I'm Back, Baby, or Something.

     

   A lot has happened since I stopped writing about toys. The economy has collapsed, an entire war broke out, and a trove of classified documents went missing at a golf course. At best my absence can be blamed for maybe two of those, but things have certainly been bleak. 

   In all seriousness, stepping away from writing about toys was exactly what I needed to do at the time. The majority of releases really shifted away from the type of things I was interested in design wise, and I felt like I was on a never ending cycle of helping others while neglecting my own creativity. I was the guy who could boost everyone but himself. What I've found in the months since is that a big part of my creativity, especially when it comes to my writing, needs to be worked out within some type of structure. This blog was like a prompt from a creative writing class or a daily drawing challenge that forces you to think about things you may not normally and thus kicking your muse into high gear when she may rather be taking a nap. That little voice needs constant attention or she will literally snore her way through life, only getting up to use the bathroom or check her email.

     So with that being said, this blog wasn't holding me back from living my own dreams at all, but it was actually getting my brain working in ways that was supporting my other endeavors in ways I didn't see at the time. Wow, this almost sounds like personal growth, or one of those other mentally healthy things people talk about. Yuck. Anyway, I'm back in the game, and ready for your emails about new releases. 

Exclusive Aurora Nordic Lucky Cat for Stranger Factory

     Ya'll still collect toys? I've been a little out of the mix recently working in the digital realm, so I figured it was time to make something again that you can actually hold in your hand or throw at your annoying neighbor when they keep parking in the spot you pay for. Hope that crack in your windshield is worth not having to walk ten extra feet to your house, Carl.

    This is known as the Aurora edition. It is an exclusive to Stranger Factory's group show "Toymakers of Planet Earth" V that opens next Saturday, June 4th, in New Mexico. Now if you don't happen to live in that part of the world fear not, because the remainder of the figures will show up on www.strangerfactory.com  June 6th. They are made with UV reactive resin so they glow like crazy under a black light. These are limited to 20 pieces, come in a hand stamped muslin bag, and have been expertly produced by resin warlock Dubose Art.

A Time for Change

  

The Death of Baldur

.  I announced it on my Facebook page but it's probably good to put here as well. I am no longer writing about designer toy releases. Lots of reasons have led to this decision, but the main reason is I want to focus on different things. I've spent years elevating the ideas and dreams of other people with not enough emphasis on my own work. 

    So with that being said this website will now center around the various projects I have while continuing the tradition in being as ridiculous as possible. I hope you'll stick around and see what's next.... which leads me right into NFTs.

    NFTs are the most polarizing thing in the art world right now. Digital artists love them because it gives us an ability to monetize our work in a way that was previously unavailable, including collecting royalties on resales. Collector's like them because you can own an image without physical space requirements, an expensive bill from a framer, and they don't have to hide their questionable taste when their parents come to visit. Other people hate them be abuse they don't see the point, or have concerns about the environmental impact (while posting videos of themselves lip synching to bad pop music that consume just as a much energy, but whatever) or thinking they're some sort of pyramid scheme. New things are often scary, like that mobile colonoscopy van that just opened up behind the Wal-Mart, but that's no reason to not investigate them thoroughly and see how they fit into your life. The NFTs, not the van, as Creepy Dave is obviously not a doctor. 

   I myself have decided to jump into the world of NFTs with my own collection that I've slowly been releasing on the Tezos blockchain. I didnt want to become involved unless I had something to add to what is already a crowded and confusing space and I feel like I have that.  Utilizing my Nordic Lucky Cat and combining it with computer generated art, I have created a series based on stories from the Poetic Edda. I feed lines or sometimes just names into an artificial intelligence program and it interprets what these mean. Then I use magic, and Procreate, to combine the images and create something new. I've kept everything very affordable to just a couple of bucks per image so that anyone who wants one can easily obtain them.  It's an entirely new way to envision the stories of Norse Mythology and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do making them.  This is just the beginning and there will be a lot of real world art to come as well.  Here's where you can get the NFTs:

https://objkt.com/profile/thetoyviking/created

“A Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes” from Cat Atomic

    

   We've all been there: whacked out of our gourds on the Devil's lettuce, missing the majority of our clothing, and desperately trying to find the parents of a random stink bug that wandered into our hotel room. Unless you've never been a grown man in his underwear that just wanted to reunite worried insect parents with their son. Cause me neither; not every story is about me, weirdos.  

   Cat Atomic is channeling some Bill Graham Presents vibes with his groovy new resin figure entitled “A Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes”.  Something tells me she's having one of those spiritual awakenings that all the kids are talking about where they take psychedelics in the jungle and then vomit everywhere until God shows up in is like "seriously dude." She seems like she's at least at the good part right now though, where you can hear colors and your brain climbs down from your ear and asks to borrow the car for a quick trip to the store.  

