2015 3A Membership Packs

    You know what I miss?  Fan clubs.  How you used to be able to write away to your favorite band and they would send you newsletters and other random stuff in the mail.  Now everything is done through the internet, and the excitement of opening an email is not nearly as great as rushing out to the mailbox every day to see if you received a letter.  Plus, I'm more of a tactile person anyway.  I like physical objects to hold in my hand, actual pages to flip through and pour over.  When I was younger most music magazines had addresses in the back for just about every popular artist at the time and I would write my sappy little fan letters and just hope that I would get any response at all.  Some of my favorite bands (or the people that worked for them) sent me guitar picks and post cards and various other things that I still have.  I'll post some stuff on Instagram later if you're interested.

    3A's membership pack brings back all of those memories of fan clubs and postal stalking.  Not only do you get four awesome figures from the newer 3AGO line, but you get a t-shirt, a print signed by Ashley Wood, and most importantly that 15% off discount at http://www.bambalandstore.com/ for the entire year.  Membership packs go live January 15th at 9am Hong Kong time for 24 hours only.  $190 will get you one and they will ship out in May, so you don't have to camp out waiting for the delivery man.  

http://www.bambalandstore.com/

Mini "Our Father" Resin Sculpture from Sket-One

    I love Star Wars.  Those original three films basically sum up everything that was good about being a kid.  The last three films taught me about disappointment and how to harness my murderous rage into something more productive. The seventh film comes out this year and I'm holding out hope that it doesn't make me want to stab an usher at the theater.  

   I've got so much Star Wars stuff that I can't even display it properly.  What it really needs is a focal point, something that can elevate every piece to the status it deserves.  What it needs is the statue you see above.  This sculpture from Sket-One is the perfect centerpiece for any shrine dedicated to light sabers and chicks in gold bikinis.  Standing a foot tall and made of resin, this is something your grandchildren will beat each other senseless to inherit.  It would be worth it to fake your own death just to witness the carnage.  Pick one up at http://www.sket-one.com.  

Judge Death Gets the 3A Treatment

    You know that panicked feeling you get when you're speeding down the road with not a care in the world and all of a sudden you pass a police car hiding in the woods?  And you're looking in your rearview mirror, alternating between curses and prayers and just hoping that you don't see him pull his car onto the road and if he does trying to think quickly about whether there's a side street you can duck down without being seen and therefore avoiding a ticket whose fine could be utilized for something way more important.  Now imagine if it was this guy that pulls you over.

    I'm not cracking any donut shop jokes within earshot of Judge Death.  You can just tell he's never let anyone off with a warning.  This insanely detailed 1/12 scale figure is courtesy of the folks at 3A and will be available for preorder January 14th at 9am Hong Kong time for $60.  If you order from http://www.bambalandstore.com/ you also get free shipping world wide.  

Squatting Dog Sofubi Kickstarter

    Ummmmmm.  You would think that I would have a field day writing about a pooping dog toy, but I'm seriously having some problems with this one.  Maybe this is just too easy, and being handed such a gift has created a huge blockage in my mind.  It's like I need a mental laxative to get the ideas flowing again.  Okay, we have a dog, and he's desperately trying to dot your yard with little brown land mines, and it's captured in Japanese vinyl for all of eternity.  I'm kinda wondering what's on his mind as he performs the most humiliating of acts for all to see.  I bet he's laughing on the inside as he watches his owner cover his hand in an old shopping bag, ready to retrieve the mess.  The human/dog relationship is really one sided when you think about it.  Any relationship that requires you to handle turds is kind of abusive.

    Right now there's a campaign on Kickstarter to help fund these little plastic poopers and get em into production and on your shelf.  Yeah, it's different,but you have to admit that dropping the old deuce is and always was hilarious, so for pure comedic factor alone buying one is kinda worth it.  And imagine if you get someone one as a present.  Their reaction could be Youtube gold.  Help move these further down the pipeline and into reality by supporting their campaign here.  

Tenacious Toozie Scloozie Shagghoulie from We Become Monsters

    This time of year I wish we had shag carpeting covering every square inch of our house.  Hardwood floors are nice to look at, but when it's freezing out I feel like I'm trekking barefoot over a glacier.  The struggle is real my friends.

