El-Chupacabra Vinyl Figure from Weston Brownlee x Tenacious Toys

    

    I know that Chupacabra translates to something really horrible and I know that the creature is not taking this goat to go and feed it a bottle, so let's just get that out of the way right now.  However, I choose to believe that El-Chupacabra is just an over enthusiastic visitor to the petting zoo and is hugging his favorite critter one last time before he leaves to get ice cream.  It's all about perception and whatever you can trick yourself into believing.  If he decides to change his diet and start sucking the blood from dismembered bits of human beings I'm totally ok with discussing that in gory detail, but goats are friends, not food.  My therapist will be proud that I'm able to set such boundaries.

    Tenacious Toys and Weston Brownlee are proud to present the debut figure from their Cryptozoo-fubi line, the aforementioned Chupacabra.  Living in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey I am well versed in the world of cryptids as one of the most famous of all time, the Jersey Devil, also makes his home here.  Do you think they ever get together, like once a summer with all the other cryptids just to reminisce and see how the others are doing? Then they all complain how Mothman stopped showing up cause he's married and had kids and started working in an Amazon fulfillment center part time.  I'd watch that show.

     Produced by Mile High Sofubi right here in America, each vinyl toy stands six inches tall and will be available in two different versions.  There's the fully painted edition for $65 (limited to 40 pieces) and a super limited run of only 10 pieces in blank green for   $40 each.  They'll be available starting Monday, June 21st, at noon eastern time exclusively from www.tenacioustoys.com.

Skull Dangler Sofubi Debut from DuBoseArt

 

    Is there anything more metal in the world than a creature made entirely of skulls?  Every bit composed of various sized craniums: from muscles to bone to tiny little skulls in his blood.  I imagine DuBose Art's Skull Dangler having graced the cover of an obscure German heavy metal band who, desperate to try and achieve superstardom, turn to a book of Arcane knowledge.  A few mispronunciations later, and this dude climbs out of their album and devours everyone in the group, adding their skulls to his body.  With ideas like this I cannot believe Netflix won't return my emails.  

    This is the first ever vinyl figure from DuBose,, who until now has honed his craft almost exclusively in resin.  He stands eight inches tall and features a handful of optional removable heads to completely change up his personality/blend in when the inevitable manhunt starts to thwart his  reign of terror.  

    The preorder is happening now for the glow in the dark version of this figure.  A blue version is pictured above in an effort to show you all of the gory details.  Pick one up at https://duboseart.com/.

Biting Vase Preorder from Josh Divine

 

     And now for something completely different.  You may know Josh Divine from having his own production Dunnys, or from his uber popular crash figures that face plant well known pop culture characters.  But no one that I've ever known that enjoyed making things wanted to make just one type of thing, so while I didn't expect him to tackle the world of floral display, I can completely understand it.  And after all, designer toys are pretty much a form of home decor, so it's not that much of a stretch.  If he had decided to create artisanal sausage or his own line of natural deodorants, then that might have made me pause a bit.  Especially if they turned out to not be separate products.

     This is the Biting Vase, and as you can see from the picture above, the name is self explanatory.  Stephen King has made a living writing stories about inanimate objects coming to life to kill people, but even he didn't think of this one.  Not so smart now are you, Mr. Wrote-Lots-of-Books-and- Stuff? I love you, Stephen King, I'm just jealous and shouldn't have brought you into this.

   This unique piece of contemporary design is available in both white and black versions and can be preordered right now by visiting https://joshdivinestudio.com/shop.

"Dark Sparkle" Dungby and Pooba Vinyl Set from Andrew Bell

     

       The second night of wedded bliss with my wife was interrupted by something so unholy that by telling the tale I risk invoking its wrath.  But I'm gonna do it anyway because unlike my waistline, my shame has been getting thinner.  It was probably three in the morning and both of us were sound asleep when the ghost of diner's past decided he could no longer linger in silence.  Despite my best nocturnal efforts, a noise rang out from beneath the covers that would have sent shivers down the spine of a corpse.  It was loud, unmistakable for what it was, and I could do nothing but laugh.  I made no attempts to pin it on a burglar or some wild creature that lived in the crawlspace and betrayed any thoughts of innocence as my wife yelled at me using my full legal name and that of Jesus.  Nearly thirteen years later it is still just as funny as it was then.  Possibly because there was a more recent repeat offense, but who can be sure.

    Thankfully the services of our neighborhood dung beetle were not needed that night, because that might have been harder to find the humor in.  The insect you see above is named Dungy, and his perfectly round poop buddy is Pooba, and they are the two best friends that anyone could ever imagine.  And in fact someone did imagine them, as they were created by Andrew Bell and very soon (as in, today) they could become part of your story.  This is the debut edition of this boy (or girl) and his turd will be available begining today, May 12th, at 11 am eastern time exclusively from https://shop.deadzebra.com/.  They are limited to 100 sets and are $65 each.  Oh, and if you remember the fun of dissecting owl pellets in school, you'll be excited to know that Pooba opens up so you can store all of your tiny bones inside.

The Infernal "De Profundis" Edition from Transmission Toys x Unbox Industries

 

    Not having skin would suck, obviously for the whole "you'd be dead" reason, but if you could live without it there are no upsides.  Do you remember those sticky hands you used to be able to get from 25 cent machines at the store and how all the fun was ruined once they got covered in dirt and hair? Now imagine that's your entire body.  I feel gross just thinking about it.  I'm sure I had other examples ready when I started writing this but I am so skeeved out by the idea of my organs looking like an industrial lint trap that I just can't get past it.  

    Transmission Toys has teamed up with the fine folks at Unbox Industries to create their debut figure, The Infernal.  As you can see, he is not a man rich in dermis, but what he lacks in protective covering he more than makes up for with his can-do attitude (probably not though). This toy is made of beautifully marbled soft vinyl, stands 7 and 1/2 inches tall, and will retail for $75 when he goes on sale this Saturday (May 8th) at 11am eastern time. Get yours at http://store.unboxindustries.info/.

Empty Pinata Custom Figures from Pricilla Marquez x Tenacious Toys

 

     According to a semi popular meme we all have two wolves inside of us.  Where they are in relation to our actual guts I have no idea, but that seems to be besides the point.  People post said meme in an attempt to sound tough on Facebook, as one wolf is a nice doggo while the other one is a complete Monster Energy drinking bad ass that will punch holes in your dry wall if you don't watch your mouth! If I had two wolves that somehow lived in my body I'm sure one wants chicken nuggets and the other probably forgot to load the dishwasher.  Put that on a t-shirt and send me my royalties.

     Pricilla Marquez has taken a host of JT Studio's Empty Wolves and added some killer Mexican flare that is so clean I at first thought they were factory made.  I'm loving the colors and motif of this Tenacious Toys exclusive run of hand painted figures, and if you find yourself equally smitten you can add one to your collection when they go on sale this Friday (May 7) at noon eastern time.  Each seven inch figure will retail for $175 and there is a special one of a kind chase figure with different painted features.  Snatch em up at www.tenacioustoys.com.  

Skeletor Shogun Warrior from Mattel Creations

 

    I usually don't write about licensed toys because honestly, most of them are boring.  They're usually the exact same thing you've already seen a thousands times and totally not worth all the dead dinosaurs it took to make them.  But when given some creative freedom, familiar characters can be presented in a way that is not only refreshing, but will make you remember what you love about toy collecting in the first place.  

    Mattel Creations has nailed it with this Shogun Warrior Skeletor figure so damn hard they might be charged with assault.  This is a glorious matchup of one of my favorite supervillains of all time and the giant robot toys from Japan from the 1970's. This thing is massive, standing nearly 2 feet tall and featuring a rocket fist and rocket firing staff.  It will be available tomorrow, Friday April 23, exclusively from https://creations.mattel.com/ for $300.