Skuttle custom for It Came From Skullbrain II show

This is my custom Skuttle toy, which I did for Super 7's It Came From Skullbrain II art show. The show consists of artists customizing Japanese vinyl toys. Genereally Japanese toys are painted with an airbrush in small busts of color to highlight the sculpt. I chose a clear Skuttle by Tuoma, and painted the inside then added the details outside w/ spraypaint. By painting the inside, the color is a bit more subtle, and still shows some clear when viewed on an angle. I named my piece "Slices" after the record by the band of the same name w/ a turtle on the cover.

Jan 16th 2010 from 6pm - 10ish.
Super7 retail outlet
1628 Post St
San Francisco, CA 94115
http://www.super7store.com
http://www.skullbrain.org

*flyer coming soon?*

Custom Yoka for D-con

Here's my finished YOKA custom for Designer Con. He needs a name, any ideas? The coloring pattern was based on my gf's Boston Terrier. The Yoka platform toy is great because it looks good standing, but even better sitting. I am extremely humbled to be a part of this show, from what i hear there will be 300 artists involved. Thanks to DKE Toys and Dylan Evans for giving me this opportunity.

*UPDATE: his name is "Mopey"*

Misfits Tubby, Couch Slouch Qee & Kaiju Gwin

I've been working on a bunch of toys lately, and haven't had a chance to post them, here's what I've been working on for the past month or so,,,
This was originally a vinyl toy of Tubby from the Little Lulu comic. I got a few of these and decided to paint it up in a style of Bounty Hunter, hence the logo on the back. It was mainly influenced by the Misfits fashion sense.
This started out as a blank Pigee Qee, and I turned it into a lazy balding dudes who I call "Couch Slouch" (after the DRI song). He's so depressed he just sits around the house watching TV in his underwear and flippy floppies. Poor guy... I painted it pink first, then gave it some light sprays of ivory to lighten him up in spots.
This was a Gwin that I made as an experiment to try painting the inside of a clear toy. I left him blank, but decided I should finish him off w/ some simple details. I was influenced by the minimalistic kaiju style paint jobs from Japan.
This Gwin was mine for the Custom Gwin Trade on the October Toys forum. The concept was that the Gorilla had a banana peel on his head, which made use of the penguin shape's flaps. My trade partner got this Gwin along w/ a custom painted Zombie and header card. I had gotten the Zombie free in an order and was just playing around w/ paint markers one night. The arms are from a Dunny and are drilled in so they still move. My trade partner was very happy with it and I eagerly await his custom to come in the mail.

hardcore/punk toys?!

Collecting vinyl rules. Whether that vinyl is playable or shaped into a cool toy is your choice. What some of my usual blog readers may not know is that a lot of punkers are involved in the toy world. I did a post a while back about the Gorilla Biscuits toy, but did you know that CIV did a Dunny design in their tattoo series?
Suicidal Tendencies had a Be@rbrick design as a pattern. I was lucky enough to score one of these on the first try. It's made to look like a blue bandanna, and is a part of the pattern series. Medicom recently released a larger "400%" version of this design. They've also done Sex Pistols themed Be@rbrick in the past.
Kidrobot recently did series of pieces depicting their mascot as a punk rocker called Kidpunk. There were 3 different versions- 1977 (Sex Pistols), 1980 (Dead Kennedys), 1984 (Black Flag). I of course got the Black Flag looking one. Each one came with a record and cover parodying the band's classic album that was released in that particular year. I thought it was pretty clever, and shows that someone working there knew something about the actual music, and not just the look.
Everybody knows Pushead for doing tons of awesome album covers, but he's become popular in the toy scene as well. His toys are kinda hard to come by, so I still don't have any in my collection yet. Hopefully soon... He recently did a signing at the NY Comic Con with Secret Base out of Japan, that I heard was packed. Secret Base also has produced toys for Napalm Death and Balzac. Mike Sutfin who you may know from bands like Charles Bronson and Killers also had customs for sale at NYCC. He has his own toy coming soon from Reckless Toys, which is reminiscent of the old Corrosion of Conformity logo. Amos Toys recently released a character called Martin X, which has X's on his hands and makes references to the character being Straight Edge.
Also, make sure to check out a great documentary DVD called Toypunks, focuses on the rise of designer toys, and the parallels to punk culture. There's even a song by Deep Sleep used in the movie.
There's even a huge DIY movement within the designer toy scene. People hand mold and cast their own toys out of resin and sell it themselves. A lot of toy companies sell blank toys, which encourage customization. So you see, the hardcore/punk scene stretches far into nerd culture than most people would like to admit.