    I would settle for an entire suit made out of shag carpeting, baring in mind that it is coated on the inside with luxurious fleece.  That would be the height of warmth and comfort and still less stupid looking than Ugg Boots.  Look how happy this Shag Ghoulie from We Become Monsters is.  Dude is completely toasty and feeling fuzzy in all the right places.  He's part of Super a Series Sunday from Tenacious Toys and will go on sale...wait for it...this SUNDAY, January 11, at 7pm eastern time.  Limits to only 10 pieces at $100 each, you can only get one from http://www.tenacioustoys.com

Nozzel S001.50 Squadt from Ferg

    I have some ridiculous dreams and my wife can't wait for me to relay the nonsense that kept my brain entertained while I'm asleep.  Most of the time I have bits and pieces that I remember that don't really add up to a complete narrative, but every now and then I have something pretty memorable worth sharing.  Like the dream I had once where some group of people was trying to invade a farmhouse we were living in and I somehow had the ability to bring all of my toys to life to fight and defend us.  I ran around the house, frantically opening packages of Star Wars figures and vehicles, standing them up on the floor and watching them as they went off into battle.  Don't lie, you wish that could happen in real life.

    The moral of the story is that you need to have toys capable of armed combat in case your house is ever assaulted by an unknown group.  Consider your domicile safe if your a Squadt collector, cause these dudes are armed to the teeth and ready to take on all comers.  Now they've gone mini; at only 3.5 inches tall these little dudes are perfect for sneaking behind enemy lines and wreaking their own special brand of havoc.  If you wanna add one of these little guys from Ferg to your collection, you'll have 24 hours to do so starting this Monday, January 12, at noon central time.  These are only available at http://store.projectsquadt.com for $40 each.  

Silver Demeru-Kun from Bounty Hunter

    Ooooooooh shiny. Everyone knows the craziest toys come from Japan, like this classic Demeru-Kun from Bounty Hunter. He's kind of a giant half skeleton monkey with a brain for a head and hands that look like they'd love to wrap their fingers around your neck. I can't explain it, but I like it. This sucker is going on sale this Saturday, January 10th for international customers through http://bounty-hunter-intl.com.

Stock Up Now During K. Olin Tribu's Winter Sale

    I know how it is.  You want something desperately but you can't bring yourself to spend the money. I just spent $600 getting my wife's car repaired and that gave me an ulcer and this twitching under my right eye that hasn't stopped.  Even if I didn't just give a mechanic all my money I still have a hard time buying stuff for myself.  Unless it's on sale.  I love a good sale, and there's no better feeling than getting something you've been longing for AND getting it cheaper than you thought you would.  Right now K. Olin Tribu is running a sale on everything they make, from prints to those amazing porcelain sculptures we would all die to own.  They've even made it easy for you by becoming one of my site's newest sponsors and having a handy button over there on the right hand side for you  --------->.  Just click it and buy everything you want and don't forget those coupon codes posted above to save you some cash.  

"Feminamorphe" Opens This Saturday at Toy Art Gallery

    Pretend I'm saying this in a smooth, Billy Dee Williams voice: "This Saturday, it's all about the laaaaaaaaaaadies."  I'll admit it, that was kinda lame, but it's also true because Toy Art Gallery is set to open it's latest show "Feminamorphe" featuring some of the best female talent in the toy/art world right now.  New work from Candie Bolton, Uamou, Teresa Chiba, Tasha Zimich, Okokume, and Helen Vine will be on display and available for purchase.  The show opens this Saturday from 7-10pm and will be on display through the end of the month.  

New Mass Produced Figure for Cheapskates from the Sucklord

    You would think the title to this post was in some way derogatory, but it isn't at all.  I'm just helping the Sucklord maintain his personal brand of taking all your money then calling you an idiot for making it so easy.  The Sucklord is absolutely what the world of designer toys needs; someone who's bold, brazen, and more interesting than your art-school drop out cousin.  You can't help but admire his rebel spirit and even try to capture some of it for yourself by making the best outlaw-ish toy website the internet that refuses to make posts that involve the cut and paste function (wink wink).  

