RESTORE Kingdom Mind sofubi figure debut release!

RESTORE has released an image, details, and pricing for the debut release of their new sofubi figure: Kingdom Mind. I'm a bit road weary (just arrived in Charleston), so I'm just going to post the press release image with all the info here. (Click the image for its full size).

Rampage Toys x Uamou show leftovers

Recently Rampage Toys had a solo show at Studio Uamou. Most of the figures sold at the show (congrats Jon!), but a few are still available. (Contact Jon to ask what's left, and to check on prices, etc: rampage.toys@yahoo.com )

Here's a medley of pics he sent over:

From the closing day of the show

Diggler & Doji-san tour the South: Memphis

We had a blast with the sofubi swingers in Memphis.

First off, an NBA game: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Golden State Warriors.

Introducing....

....from New York, weighing in at 5+ ounces, the one, the only - Diggler!

Starting at power forward, the masked wonder - the Maven from New Haven - Doji-san!

More after the jump:

Diggler & Doji-san tour the South: The road to Memphis...

Today Doji and Diggy hopped into our rented Sentra and joined us as we made our way from Birmingham to Memphis.

Rollin' down 78W

We pulled off the highway because, well, it was a highway and we saw horses and thought we might have a closer look. The boys went off on their own and sized up a ride of their own.

Airy and classy, but getting it out of the swamp would have been rough.

 Undeterred, D & D soon spotted an Alabama abode where they might settle down.

Bit of a fixer upper...

...but it sure had character!

Alas the stairway to nowhere was a deal breaker.

 So we piled into the Sentra and made our way to Memphis...

The road took us through Mississippi.

Later that night, after a Grizzlies game, we took a wrong turn, crossed the Mississippi River, and wound up in Arkansas. So in one day we were in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. And we ate fried okra and potato wedges. Southern comfort!

Diggler & Doji-san tour the South: Birmingham, Alabama

Mutant Vinyl Hardcore's Doji-san and Splurrt's Diggler are on a tour of the South! First stop, Birmingham. It's a beautiful old city best known as a past industrial powerhouse that played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement.

At the cast iron statue of Vulcan - the world's largest such statue cast in 1904 for the World Fair

Checking out the city from above

We built this city on metallurgy!

With Dr. King

Sofubi tomfoolery in B'ham!

Facing justice!

Upcoming Clutter piece on Ricky Wilson

I've been working on an article/interview with Ricky Wilson (Velocitron/Fortmeister extraordinaire) for Clutter magazine. The piece is in the final stages, and I'll be sending it to Clutter very soon. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that this piece is going to be AWESOME. Ricky went to town on the interview, and the content is just chock full of amazing. Every sofubi head out there is going to want to get the next issue of Clutter, if only for the piece on Ricky, which should be at least 6 pages long. I'm serious, this interview is legendary. Plus the mag is only 10 bucks!

Interview with Peter Kato

The other day in New York, I had a nice chat with toy maker Peter Kato about his resin figures, sofubi plans, and a bunch of other stuff.

Interview with Joe Merrill (Splurrt)

Interview I did with Joe Merrill, the man behind Splurrt, on March 22, 2012. Lots of info about Splurrt plans, plus a nice chance to hang out with Joe. Sorry the production values aren't all there - that's the hazard of shooting outside of a studio! But I think it's a fun chat, and I hope you like it.

Splurrt ram head character update

Over the last few days, Joe has made some slight design changes to the new ram head sculpt. I thought it might be interesting to look at the original + updated sculpts side by side. The one on the left is the earlier sculpt. The one on the right is the modified sculpt (click each one to see the full size):

First look at new Splurrt figure!

The other day in NYC, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Joe Merrill, the spurt behind Splurrt, a fast growing, creative, and FUN indy outfit.

Joe brought along a just finished sculpt (still unnamed), which I'm happy to debut for the first time today. It's a new ram head that goes onto the Diggler body. I think Joe knocked it out of the ballpark with this sculpt. It's fantastically crafted, has a lot of character, and fits perfectly onto the Diggler body.

Here's a look at the back:

Close-up:

I love the texture and proportions.

Size comparison next to a Diggler:

With this new ram head, Diggler, Cadaver Kid, and Joe's resins, a nice aesthetic thread linking Joe's figures is revealing itself across the lines.

Next, a few shots of just the head sculpt:

The teeth horns are an inspired feature, and so nicely integrated into the overall design.

 More after the jump:

Interview with Rich Montanari aka LASH/Mutant Vinyl Hardcore

Here's an interview I shot the other day with sofubi Rich at his studio in New Haven. We had a good chat about Rich's new figures, collabs, events, and Archie Bunker chairs.

Blogspot has been funky with video embedding, so if you can't see the video below, you can check it out on YouTube here.

Visit with Rich Montanari aka LASH (Mutant Vinyl Hardcore)

The other day in New Haven I hooked up with my buddy Rich Montinari aka LASH, the man behind Mutant Vinyl Hardcore and its fast growing sofubi empire. Rich is always a cool dude to hang out with, and he's riding a non-stop slipstream of creativity and ideas for new projects and collabs.

Let's start with some new pics of his studio. (Click here to check out my studio visit report from last year.)

Recently Rich received a a huge order of blanks, including the first pulls of his new figures as well as a big batch of Ollies. Here's a look at some of the figures in his studio - waiting to be painted!

 More after the jump:

Splurrt Garbage Garth resin test pulls

Splurrt sent over an image of the first test pulls of their new Garbage Garth resin figures. I think this is the first time these have been shown publicly. Some really nice colors on these!

Interview with Matt Doughty of Onell Design

Matt talks about toys, collabs, future plans, and the cosmic synergy that brings indy toy makers together.



Having trouble embedding it, so if you can't see the above video, click here to head straight to the video on YouTube.

Onell Design studio visit

As part of my travels through the Northeast, I was lucky to have the chance to visit my buddy Matt Doughty, the mastermind behind the Glyos system and Onell Design.

In addition to being a fascinating person with an amazing grasp of the continuity (and concentric circles) of indy and mainstream toys, Matt's a prolific artist, designer, and toy maker. I was thrilled to meet with him and see where the magic happens. Here's a look at the coordinated chaos of The Attic.

Matt's workspace is on the second floor of his home, and it runs the length of the structure, which is quite interesting. So you have three rooms subdivided by open entrance-ways linking everything together. Even his studio is Glyos-like!

The first impression one gets (besides the tremendous smell of action figures, which is the toy world sensory equivalent of being inside a Tibetan Buddhist temple), is that the place is simply covered with toys. There are action figures and vehicles everywhere...boxed, carded, loose, piled, strewn, and scattered. But there's a real beauty to it all, and it's certainly an endless source of inspiration.

Here are some looks:

 

 

More after the jump: