's forcing other people to be more creative, which is far from a bad thing.  Push your own boundaries while respecting those that are defined by the law.  

You can read their entire post by clicking here.  

Kidrobot x Marvel DIY Munny Series

    The do-it-yourself aspect of toys have really blown up in the past few years and it seems like everyone is adding their special touch to figures of one sort or another.  But if you're like me, your skills as an artist may not be something you're ready to share with the world just yet.  Never fear fellow toy maker wannabes, there is a solution.

    Kidrobot and Marvel are expanding on their already much talked about product launches with these DIY Munnys.  You can choose from Spiderman, Venom, Wolverine, or Iron Man and each one comes with foam stickers that you can use to bring the characters to life.  Use them as a jumping off point to further enhance your painting skills, or just leave them as they are and decorate your house with your favorite super heroes.  They will be making various sizes of the figures, but these 7 inch ones release this Thursday, July 25th, for $19.99 each.