Custom Toy of the Week: Josh Mayhem

    Josh Mayhem never fails to amaze me with his Dunny/Gundam mash ups.  For one,  I'm impressed that he even came up with this.  And for two, I'm really impressed by how well he combines the toys to create something mind blowing and original.  I saw some of these in person at New York Comic Con and the pictures never capture how cool they really are.  If you want one for yourself,  Mr. Mayhem is taking commissions through his website http://joshmayhem.com/.

Sergio Mancini x Outsmart Originals T-Shirts

     The best days are when you neglect to put a shirt on and you convince your cats to let you hold them like babies.  There ain't nothing wrong with a shirtless man cuddling his little feline friends.  Nothing at all.  It's as manly as growing a beard or watching professional wrestling and if you don't think so then you're obviously a woman.

    I don't always wear shirts, but when I do I prefer them to be from Outsmart Originals.  Why you ask?  Because they are designed by toy artists and I have a bit of a toy obsession and I'm guessing you do to if you're reading this right now because this is a website about toys.  This one is designed by Sergio Mancini who makes cool toys and is a cool dude.  If you want to snag one you only have until December 3rd to get in on it.  So go right now and order one from http://www.outsmartoriginals.com/.

Be Your Own Action Figure

    Remember those acrylic cubes with the laser-etched 3D images inside of them that were really tacky and a staple of every tourist trap in the world?  Yeah, I wanted one pretty bad with my face in it.  Why?  Mainly because it's completely stupid.  So one day my wife and I stumble upon a booth that you could make your own and I almost had to change my pants.  So the guy working the booth is telling us the prices and I'm trying to convey to him that I don't care let's just get this thing fired up and then he crushes me with the news that it's broken.  I didn't strangle him, which was my first instinct, but instead allowed him to tell us to try back next week after the repair man had been out to fix it.  So we did, and the entire booth was gone.  Vanished.  That was two years ago and I still check back to see if it's there. It's not.  I am a bit devastated, but thankfully the folks at Juxtapoz have come to my emotional rescue.


    Of course this is only available in Japan right now, and costs about $300 American dollars to get the smallest of three sizes, but I desperately want one.  Those little figures you see up there are the result of a 3D photo booth.  Instead of getting a long strip of pictures you get a little figure of yourself.  It's set up in a gallery somewhere for a limited time but I can see this thing making it to the boardwalks and shopping malls once the price comes down.  I eagerly await that day and the plethora of dumb poses I can soon turn into action dolls.

    I could have been riding that majestic Pegasus and all of my Christmas shopping would have been finished.

Angry Woebots x Kidrobot 8 Inch Dunny

    Does everyone already know about this?  Most likely, but hey, I'm not CNN over here.  I've got things to do and my kitties won't pet themselves.  This big ol Dunny was created by Angry Woebots (I see what you did there with the name you clever son of a gun you).  I'm on the fence about this guy and can't decide yet whether or not I'll try and get one.  I probably will because I'd rather regret spending the money than regret not getting one when I decide in March that I can't live without it and they're impossible to find.  Kidrobot only made 1250 of these suckers and they come out December 6th for $75.  They probably could have made the price a bit lower on this one because it's not sculpted at all, but I guess you have to pay extra for the dead fish and bamboo spear.  See, I'm already trying to talk myself back out of getting one.  I'm going toy schizophrenic.  

Christmas Seedling from Taylored Curiosities

     We were in a diner last night and were bombarded by Christmas music as we ate.  Now don't get me wrong, I like Christmas as much as the next guy, but Christmas music is the worst.  I think my problem with it is that the people that sing it seem like they take themselves way to seriously.  If you really listen they all sound like a bunch of snobs that probably wouldn't give you a ride to work if your car battery died and would only be interested about what you have to say if it directly involved them.  The only Christmas music I can tolerate is the Chipmunks, because those guys seemed like they would be down to bail you out of jail after a dizzying night in Chinatown.  

    But Christmas time is here and one thing I'll never be sick of are Christmas-themed toys, like these Seedlings from Taylored Curiosities.  For £12.00 you can pick either a red or green one and you get a bag of actual Christmas tree seeds, so you can grow your own and start a small business next year.  Go and get one before they sell out at http://tayloredcuriosities.bigcartel.com/.

New Stuff from Creo Design

    The thing I like about Creo Design is that there really aren't any limitations as to what they create.  There's no mathematical formula for what they release and what they don't, they just consistently produce items that are not only great toys, but great art objects.  Take these Little Ox figures they produced in collaboration with Alto.  These were made to coincide with an exhibition of Alto's work in Scotland.  I love how they look like they are made of folded paper but are a composed of resin, which is thankfully much more permanent.  These will be released in small editions of 10 and will sell for $40 each.  

    If you're a bit more on the artistic side, you could always grab one of these DIY Chebaka toys and paint it till your blue in the face.  They are 4 inches tall and retail for $15 and will probably keep you busy and out of trouble for a little while.  Unleash your inner toy designer by going to http://creodesign.storenvy.com/.

Red Star Drones by DrilOne

    How cool is this little sucker?  This is the Red Star Drone by DrilOne.  These Soviet dudes stand 4 and 1/2 inches tall and will be going on sale December 7th at Stranger Factory in Albuquerque, New Mexico as part of their Circus Annual group exhibit.  If they don't sell out the remainder will be put online for the rest of us that are not lucky enough to be in attendance.  This is my favorite thing he's ever made, so I may have to make an effort to try and snag one.  Anyone love me in New Mexico?