Archive for the ‘Art’ Category

For the Love of Dunny

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Here we have the little Dunnys by Kidrobot. I’m sure you all have seen these small, designer bunny toys. They’re figures made of soft, smooth vinyl, and they’ve been around since 2004.

The various Dunny Series are wildly diverse, visually interesting and even somewhat entertaining. The toyline consists of blind-packed (you have no idea what you’re gonna get) toys designed by various guest artists such as Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Shepard Fairey and Frank Kozik just to name a few.

GINGERMAN (Chase) by Kronk
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Kidrobot - Gingerbread Chase - Kronk Kidrobot - Gingerbread Chase - Kronk

SERIES 4 (Chase) by Shane Jessup
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Kidrobot - Dunny Series 4 - Shane Jessup Kidrobot - Dunny Series 4 - Shane Jessup

SERIES 4 by Jon Burgerman
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Kidrobot - Dunny Series 4 - Shane Jessup Kidrobot - Dunny Series 4 - Shane Jessup

2 FACE SERIES 2 by David Horvath
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Kidrobot - Dunny 2 Face Series 2 - David Horvath Kidrobot - Dunny 2 Face Series 2 - David Horvath

SERIES 3 by Mishka
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Kidrobot - Dunny Series 3 - Mishka Kidrobot - Dunny Series 3 - Mishka

SERIES 3 by Alex Pardee
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Kidrobot - Dunny Series 3 - Alex Pardee Kidrobot - Dunny Series 3 - Alex Pardee

As with a lot of blind-packed toys, These toys are limited edition, so once they’re sold, they’re gone. I’m sure Kidrobot’s intent is to combine the addictive thrill of gambling with the obsessive compulsion of completing a “limited edition” collection. I feel sorry for the completists out there. Not only will it be costly obtaining the whole Dunny collection, but being stuck with all the extras you don’t want has to be annoying. I guess eBay could be your ticket out.

Hell, even I’ve picked up a handful of these at a time hoping to get some cool rare ones. Luckily for me, I haven’t been totally seduced by them. I have some good ones and bad ones, but here’s a look at some of my favorites that I’ve picked up over the past couple of years. According to Kid Robot’s Dunny Checklist a couple of these are chase figures. Wowee! They could be worth hundreds (of cents most likely).

Make-My-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

Thanks to my buddy, Chris, I got word that FAO Schwarz wants you to make your own weirdo toys… straight from your children’s heads using the Make-My-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit.

They’ve partnered with the North American Bear Co. to bring you some of the most primitively cool custom dolls you’ve ever seen.

Here are a few brought to you by the children of the NAB staff:

Claws Monster
FAO Schwarz Make-Your-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit - Claws

Oliver Monster
FAO Schwarz Make-Your-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit - Oliver

Sharky Monster
FAO Schwarz Make-Your-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit - Sharky

Solarbeam Monster
FAO Schwarz Make-Your-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit - Solarbeam

Superhero Monster
FAO Schwarz Make-Your-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit - Supperhero

Yucky Monster
FAO Schwarz Make-Your-Own-Monster Custom Design Kit - Yucky

It’ll cost ya 250 smackaroos, but the good part is a portion of sales will be donated to Global Action for Children.

Gus Fink’s Boogily Heads

Monday, October 15th, 2007

Over the weekend, I made a road trip with some of my buddies to Bethesda, Maryland to partake in our annual adventure known as SPX. It’s the “Small Press Expo” and is typically filled with independent publishers, artists, writers, etc., but this year I came across something rather surprising. There was a guy selling toys. His name is Gus Fink and he’d achieved the honor of getting his artwork re-interpreted as a new toyline (created by Rocket USA) called “Boogily Heads.”

Described as an “art toy with booble action,” these little guys are replicas of original sculptures created by Gus Fink. They all look like unique, hand-painted sculptures. The quirky, weird, hand-made style of the bobble heads fits perfectly in the do-it-yourself spirit of SPX.

I fell in love with these little toys at first sight.

Here’s a look at Series 1:

Skygor
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 1 - Skygor

Marshmello (limited edition version)
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 1 - Marshmello

Milq
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 1 - Milq

Oinks
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 1 - Oinks height=

Pinko
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 1 - Pinko

Derf
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 1 - Derf

And here’s Series 2:

Skullgnome
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 2 - Skullgnome

Cricker
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 2 - Cricker

Kitix
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 2 - Kitix

Cheezor
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 2 - Cheezor

Squiggie
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 2 - Squigie

Paperbag
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Gus Fink's Boogily Heads - series 2 - Paperbag

They all come packaged with a little mini-comic/poster drawn by Fink too. The drawings didn’t make nearly as good an impression on me as the toys did. I think his future is more in toy making and less in comics or illustration.