*this is a post I was working on back in February/March, and never finished until now.

BLObPUS custom contest

Here are some pictures of my Blobpus custom for the contest via Lulubell Toys. I poured red acrylic craft paint on the inside, then did some sprays in black and silver w/ spray paint, then added the details w/ paint markers. This was my first kaiju style paint job, and I'm pretty happy w/ it.




For reference purposes, here's what it looked like originally, you can see the vinyl was clear.

Mallows @ SDCC

I was recently asked to do some customs on this new platform toy by Shocker Toys called Mallows. These 2 designs will be on display at the Shocker Toys booth (#3849) @ San Diego Comic Con, and at an after party hosted by Shocker. The figure is made from plastic, not vinyl, but has 10 points of articulation. It's pretty cool, hope to see some good things coming from it. The zombie looking one is called "Hipster Holocaust," and was mainly done in spray paint, with some detail drown in w/ markers. The tattooed one is named "Just Say No," and all the details were drawn in w/ markers. I wanted to texture on him to resemble old flash sheets at a tattoo shop.
I also designed/illustrated this logo to be used on a custom toy set for October Toys only available at SDCC. This will be on the chase figure, and the button set. You can pick up your Evil Gwin @ the October Toys booth (#4838).

Chewbacck Obama and some Munnys

Here's a bunch of stuff I've done over the past few weeks:This was a dumb idea I had, more so just the name Chewbacck Obama, popped in my head for some reason. In order to get it out of my brain I drew this up and stenciled it on a 8"x10" canvas board.

Here's a Munny I made as a gift to my tattoo artist who's been hooking me up w/ some sweet free tattoos over the past few months. I wanted it to look like an old timey strong man w/a sweet mustache (made of craft foam). I gave him traditional styled tattoos which I drew on with Sharpies. Here's what he looks like from all angles.

This is a Mini Munny body which I attached a TV accessory from a regular sized Munny. The basic concept is "TV rots your brain." The Munny body was pink, and I masked out a brain pattern and then sprayed the whole thing red. The TV screen I painted w/ a textured gray to look like static.

This is a flyer for a show my new band BLOODTYPE is playing. If anybody's gonna be in the area and wants to see me sing in a band, this would be your chance.

A New Direction

So I haven't made any posts in almost a month. I'd like to say I've been too busy, but more just unmotivated. My portfolio website is still a large undertaking, and isn't really as far along as I'd like. I've been trying to not spend as much time in front of a computer all day. Either way, I was thinking of expanding the coverage of my blog to other things I'm interested in such as art and toys ("urban" designer vinyl more specifically). So to kick things off here's art / toys / hardcore stuff that relates to me.

I currently have a painting hanging at Brave New World Comics in Philadelphia as part of the "Joker's Wild" show that the Autumn Society put together. The Autumn Society of Philadelphia is a collective and blog site (click to view my posts), and this was our first show. I'm working on a piece for our next show entitled "Heart/Earth," which will open next month at Mugshots Coffee. I've been doing a lot of custom toys lately as well. There is a show of Bax Bear customs coming up at The Artist's Eye in Smithville, NJ next month which I will be submitting my piece. I'm also working on a custom Gwin for the October Toys forum's Gwin trade. Here's a quick custom I did recently. It started out as a Koolby & Friends panda character, which I made much cooler by turning him into Jason Voorhees:


As for my bands, Wormeaters have a 7" that came out a few months ago. We have the next one written, and will be recording soon. It will be on Inkblot Records and will have PJ singing, who if you've seen us live over the past year has been singing for us. We'll be doing a weekend tour w/ Devour in May. SPG have a 7" that should be out literally any day now. I did the design and layout of that record, which will be available from American Waste Records. I also recently did the design/layout on the I Hate This 7" re-press entitled "Trimming the Fat," though I am no longer playing bass for them. I also started a new band recently w/ some friends in which I sing. Tentatively called Bloodtype, but all the members are straight edge and it kinda sounds like early New York Hardcore: Abused, Antidote, Urban Waste mixed w/ the early Rev type stuff. The Poison Planet 7" and comp tracks that I played on are out as well. I went out to Chicago last month for the record release show, which was honestly one of the most fun shows I've been at in a while.

