Exclusive Gerald Okamura Sofubi at Kaiju Con from Max Toy Company

    I've had a lot of nicknames in my life, none which are really fit to print.  I may have deserved one or two of them but if I'm ever asked under oath I will deny their existence.  Gerald Okamura has been branded as "The Man of Many Weapons", which if someone ever called me that I would have that airbrushed on the side of my vehicle so everyone knew what was up.  It would be on business cards, a banner outside my house, and once a year I would take out an ad in the newspaper just to remind people.  Of course Gerald doesn't have to do any of that because we all recognize him instantly from all of the movies he's been in, and now he even has his own sofubi figure.

    Max Toy Company has released a few versions of these before, but the one you see above will be an exclusive to this weekend's Kaiju Con at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.   Not only will you be able to get one of these killer toys, but The Man of Many Weapons himself will be there to sign them for you.  Maybe he'll even show you some awesome moves that you should definitely not run home and try on one of your siblings.

     Get more info about the event by checking out http://www.janm.org.

TV Head Vinyl Figure Kickstarter from Phobia Toys

   I like when the names of things adequetly describe them.  Take this toy for instance and his name, TV Head.  It is literally a little dude with a television attached to his cranium.  Now the name doesn't imply how he found himself in such a situation, so we are left to guess as to whether the tv is some sort of benign growth or whether it fell from a great height and the injured party decided he liked the way it looked.  When my wife and I first got married we had one of those pre flat screen tvs with the big hump on the back and we bought an entertainment center not taking that into consideration.  I spent the whole day putting it together and quickly realized our mistake, so rather than return my masterpiece of Swedish engineering we bought another tv.  That's the best tv story I got and I apologize for the lack of plot or character development.

     Phobia Toys has a Kickstarter campaign that is winding down for this dude and you can still help him become a reality.  They're very close to hitting their goal and there are rewards left that include blank figures and customs from some of your favorite artists.  You can check it out and participate in its creation by visiting https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thecherv/tv-head.

    

Skellene Mourning Doll from Miscreation Toys x Lulubell Toys

    If I can do little more than mildly entertain you and provide you with enough nightmare fuel to get you to Halloween, then I feel my purpose is served.  Those of you with an aversion to dolls will probably be mad at me after this, which is fine because I love this figure.  I'm a sucker for anything Victorian and fetal skulls are just the most precious little things that look like they will sass you in a heart beat.  The latest creation from Miscreation Toys oozes narrative, and while I am not fan of merely cutting and pasting, I feel the story he created to go along with this figure is imperative to the item itself:

    During the Victorian era, people often used a physical representation to mark the death of a loved one. These doll-like effigies were created to help the families cope with the deceased, and were typically left at the grave site in remembrance. 

    From time to time, a little impoverished girl would be seen wandering alone in one of these cemeteries playing with the mourning dolls left at children's graves.  No one knew who she was or from whence she came. One day her visits stopped and eventually her lifeless body was found in the woods nearby. Nobody ever claimed her, and she was buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery.
Years after her death, tales emerged about a little skeleton girl returning to play with the grave dolls in the middle of the night. Chatter and paranoia about the macabre sightings eventually lead to the girl’s grave being exhumed. However the figure in the small rotted casket was not the girl and instead was one of the mourning dolls she often played with. The girl was named “Skellene” in folklore ever since.

    Are you sufficiently creeped out?  It's good, right?  Now for a few more details about our turn of the century misses.  She stands a foot tall, is cast in Japanese soft vinyl, otherwise known as sofubi, and comes in three options that you can preorder right now.  There's the factory painted version, which is limited to 30 pieces, or you can choose a blank one in either green or black.  They are priced at $225 and $185 respectively and can be a wonderful addition to your cabinet of curiosities by checking out www.lulubelltoys.com.

My Five Points Festival 2019 Review

   I love Five Points Fest. There, review over, please enjoy your day.  Just kidding, I'm kidding; but in all seriousness I look forward to this event every year and it does not disappoint.  This year Sharon and I didn't purchase a lot, but for me I was just as happy to be there and talk to everyone as I would have been to come home with a lot of stuff.  So without further adieu, here is my annual bullet pointed thoughts on this year's event:


- It was great seeing old friends and meeting so many new people.  For me, the day was very inspiring not only seeing everyone's creations but in laying the groundwork for my own.  Conversations were had, ideas were exchanged, and there are things in the proverbial pipeline.  Does water run through the pipeline and if so does having things in it threaten to clog the system?  Great, another thing to worry about.

