When KidRobot released their Simpson’s toys, it caused a rucus amongst collectors. The Simpson’s toys posed a bit of a problem in regards to whether or not they were “designer” toys or not. I didn’t really focus on this problem, because I’ll admit that I liked them. I liked that they were warped into this chibi style, their paint jobs weren’t bad and I really liked their weight.

Well, it’s official– the Futurama figures have been announced and this brings loads of joy to my life. I’m a fan of Futurama, and in my honest opinion, I think it’s the best of the three Matt Groening shows. The plus side is that the Mr. really likes Futurama, so we might be getting a case. Oh snaps! What do others thing of this series?

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve never really been into Kaiju.  In case you’re not sure what kaiju is, it literally means monster or strange beast. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that kaiju figures tend to be monsters.

Well, though I’ve never really been into kaiju– this summer, Super7 is at the top of my list in regards to SDCC exclusives I want. I’ll start off with “Big Sal” by none other than, Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters. I’m not sure if I’m attracted to this piece because it’s a collaboration of two great artists, or whether I’m really just loving the look and shape. What I do know for sure is that I want it.

I’m loving the creamy translucent blue and I’m really favoring the white and red stripes. I’m not sure how tall this figure stands, but it’s got a very affordable $25 price tag. It’ll be available on Thursday at Super7’s booth. Check out some more SDCC exclusives on Super7’s shiny new site.

During this year’s ToyFair, one of the missions I had to complete for my Mr. was to get more info on the release of the Ghostbusters MiniMates. I’ve mentioned numerous times that the Mr.’s a HUGE fan and resembles that Nintendo 64 kid whenever something from Ghostbusters is released. I managed to track the MiniMates and took a picture, but Flickr is acting up for me right now, so I’ll share the pic later.

Although, I failed to accertain info on the Kubricks, and have yet to get any additional details regarding the release– the mini mates were worth getting excited over. I found out that they were going to be released during the Summer/Fall of ‘09.

Well, the first set to be released is going to be GID Stay Puft and Venkman. Now– not only is this Ghostbusters related paraphernilia, but Stay Puft is going to glow-in-the-dark?!! Oh snaps. The excitement became a little muted when we heard it was a SDCC exclusive. Unfortunately, for the 3rd year in a row since I’ve been into designer/urban toys, I won’t be attending the convention.

But, not to worry. Thanks to Funks on the West Coast, and his knack for paying attention to detail– he let me know I could pre-order them from ToyTokyo!! The set costs $19.99 and you can click on this link to pre-order yours. I hope this brings joy to the many GB fans who can’t go to SDCC either.

phew! It seems I am finally recovering from whatever kind of infecion it is I have. Yay! With health improvement, I find that I have some energy to finally catch up on posts. And so, I start with the Wood Grain Qees.

I got an email last week about the release of these figures– which I remember spotting at this year’s Toy Fair. I have a couple friends who are big fans of wood furniture and other goodies, and instantly knew this would be a hit amongst them. Well, it seems they’re ready to be released.

I wasn’t too sure how I felt about the qees when I first spotted them, because I myself am a fan of wooden objects, and these are vinyl not wood. Ultimately, they don’t have the texture of wood– but one thing I find really neat is that Toy2R (who I have the highest QC respect for) is treating each qee like individuals. As in– just like wood, each qee will have it’s own unique pattern. If anyone was going to give vinyl the wood treatment, it would be Toy2R since they do amazing paint jobs. There are more details below about the releases:

The collection will be available in a range of sizes:

•    Our classic 2.5” Qee featuring the patented keychain attachment. Available in a blind box assortment made up of two different shades of design: Light wood and dark wood. The collection will include 6 classic Qee characters: Bear, Cat, Dog, Mon, Bunee and the Toyer.
•    8” and 9” Qees will be available as limited edition series – great for display in the home, office or anywhere. Packaged in window boxes – each box will have eye catching designs – making them true treasures.
•    16” Collection – perfect for home décor, these oversized pieces make quite a design statement. The 16” Qee Bear will be the first release followed by future characters.