For those that just check here to see record reviews, don't worry that will still be done, but as I'm on somewhat of a budget, they won't be as frequent. I've got a sizable stack building, and I'll be doing one soon.

You can also follow me on Twitter, though for the life of me I wouldn't know why.

Super 7 - Something for Nothing Zombie

I've mentioned the toy company Super 7 a while back w/ the Groilla Biscuits toy. A few weeks back, Super 7 posted this on their blog:
Being in the vinyl toy business we thought creating a little stimulus should come easy. On February 13 Super7 will release the "Something for Nothing" Hooded Zombie. We are offering 20 free toys to anyone who can prove to us they have been laid off since September 15th 2008. In the event we get more than 20 submissions we will hold a lottery. The best proof is a copy of an unemployment check or a continued claim forum. PLEASE BLACK OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION! Send your information to johngalt@super7store.com by February 13th at 9am along with your mailing address and t-shirt size.
For everyone else, the price is $50 through the web store.

Being unemployed, I figured what the hell, and submitted my proof. Last week when I got home from skateboarding I saw a package on my doorstep, and it was the toy! I mean I sorta expected it, but it seemed too good to be true. The detail is way better than the picture, and the hood and gloves are removable. It's really awesome that a small company would do something like this. You'd never see a big company like Wall Mart do this. Super 7, expect an order from me once I get my tax rebate. Thanks! This and a $25 a week raise according to the new stimulus package, it's a good time to be unemployed (that was half sarcastic by the way).

NYCC '09- freebies and sweet hauls!

So rather than just taking pictures of the new products or the crowds like everyone else, I decided to highlight the real reason people go to NY Comic Con- FREE STUFF! You can view the pictures on my Flickr site.
FRIDAY

Obviously there's going to be tons of free comics at Comic Con. DC had a reprint of issue 1 of the Watchmen, which is some essential reading. Another table was giving away X-Force #1 and had original art from the comic on display. I actually saw Rob Liefeld at another booth doing sketches, which was unannounced and kinda surprising to see. The Comic Con magazine is a pretty good guide to navigating the massive Javits Center. Most of the rest of the picture are promo post cards. I do want to point out that the Angry Penguin card was a 2 sided screen print, and looks great.

Here's a pile of business cards and stickers. More importantly check out that foam Wolverine hand! These were given out after viewing the video game trailer and some game play of the new Wolverine Origins game. I don't own a video game system, but the game looked ridiculously good. The other foam item is a Dead Like Me toilet seat. I'm a fan of the series, and in the first episode the main character gets killed by a toilet seat that fell from a space station. Kind of an inside reference, but I am interested to see the movie they have coming out.

There were a lot of posters to be had, especially Fox, who had some good promos. I also got an S. Darko shirt free from them, but I gave it away since it was too big for me. Nice shirt though...

While wandering around I swung by the NerdCore table and saw some sweet Jim Mahfood comics. Little did I know that the dude selling me the comics was the man himself. I've been a huge fan of his work for a while, and had I known he was going to be there, I would've brought more stuff for him to sign. He did sign his new Carl book, which is amazing. I also came across a pretty adorable vinyl figure by Jeff Pidgeon, the Happy Beaver. That is one happy little beaver! The McDonald figure is part of the new Ron English blind box series by Secret Base. I thought it was going to be much bigger based on the box size, but it's still pretty cool. The panda is the NYCC Chinese New Year version of the Yoka character, who looks equally good standing or sitting. I picked up a Labbit for a friend who smokes, but when I opened it, it turned out to have a mustache. I was excited for the Ugly Doll action figures, so I made sure to go there early in the day. David Horvath was there, and was nice enough to sign it then, instead of making me wait for signing hours! The red cat is by RealXHead, which i got from Giant Robot. I like the lucky cat, and seeing it w/ one eye makes it much cooler. I was glad to get the Frozen Empire MAD*L and print by Andrew Bell. He was also there to sign the back of him. The MAD*L is made of a translucent light blue vinyl, which makes it look icy. Definitely my favorite of the series!

