Weirdo Toys

Archive for the ‘Custom’ Category

Battle Babies by Brad Rader

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

I don’t even know where to begin with what I’m going to show you today.

You know what? I take that back. Described in a single word – “fun.”

Wait. I have more words…

As soon as I saw these toys, all I felt was joy, giddy-ness, surprise, anticipation. I literally laughed. You know if toys make you excited with laughter, they have to be worth something.

Let’s check ‘em out.

The beastly toys we have here are…

Double-Edged Dumplings & Cybear Vishnu

Unhumongous & Bullshot

Beano Bomber and Coptorilla

The Clobbler & Shankoppotamus

Afro Toddler & Count Tiger Gun

These guys are called Battle Babies! (Yep. You heard correctly – Battle-Freakin’-Babies.)

They are a bunch of well-armed animals piloted/ridden by BABIES! I have no clue how I’ve never seen these things before now, but I know I love ‘em.

They are probably just some weird, obscure vintage toyline that was produced as a knockoff of the Barnyard Commandos. (How have I missed these before now?)

First up, is Cybear Vishnu.
This guy means business.

Look at ‘im. He’s a freaky 8-legged monstrosity. At his core, he’s a bear, but it looks like he’s been merged with some weird humanoid with big blue arms coming out of his butt cheeks along with some robotic prosthetics on his shoulders. There’s a head in bowl in his belly. Is he the conjoined twin brother? This is freaky.

He’s wearing metallic underwear, big ol’ glasses, a set of samurai twin babies – The Double-Edged Dumplings… and he breathes fire.

Scary indeed.

Next we have Bullshot.
He’s just a bull with a big honkin’ gun on his back.

He seems to be fitted with a fluffy collar and tailfins. (maybe this guy can get airborne.)

And he’s piloted by The Unhumongous – the most evil-looking baby I’ve ever seen.

The scary metal face mask most definitely is hiding a freakishly-scarred visage he’s had all his life… all 9 months of it. Ha.

Next up? Coptorilla. Wow. A Gorilla helicopter!

This ape is equipped with goggles, shoulder pads, missiles and a functioning propeller. He’s ready for action… and it looks like he may want to play catch later too. (Check out his right hand.)

Beano Bomber, his baby pilot, looks pretty friendly. The makings of a good guy baby.

Here we have Shankoppotamus – a killer hippo (well, more killer than usual I guess).

So hippos are inherently mean and dangerous to begin with, but this guy regurgitates a sword. Sheez! And for long range attacks, he’s equipped with a big laser cannon. I never imagined hippos being so high-tech.

See that yellow blob on his head? I think that’s brain slug which is probably how the baby here keeps him under his control. and speaking of the baby…

Damn! Look at that fist. He’d clobber the crap out of you. Guess that’s why he’s called The Clobbler. (Looks like Fisto’s love child.)

Last but not least is Count Tiger Gun. This guy means business. Not only is he wielding a blade, but he has a gun barrel jutting out of his mouth… and he’s a vampire apparently.

Wow. Imagine being chased by a tiger. Scary, right? Well what if that tiger was undead and shooting/slicing at you as he chased you? Ha!

He’s wearing this black leather cape w/ silver studs. Kinda gothic

His baby, Afro Toddler, is interesting. He looks like an Asian baby with a big-ass afro. I’m sure he’s hiding grenades in there or something. He’s also toting around a big machine gun.

Man these babies really are ready for battle.

Unfortunately, I have a confession: These toys aren’t an actual toyline. They are customs made by a fellow weirdo toy lover.

This new legendary toyline all started with my newfound toy buddy, Brad Rader (who coincidentally is the husband of fellow geek blogger, Stacey “GeekyVixen” Rader).

Anyway, one day, Brad sent me a link to a collection of photos (below) spotlighting his “Battle Babies”

They are custom toys which are essentially kit bashes using random baby toys, animals toys and whole mess of various action figure accessories.

The thing that gets me is how perfectly suited each accessory is to the baby and to the beast.

So freakin’ great and well done.

You can buy Battle Babies at the GeekyVixen Etsy shop! If you end up with any in your collection, please share your impressions, pics, etc!

And remember… BABY POWER!!!

