Blood Thirst Night Stalker Edition from Brent Nolasco x Toy Art Gallery

    I recently learned that my wife will not as a matter of fact be excited by all of the discoveries I make in life.  I don't know if it's because we're getting older or what exactly, but we've recently become more outdoorsy.  We found this creek about an hour from where we live where people routinely go to dig up fossils.  Sounds like fun, and when I was in kindergarten I wanted to be an archaeologist and dig up mummies in Egypt, so it was the chance to realize an early childhood dream.  We've been a few times and found some shark teeth, a bunch of clams, and a few squid with no incidents.  Then we went last week and I was walking around in the water, seeing what the recent rain had unearthed and I saw what looked like our biggest squid fossil to date.  Turned out it was just a stick, but on the underside of that stick was a big friggin leech.  Now I've seen leeches plenty of times, but they've alway been preserved in jars.  This was the first time I'd ever seen one in the wild.  I turned to my wife, who was a few feet behind me on the shore, and asked her "have you ever seen a leech before?"  What followed next was a blur of curse words and threats on my well being, but I do remember her saying "I hate ticks and I hate slugs, so what makes you think I want to see a slug tick?"  Fair enough, I just had no one else to share my Crocodile Hunter moment with.  I named him Tito Santana, put him back in the water, and went about my business.  After a visit to the Cheesecake Factory most, if not all, was forgiven.

    I'll never forget those good times Tito Santana and I had, and now I don't have to because Brent Nolasco has made this figure that will forever remind me of our brief yet emotional time together.  Produced by Toy Art Gallery, the Blood Thirst Night Stalker edition is quite possibly the most frightening thing you've seen all day.  His name pretty much sums up what he's into, not that you couldn't tell by the menagerie of sharp pointy teeth he has everywhere.  He will be unleashed on an unsuspecting world tomorrow (Friday the 15th) at noon Pacific time at http://shop.toyartgallery.com/ and in their physical store.  My wife said I'm not allowed to have one because I don't know how to act.   

    

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Figures from The Loyal Subjects

    I haven't seen the new Ninja Turtles movie, and to be honest, I most likely won't until it comes to DVD. We don't make it to the theater very often, partly because it's expensive, partly because they feel the need to let other people in there with us.  No matter how early in the morning we go, there's always some idiot trying to impress his date with his knowledge of what we're watching or just someone that has decided that with the price of admission you get a free pass to act like a moron.  Until they amend the law and allow me to punch people in the face, I'll be sticking with Netflix.

    I did love the Turtles when I was a kid and I like the fact that it's become something new for this generation.  Lots of toys have been released recently to celebrate the new film and their 30th anniversary, but these from The Loyal Subjects are by far my favorite.  I love the look that designer Joe Allard came up with, making them look completely different from anything other tribute line and giving them each a heavy dose of personality.  You can preorder these blind box figures right now from https://www.theloyalsubjects.com and they are expected to ship out the middle of next month.  

R.I.P. Robin Williams

    The saddest thing is that he made so many people happy while being unable to do the same for himself.  

WWE Series 2 Pop! Vinyls from Funko

    You know what I miss in modern professional wrestling?  Those sick interviews where they would yell about how badly they were going to beat up the other guy.  They get so worked up until their faces turned red and they were short of breath and it looked like someone trying to do a dramatic interpretation of a stroke.  Let me present to you the all time king, Mr. Dusty Rhodes:

    Are you not inspired to go out there and conquer your enemies?  This is how I wish we could all handle our problems in real life.  You got a problem with some idiot at work?  You get a man in a suit with a microphone and camera, and you tell him about the beating you're about to lay on your foes.  In a perfect world this would lead to a sick match in a ring that all businesses would be required to have to settle hr disputes, but since we live in a world of mommas boys and lawyers, we have to work out our problems like "civilized" folk, whatever that means.  There's no issue between two adults that can't be solved with a choke slam through a table and that's fact bubba! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    Look at these new WWE Pop! Vinyl from those good people at Funko. I'm gonna march my way down to the store, pick up one of each from the shelves, march em right to the checkout counter, Ric Flair chop the cashier, apologize thoroughly for getting carried away, pay for em with good old American cash money, then put them in a place of prominence in my house while I watch the WWE Network for a week straight.  But I gotta wait until this fall when they're released.  Poop.  

    

Wananeko Resin Figure from Javier Jimenez

    So I decided to get my car checked out yesterday afternoon after it had been making that weird noise I told you about yesterday.  You wanna know what that noise was?  It was the sound of $1300 leaving my credit card, never to be seen again.  They're still working on it today which equals a surprise vacation day from work for me.  Essentially I am getting paid right now to sit at home and pet my cats.  I am finally living the American dream and it is glorious!!!!

    As you may know by now, I dig me some kitties, and this Wananeko figure from Javier Jimenez is practically begging to live on my shelf.  He stands nearly 5 inches tall, is made of resin, and can be yours for only $60.  And check out this print hanging out at the bottom of the post.  This things breaks down what old Wananeko is made of, and according to the text it states that this dude feeds off of the panic of human beings.  I totally have a real life cat that does that as well.  He's cute as can be but I can feel him shaving time off of my life span with his shenanigans.  The print is only $6, so you have no excuse not to have one hanging in your home.  Both of them go on sale this Sunday, August 10th, at 11am EST only from http://www.lakaijufam.bigcartel.com/.

"Death Rides Again" featuring Mike Egan, Doubleparlour, and Lurk at Toy Art Gallery

    You may not know this, but I've been known to paint the occasional toy.  Granted, I haven't done anything in a while, but I'm trying to get more disciplined.  I could run down a prepared list of excuses that I just happen to have handy, but I'll spare you.  But seeing shows like this makes me want to get back on the creativity horse and ride that sucker into the sunset of success.  Didn't that sound like one of those motivational posters?  

   Toy Art Gallery is usually the place to be any day of the week, but it definitely is tomorrow for the opening of their Death Rides Again show.  This not only features the awesome work of Mike Egan, Doubleparlour and Lurk, but it will also feature the debut of vinyl toys from the latter two.  The opening runs from 7-10pm and Doubleparlour and Lurk will be to shake hands and kiss babies.    

http://www.toyartgallery.com/

Alavaka Blue Blind Bags from Devil's Head Productions

    I know I had sworn off the whole bling box thing but sometimes I miss that thrill of being surprised by what you just bought.  It's a good feeling and only really goes away when you buy two or three of something from a series and you end up with the exact same toy each time.  At that point I usually want to give up collecting, sell everything I own, and invest in mutual funds.  There are not many things in life that make me feel excited/infuriated within the span of a couple of minutes.  But this is different, cause this isn't like those sets of figures and you only want particular ones that you'll never get because the universe hates you.  When you buy one of these Blue Blind Bags from Devil's Head Productions you know you're at least going to get a sweet Alavaka figure.  Beyond that you have no expectations cause they're aren't pictures everywhere of what you could get that allow you to fall in love with some designs and loathe others.  It could only be more of a surprise if you had never seen what the basic figure looks like.  If you're feeling lucky these will go on sale Saturday, August 9th, for $50 each.   Pick one up from http://devilsheadquarters.storenvy.com/.