   I always want more Sucklord stuff, but I have to admit, I'm kinda cheap.  I'm cheap in the way that I believe doctors are for rich folk and when I take my trash to the dumpsters I'm looking at it just as much as a discovery expedition as it is one of disposal.  Were you aware that you can get $20 for a busted hot water heater?  And you can use your trash selling skills to buy new, affordable, toys.  Possibly you'd be interested in a new Sucklord 72 figure?  Snag yourself a silver one for $40 (open edition), a gold one for $60 (limited to 100) or a pink one for $65 (limited to 25).  Fo you uber fancy folks who are more liberal with your credit cards you could get one of the Jason Freeny Dissected versions in silver for $75 (limited to 20).   All of these and many more wonders of plastic await you at http://suckadelic.myshopify.com/.

Meet Nathan Jurevicius at Woot Bear This Weekend

    Have you ever been so tired that you start dreaming while you're awake?  Like, for whatever perfectly legal reason that doesn't necessitate police investigation, you've been unable to sleep and you start seeing weird stuff that isn't there.  I used to work as an overnight dj for a commercial radio station, which meant I had to attempt to sleep during the day so I could stay up all night and entertain long haul truckers and drug addicts.  Sometimes my sleep plans didn't always work out the way I wanted and I would find myself driving home at 6am and seeing imaginary people walking across the otherwise empty Garden State Parkway.  When I went back to college it would happen as well; I'd be half asleep in one of those painfully boring 8am classes and would dream that I yelled out something ridiculous about "not petting the lions" then I would snap awake and wait nervously to see if I had actually said it out loud.  Thankfully I was able to keep my nonsense firmly packed away in my own head.  

    This dude reminds me of something that would come to you in those foggy states of consciousness, maybe leading you on an epic adventure that seems like it would make for a great book or movie until you think about it later and realize how you can't even make sense of it.  Nathan Jurevicius has teamed up with Pobber Toys to offer his take on Gary Ham's Sylvan vinyl toy, and the results resemble your new spirit guide.  You can pick one up this weekend at Woot Bear in San Francisco, as Nathan will be doing a signing there Saturday evening, and you even get a free print with purchase so you can spruce up your living quarters.  

    

Preorder the Latest Jax Teller Figure from Mezco Toyz

    Please tell me you've watched the series finale of Sons of Anarchy by now?  I'm still gonna be a nice guy and not ruin it for you in case you were trapped in a coal mine or you just spontaneously awoke from a coma, but those are two of the only acceptable excuses you could possibly have for missing what was a fitting send off to seven years of mayhem and heartbreak.  I have only been more depressed one time in my life while watching television, and that was when the Flyers lost the Stanley Cup to the Blackhawks in 2010.  I don't pay much attention to other sports, but I love hockey and that one gutted me.  Sons of Anarchy is the only work of televised fiction that has ever come close to that.  

   Now that I've stopped weeping like a school girl I can get back to business.  Mezco has been releasing action figures from the series for a while now, and just cause the show is over doesn't mean they're gonna stop any time soon.  This version of Jax Teller doesn't come out until the summer, but you can preorder him now to ensure you get one when the time comes.  Head over to http://www.mezcotoyz.com/ for this and all the rest of their SOA toys.  

New Year's Hedoran Release from Gargamel x Super7

    I bet many of you today are feeling how this guy looks.  Hopefully you're at home, nursing your hangover and trying to piece together all the bad stuff you did last night so a legal team can mount a proper defense.  Amnesia never holds up well in court, fyi.

   While much of the world was out trying to get alcohol poisoning, Gargamel and Super7 were busy releasing this Hedoran figure.  Look how pretty he looks in marbled orange and black, which I'm a bit partial to being a Philadelphia Flyers fan.  And he kinda looks like he got into a classic hockey scrum with that face of his.  He's available for purchase right now by visiting http://super7store.com/.  Buying him may be the best decision you've made in the past 24 hours.  

The Iron Monster "Glow in the Dark" Version from Miscreation Toys

    One of the best things about collecting anything is figuring out how you're going to display it.  I love the look of old display cases packed to the gills with so much stuff that every time you look at them you notice something different.  The problem I have with most vinyl is that there seems to be some unwritten rule that everything will be one of two sizes and that's it.  I need giant toys to stand in the back and look menacing while not getting lost amid the cluttered masses in front of them.  Welcome to the solution of my dreams.  