I also was able to get Mark Texeira to sign the Wolverine comic that i have tattoo'd on my leg. I really wanted to go on Saturday for the Pushead signing, but I'm sure the line was crazy anyway, and I had to work. I decided late Saturday night that I would go on Sunday since I didn't have SPG practice this week.
SUNDAY

Of course there were pretty much the same freebies as Friday on Sunday, butt here were a few things I guess I missed. I got a bunch of comics from DC's Vertigo table, and some cool stickers from My Plastic Heart. The cooler freebie was the Fishing Master video game sweatband. I did miss out on the inflatable He-Man sword from the Mattel booth unfortunately. I forgot to bring my Goon comics, but Eric Powell was cool enough to sign the poster they were giving out for me.

I picked up another MAD*L today after having a day to enjoy the Frozen Empire version. I decided I wanted to customize one, but didn't want to pay the $50 for the blank. I got the abominal snowman since it's mostly white already. The white MiniMate was a freebie, but I took a pic of it with the toys because it was so cool. Lou Pimentel was cool enough to draw on a House of Liu- Di Di figure for me. It looks great! I got the GlyosXSucklord piece, which they apparently just painted that day and was limited to 20. When I went by the UglyDolls booth, David Horvath was doing a signing, so I took the opportunity to get another figure signed. Got a Babo this time, gotta keep trying for an Ox... I also picked up another RealXHead cat figure as a gift for someone, this time in gray.

I wandered past Jacob Chabot's table in Artist's Alley, and his Skullboy character caught my eye, so I picked up one of his mini comics. He was nice enough to sign it and do a little doodle. Bummer he was out of the Skullboy vinyl toys though. I also got The X-Men: Deadly Genesis and X-Men: Fall Of Mutants from a table that had all graphic novels for $5. I really didn't get very many comics at all surprisingly.

This is by far the coolest autograph I got. I got Peter Laird and Steve Lavigne to sign my old TMNT graphic novel, and do little sketches. I heard later that day that Kevin Eastman was at the con also... dang!

Gorilla Biscuits Vinyl Toy review

There's been some buzz lately about the Gorilla Biscuits x Super 7 vinyl toy collaboration. Gorilla Biscuits were one of the first hardcore bands I got into, and it was really what sparked my interest to dig deeper. When I heard about the toy, I was kind of on the fence. I know a lot of people were put off by the $50 price tag, but being a fan of vinyl toys I knew that was about the going rate. Honestly I think they could have charged more since the quality is pretty good, and a bit more involved than some of their other toys. I made sure to order it as soon as I could since I knew it would sell out fast (It wound up selling out in like 5 hours).
A lot of the toy blogs were bashing the sculpt, and I somewhat agree. The gorilla looks similar to the classic record cover, but lacks some of the attitude in the pose. It looks like the knees should have a little bend to them in the original, and the feet should be a lot bigger. I had read somewhere that Civ worked with them on this, so if it's got Civ's blessing then it's ok with me. The blue paint job was made to reference the first pressing blue of the GB 7" cover. I'm not sure how I feel about a gray gorilla, since I imagined it being more tan colored from my old "Hold Your Ground" shirt. They also did a solid black and solid clear vinyl versions, both with no paint. I'm sure the banana yellow vinyl (2nd press) won't be far behind. The back of the header card has a background taken from the B-side label, proving this was a labor of love.
The minimalist packaging should appeal to environmentalists, as well as people who don't like saving packaging. I've got a box full of empty Dunny boxes in my room for some reason, so the bag and header card is much more simple. I should also note that I also ordered a Ghost Land figure and magazine w/ my order, and wound up getting 6 Ghost Land figures (they were apparently giving them away as promos w/ the GB figures), and 3 magazines. Super 7 gets a big thumbs up in my book. If they decide to do a Minor Threat toy or a Bad Religion (actually a "Suffer" boy toy would be fucking incredible) or any of my favorite punk rock heroes, I'd buy it!

*In case any record collector nerds were wondering, that GB 7" in the picture is from the 3rd pressing*