Di-Vinyl

Kronk's 8 Inch Tree Hugger Dunny. One of my favorites.



Jesse Hernandez's 8 inch Jaguar Warrior. Sweet!

A sampling of the newest series... (loaded up on most of these!)
Hey all,

This post is actually about a week to late but earlier this month there was a brand new vinyl launch from Kid Robot, their Dunny series 2009. All in all I thought this was one of the strongest series in recent memory. They used a great array of established vinyl artists from earlier series like Frank Kozik, Mr. Shane Jessup. Kronk among others as well as a mixture of guys who haven't worked in this medium before, like Brandt Peters and Shawnimal.

This is defiantly the most challenging series to date, in terms of finding a complete set. There is usually one out of the the run of figures that it very limited, this time they did several limited edition runs. In the past the purchase of one case has typically gotten us what we needed, this time we came up significantly short. Still this gives us some stuff to work on and towards. We ended up with a lot of duplicates out of our case so we are going to try to turn some of those around and see if we can't turn those into some we actually need. The main two that we didn't get that I wanted was the Brandt Peters one and one of the hidden rare ones by Pon. It looks like a box of Chinese take-out. Very Cool.. I also really want the one designed by Andrew Bell. Still I can't complain we had a good pull and it just keeps me amped up for the next release, probably sometime in January of 2010.

Lately we have actually gotten some really good deals on vinyl online as well. Both Jason and I scored 8 inch Dunny's for less than the selling price (including shipping) in the last month as well. I scored artist Jesse Hernandez's 8 inch Jaguar Warrior themed figure, while Jason got artist Kronk's Tree Hugger Dunny. I posted some pics of each up top, along with some images of the latest Dunny series. Looking forward the vinyl market looks to be kind of slow, I haven't heard of any big releases in the next two month, though I am sure there will be plenty of holiday themed figures for Christmas. Enjoy the pics and I will see you here tomorrow for new Flash Fiction. Thanks!


End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl!

Hey all,

Coming out of SDCC I actually added some sweet new vinyl to my collection. I didn't really have a great place to take some pics of what I got, plus I worked right up until the last day on one of the pieces. There were three main things that I picked up. First was the black exclusive variant of Mr. Shane Jessup's 8 inch Bunny Dunny, made by Kid Robot. Limited to only 200 pieces, I felt extremely lucky to be number 200. I also got it signed so that was an additional bonus.

The second piece has quickly established itself as one of my favorites. Tara McPherson, one of my favorite artists, took a blank white 3 inch Do-It-Yourself Munny figure from Kid Robot and customized a very quick, but very cool figure for me. The hot pink marker and detail on the sign is just perfect, and one of my favorite pieces in my Tara McPherson collection.

The final piece is one of the best. Last year you may recall I took an 8 inch Black Do-It-Yourself Munny to Con and had some of my favorite artists draw on it. It is one of the best pieces in my collection, so I decided to do that again this year, instead using a 12 inch Blank Do-It-Yourself Teddy Troop figure from Flying Fortress. It is a large blank bear with a detachable helmet and I thought it had a lot of great surface space to draw on. Once again I turned to some of my favorite artists, as well as to some new blood, to create and draw on the figure for me.

Overall on the piece I got the likes of vinyl and urban artists like Frank Kozik, Tara McPherson, Attaboy and Buff Monster (all of whom contributed to last years piece.) As well as new talent like Kathy Olivas, Brendt Peters, Kano, Angry Wobots, David Horvath and Peak-a-Boo Monster. I think the piece turned out brillantly and I am really happy as to how it turned out.

I also thought it appropriate to include some pictures from the live art show that we went to this past Thursday, where artists like Buff Monster and Attaboy contributed to the gig. It was a very cool experience, and not just because of the free flowing boobs. It was intense seeing the level of art and detail that some of the guys went to. All in all it was a great time to be a fan of vinyl toys. Enjoy some of the pics below...




One of the wall pieces at the the Live Art Show



Another piece from the show



One of the live art models....



Buff Monster's model taking a photo...



Attaboy at work...



Top down on my custom Teddy Troop. I took several angles so you can get the full scope.











Front and back of the Shane Jessup Dunny.





Ahh Tara McPherson's piece.

Hope you enjoyed the pics. The vinyl front is pretty low until the next series of Dunny launch later this year, so I'll be back with another column then. Thanks for reading!

End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl

Hey all

A bit of a different post but last night I attended Red Hot Robots 2nd Anniversary Party. Red Hot is the primary source for urban and vinyl art and toys in the Valley and the shop I hit whenever a new piece or toy or urban themed art is going to drop. Last year at the 1 year party the owner, Jason, had a great party planned. There was live music and raffles for prizes, with an assortment of cool and strange snacks, candy, and beers.