    Ok, there's plenty more to love about this Iron Monster from Miscreation Toys than just his whopping 15 inch height.  For one, I love classic film monsters, and this dude is based on The Phantom Creeps from 1939.  And he reminds me a lot of the guy that comes out and stalks Rob Zombie around on stage.  He also glows in the dark and comes with an 11x17 print by Worthy Enemies, who also did the header card art.  This dude is available in limited quantities right now from http://autopsybabies.bigcartel.com/.  

Lil Demon Kewpie Preorder from DuBose Art

    Oh look, the true form of children has been exposed!  This perfectly captures those awkward childhood years, right before a person determines to continue on this path and become Ted Bundy, or change themselves into responsible citizens like those fellas on Shark Tank.  

   

    Kids are evil.  There's no other way to explain why they keep you up at night, laugh when you get hurt, and break all your stuff.  You know why they cry when you take their picture with Santa?   It's because of their flesh burning at the touch of anything good a wholesome.  Santa's lap is like holy water to those little devils.  

   Of course I'm kidding (am I?) and children are wondrous little miracles that make you smile and bring joy to your heart (except when their filthy drug habits force you onto an episode of Intervention).  DuBose Art has put these adorably horrifying Lil Demon Kewpies up for preorder on his website right now for your collecting pleasure.  Each resin figure comes in unpainted flesh (every child's meal of choice) and stands 3 and 1/2 inches tall.  Order your demon spawn at http://duboseartanddesign.com/.       

Civic Defense Bertie Mk2 and Mule Rev3 from 3A

    It boggles the mind why we don't have war robots for real yet.  I know that if we did we'd be sliding down that slippery slope towards total human annihilation from our soon to be sentient robot overlords, but how awesome do these guys look?  And if I learned anything from watching Smokey and the Bandit a 1,000 times, it's not what happens at the end, but how cool you look getting there.    

    3A should be commissioned to design all of the world's military weaponry.  War would be so much more stylish.  Until that day comes, you'll have to buy up everything they make and pretend in the privacy of your own home.  Right now you can preorder these Civic Defense dudes over at http://www.bambalandstore.com/ to add to your collection/ongoing quest for world domination in your living room.  

Okami Limited Edition Resin Figure from Fakir

    Our cats were all about Christmas yesterday.  Every year we buy them a ton of little toys, open them all at once, and watch the madness ensue as they try to play with everything.  It's quite entertaining/dangerous for my wife and I.  Whats really weird is you can buy them a ton of stuff and you will never see most of it again.  I don't know if they stow them away for when hard times hit or if they're shoving them down the vents in the floor, but it's a strange phenomena that warrants further investigation.

    Is this dude a cat?  A dog?  A really pale raccoon?  I dunno, but I know I like him.  Fakir will be releasing a limited run of ten of these resin dudes on Monday, January 5th, through http://fakirdesign.com/.  Each one comes with a signed print and a sticker.

    

Merry Christmas from The Toy Viking

    I hope you all have a great Christmas, get all the presents you can handle, and eat until they have to cut a hole in your roof to airlift you out.  

Toy Art Gallery's Holiday Sale

    Today is that glorious day where I showcase my terrible present wrapping skills.  I usually do fairly well on the first one or two, but then I just start to rush through it, creating more of an over-taped wad of paper than anything resembling something Martha Stewart would make.  The bright side is that I've set the bar so low that everyone expects me to do a bad job which alleviates any pressure I may have once felt.  

   Thankfully I have at least completed all of my shopping so I don't have to fight through the madness of retail on Christmas Eve.  I can just sit at home, procrastinate on the present wrapping, and maybe or maybe not get dressed for the day.  And I can also peruse all the stuff from Toy Art Gallery that I want, which is a lot.  The good thing is from now until the new year is that it's all 20% off.  Buy yourself something nice with all of your gift cards at www.toyartgallery.com.  

Milky Purple Slugbeard Lottery from Paul Kaiju x Toy Art Gallery

    My wife and I have a black cat named Icarus who has a bit of an eating disorder.  He likes to ingest anything from shoe laces and string to loosely woven fabrics.  One time he ate half of a shirt sleeve and had to go to the emergency vet to have some help in passing it.  We lock up all of our shoes and clothing and anything else we think he might decide to nibble on.  But sometimes you can't help what he decides is gonna taste good, especially if it's something you didn't bring into the house.  