- The layout of the venue was really good and I never felt like things got congested. They got a little hot and I got a little sweaty, so anyone that I hugged I apologize to.  Oh, and it's great that no one feels the need to cosplay with giant angel wings and swords like at other conventions because I've nearly lost an eye before to an impromptu photo session that happened as I was walking. I'm not trying to let someone dressed as a anime character rob me of my depth perception.

-  We didn't eat at the food trucks again this year because they were a little too exciting for my broken digestive system.  Instead, we took a walk to the Manhattan Three Decker Diner which was about the most old school Brooklyn thing I've ever experienced. You could even feel the subway as it passed underneath, which reminded me of those beds you used to see in movies that vibrated when you put a quarter in them.  I've never stayed anywhere classy enough to have tried one in person, but I imagine it's just as exciting.

 - There was such a crazy mixture of toys and vendors that I've only ever seen online before.  And I love to see what people are interested in versus prior years, and it does seem to fluctuate greatly. One particular booth that would normally be sold out and have a ton of people trying to flip their products on eBay still had items left at closing on Sunday.  Was it a matter of them making a lot more to combat the resellers, or has the hype died down enough regular folks can now collect them, without even having to be wealthy rappers?

- I love that the event has truly stayed focused on the word of designer toys.  There are plenty of other conventions that feature all that other stuff and it warms my heart to not see a single booth selling Pop Vinyl figures.  Don't get me wrong, I own a bunch of them, but I stopped going to a major convention in NYC because EVERY booth is nothing but Funko resellers.  It's boring, I can get them from Walgreens if I want them, and I just need something different.  Five Points is that difference.

      I want to thank Clutter Magazine for putting on such a great event and for having me at the show. I just uploaded a whole bunch of pictures to Facebook so if you want to see what you missed you can check out www.facebook.com/TheToyViking.

Moonstone Polyresin Statue from Pascal Blanche x House of Gog

    I like my women like I like my coffee: heavily armed and covered in the bones of their enemies.  How else do you think I knew my wife was the one for me?  Fans of Heavy Metal magazine may recognize this temperamental lady from the cover of issue number 270, or from the wall you tacked it to once you ripped it off.  Pascal Blanche is the man behind the original art of this demon hunting lady, and she looks well equipped for the task at hand.  Except clothing wise, which when you think about it is really smart as you don't want your prey latching onto you and tearing up your church clothes.  And the blood stains, can you imagine the various types of blood stains that an extraterrestrial demon would cause?  You'd just have to throw everything away.

     This is the first ever polystone statue from House of Gog and they're making one hell of a debut.  The detail is outrageous from her body armor, to her not legal no matter what kind of permits you have weaponry, to that mound of biological and mechanical debris she so proudly stands upon.  Now like any good woman she's gonna set you back a few bucks, but standing over 18 inches tall and loaded to the gills with extras, you're certainly getting your money's worth.  Check her out for yourself by visiting https://houseofgog.com.

Five Points Fest Exclusives from StrangeCat Toys

Five Points Fest is this Saturday and Sunday and I have been keeping a mental tally of all the stuff I want so far.  I've just about reached full mental capacity, so I've had to forget some things in order to make room.  Strangecat Toys has got so many exclusives that will fill their booth #423 that I have compiled the ones I know about so far here for you to keep track of.  That way you don't have to go and forget stuff like where you live, how to drive a car, or the fact that you're allergic to shrimp.  I'm pretty much saving lives.

Tenacious Toys Exclusives for Five Points Fest

   Five Points Fest is happening in Brooklyn next weekend and we are starting to see those ever important exclusives pop up online.  Tenacious Toys will be holding it down at booth number 426 and were kind enough to put detailed descriptions in each picture as if they anticipated that I would be running late for work today, limiting my ability to make witty comments about each.  That's forward thinking at its best.