Mario Troper Enamel Pin from Playful Gorilla

    Enamel pins are the most popular thing in the world today, which is great until you literally run out of room.  Your jacket is getting short on real estate so you've got to pick and choose which ones you buy very carefully.  The easiest way to do that is to combine your favorite characters so you can represent more of what you love.  No need to thank me, I enjoy solving all of the world's problems.  You should read my ideas for closing the deficit and reforming healthcare.

    Playful Gorilla has mashed up the world's of Star Wars and Super Mario Brothers into an amalgam known as Mario Trooper.  Based on one of his giant custom figures, this pin is available for a limited preorder right now through www.playfulgorilla.storenvy.com,  and when I say limited I mean as in 25.  Those 25 will also receive a free sticker of the Mario Trooper.

 

Your Last Chance To Own a Chrome Mister Melty from Buff Monster

 

  If the last thing you needed for your custom chopper was a chromed out Mister Melty from Buff Monster then you've got one shot at completing the bike of your dreams.  That's because today (September 15) at 10 am eastern time is the last time these chrome figures will ever be offered.  No minds will be changed, no pleas will be heard, this is absolutely it.  You don't have to bolt this five inch figure to a set of handle bars, but it wouldn't look out of place if you did.  Seize the day at www.staymelty.com.

Steel Age Joker from 3A

    This image of The Joker would sell me instantly on any movie he was in.  I have no idea how they could contort a real life human being's face like this, but it would be worth it.  Just think: if the design was this amazing you know the story line couldn't suck.  It would be impossible.  Impossible, I say!

    There isn't an ounce of sanity left in this dude's grin and that's what makes him interesting.  3A does a great job of taking something very familiar to us all and presenting them in a way that feels fresh, and Steel Age Joker is no exception.  Featuring fabric clothing and led lights in his already creepy eyes, this should have any Bat-fan drooling all over their comic books.  Which for the sake of market value are hopefully in protective sleeves to preventing water damage.

    Available beginning October 4th at http://www.bambalandstore.com, for $240 (which includes world wide shipping).

NYCC Exclusive Zack Ryder WWE Pop Vinyl from Funko

    New York Comic Con is right around the corner and you're looking at the best exclusive to be offered the entire weekend.  Professional wrestler, toy collector, and all around Hype Bro Zack Ryder is finally getting the Pop Vinyl treatment.  Is this bigger than his ladder match win for the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania?  I'm sure it ranks up there, though when he won that match I cried with happiness a little bit inside my body.  It's a skill I've picked up during my many years of extreme manliness.  

    Funko has a lottery system for anyone attending the convention that you have to enter on line and you can bet I'm gonna try to get one of these.  I'm gonna put him on my desk and he's going to inspire me to keep working hard.  Not verbally of course, unless the one I get happens to be haunted for some weird reason.  Like someone fell into the vat of plastic just as they were making these figures and his soul is trapped in mine.  This just took a dark turn.  

    Oh, and the Hype Bros deserve to be tag team champions in case anyone is reading this that has the power to make that happen and is easily persuaded by my lack of argument.  

La Maudite Resin Figure from Naomi Knaff

    For me, Naomi Knaff is at the top of the resin game.  Her work is 100% original, surreal as it gets, and never dull to look at.  Calling them "figures" is a bit misleading I suppose, as each one is a bizarre little work of art.  Her latest release, La Maudite, perfectly captures all those attributes.  Standing at 6 inches tall, each figure is hand cast and painted by their creator.  The first three of these one-off sculptures will be available tonight (Sunday, September 10) at 6pm est, while two more will be available next month at New York Comic Con.  Pick one up at http://www.naomiknaff.com for $70 plus shipping.

Marbled Vinyl Tauro from Splurrt x Lulubell Toy Bodega

     I've been thinking about building a labyrinth as one of those mid life crisis type things.  Originally I wanted to build a Viking ship on my lawn and it would attract the media and maybe garner me some mild internet celebrity (until some starlet's phone with saucy pictures gets hacked).  I thought it could be pretty inspirational as well as being a serious code violation.  But then I was thinking that no one has built a good labyrinth in ages.  Corn mazes in no way count because anyone can just walk through the damn corn to escape.  And there's nothing epic waiting for you if you make your way out of one, other than a hay ride and the in ability to re-wear your itchy clothes before washing them.  That is the opposite of feeling like you achieved something great.

    Every great labyrinth needs a great monster and Tauro fits the bill perfectly.  Though he may be only 10 inches of sweet plastic he does aspire to greatness and I'd be willing to hire him once construction is completed.  This mighty beast from Splurrt will be available this Saturday, September 9, at noon pacific time for $135 plus shipping.  He is a mixture of brown, white, and gold glitter vinyl and is exclusive to Lulubell Toys.  Snag one at https://www.lulubelltoys.com.

Horror and Sci-Fi Madballs from James Groman x Kidrobot

    This one is going in the "straight outta nowhere" file as Best Buy stores around the country have released these horror and sci-fi themed Madballs from Kidrobot.  These foam balls are so much like the originals that they even got the creator of Madballs, James Groman, to design these (along with the fine folks at Bigshot Toyworks).  There's six different ones to choose from if you're one of those people that has impulse control and can somehow resist buying all of them.  If you are, I don't understand your life.

   On a side note, I am all about Best Buy carrying more stuff like this.  I've got one of their credit cards for whenever our appliances die, as our microwave did not so long ago.  The one I wanted didn't get me to the no interest financing deal, so I had to add to my sale.  I ended up buying iTunes gift cards, but I could have gotten something like this instead.  Now if car dealers would carry other stuff that I could trade my 2002 Mustang towards, I'd be in business.  Like a hot dog stand.  Or one of those sky diving simulators.  Or an in ground pool for my basement.