The 2nd Avenue Trading Card Convention

    You know what was the best?  When they used to have baseball card shows in the mall.  You'd be minding your business, just looking to get some new pants and BAM there's like 200 tables full of stuff that you just have to look at.  And there would always be the one table that didn't sell baseball cards, but instead sold posters and band patches and stuff like that.  And you thought that dude was living the American dream, traveling all over the place like some newfangled mall gypsy.  Then it turns out he was actually wanted for double homicide in Toledo and was just selling stuff he stole from Spencer's to try and buy himself good legal representation.

    Like many things from my childhood, card shows have pretty much all but gone away.  Which is why this event tomorrow is so cool.  If you're in the New York area you should hit up Toy Tokyo Underground for the 2nd Avenue Trading Card Convention.  It's being put on by Sidekick Labs who make those cool Art Hustle card series.  It just so happens that series 3 has been released and you can pick that up along with all kinds of other card sets that will blow your mind.  You can also meet The Sucklord, Lamour Supreme, and Buff Monster and get them to draw you pictures, or something.  Sounds lek a good time to me!

Purple Cadaver Kid and Blood Sacrifice Usir from Splurrt

    Why must all good things come out at around the same time?   It never fails that anytime there's a toy I want about 10 others will follow right behind it just begging me to love them.  I just bought something last week, and there's a few things on the horizon that I'm planning to snag, but then this comes up and I have to figure out how to make it all work.  Cause I need this.  

    I've been in love with this Usir figure from Splurrt since I first saw the sculpt he was working on.  And this one looks like he's ready to start a killer band from Norway and sing about the old gods and frighten your parents and probably send you down a spiral of crime and self destruction through subliminal messages from the devil.  You know, everything that makes a band worth listening to.  He's coming out this Saturday, February 16th at http://splurrt.bigcartel.com/.  Price and time TBD.

    You could also get a purple Cadaver Kid this Saturday if that's more your speed.  Paint him up or leave him the way he is, either way he makes a great companion for your desk at work.  No one will ever steal your pens again cause they'll figure you're a loon.

Toy Fair 2013: Skylanders

    I'm breaking out of my comfort zone a bit with this one, but I was so impressed with the massive fiberglass figures they had on display I felt the need to share them with you.  

    Skylanders is a game created by evil geniuses.  For those of you not familiar it involves collecting a hoard of actual toys and then putting them on this electronic portal thingy and actually being able to play with the characters in the game.  It's a freakin gold mine cause it not only appeals to gamers, but to toy collectors.  I've been impressed with the concept since it came out and now they have created a new way to get all of your money.  This Fall they're releasing a new set of figures that you can mix and match to combine their different powers.  Of course there will be a new game to go along with it and a new portal that you have to own to utilize the new swappable figures (it's backwards compatible with the old figures though) and all just in time for Christmas.  Whoever thought of this should have a monument somewhere, probably of them swimming in a pool filled with gold coins.  You know, to capture how they actually live.

And they had the biggest booth out of anyone at Toy Fair that was on one of the main floors.  These giant figures are taller than I am and are bigger versions of new guys from the upcoming game.  

Post Apocalypse Dunny Series from Huck Gee x Kidrobot

    I was lucky enough to see this entire set of figures at Toy Fair earlier in the week and they are even more amazing in person.  I'm glad that Huck Gee and Kidrobot produce these things, because owning one of the customs that he makes by hand would mean that I would have to peddle my organs on the black market.  Seems messy and painful.  But now I can have smaller versions for a fraction of the price and be just as happy.  

    This of course is the follow-up to the Apocalypse series from late last year and shows how the world has turned into a Mad Max type wasteland.  This is what its gonna look like if those crazy people from that Doomsday Preppers show are right.  You can get em on February 28th at all your usual places.  

    Huck Gee will also be doing a signing tour that will consist of every Kidrobot-branded retail store.  Here are the dates:

Glow in the Dark Deadbeet Toy Art Gallery Exclusive from Scott Tolleson

     Oooooh I see what the did there.  Deadbeet, like a vegetable corpse.  Very clever, cause I was wondering at first why they were making toys of father's who don't pay child support.  Now it makes a bit more sense.

    Scott Tolleson is the man behind this undead root and this glow in the dark version is an exclusive to Toy Art Gallery and on sale today!!!!  You can pick one by going to http://www.toyartgallery.com/ at noon Pacific time for $65.  And he is almost 8 inches tall, so you're getting a lot of plastic for your money, which is a good thing in our troubled world economy.

Toy Fair 2013: Mimobot

    Mimobot is everywhere these days.  Pretty much anything you're into has a corresponding flash drive for you to store all of your secrets.  Their big reveal at Toy Fair was the new My Little Pony line that was just released.  I'm still holding out for a Sanford and Son flash drive, but they tell me the likelihood of that happening is slim to none.  A boy can dream though.  

    And right now they're offering 20% off through their website but the sale ends on Valentine's Day.  Get on it!

Toy Fair 2013: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

     Ok, so I loved the TMNT when I was a kid and maybe pitched a fit to have them all the moment they were released.  Then I ripped the packages open and instantly lost half of the weapons.  I wonder how many of those little plastic ninja stars were eaten and then unceremoniously pooped out by pets all over the world?  Well Playmates showed off the most obvious innovation in Turtles toys ever at Toy Fair:  the shells open to store their weapons!  Why did this take 20 years to accomplish?  It's freaking genius!  

    Of course that's not the only cool TMNT items they had on display.  They had what felt like a make-shift house on the show floor full of em.  Of course I took more pictures than this, but not all of them will fit on this humble page, so check the rest out at www.facebook.com/thetoyviking.