Saturday, May 9, 2015

Worship the Little Fuzzy Bunny Overlords!!! A Review of the Cute and Crazy Labbits from Frank Kozik x Kidrobot




  I'm getting a little misty over here, as this is the last review I'll be posting for Labbit Appreciation Week.  Not to say that it's completely over because I am doing a giveaway for a Joker Labbit.  If you don't have an Instagram account yet, now would be the perfect time to get yourself one sucka cause you're gonna need it to enter.  And you should have one anyway cause there's crazy stuff going on there that you're missing out on.  Like cat pictures, and butt pictures. Cats on butts, butts near cats, even cat butts.  It's the perfect app!!!





   Our last review of this epic week will focus on the Cute and Crazy mini plush series.  These things are great, cause not only are they small and adorable and look like Freddie Mercury but they come packaged in window boxes.  That means you can pick the ones you want without playing the blind box gamble.



 

    Look at how freakin cute these are!!!  These are for when you need your plush Labbits, but the at-home models just aren't practical for your situation.  Portability in your snuggle critters is a key feature that these guys have loads of.  A bungee cord sprouting from their backs means you can hang em just about anywhere you need.  Let's see some examples from my own life:


No cop would dare give you a ticket with something so adorable hanging from your rearview mirror.  



So you severed your hand in a machine that costs more than you make in two years?  Give this little guy a squeeze and bring a smile back to your face!


There's no reason to panic when a Labbit with a mustache and shiny underwear is near.  Now take a deep breath and wash those shards of plastic from your eye!


     When Sharon and I were opening these dudes we caused a frenzy among our feline living companions which got me thinking.  If you were to remove the cord and stuff em with cat nip you'd have some perfect cat toys!  Kidrobot could invade a previously untapped market for designer toys by making ones specifically for your pet.  God knows someone needs to design a better cat condo, cause I just can't accept one of those in my life.  I know my cats would love one, but they make me sad to look at.  And I've tried, I really have, but I'll never get past how hideous they are.



Pick up a few now at www.kidrobot.com and wherever designer toys are sold.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Cue the Rocky Theme, Cause I'm Feeling Like a Champ Reviewing the Batman Labbit from Frank Kozik x Kidrobot




    We made it, folks!!!!  Originally the plan was to do five reviews in five days, but I think we should go bigger.  This is Labbit Appreciation Week after all, so I'm using the last bit of gas in my tank to do SIX reviews in SIX days!!!!  I know, it's pretty nuts.  This is like Evel Knievel jumping the Snake River, except I'm gonna land safely on the other side, thrust my fists in the air, and get my face on a commemorative plate.   And we're gonna do a giveaway on Instagram to celebrate all the fun we've had this week.  More about that later on though.



    Uh oh, it looks like Batman has pulled The Joker's card, and being that I've heard an N.W.A. song or two in my day, I know that means bad news for a certain clown.  This isn't Adam West's Batman folks; this is the gritty, unshaven vigilante that Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan made so popular.  The Dark Knight indeed!!



    This dude is the perfect companion piece to The Joker that I reviewed earlier in the week, and where the former shined with subtlety, the latter is killing it with tons of printed details.  Lots of black shadows and a fully stocked utility belt really bring the character to life.  Like The Joker there is no sculpting on this Labbit, which really serves to give it more of a comic book feel.  It also speaks to how great the art is that I don't miss the 3D aspects that we've come to expect in recent releases. Though he does come with a removable cloth cape, which after I took the photos I decided to put in a drawer because we have a cat that would see that as an appetizer.  He's already had to have a shirt sleeve removed from his gut, so his trustworthiness around any sort of fabric is less than none.  


With cape.


Naked.

    Do I love it?  Yes, yes I do.  I'm a sucker for anything Batman, but especially when it's presented in such a unique way.  It's the perfect marriage of a well-known license and a designer toy.
     


Na na na na na na na na na na na na bat butt.

   The caped crusader is available right now at www.kidrobot.com and wherever designer toys are sold.  

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Before I Take A Nap on These, Let's Review Happy Labbit Plushies from Frank Kozik x Kidrobot




  We made it to day 4 of Labbit Appreciation Week!  If we do this again next year I'm gonna have to start training early cause all this appreciating has tested my stamina.  Labbit Appreciation Week is a marathon, not a sprint, but I just get too excited.  Luckily the only thing I have to do today is get a haircut, and I'm pretty sure I can get some sleep while that's going on without any risk to my personal safety.



    I'm a bit jealous of these Labbits cause they have some pretty wicked beards going on.  I can grow a mean mustache and I have ample coverage on my chin, but my mutton chop game is weak.  I wanna go full lumberjack but no matter how hard I will my follicles to cooperate, they're just kinda lazy.


I feel your pain, bro.