   We first met Icarus when he was a kitten and he became lodged behind the engine of my car.  Four hours later and with the aid of a tow truck lifting the front of the car, we were able to liberate him from his automotive prison, and hoist him above our heads for the gathered crowd to see (picture the Lion King with more grease).  Needless to say the experience was rough on him and he wasn't too into being social, and by not too into it I mean he wouldn't let us touch him for six months.  He loved our other two cats but he was kind of leary people.  Slowly he began to socialize more and more with us; coming up to us to pet him, sitting near us on the couch, etc.  This is when we began to notice his weird eating habits, which we attributed to his traumatic experience of having been trapped for who knows how long underneath the car.  

    One night he was playing behind the couch and we started to hear this weird slurping noise.  We figured he had gotten into something we missed and was now making a meal of it.  I pulled the couch back to take it from him and witnessed, what is to this day, the weirdest thing any of my cats has ever tried to eat.  There, laying on the carpet, was a slug with the back half of its slime sucked clean off of his body.  My wife asks me what he has, and I tell he she doesn't want to know (she thinks slugs are the grosses things in the world) but she looks anyway.  I'd never seen her move so fast to get as far away from something.

    The moral of the story is my cat tried to eat a slug and my wife would probably object to me owning anything named Slugbeard.  But look how pretty Paul Kaiju's monstrous creation looks cast in a milky shade of purple.  I think she'd be able to look past the name don't you?

    Toy Art Gallery will be holding a lottery to give you the chance to buy one of these pretty behemoths.  Starting tomorrow at noon pacific time and running through December 22nd at noon pacific, you can send your pertinent details (PayPal address, shipping info) in an email to sales@toyartgallery.com with the subject line "Slugbeard Lottery".  Then you cross all your fingers and toes and hope the toy gods smile upon you.  If you win, you have to pony up $165 (which is a steal considering how freakin huge this thing is) and then wait patiently for the mail to come.  No early or multiple entries suckas.    

Alice In Wonderland Bedtime Bunnies from Candie Bolton x Peter Kato

    Have you ever thought about just how Alice fell down a rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland?  How big was that freakin bunny that it could dig a hole wide enough to swallow up a kid?  Or was he just an overachiever who was trying to show off his advanced constructing skills? Yeah, I know it's not based on a true story and that its a pretty wacky story overall.  I just want to make sure that there isn't some species of mutant bunnies trying to get rid of mankind on the sly.  What if they're responsible for those sinkholes you always hear about that cars and houses fall into?  I think this needs more investigation.

    Don't let the new panic I've instilled in you take away from this amazing collaboration between Candie Bolton and Peter Kato.  She's given 10 of his Bedtime Bunnies the Wonderland treatment and you could be lucky enough to own one when they go on sale tonight at 6pm eastern time only at http://peterkatoshop.com/.  Each one is $75 and comes packaged like a deck of cards.  

Purple Butterfly Porcelain Skull from NooN x K. Olin Tribu

    Skulls.  I love em, you love em.  They protect our brains from traumatic injury (most of the time), they give your head a shape much more pleasing than just the blob of skin and muscle it would be without it, and they are the perfect decoration for your palace once you have conquered your enemies (or your front porch to scare away would be sales people).  But what if you want to have, say, a dinner party at your house and your run of the mill skull collection just doesn't fit with the elevated theme of the evening?  Your prayers have been answered, because now you can put away all of those objects the police would like to question you about and display something far more artistic.

    NooN and K. Olin Tribu have just released the latest in their line of porcelain skulls with this one featuring purple butterfly embellishments.  Limited to only 50 pieces and housed in a wooden crate,  these are available to order right now from http://www.artandtoys.com/.  

Lolgolth Gnazgoroth Black and Red Preorders from Skinner x Unbox Industries

    You thought that if you hid under the warmth of your blanket it would go away.  That if you focused your mind on more pleasant things it's existence would cease.  There is no escape from the amalgamation of horror that is LOLGOTH GNAGOROTH!!!!!!

     I actually yelled that when I typed it, and now I think I've lost my voice.  Scared the crap out of the cats that were in the room too.  Now I'm gonna have to go buy them treats to apologize.  I can't help it though, sometimes I just get so intense while writing these posts that I have to vocally bring them from the digital world into the real world.  Sometimes that means I have to assure the police that no one is in fact being murdered in the house, all while not wearing pants.  Have you ever noticed the police tend not to believe you when you're not wearing pants?  Like it's part of their training or something.  