Last week MPHLabs subscribers got a sneak peek of their upcoming figure. I, being the huge fan of Lou that I am, recognized it immediately! It’s Cranston!! It seems I’m not the only one who thinks so, many people on the net [SpankyStokes in particular] went as far as to piece together the “full” figure using a custom Lou produced a while back. We’re not 100% sure it is Cranston, but, I think we’re all 99.9% sure it is. I can’t wait to see it!! Lou Pimentel is such an amazing artist, I really can’t wait to welcome his first figure. I’ll update the post as more info comes along.

VPEast posted a wrap-up of this weekend’s MOCCA Festival, and among their pictures, taken by kaNO nonetheless– there was the above photo of Andrew Bell. He is holding what is to be his next figure! Woohoo!

From what I can see, the figure he’s holding is based on the print above. Funny enough, I LOVE this print. It is my favorite sticker too! Every time I run into Andrew at a fair, I must purchase at least one of these stickers. I hope that the blue isn’t the final color, because I really like the original image. Will keep you posted when I hear more news. Yay!!

By the way– I just bought Andrew Bell’s shirt on Threadless for $5!!! If you love his stuff, don’t miss this opportunity to get it. Click the link below to be re-directed.

From now on, I will be referring to this book/movie by it’s achronym because it’s got the longest title EVER. =) So, I’m normally not excited about Kubricks– correction, other than the Grand Theft Auto Kubrick set (containing all of the sets released), I haven’t really ever paid attention. But my Mr. is a huge fan of Kubricks, so much so, that the first gift I ever gave him happened to be the GTA:III kubrick set.

I am a little surprised to admit that I really want to own these WtWtA Kubricks. They’ll be released this fall in conjunction to the film adaptation and I’m not sure if the listed price is $10 a piece or for the set. Either way, I’m definitely picking these up for myself.

[Source| Via]

Just spotted on David Horvath’s twitter, GID IceBats? Icebat is one of my all time favorite characters, it’s the wings– they’re HOT! =) As I’ve noted many times before, I’m addicted to Uglydolls and David Horvath just combined my love for Uglydolls, with the Mr.’s love for GID to create a perfect harmony! I wonder if Toy2R produced these, since they handled Turtle’s GID release. Either way– there will be 6 colorways available and they’re going to debut during SDCC. Now the only question left to answer is, who’s sending me a set because I can’t make it out there for SDCC? Help, please. =(

Woohoo! They’re coming! This past weekend FX International celebrated 20 years in existence, and I’ll admit I don’t know too much about it but I do know that it plays hosts to many geeky goodness that I’m into. The reason I heard about this event was due to their “Project Vinyl” event which brings some of the big names in the designer toy world to one location. Due to this event; which was put together by MINDstyle and VinylPulse; Disney’s Experiment 626 Project Custom Art Tour made it’s very first appearance. The show features a multitude of 10″ DIY Stitchs by some of the most talented artists and skilled customizers in the designer toy world and now that it’s began it’s tour, I’m counting down it’s arrival to New York City.

Along with the 626 Project, the first Stitch Artist Series produced by MINDstyle was also introduced, which are the pieces pictured above. The first series includes; kaNO, Ron English, Buff Monster*, Angry Woebots, and Peekaboo Monster. I’ve officially decided that Kano’s and Angry Woebot’s are the two I really want– they’re 5″ of awesomeness!

Lilo & Stitch is one of my favorite Disney movies, then again, I’m a total Disney whore so I like most of their movies. Although I found it strange in the beginning that MINDstyle would be producing these figures, seeing the customs that these artists have created, along with this upcoming series has convinced me to the contrary. These guys are going to retail for $25 a pop which isn’t a bad price at all to be honest. I do however want to know if they’re going to be window-boxed or blind-boxed. Twenty-five bucks is pretty steep for a blind-box so I don’t think they’d be going down that route, but you just never know. Either way, I say: Gimme NOW!!

* Click on Buff Monster’s link to check out images of his live BODY painting. It’s actually quite comical. =)

Once more, I’m finally catching up on the numerous things I’ve wanted to blog about but keep putting off due to vacation bliss. =) Dacosta posted the image above some time last week and I’ve been meaning to share for a while. I love his DCTO project which I’ve blogged about a couple of times on the site. It seems that he is shrinking his DTCO to chibi size and it’s also going to be an artist series too! I’ll post more updates as they come in, I can’t wait!