Last week, I shared I’d be attending New York-Tokyo and Frank’s Chop Shop party in honor of Shin Tanaka. The art of paper toys (not origami– although I also appreciate that form of art too) have been a quiet hobby of mine for a while now– and it’s always intrigued me how artists come up with the templates. Having the opportunity to meet Shin Tanaka, one of the biggest names in this movement was a true delight for me. Check out the rest of the post for more photos from the night.

I’ve got to give it to Jeremy Madl, I don’t always dig his style– but my heart melts anytime a new MadL hits the market. His platform is one of my favorite platforms ever. To me, it doesn’t matter if it’s blank of whether its adorned with someone else’s art (or his own for that matter)– I just love the shape, size, feel. Heck, I went as far as drawing a MadL on a wall in my Mr.’s apartment. So, now that I’ve shared my sick love– my joy has doubled exponentially with the addition of Doktor A’s steampunk aesthetic.

Lift Detroit’s exclusive MadL will be available for pre-order through TenaciousToys. The figure is limited to 300 pieces and will retail for $45. Though Benny hasn’t opened up pre-orders, I advise that you periodically check in on his blog to see when it will be. Good luck. =D

One of the sweetest, and most charming news I received this week was the upcoming release of Shawnimals’ Ninjatown Zipper Pulls. Shawnimals teamed up with Squibbles Ink & Rotofugi, to deliver 16 designs based off the Ninjatown video game that was released October 2008.  Keep reading to check out all 16 designs, along with some packaging photos.

I’ll start off with, YAY!!! I always experience a unique joy when it comes to shows that Brent Nolasco participates in– and in this case, the joy is extended to the 4 other participants of the upcoming 5 Eyed Dragon show coming up in April at Dragatomi. The show will feature the works of some of the biggest names in the customizing world; Leecifer, DrilOne, Betso, Brent Nolasco and Southern Drawl.

I am experiencing a bout of jealousy in regards to this show. Mostly because for the past couple of months Southern Drawl has been rather quiet in the scene. Just days before the postcard for the show was leaked, I’d thrown his name out as a suggestion for a show and the person I was talking to didn’t recognize his name and it basically gave me an excuse to revisit and share some of his older munny designs. Anyway, this show is the first time in a while that he’ll be putting out a body of work– at least I hope so. Since it is five gentlemen (uh, where are the ladies?!!), I’m not sure how many pieces each artist will get to show. But the rest of the line up, includes artists who are very complementary to each other.

I can’t wait to see more photos of this show– Betso is already winning my heart with the custom on the card– I’m not entirely sure what figure he’s using for it. Anyway, if you’re in Sactown in April (the week after WonderCon), consider stopping by and giving Joanne/Ray and the rest of the crew a hug from me. <3!

This post marks the first contribution from our new team member ChelC! We hope to offer you more West Coast coverage with her addition to the site. With that said, we are quite grateful to have her voice on the site, and we hope you’ll give her a warm welcome. Yay!

Gallery 1988 SF just opened a new show two weeks ago, and after perusing the pieces they posted online, I’m really looking forward to checking them out in person. What stood out immediately though, was this print by Roland Tamayo, entitled “Battle for My Affection.” This is a piece that will appeal to those of us Atari and old-school arcade fans, or just those of us wishing to regain some of the innocence and joy of our childhood. I really like the style of the piece as well. The original being done on wood (as many of these pieces are), it already appealed to me. But what I really love is how Tamayo has thrown in all these Arcade classic icons almost unobtrusively. Die-hards will recognize Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Frogger, and Dig-Dug hiding in the alley, but the heart of the piece is the little boy and his dog sitting on the sidewalk in front of the arcade window. I love how the artist has let the wood texture show through in the entire piece, and limited his color palette to the red tint, white highlights, and the little bit of blue on the boy’s shirt. The prints are a limited run of 100 and available for $75 for an 11”x14” giclee print.

You need to watch the v-blog to know who won the Hello Kitty Giveaway sponsored by Tenacious Toys! I will tell you this, two of the winners are some of my favorite buddies on Twitter. ^___^ Congratulations. The three people will be contacted by email or DM on twitter tomorrow morning, or they can DM once they see this. =D

Yay!! Thanks again Benny, you’ve made some people very happy.

p.s. I look like total shit! I’ve been under the weather lately, and the crappy weather outdoors isn’t helping. Blegh!

I’ve been so slow on the upkeep and these were meant to be Valentine’s Day gift guides, but guess what– as the Mr. constantly points out– you love your mate more than just on Valentine’s Day so why wouldn’t you want to gift them things even if it wasn’t the commercial day of love. So, I’ve sat through countless Etsy pages searching for affordable presents… here are top gift suggestions for gamers. You’ll excuse me as most items are targeted to women– but I did find some men’s stuff… hit the jump to check it out…

I talk “Paying Dues”, Sucklord event, geeky t-shirt, Fairytale Fights video game, Left4Dead2 and some 24hr gaming recap. =D