    I showed you pictures waaaaaaaaay back like a year or so ago of this crazy figure and told you about what a beast he was gonna be to produce.  Well Skinner and Unbox Industries must have found an ancient book of manufacturing spells cause the time has come for you to own one of these.  You can pick from red or black or get em both during the preorder period that runs until December 29th or until the amount of toys they've allocated for each color runs out.  They're $125 each, which is waaaaaaay less then I would have thought they would be, given the amount of detail and the amount of virgin's blood mixed into each one.  That last part is not confirmed, but let's just call it fact anyway.  Preorder yours now at http://store.unboxindustries.info/ 

Solar Stare Ultrus Bog from Skinner x Lulubell Toy Bodega

    We're doing some fascinating stuff in space right now.  We landed a little doohickey on a comet, we've got a Power Wheel on Mars driving around and finding ancient organic chemistry (like historical meth or something?) and the new Star Wars movie has got the whole world a buzz.  Space is the place to be and be seen.  But like your mom, space is vast and filled with unexplored areas our feeble human minds couldn't dream of.  What lurks there, waiting to enslave us?

    Could it be Ultrus Bog, that horrible beast that sprung forth from the mind of Skinner?  I dunno, I don't even know what is in my basement.  But I know that I love Ultrus Bog and you can love this new Solar Stare version from Lulubell Toy Bodega.  Time is running out though, because preorders went live for this dude yesterday, and will end in six days.  Six days!!!!!!!!!!  Cross someone off of your Christmas list that you really didn't like anyway and buy this for yourself.  

Order now at http://www.lulubelltoys.com/

"Toxic Goldfish" Toxigon Lottery from Mutant Vinyl Hardcore

    You know whats a weird popular thing online that I don't think anyone ever saw coming?  Zit popping videos.  And these aren't your run of the mill teenage grease pockets either.  I'm talking about giant-sized, cottage cheese gushing skin maladies that would challenge even the strongest stomach to get through.  Some of these videos have views well into the millions, making them on par with a new Taylor Swift video, and just about as watchable.  

   Just once I'd like for them to open up some giant growth on a dude's neck and have Toxigon pop out.  He looks like he'd be quite comfortable marinating under your skin until he was ready to wreak his own special brand of havoc on the world.  This "Toxic Goldfish" paint scheme really makes him look like some crazy biological anomaly that will one day have it's own daytime television commercial asking anyone who has experienced giving birth to a Toxigon to call some phone number and join a class action lawsuit against the makers of some new drug after it is determined that this crazy demon dude is the side effect of those pills you take just to be able to leave the house everyday and not freak out on people.  

    "Have you or someone you know taken the drug Prozac and as a result had a terrible hell spawn climb out of a skin blemish causing you extensive personal damage as you try to be the best parent anyone has ever been to such a hell-spawn even though his taste for flesh and vengeance on an unsuspecting world was greater than your capacity to love?  If you answered yes, you may be entitled to compensation.  We have lawyers who are also demonologists ready to take your case."

    Getting one of these beasts is actually a lot less painful than having one grow on the side of your neck.  You just have to enter a lottery and cross your fingers that you get picked.  Starting today (Friday, December 12)  at noon eastern time and lasting until tonight at 11:59pm eastern time, you can enter your pertinent details at http://www.mutantvinylhardcore.com/.  There are only 25 of these dudes to go around, so the winners will be announced on Saturday and invoiced for the price of the figure, which is $200 plus shipping.   

    

Toy Art Gallery Presents: Christmas Kaiju

   I'm a man with a lot of beliefs.  I believe we shouldn't have to pay for health care.  I believe the Flyers will win the Stanley Cup before I die.  I also believe that your holiday decorations should be so awesome that you just leave them out year round.  I'm not talking about your Santa Claus lawn inflatable or your snowmen bath towels, I'm talking about decorating with your collection.  Let Toy Art Gallery help introduce you to the world of permanent decorations during their Christmas Kaiju show this Friday.  All of your favorite artists have created stuff so amazing you won't have the heart to pack it up and forget about it 11 months out of the year.  Plus, it will save you time because you are always prepared for any festivities that may happen at your house.  Do you see what I do for you?  I'm better than Dr. Phil at improving lives.  Check out the list of artists below.

