Hot Pink Resin Mao Bust from Frank Kozik

    There are an abundance of sparrows flying past the house today driving Icarus crazy.  He's sitting in the window making his little chirpy noises that could either mean "Come here birdy friends and lets snuggle" or "You would taste delicious with a nice balsamic reduction and side of micro greens."  I'm still waiting for my Rosetta Stone disc on cat language to come in the mail.  

    Or he could be trying to tell them about this new hot pink resin Mao bust from Frank Kozik.  It is his second favorite terrible world leader, trailing only behind Oprah.  He really wants his little green hat with the red star as he said people would take him more seriously with a nice cap.  Fifty of these were made and they will be $50 each when they go on sale tomorrow, September 27th, at noon Pacific time at www.frankkozik.net. 

This is his excited face as he now thinks he's getting a hat.  I need to stop typing out loud.

NYCC Exclusive Black and White Harley Quinn from Harrison's Comics x Funko

    They're are gonna be Pop! Vinyls galore at New York Comic Con and this one is definitely on my want list.  Harrison's Comics and Funko will be releasing a 2000 piece run of this black and white Harley Quinn during the con, and if you're not able to make it Harrison's is also offering some online for the rest of the world.  

NYCC Exclusive Mini Tuttz from Argonaut Resins x Suburban Vinyl

    When I first heard that Suburban Vinyl was gonna be selling cracked cats I thought to myself "You shouldn't sell cats with a drug addiction, you should get them into treatment."  Besides, who wants to own a crackhead cat?  They're just gonna steal everything.  Then I returned to the real world and determined that the "cracked" they referred to was their sweet paint job and I felt silly for maybe 2 seconds.  

    Argonaut Resins made these exclusive Mini Tuttz for the good folks at Suburban Vinyl's booth at New York Comic Con.  They're located in booth #208, which is this giant collective booth that is so large it will have it's own gravitational pull.  

Octoberry Custom Octopups from Nathan Hamill

    I'm terrible at doing anything that's good for me, but I'm most terrible at eating well.  Seriously, I eat like a stubborn 10 year old.  Sometimes I'll try and trick my body and buy a carton of strawberries, but then I just dump packets of sugar on them to make them palatable.  Until they release a study naming donuts as a healthy alternative to vegetables its just going to be a matter of time before I die from snacks.

    Nathan Hamill painted up 8 of his Octopups to look like strawberries.  If you would like to own one they go on sale today (September 25th) at noon Pacific at http://nathanhamill.bigcartel.com/.  And they're only $25.  For custom painted toys?  That's a bargain my friends.  

Butterpillars from Taylored Curiosities

    Who didn't collect bugs in jars as a kid?  It was free entertainment and pretty harmless unless you were out there catching Black Widows.  I was a bit too rational as a child though, so I only kept em for a few minutes and let them go again.  Sure I poked holes in the lid so they could breathe, but no one could explain to me what they were supposed to eat in there.  Do they have some sort of insect food delivery that goes into action when their brethren is imprisoned?  We didn't have the internet then, so if your parents didn't know things you were out of luck.  And the Encyclopedia Britannica would only get you so far, so I practiced catch and release.  It would be interesting to me if someone could pinpoint the moment that compassion left me and I became a cruel old hermit.  Get off my lawn!!!!!!!

    Taylored Curiosities has taken us back to the innocence of childhood with these Butterpillars.  You can keep them in the jar as long as you want and never have to worry about their discomfort.  Poke a few holes just in case though.  They're on sale right now at http://tayloredcuriosities.bigcartel.com/.

Outsmart Originals at NYCC

    Did you ever notice that it's cool to put designs on shirts but not on pants?  Like, if you have pants with a design on it you are pretty much a deviant who listens to Insane Clown Posse and has a low credit score.  Think about it, when was the last time you saw anyone who didn't look like a drunken mugshot wearing pants with a design up the leg?  We have made it unacceptable in our society to express your artistic desires on your dungarees and I'm ok with that.  If Project Runway has taught me anything it's that you gotta edit.  Less is more.  Your jeans are the pallet cleanser between your t-shirt and your sneakers, a brief reprieve of visual assault from those that are checking out your hot bod.

    Outsmart Originals doesn't make artists series pants thankfully, or they would be in trouble.  They stick to tees and have a load of them coming to New York Comic Con.  MCA has collaborated with some of his artist bros to transform his Evil Ape character.  Lamour Supreme, Sergio Mancini, Scott Tolleson, Oliver Hibert, and Evoker are all putting their spin on the iconic little dude.  And Outsmart will also have a shirt from Frank Kozik that features a Day of The Dead kitty!!!!!!I haven't even seen it yet but I'll probably buy it anyway, cause that's how I roll son.  

    Can't make it to New York next month?  You can preorder them all right now at http://outsmartoriginals.storenvy.com/.

People Find This Site in the Oddest of Ways

    

Yes, this is indeed The Toy Viking headquarters.

    Looking at the data for how people stumble upon this website is kind of interesting.  Three people found me by doing a Google search for "plastic balloon animals."  One even made his way here with his inquiry about "cool mickey mouse graphic designs."  My favorite though, has to be the handful that did a search for "google" and somehow made their way to my little corner of the internet.  A dozen or so have found me through a few different Russian sites that probably now have me on some sort of government watch list.  Speaking of Russia, Sharon and I just watched a documentary called Miss Gulag on Netflix, that is about a beauty pageant held in a women's prison in Siberia.  Women is prison there are a lot different from the ones in the United States.  For example:  Those Siberian girls looked like they were doing an artsy fashion shoot for Vogue and not doing time for attempted murder.  While in the United States, I am scared of any woman that has been incarcerated due to their facial scar collection and the fact that they could probably take me.  When I used to work in the mall we would get groups of women from a local half way house and the way they would give you the eye reminded me of when two cartoon characters are starving in the desert and one of them begins looking like a turkey diner to the other.  But they don't let cannibals live in half way houses do they?  I figure if you partake in eating another person you are probably stuck in jail forever.  Maybe it was because I have a beard and it was the most manly thing they'd seen in awhile.  Call me old fashioned, but I'm leery of someone winking at me with a tear drop-tattooed eye.  

   I can't remember if I had a point to any of this at all.