Tags: 80s, Animals, Barnyard Commandos, Battle Babies, Custom Toys
Posted in Animals, Bizarre, Custom, Cute, Goofy, Human? | 15 Comments »

Lil’ Zombie Prototype 3

Monday, July 4th, 2011

You know those little green army men that we all had growing up? We kind of liked them, because they were cool military guys with weapons, but we also hated them cuz they weren’t as cool and poesable like modern 3.75″ figures like G.I. Joe.

Army Men Toys

Well, they are iconic and will probably always be around for a long, long time.

But what if the classic army men adapted to seemingly steady incline of zombies in popular culture? If these mini figures follow the trend of recent comics, movies, games and even car commercials, I’m thinking mainstream zombie toys aren’t far off.

Zombie Movies, Comics and Commercials

Well, thanks to the forward thinking and generosity of Weirdo Toys reader, Sarah Bush, we now know how these Army Men may look if they were “zombified.”

Army Man

Take this guy for example. He’s some generic heavy machine gunner…

…but if he were a zombie, he’d look like this.

Instead of a machine gun, he’s now armed w/ a machete and it looks like he may have cut his own arm off.

Oh yeah, and he only has one shoe.

A while back I received this little gruesome guy in the mail, and I knew I’d eventually share it with you guys.

He’s simply called “Lil Zombie Prototype 3.” (I’m wondering how many of these customs are roaming the toy streets feeding on brains.)

It’s an unbelievably tiny zombie toy with some nice detailing. He’s only 1.5″ tall.

These ultra-closeup photos really don’t do the toy justice. Seeing a toy that’s so small this close makes it appear more sloppy and not very detailed.

Just to give you a sense of scale, here’s the Lil’ Zombie pictured with a Master of the Universe Scareglow figure (Why Scareglow? I dunno. He just happened to be close by, and I know you guys know how tall a MOTU figure is). Tiny, tiny zombie.

This toy actually reminds me a lot of the mini Z.O.M.B.I.E. figures by October Toys.

Thanks a lot for the prototype, Sarah. I hope to see more lil’ zombies making their way out into the toy world.

Tags: army, Custom, zombie
Posted in Bizarre, Custom, Human?, Prototypes | 8 Comments »

Franken Toys by Rachel Peters

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Now that I’m a dad, I know I need to be on the lookout for cool toys for my son. Thing is, at such a young age, he can’t play with bootleg He-man figures and stuff like that. I don’t see that much baby “weirdo” stuff out there.

That is until I found these.

Let me introduce you to Franken Toys – an Etsy shop full of repurposed toys designed by artist (and mad scientist), Rachel Peters.

To quote the site:

Franken Toys are a growing collection of rescued toys which have been dismembered only to be re-membered as a new piece of art. Every repurposed toy has been hand sewn and many have been intricately embroidered.
Adopt your favorite Franken Toy today. Each Franken is one of a kind.

I really love these. This is a twist on customized toys I haven’t seen yet. Such a simple and refreshing contrast to the designer vinyl scene. It’s genius I tell you.

What appeals to me so much is the fact that these aren’t not just random, strange creatures… these are freaky mash-ups of characters we all know and love. This makes them that much more striking… and charming.

Who wants a Kermit doll if you could have a freaky, double-reverse-head Kermit with removable body parts?

What better way to “spruce up” some old, forgotten dolls than by dismembering them and reattaching their body parts – creating half-breeds only seen in your children’s nightmares?

When you drop by her store, be sure not to miss the other weirdos Rachel has already sold.

Now a stop at any Goodwill in America could get you some great fodder for the next Franken Toy. I wonder if Rachel takes requests.

Tags: Dolls, Muppets, Sesame Street
Posted in Custom, Cute, Dolls, Weird | 6 Comments »

Motorbot’s Formaldehyde Face

Friday, October 15th, 2010

Unlike all the other cool “geek bloggers” out there, I don’t have a 30-day countdown to Halloween. Sorry folks

But I do have something cool, quirky and creepy for ya.

(Click to enlarge)

Do you recognize this guy?

I’ll give you a hint.

Obey

It’s where Shepard Fairey got the whole “OBEY” schtick.

Still nothing? Here’s another hint.

Kick ass

This is the man who said, “I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubble gum.”

Well, how about the lady with the “formaldehyde face?”

They Live

Ah-ha! Now you remember.