Resin Ornament Sets Featuring Argonaut Resins, The Jelly Empire, and Laura Alvarez

    I guess you could be lame and buy some Honey Boo Boo or Duck Dynasty Christmas ornaments from Wal Mart to fill your tree this year, or you could buy something much cooler and that won't make your family question your ability to feed yourself.  

     Argonaut Resins has created these holiday ornament sets in collaboration with The Jelly Empire and Laura Alvarez just in the nick of time to save your Christmas decorating blunders.  Each set comes with three sparkly handcrafted ornaments and will be available for sale starting tomorrow, December 12th, at noon eastern time.  Pick up a set or two at http://argonautresins.bigcartel.com/.

   

Whiskers of the Undead from Aesop Rock x Kidrobot

    I'll be the first to admit, I had never heard the music of Aesop Rock before.  Truthfully, I haven't really paid much attention to any rap after Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog in the early 90's.  That was back when rap would teach you about the crazy things that were going on beyond the perfectly manicured lawns and lemonade stands of suburbia.  It was an entire side of life I didn't know about and I found it fascinating.  My most influential musical times happened during the height of metal bands like Metallica and Slayer and then the whole grunge thing came along and I was really into that because it echoed my feelings as a teenager.  Rap music at the time was really similar when you think about it, it was just from a different cultural point of view.  The angst and alienation was all there, only it's manner of expression was different.  Now it seems like most of what passes as "popular" hip hop is only focused on how much material wealth the singer has or about how they're the best at what they do.   This self-aggrandizing is perfect for the generation that grew up with selfies and statues updates about what they're eating for lunch, but it is lost on me.

   I decided if I was gonna post about this toy I should know a little about the guy behind it, so I did a tad bit of internet research.  I listened to a few songs on iTunes, read a little bit about him on Wikipedia, and I was pretty impressed.  He seems like a thoughtful artist, someone who is not only a clever wordsmith but has the ideals behind those words to make his work compelling.  And he apparently likes cats, which is a big plus in my book.  So now let's bring it back around and talk about the feline specimen you see above.  

    Aesop Rock and Kidrobot are set to release this "Whiskers of the Undead" figure tomorrow and to say it is a striking piece would be to sell it far too short.  Artist Galen McKamy's hard work really shows and is beyond what you'd expect outside of their Black series of toys.  

   Now, something this intense doesn't come cheap, and at $250 it may grind your Christmas shopping to a halt, but that's why credit cards were invented.  Undead kitties need love too, ya know.   

Peter Kato is Gonna Make Christmas Even Cuter With His Latest Releases

    I don't know how people manage to live in those parts of the world that stay dark for months at a time, because the weather here has been depressing.  Though it's far from being as black as midnight out, everything is just covered in a shade of grey that makes you want to stay in bed till well after lunch time.  We desperately need something to brighten up our lives when the outside world refuses to, and that's where Peter Kato comes in with his festive resin creations.  

    There's bunnies everywhere!!!!!  There's sleeping bunnies, and polka dot bunnies, and even bunnies for your Christmas tree.  

  

    Ok, I know you just squealed with excitement, so let me give you all the pertinent details.  Everything you see above goes on sale tomorrow, December 11th, at 8pm eastern time only from http://peterkatoshop.com/.  These always sell out fast, so be ready to get down to business if you want one.  

     Now if you are of keen eye you might have noticed something that looks completely different/no rabbit like.  That is the work of Kevin Nam, who approached Peter about doing an internship with him.  Having no prior experience, Peter taught him as much as he could then challenged him to make his own toy.  The result is Big Top, which actually spins and has three separate hands that each represent either rock paper or scissors, so you can play against a friend or your most competitive cat.  They come in a few different colors and will be $30 each.  

Badleg Krampus from Goodleg Toys

    You know what my favorite reality show is on tv?  If you guessed on of those "Real Housewives" shows you can punch yourself in the eye for me.  The correct answer is "Beyond Scared Straight" where they send seemingly tough little brats to a real prison and make them cry.  The best is when they kids don't even need a convicted murderer yelling in their faces about how much fun cuddle time is, but when they start hysterically sobbing just by putting on the jumpsuit.  And they're always the kids that are like "I'm in a gang yo, I'll kill anyone if they don't know how bad I am" and they stand all of five feet tall and maybe weigh 80 pounds.  It is hilarious when they go from "I'm the baddest mofo you've ever seen, I'm gonna run this prison" to "where's my momma, I need my momma."  It's way funnier than Two and a Half Men ever was.  