    What I love about these things is that they're so freakin soft that they almost completely calm the fires that rage inside me.  Are they shaving chinchillas to make these things?  Seriously, these could be great anger management tools.   When you're at work and you're at the point that you want to beat one of your coworkers to death when they can't do simple math (someone's elementary school dropped the ball) just grab one of these guys, squeeze it next you your face, no watch your anger slowly melt away as the bearded bunny works his magic.  You'll be whisked to a magic land of tranquility, where the air smells like baked goods and the streets FLOW WITH THE BLOOD OF PEOPLE WHO DONT UNDERSTAND HOW TO DO ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION AND THUS MAKE YOUR JOB HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE!!!!!  Sometimes you need more than one Labbit to effectively calm your nerves.


I think it's starting to work. 

    Like their bretheren I wrote about yesterday, these don't come with that troublesome hang tag and are instead packed in a nice cardboard thingy that easily detaches from the toy for maximum snuggle capability.  And you might be worried that these are some of those annoying hipsters you see hanging out at the bookstore like some really depressing gang that dresses in their grandfather's old clothes, but I can assure you after spending time with them that they are not.  Not one of them owns a typewriter, let alone taken it to Central Park.  The only vinyl records any of them owned were the Iron Maiden reissue picture disks and that's because once hung on the wall they really tied the whole living room together.  And they are kinda partial to hanging out in the woods, but not so they can craft a zine about how we are living in an existential void supported by rampant consumerism.  No, they're looking for skulls.

 

Big Skulls.


To make lamps.  

 
Get your snuggle on at www.kidrobot.com and wherever designer toys are sold.  
    

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Oh So Soft and Fluffy Review Time Featuring Frank Kozik x Kidrobot's Prehistoric Labbits




    Day three! Day three! Day three of Labbit Appreciation Week!!!!! I had choreographed an entire routine with cheerleaders and fireworks and stuff, but I forgot to actually write it down, or hire cheerleaders, or go to Pennsylvania and secure festive explosives (New Jersey doesn't understand fun).  I forgot to do anything other than think "that would be cool" and then I went and read wrestling news online.  My bad.

    We're going a little soft for the next few days as we talk about plush.  Now I for one don't have a lot of plush figures, but my wife does. When we started dating I would try and win her stuffed animals from those crane machines on the boardwalk.  She ended up with all kinds of random things that we have boxed up somewhere in the house.  But other than that we've kind of ignored the world of stuffed critters.  Those days of plush ignorance are now over.



     These Labbits aren't just cute and fuzzy, they're also prehistoric.  This is like, man-plush, like if Frank Frazetta was gonna design cute little critters. And they have mustaches, which ups the manly level to 1000.


I took this picture while saving a small child from a tiger attack.  With my bare hands.  While building a boat.  

    But they're not just for dudes by any means.  They're also some of the softest things you'll ever feel in your life, which the ladies are gonna love.  They're softer than that toilet paper those weird cartoon bears are always going on about that totally wrecks your pipes whenever you use more than one and a half squares because that stuff is as thick as a beach towel.  I'm gonna need a plumber, fyi.



Go ahead and squeeze me.  I can take it.  


    It's obvious that these guys are cool and that no matter who you are they posses the qualities you're looking for when you decide to fill your bed with soft cuddly rabbits,  but there are some subtle reasons that make them even better that you may not even think of at first.  That's why I'm a professional.  For one, they don't have those annoying hang tags.  For anyone that is interested in keeping their collectibles as pristine as possible this is a a blessing from the toy gods.  It would drive me nuts to cut one of those tags off and drive me equally as nuts trying not to bend it all up.  These Labbits eliminate any of that worry by coming in a cardboard halo that easily releases from the toy and can be stored safely away.

    And secondly, they must be made close to a catnip factory because the moment I unpacked them my cat Icarus claimed them all for himself and wouldn't let the other cats anywhere near them.  Once he felt his bounty was secure he sat in the middle of them and went to sleep.


We never should have let him watch The Hobbit.  Smaug is not the best role model.  

    You better get your hands on these before they go extinct (how could I not make the most obvious joke).  They're available right now at www.kidrobot.com and wherever designer toys are sold.  

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Let's Review the Pants Off the New Joker Labbit from Frank Kozik x Kidrobot




   We are knee deep in Labbit Appreciation Week and so far it's going splendidly.  Have to been appreciating your Labbits?  Don't lie to me if you didn't, cause like Santa Claus and the NSA, I see you when you're sleeping.  Ok, that's kind of a stretch, but I'm taking your word for it that you're getting your appreciation on and I don't want to be made to look the fool.  And why wouldn't you be appreciating these iconic little bunnies?  Let's keep the festivities rolling with our second review of the week, this time featuring The Joker Labbit.



    What is it about sociopaths in popular culture that are so appealing?  Ok, spoiler alert, if you're watching The Following and you missed last week's episode don't say I didn't warn you.





    But that moment Joe Carrol finally met his demise at the business end of a lethal injection cocktail I was completely bummed.  And it wasn't just me; everyone I know who watches the show felt the same way.  The dude was a pretty filthy human being, with all the murder and whatnot,  but he was also the most compelling character on TV in recent memory.  Let's face it: the bad guys are always the most interesting and there loss can be tough to take sometimes.   Which is good that Batman has that whole "no kill" policy, otherwise we might have long ago been deprived of the madness of the Joker.