This year was more of an Asian theme, with Asian themed beers, including a brand called Tiger beer that I had never had before. I had two. There was a bunch of strange Japanese candy and the DJ was spinning all sorts of music, some off of a CD created specifically for the Red Hot Robot 2 year Anniversary. There was a ring toss game where you could win prizes, including one of 2 grand prizes! I Managed to win a bag of candy and some Silly Putty, which I gave to one of the children that came to the show later that night when they had run out of prizes.

All in all I had a really fun time. My room mate Jason (not the owner) won one of the raffles and got a bag of assorted vinyl toys which was cool, and since no one won the grand prizes at the ring toss, they were raffled off at the end of the night. Autumn won one of those as the very last ticket called. Inside was a limited edition T shirt and a $35 gift card. Truthfully a very sweet prize.

The night was a huge success for the owner, nearly everyone bought a good amount of swag, including me who didn't even need anything. The New Times, sort of the local street scene paper, was there taking pictures for an article in the upcoming edition and took shots of us, so we may even be in the paper. One of the things I like about the owner is that he really goes all out for any parties at his store. He always has a great selection of drinks and wonderfully unique snacks and he always creates great gift bags for random winners. We have been lucky enough to win a couple of times at the different parties he throws, whether it be a trading party for the launch of a new toy line, or an Anniversary Party like last night.

Overall we had a blast and it's just a bonus that the owner is such a genuinely nice guy. Thanks for reading guys!

End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl!

Hey all,

Wanted to drop a few quick notes on the latest goings on in the world of vinyl and urban toys. Kid Robot, makers of the Dunny line of vinyl toys, released a new series of figures this past week. They are a very limited edition run of figures all in a theme. Kid Robot usually does a regular series run (numerical), and then a theme run. Some of the themes in the past have been Los Angles (with all LA based artists), Azteca (Hispanic artists), and the last theme was the United Kingdoms, with all artists being from Britain. For this run Kid Robot used a much smaller production scale, making these figures much harder to get and more limited. They tied this limited availability with the theme, Endangered. Each Dunny is modeled after an endangered animal, some modeled after even fictitious ones.

Overall my personal opinion of this set marks it as one of my lesser favorites. There were still a few nice figures in the lot and between Jason and myself we got all but about one we really wanted. To my knowledge there were 16 figures in the run, including the two chases and a color variant. We managed to score the color variant but not the two chases or the more limited 1/40 figures. Still we managed a nice haul to hold over the old addiction until Comic Con.

I also managed this week to finish my Gamma Mutant Space Friends line from Kid Robot after Jason scored an Ion figure off the Kid Robot message boards for me. That means I have the full set of 14 figures, including the limited 1 in 80 Stella (seahorse) and both color way variants.

I hope to post up in the next week or so my own attempts at creating some vinyl art. I bought a couple of blank Mini-Munny's and have been working on painting and designing them. With the second one I am actually photographing my progress. Be on the lookout for finished product next month.

I'll be back tomorrow with my review for Terminator Salvation. Until then, thanks for reading!

End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl

Hey guys,

Just wanted to drop a quick blurb on last weeks new vinyl toy release, Tara McPherson's Gamma Mutant Space Friends from Kid Robot. As I have commented on in the past I have been really enjoying the urban art toy culture that has sprung up over the last several years. I suppose that it appeals to me on many levels. I love art and many of the pieces are designed by some really fabulous artists from around the world. It also works by appealing to my collector nature. Naturally I am a bit of a completist, when I get into something, I want to know all about it or collect all there is to it. It works mostly in comics for me, when I dive into a new series I work to get all the issues and stories that I am missing. As they come in a set usually 12 to 20 pieces large, generally I want to collect them all.

Possibly my favorite artist is Tara McPherson, a girl who started off making concert posters but who has exploded in the last 5 years both in the urban art scene and toy culture, as well as becoming a globally recognized painter. She launched her first toy line specifically made for her, where she had designed all the pieces and all the colors and they are great. She uses repeating symbols in her work and this is like some of her art has taken on 3 dimensions, bringing some of her more recognized characters to life.

I headed out this past Thursday to pick up some pieces and made a great dent in the collection. I got nearly the entire series plus the two color variants. I am only missing three that I am going to try to pick up individually online. A big thanks to Jason's girlfriend Autumn for hooking me up with perhaps the rarest one out of her pulls.

I posted some pics up of the pieces and I can't wait to catch Tara at this years Comic Con, she has a new art book out that I need to grab as well. I'll post again next month as a brand new Dunny series drops early in the month.

Thanks for reading!

End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl!