    This resin beauty may be blue but she sure ain't sad and she can trip the light fantastic straight into your collection when she goes on sale this Friday, March 4th at 3pm eastern time.  Limited to 15 pieces, each one will retail for $350 and be available exclusively from http://www.catatomic.bigcartel.com/.  

Death Gnasher from Miscreation Toys

  

   I'm not sure if all couples do this, but I like to play a game with my wife I call "Would You Still Love Me If..." where I come up with the most outlandish things that could happen to me and then ask if she could live with it. It's nothing bad like voting republican, or listening to an entire U2 album, just harmless stuff like if for some crazy reason I woke up and had a golden retriever as an arm. You know, the basic things you worry about. My favorite though is what if I all of a sudden had no lips. Just a big, toothy forever grin that I can't explain. Then I pull my lips back as far as I can and try to get her to kiss me so she can work through any anxiety it may give her, which is usually the point she stops speaking to me. Not really sure why I'm the bad guy, but that's how it goes.

    Miscreation Toys has a brand new figure called Death Gnasher, who just so happens to be faced with the very lack of lips scenario I just described. Admittedly he has a few other issues that may prevent him from a happy marriage, like the exposed organs thing.  This ten inch tall horror show is going to be available begining this Saturday, January 29 at 3pm est and will come in two different versions.  There will be an unpainted flesh colored vinyl (limited to 25 pieces) for $155, and a Miscreated painted version (limited to 15 pieces) for $249.  They can be purchased by visiting https://www.miscreationtoys.net/.

Epic Review Time: Shin Eyezon from Max Toy Co

 

    Oh, it has been a minute since I've posted and even longer since I did one of my regionally famous toy reviews.  There's no better way I can think of to kick of 2022 then by telling you all about the brand new Shin Eyezon from Max Toy Co.  

   What exactly is Eyezon?  Is he a giant, mutated potato, not content to merely fade into oblivion beneath the cupboard of life?  Is he the product of our hubris in trying to push the limits of science beyond their ethical limits?  While that answer alludes me, what I can tell you is that his latest incarnation is by far my favorite ever.

    I have a long history with this figure, we'll not this particular one, but one of his much smaller versions, as it was the first ever official Japanese sofubi figure I ever bought.  It was from a small basement shop in Baltimore and he had an entire box full of Max Toy figures still bagged with their header cards.  I ended up with quite a few of them, but the first one I fell absolutely in love with was this yellow tuber that would be an optometrist's nightmare.  

    Fast forward to this past year when a box shows up at my door containing this beauty:

    Designed by artist Sophie Campbell, this newest mutation is the direct cousin of Shin Godzilla; a gnarlier, more horror-based version of everyone's favorite kaiju.  Shin Eyezon follows suit with an insane amount of detail courtesy of sculptor Beth Graves, who has packed in enough nuance to this figure that it looks like it may keep evolving on your shelf.  This is certainly not an adorable, misunderstood monster whose mere size causes his intentions to be cloudy.  No, this one is going to destroy everything and everyone in its path because all it knows is evil.

  

    You might be looking at the pictures I've taken and been thoroughly impressed by the composition, or my eye for the perfect artistic shot, but you may also be asking yourself just what color this figure happens to be.  That's an interesting question because this particular version is cast with a crazy technique that makes the vinyl change color.  There isn't any paint on it at all, it's all the plastic itself.  Depending on how you look at it you'll notice it shift between metallica copper and purple, which could keep you busy for quite awhile if you're in one of those states where certain recreational plants were just made legal. Or so I hear (my mom might read this). 

     Surprisingly there are still a couple of these available at https://www.maxtoyco.com/ , which blows my mind because this is definitely one of my toy highlights of 2021. 

Where's My Ship? Resin Figure from EPSW x Tenacious Toys

  

  If you work anywhere that sells goods to people then you have undoubtedly more than once been forced to explain supply chain issues.  The great thing about it was that the news constantly covered it, so while folks weren't happy, they instantly understood why the specific thing they wanted was impossible to find.  It was such a good excuse that I started using it for everything else.  If I forgot to text you back: supply chain.  If you needed me to take out the trash and I instead watched ASMR videos on Youtube: supply chain.  Oh you needed to borrow some money to pay your court fines?  Sorry my dude, supply chain issues.  

    While those cargo ships filled with consumer goods actually didn't have anything to do with my forgetfulness or my desire to be lazy, they are something we will all remember from 2021.  Unless we don't because, you know, supply chain.  Fear not though, because the best way to feel nostalgic is to buy something to help trigger those memories.  EPSW is releasing a limited edition resin container ship via Tenacious Toys so we can forever memorialize the cluster that surrounded ports around the world.  This four inch boat comes with removable containers and is attached to a blister card just like all your favorite action figures from years past.  These are limited to only 50 pieces and will go on sale tomorrow, Thursday, December 9 at 1pm eastern time at www.tenacioustoys.com.