   Watching little thugs have an emotional breakdown is one of my favorite past times, but don't you wish we would adopt some preemptive measures in the United States to maybe curb their behavior before having to send them off to a day of jail food and orange jumpsuits?  Enter Krampus.  It's high time we adopted this Christmas devil as part of our own holiday celebrations.  A rumored decedent of Loki, ol Krampus isn't into trickery as much as he is into stuffing bad kids into a bag and wailing on them with a stick.  And we could make a reality show about it and laugh as they scream and cry when the goat man shows up at their house.  That's must see tv.

    Goodleg Toys are offering up a preorder right now of their version of St. Nicholas's more fun counterpart.  Go right now to http://goodlegtoys.storenvy.com/ and ensure you have a secret weapon to make your little ones eat their vegetables and clean their room without complaint.  

Help Make Stegoforest Rider and Mossy Kappa Real Toys!!!

     I'm totally detecting a theme today.  If you guess what it is I won't smack you across the lips. You may or may not know Jesse Narens from his previous toy, the pictured Stegoforest, which in my opinion is pretty dang brilliant.  Well, some time has passed since that release and now it's time to make some more friggin toys, and stuff.  Help Jesse raise the funds he needs to make his newest creations a reality by supporting his Indie Go Go campaign.  Doesn't Indie Go Go sound like a hipster strip club?  Anyway, he's launched a campaign to get his new Mossy Kappa and Stegoforest Rider figures made in uber amazing Japanese vinyl, which if you didn't know, is like the platinum of plastics.  Follow this link, buy some col stuff, and help bring these to life.  Oh, and even if he doesn't get the entire amount funded, he's gonna cover the rest of the cash and everyone is still gonna get their toys.  

Rancid Raptor Blind Bags from James Groman x Lulubell Toy Bodega

    Did you see the trailer for the new Jurassic Park movie?  No, me neither, because a trailer for some indie space film called Star Wars came out and made me forget that other movies exist.  To say I'm excited for another Star Wars film is like saying Stephen Hawking is ok at math.  I'm so excited that I think I ruptured something, metaphorically of course.  I metaphorically ruptured all of my major organs with the excitement I could not contain.  Sadly, my health insurance doesn't cover things that can't be viewed on a CT Scan, so I might metaphorically die.  Metaphorically.

    But dinosaurs are still cool in my book, especially these little dudes from James Groman.  They're called Rancid Raptors, which makes them sound like bad mamma jammas, and they're available right this second from Lulubell Toy Bodega.  They're sold blind bagged, so you may get the standard army green version, or one of the random mixed in colors you see above those.  

Huffington Post asks "Are Art Toys Over?"

    Read The Huffington Post's original article here, and then proceed to my rant below.  

    Ok, now first I must apologize for wasting those few minutes of your life to read that.  Apparently a major journalistic site finds it completely acceptable to determine whether something that many people love is dead or not in such a boring little blip of an article.  The writer just decided to herself "hey, I wonder if like, Kidrobot and art toys are a thing anymore" asked two people what they thought, and concluded "oh, I guess so, kinda."  How do you start with a headline that obviously deserves a great deal of attention/research/forethought, and create something that could be rivaled by most 15 year old's Facebook posts about how their parents suck for not letting them go to the Lady Gaga concert?  

   Am I just a tad biased because I happen to be a collector?  Of course, let's not kid ourselves here.  But I'm also angry because someone actually got paid to write that article.  I toil away on this wee little website day after day just for the satisfaction of knowing people are reading this and hopefully enjoying it.  I've never made a dime doing it and I resent that someone could write something so boring and cash a check for it.  And she called us all hipsters, which is further proof that the writer really has no idea what she's talking about, and should probably stick to writing such compelling articles as "The Easiest, Most DIY Bacon" or "Packing for Baby's First Roadtrip."  Isn't that who you want to determine whether your favorite hobby is destined for the same fate as Beanie Babies?  

    She asked people's opinions about what she had to say, so why not bombard her with how you feel at this link.