Hey all,

So anyone who reads this blog (like both of you) knows that I have like 3 controlling interests in my life, writing, comic books, and my latest craze, collectible vinyl art toys. Specifically toy manufacturer Kidrobot's 3 inch vinyl line, Dunnys. I've posted before anytime they launch a new series. which on average is about twice a year. They rolled out early this year with a brand new line of 17 figures by some of the United Kingdoms best urban artists, people like Julie West, Jon Burgerman, CLUTTER, and Shok 1 among others.

Typically they roll out two series a year, the next numerical series that has a medley of artists from around the world, of which they rolled out with series 5 towards the end of last year, and a theme series. Some of the themes from past series have been New York, L.A., French, and Azteca (Spanish /South American) featuring artists from these sections of the globe. This theme was the UK. I have to say that despite liking the last two series (Series 5 and French) they have been weaker launches than past series. For me, this is the best series they have done in a while. My room mate Jason, his girlfriend Autumn, and myself went in on a case and pretty much finished the set, except for two of the figures, one of the hard to get chases (though we did get the other) and a mystery figure, both of which I am sure we will track down.

We headed out for the local vinyl and urban toy store, Red Hot Robot as they typically run a launch party whenever new series come out. What is great about the parties are the cool prizes the owner gives away and the sweet snacks he rolls out with, this time coordinating a lot of the prizes with English themed treats including English beers, snacks, and candy. It was cool. You can also trade for stuff you may need than another person has extra of. Trading may be the best part of it as sometime you can strike a good deal. With the French series we got all but one through trades (though I came across the other later) and with this we are just two short. I'll post some picks up top for you to enjoy.

Truth be told, my favorite artist, Tara McPherson, has a whole series all to herself rolling out in March or May so that is definitely something I am looking forward to to tie me over until the next release of Series 6. The party was cool and I always like heading down to Red Hot to get my vinyl fix! Take a look and maybe you can see how cool some of these pieces of collectible art are!

Thanks for reading!

End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl

Hey all,

Hope the Christmas holiday was a good one. I have to say Christmas this year was fantastic. I got two great books, one about creating the comic book masterpiece The Watchmen (of which the film version is due next year) and a particularly fascinating book on the letters of correspondence of the late great Groucho Marx. Truthfully though, this was a very vinyl Christmas.

Still caught in the throws of our vinyl art toy obsession, my room mate, his girlfriend, and I truly chased after some really special work. It is a convenient bit that each of us have our own favorite creators, though there is a decent amount of overlap. Autumn is a huge fan of Kathy Olivas, Jason of a designer called Buff Monster, and myself with Tara McPhereson. So whenever these creators put out new work, we are invariably drawn to it. To be fair, we have been trying to cut extraneous collecting out for moneys sake, primarily sticking to collecting Dunnys, of which I have posted before on. These creators get a pass though, along with a select few others, that warrant our collecting.

I have to say I feel truly lucky in receiving 2 fantastic pieces by Tara. She created a limited edition run of two large format figures, one of a Chinese Gosho doll, and the other a variant paint of the comic character Hellboy, who had his own large scale version. I was really surprised to see these two items, of which I didn't even know where both in print until slightly before Christmas.

Jason had a very Buff Monster Christmas after getting a custom painted figure, as well as two 8 inch figures from the Dunny series, one by renowned artist Shepard Fairy and the other an early figure in the 8 in line by Insa, which has a cool little zip up hoodie.

All in all it was great Christmas to be a vinyl fan. Now its time to pinch the pennies again as the 3 inch Dunny line launches its new figures next month, all with a London theme. I posted some pics up top of the sweet figures we got.


End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl!

Hey all,

I have been meaning to post another update on the designer toy scene that I have been into lately but I didn't have enough material for a worthwhile post. Truthfully I have been meaning to post this since Friday, but I was out of town for the weekend and haven't had the time.

Anyway Thursday saw the release of Kidrobot's newest toy line, Dunny Series 5 on Thursday. Great designer vinyl by some really good artists. Guys like Huck Gee, Frank Kozik, Kathy Olivas, Devilrobots, the list is REALLY long. They launched 19 different designs this time and for the first time Jason, his girlfriend Autumn, and myself went in on a case. That's 25 different toys. We had extremely great luck getting the Kozik (one of the rarest) as well as the hard to find Olivas and two hard to find Huck Gee's!. Through some deft trading at the launch party, we completed the whole set!

To be completely honest, this series isn't my favorite of the Dunny line. They usually drop 2 lines a year of Dunny's. The main series (of which this was #5) and a sub series, usually highlighting a specific genre of location, like the Los Angles series or the French series which focused on artists from those locales. Still there are a few I liked alot and it really helps fill out a very nice set. The Dunny line is only 3 inches in height, so they are small fun and collectible. Kidrobot also releases an 8 inch line, of which they usually launch one a month featuring one 8 inch by a popular artist.