    The Joker has been involved in a lot of controversy as of late, with that comic book cover featuring Batgirl that wasn't released to the fact that Jared Leto is playing him in the Suicide Squad movie.  People are passionate because he's one of the greatest villains of all time, and as many incarnations as we may be used to seeing him, we've never seen him like this.



   I've been waiting nearly two years for this guy to come out and I was starting to worry it wasn't gonna happen.  I had only seen the box art at Toy Fair, which certainly doesn't do this figure justice.  What I like most about the toy is how minimal the design really is.  It would be easy to go completely over kill and fill every space you can, but his face is composed mostly of a rather unnerving grin and little else.  His blacked out eyes let you know that this is one clown who's probably hiding more than handkerchiefs up his sleeve.  But even as crazy as he may be, he has opted to forgo the traditional cigarette that most of his brethren prefer, and has instead planted a deadly squirting flower between his teeth.  Much less deadly for him, much more deadly for everyone else.



    I don't usually advocate for allowing criminals in your house, even when they are in the form of woodland creatures, but there's always exceptions to every rule right?  Besides, it's not like The Joker is known for eating all your food and ordering pay per view that you'd be embarrassed to have on your cable bill.


Photograph me like one of those Kardashian girls.

 

    The clown prince of crime is available right now at www.kidrobot.com and anywhere designer toys are sold.  

Monday, May 4, 2015

Super Shogun Review Time: Personal Happiness Labbit Series from Frank Kozik x Kidrobot



    Here's the deal folks:  This week is officially Labbit Appreciation Week.  It's official in so much as I called it official and not by government decree or anything, because the White House never responded to my petition.



    The other day I received a giant box from Kidrobot filled with all things Labbit and I'm gonna share them with you each day this week.  We'll laugh, we'll hopefully not cry, and we'll do a hell of a lot of talking about plastic and plush bunnies.  Basically it's what any other grown man you know is up to on a typical day.


    We're gonna kick off this week by checking out the brand new Personal Happiness mini series.  There's no better feeling than sitting in the floor with an entire case of figures and tearing into each one.  I wonder if there's a career path in opening up blind boxes, because I can't think of a job I'm better suited for.  I love mindless tasks, I love toys, and I like throwing trash all over the place.  I assume if I had this job that there would be another person responsible for cleaning up the boxes and foil innards.   Maybe I should bring that up during the interview process.


I'm gonna need my assistant to take care of this.  

    Sharon and I parked ourselves in front of the TV and one by one opened each and every box.  The first thing we noticed is how damn cute this series is.  Not that any previous Labbits haven't been cute per se, but these guys have given up smoking and seem more adorable for it.  The designs are fun: from a bowl of punch, to a magician, to a few mustached and polka dotted gifts.  They make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, which I'm sure we could all use more of.  Not me, cause I'm already too evil to be helped in any way, but they still made me crack a smile. A dark, evil smile.



     The second thing we noticed is that on the little fold out checklist that comes with each figure there is absolutely no mention of ratios or silhouetted mystery designs.  Now I don't know if this is something that will continue, if it's going to to translate to other types of Kidrobot product, or it's just a test to see what people think, but I for one like it.  There's no feeling of dread that you won't get the figures you want; no discouragement that you're rotten luck will prevent you from enjoying the toys you love.  After all, collecting plastic rabbits should be fun and not involve complicated math usually reserved for cheating at blackjack.



    A full case of these contains 25 blind boxes, and out of those we were only 2 figures short of a full set (we're looking for the piñata one and the Labbit in the hat if you have them to trade).  It's by far the best results we've ever had opening a case of any type.


    I feel that I have presented a compelling case for you to immediately stop what you are doing and obtain some of these delightful little critters.  Buy them by the handfuls and fill your pockets with them to remind you that no matter how bad your day gets, you still have Labbits stuffed in your pants.  I think I just started a self-help revolution!  



     These little dudes are available now at www.kidrobot.com and wherever else designer toys are sold.
    

Friday, May 1, 2015

Help Monsterfoot Creations Bring Skull Boy to Life




    If there's one thing I'm about it's helping people make their dreams come true.  And deli ham, I am really all about deli ham.  Seriously, I'm thinking about just forgoing this post and going to get some lunch meat.  Ahhh nevermind, cause I'm also all about not leaving the house more than once per day and I've already hit my quota in that department.  Let's get back to business.

    A lot of people these days dream of being toy designers and Kickstarter is a great resource for it.  Crowd funding has made so many awesome projects happen by putting the money and means in the hands of creative folk, and now it's time to help Monsterfoot Creations bring his vision into plastic reality.

    Skull Boy is ready to make the trip to Japan, get molds made of all his pieces, and then be cast in luxurious sofubi and shipped to collectors around the world.  The only thing holding him back is a little bit of cash, which is where you come in.  By now everyone knows how Kickstater works, so check out this link, help this toy get made, and get some awesome rewards in the process.  Then pick yourself up  some cold cuts, cause why wouldn't you?