Yep, this little guy is one of those creepy aliens from John Carpenter’s “They Live.” It’s an 80s classic. If you don’t know the movie, then I’m really shocked you’re even reading my blog

But for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, lemme give you a quick, quick rundown. “They Live” is an old, sci-fi/horror movie from 1988. It stars wrestling great Rowdy Roddy Piper as an average Joe who stumbles upon the fact that aliens have taken over the world. How does he discover this secret you ask? Through magic sunglasses of course. Ha!

I don’t mean to spoil it for you, but here’s a quick look at what those sunglasses reveal. (Make sure you still watch the full movie though.)

Pretty creepy huh. I’d definitely hate to see those freaks face-to-face.

(Okay, I realize this isn’t a blog about old, horror movies, but I had to give you some context.)

(Click to enlarge)

That’s what makes this figure so great. He’s a super-deformed incarnation of an iconic 80s sci-fi horror flick alien.

You’re probably looking at this guy thinking he looks kind of simple for a movie toy, but that’s because he is one of the newest “made-from-scratch,” resin toys by artist, Motorbot.

(Click to enlarge)

The figure is pretty simple. He has a solid body with a poseable head, and he’s hand-painted. He’s actually pretty well made, and I’m really thrilled to have this custom toy in my collection. I have a bunch of “one-of-a-kind” bootlegs from Mexico and stuff, but I don’t have many of these limited-run, made-to-order kind of toys like this.

I’ve followed Motorbot on Twitter for a while now. It’s always a pleasure to see his processes and the various creatures he creates, but it wasn’t until recently that I felt compelled to buy one of his pieces. I dunno. There’s just something about a skinless, bug-eyed, skeletal freak in a suit that calls to me.

Formaldehyde Face

There’s an alternate version of Formaldehyde Face available as well. This one has a gray color scheme, which depicts how the aliens look through the magic sunglasses.
(Support a fellow toy maker and check out his shop. He’s got some cool stuff up there.)

Oh crap! Before I forget, there’s one last thing I wanted to show you. Here’s the fight scene from “They Live.” It’s not just any fight scene. It’s the most infamous fight scene in movie history. Thanks John Carpenter for giving us a 5-minute long street fight instigated by a seemingly trivial request to put on some sunglasses.

Enjoy!

Tags: 80s, Alien, horror, motorbot, they live
Posted in Alien, Art, Custom, Designer Vinyl, Friends of Weirdo Toys, TV and Movies | 11 Comments »

Ring Around the Weirdo

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Do you have any semi-lame toys lying around? Like these guys – the Bubbly Chubbies.

(Click to enlarge)

The only reason I keep them around is because they are recalled Teletubbies knockoffs. Wouldn’t it be great if you could easily transform such cutesy-ass characters into something mildly disturbing?

You know, something like this?

(Click to enlarge)

Well, apparently you, can. All you need are some cheap-ass monster face rings.

(Click to enlarge)

These rings look like something you could find in those cheapy, import toy catalogs… like Oriental Trading Company.

I bought these rings on eBay, and once I’d received them, I realized I can instantly transform my “normal” toys into “weirdo” toys with the most minimal of effort. This transformation took very little time and money… About 5 seconds and 5 bucks. I just grabbed a ring. popped it over a toy’s head and voila! Instant weirdo.

I really love the look of the new and improved Bubbly Chubbies. Now they look more like “Grubbly Chubbies.”
(Click to enlarge)

This Chubby is now a wonky-eyed viking guy with high blood pressure and a pink, marshmallow body.

(Click to enlarge)

And we have a your standard screaming skull Chubby…

(Click to enlarge)

and we top it off with the always classic gore gag… the dangling eyeball Chubby.

After seeing how great these guys turned out, I figured I’d try the remaining rings on some other figures I had lying around.

(Click to enlarge)

This vintage Kermit figure becomes a naked, bug-eyed screamer.

(Click to enlarge)

The blue guy from “Voltron,” King Zarkon, becomes Satan in his formal wear.

(Click to enlarge)

And the green, alien guy from “Battlestar Galactica,” Ovion, becomes some weird raving, alien lunatic.

(Click to enlarge)

With that last one though, I have to admit – Ovion looks cooler and weirder without the ring/mask.

(Click to enlarge)

So, that’s about it. I just thought I’d share what originated as a cheapy, weird ring impulse buy actually ended up making some mildly interesting characters for my toy shelves at work.

You guys have any quick ring-faced figures you wanna share? I’d love to see ‘em.

• Buy an Ovion figure on eBay!