The other vinyl craze around here, though not so much by me though I do like him, is vinyl artist Buff Monster and his line of vinyl from Mindstyle. It's really hard to explain his type of toy, sort of a crossbreed between Kaiju (Japanese monsters) and Ice cream, with a dash of sex thrown in. See, I said it was strange, but it also makes for some cool looking toys. I posted some pics up top, one of the Dunny Series 5, and some Buff Monster above that. Check them out! They are fun and they are art!

End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl and Food for Thought

Hey all,

Saturday night saw my best friend Jason, his girlfriend Autumn, and yours truly down at a place called Red Hot Robot for the celebration of the store's 1 year anniversary. As I've blogged previously, all of us are huge into this small urban and vinyl art toy phase, and any opportunity to have some fun, check out some new merchandise, and get a free beer is welcome for me.

While we were down there, a representative from The Phoenix New Times, our underground and pop culture paper, was there covering the party and taking pictures. Jason and Autumn both posed for shots as well as me, though the main reason I got picked was my kick ass t-shirt. It says Hopeless Romantic Seeks Filthy Whore. Very funny and very provocative, I always get a nice range of applause or disgust while wearing it. For that reason alone its my favorite shirt. We picked up some goodies, including 2 new dunnys that Jason and I needed, as well as some new items, called Fatcaps. I've posted a picture of them above, but they are close to dunnys. except the head has been replaced by an aerosol nozzle. Sort of a reiteration of the urban graffiti culture these toys originally sprang from.

After the party we headed to George and the Dragon, an authentic English pub located downtown. I tried a new dish, called a Cornish Pastie, as well as indulging in an old favorite, the Scotch Egg. A Cornish Pastie is a sort of pie, stuffed with diced meat, onions, and potatoes. Vegetables, like corn, carrots and peas may or may not be added. Researching the pastie, vegetables often indicate inferior quality in Europe, though are marketly accepted here. Mine had no vegetables, though it was served with a large helping of mashed potatoes and peas. All in all I liked it a lot, though not as much as the Scotch Egg. Defiantly want to head back and check out some more of their fare, as well as trying some new dishes from a Filipino restaurant that Jason was telling me about.

I should mention as well, a dish I rediscovered recently. Called a Monte Cristo, a sandwich made from ham, turkey an Swiss cheese, served with fruit preserves on a powdered sugar in battered or fired bread. Basically a French Toast sandwich. Different regions serve it in different manners, and different quality. I recently went to a small sandwich shop, called Which Wich, that serves them on a toasted roll sprinkled with powdered sugar, with ham, Swiss cheese and grape jelly. While it is not as good as some I have had in the past, it has been years since I had one and I loved it. It may sound an odd blend of tastes, but I assure you, the sweetness of the sandwich blends the tastes wonderfully. Check one out.

I'll be back on tomorrow with some flash fiction, thanks for reading!

End of Line.
Gerrad!

Di-Vinyl!

Hey all,

Sorry for the few day gap in posting. Friday and Saturday were big inspection days at work and that has preoccupied a lot of my time. Haven't slept much, just working straight through. Thursday was a good day though, as I got to attend a launch trading party at a vinyl and urban toy store, called Red Hot Robot.

I don't know if I have mentioned the newest mania to sweep through my life, and many of my friends, is the urban vinyl toy craze. Many artists and creators are contacted hrough an array of companies, to take a standard design or shape, and to make it there own, through paint, plastics, or whatever. Many of these "toys" are really small pieces of artwork and look awesome. The biggest craze come from a company called Kid Robot, through there dunny line. Kid Robot has released about 10 series of these toys, using different artists and themes, and Thursday saw the lastest release, the French series.

First off, having bought so many of these it was great to be at a launch day trading party, the small establishment was packed with people buying cases of these things. Between my room mate Jason and myself, we have about 14 of the 19 released, so it was a great oppertunity. We also got a line on two older series that both of us had really liked for the collection. I am still actively searching for the one out of the series I didn't get, but I am confident I can find it.

You see, one of the exciting, and sometimes frustrating, things about these toys is that they are blind boxed and assorted different. You buy the box not knowing which design you will get, sometimes that leads to extras, but with assortments on design ranging from 3 in 25 to 1 in 400, you never know what you will get.

We've even taken our habit into Ebay, scouring the web for deals on older releases that we like. What sold me on the collection was knowing that one of my favorite artists, Tara McPherson, had designed some made me look into it more after Jason's original discovery. This lead to discovering more artists I like, such as Joe Ledbetter, Frank Kozik, and many others. I've posted an image so that you can take a look at them. Series Four, with packaging artwork by Tara McPherson, contained work by all of the artist's I mentioned and is one of the strongest in the series.

There are many different types of vinyl toys, find the series that you like, some artists even have there own series to themselves. The next step is creating our own designs on Do-It-Yourself versions.

Thanks for reading and happy hunting!

End of Line.
Gerrad!