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Big Box Stores Set Their Designs on DIY Toys

Well, this was bound to happen. RoseArt, a name no doubt familiar to those of you with kids, has added a line of “Color Blanks” to its range of “family-friendly value” art products. As I’m not often in ToysRUs (where the Color Blanks retail for $5.99 single and $10.99 double with markers), I credit Eric Nocella Diaz and Kill! for the head’s up via Twitter.

Painting on blank anthropomorphic forms is nothing new. Places with clever names like “Puttin’ on the Bisque” have been providing ceramics for children to uglify since I was a kid.

In the last few years, there’s been an inundation of DIY toys on the market. Due to smart marketing, versatility, crossover placement and celebrity adoption (Rosie, Martha), Kidrobot’s Munny emerged as the leader of this genre. Unfortunately, KR violated two rules with their recent introduction of Munnyworld:

1. “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
2. Lessons learned from CSI: Nobody gave a shit about CSI NY and everybody hates David Caruso. Or, to say it in other words: Don’t be greedy; it weakens your core product.

Now there’s a new Cat in town. Are Color Blanks competition for DIY art toys? This depends on your perspective. Here’s mine: There are things I will buy generically (cotton balls) and things I will not (Band Aids). I know that some people wear Levis and some people wear Diesel, but I can’t always tell the difference.  I will pay more for certain brands of T-shirts than others because I prefer the fit. I like the idea of patronizing mom and pop shops and independent companies. I also see the appeal of a good deal at a big box store that saves me some money.

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Frank Kozik Has The Detolfs of Dreams

Frank Kozik has the detolfs of dreams. If you like Kozik, KAWS or Bounty Hunter, Frank’s toy collection will make you salivate. Or maybe that’s just me. We spent a while talking to Frank about art and toys and money and life. There are so many eye candy distractions in that studio, thank Jobs for iTalk. We walked out with some toys for us and some stuff for you, too. We’ll be bringing you the interview this week, so stay tuned. Here’s one of my favorite photos of Frank and just a glance at a single wall of his toys.

Lulubell Toy Bodega Robbed

Sometime early Sunday or Monday, thieves tossed a rock through the window of Tucson, AZ’s Lulubell Toy Bodega and made off with a grip of kaiju toys. Amy posted word this evening on Twitter and Facebook, and if there’s one silver lining to this disgusting situation, it’s that the community is coming together to quickly spread the info. Beyond social media sites, the major toy blogs have already published the information.

Take a good luck at the photos in this gallery. There are some really recognizable toys here. In terms of color (bright green Popsoda) and size (3-foot Kozik), these aren’t going to camouflage easily. Initially, I thought this would have to be the work of someone from the scene, because who breaks into a “mom and pop” kaiju shop? I thought it surely was a crazed collector or a flipper at least. But based on the nature of the toys that were taken, Amy suspects it was a random theft. This sucks on so many levels. Lulubell provides a service to the local arts community, a fact which I can only guess at because I’m so busy outside of Tucson being enriched by them. Luke is actually in Japan, sending the rest of us play-by-plays. They both work hard, are true fans, and this is seriously messed up (and so unfair).

If you spot someone trying to sell any of these toys, contact Amy at 520.622.5858. Due to the random nature of the crime, Amy thinks the toys are more likely to show up on something like Craigslist than toy forums or eBay. Everybody’s eyes are on this online, and hopefully some locals get out to this weekend’s flea markets and look for stolen toys. Spread the word.

50 Glazed Porcelain Apples by Julia Chiang

Brooklyn-based artist Julia Chiang follows up her 2009 New Museum edition of 21 Rotten Apples with a fresh batch of Glazed Porcelain Apples for NYC’s The Standard.

All For You, is a new limited edition piece, exclusively available at The Standard, by artist Julia Chiang. A unique edition of 50 palm-sized apples, each handmade of delicate porcelain and glazed a rich glossy red, the apples could potentially be in a state of oozing, excreting, sweating, tearing, or spurting. The apple as a symbol for desire as well as an icon for her home, NYC. Each piece comes tucked into a special wooden box that’s been burned with the details of the edition. The box is signed and numbered, beautiful as a set.

The artist has also created an installation that includes the show’s title spelled out in Ring Pop candy. This continues her candy-coated exploration of greed and decay that’s been a signature of her style in shows since 2005. (See images here.) “The candy is left to melt over time, constantly transforming, slowly disappearing, while leaving a trace and history with every single drip.” Sweet. Crave more Decadence and Decay?

We’re Having a White Sale on Toys

Some of you might have noticed that over the weekend, we discounted every white toy in our store. This includes all of our DIY toys like Kidrobot’s Munnys and Munnyworld figures, customizable Toy2R Qees, Zakkamono’s Miao and Mousubi and Thomas Han’s Pusher. But you’ll also find lots of art toys that just happen to be white. A cat by Touma, an alien by Daniel Johnston, Chris Lee’s Mellow–stuff like that. You don’t need a coupon code. Everything white is on sale for 10%-25% off. Check it out here.

Brandt Peters’ Carnies Rolled In

You can now get mono without any germs from Brandt Peters. The Florida-based artist brings his old-timey sideshow aesthetic to a new series of mini-figures produced by Kidrobot. Stylistically reminiscent of early 20th century animation, each of the 13 carnies in this nightmarish mini-series, including the two chases, stand at 3-inches and are colored in the absence of color (aka grayscale or monochrome).

Part of Brandt’s artist statement reads: “We are all misfits; hiding behind animated personas, odd and beautifully unusual.” The Neon Monsters support fellow misfits. We are offering a full sealed case of Carnies at a 10% discount here. We haven’t heard feedback on the case ratios and layouts yet, but each case is guaranteed to have 16 figures. You can also pick up individual Carnies for $9.95 here. We’ve got a few older toys still hanging around for you Brandt Peters-o-philes. Check out Serv-o-matics, Peacemaker 32.9 and Big Sal.

We Love Odd

Those of you who know me are aware that I’m a bit of an anglophile. So when I heard about Weenicons, I thought to myself, well this is the dog’s bollocks on multiple levels! Here are intricately detailed toy effigies of pop culture characters AND they represent just one range among several even cheekier toy lines by the English company, OddCo. Are these art toys? Depends on your definition of both “art” and “toys” I suppose.

Here’s what I say: OddCo makes great figures with attitude and edge, like if Garbage Pail Kids were injected with a constant IV solution of TMZ. In a nutshell, a big difference between collectible toys in the UK and the US seems to be this: The UK’s “#1 Alternative Collectible Gift” is a line of toys that many of us (and by us, I mean you) have no doubt passed by while browsing for lava lamps or edible underwear at Spencer’s Gifts. Would you pose this Bears at Urinals diorama next to your Be@rbricks? You know what? I just might.

Today, OddCo took their pop culture paradigm-play even further with the launch of Popmash, a toy line that seeks to save us from ourselves.

Fame and pop culture are rapidly going out of control. Experts predict that at the current rate by the the year 2020 everybody on the planet will be famous. Economies will collapse. Society will be in disarray. Television will be really, really awful. We need a solution to this problem before it’s too late, Popmash is that solution. Popmash scientist reckon that by genetically combining two famous things we can reduce pop culture by 50% and save the planet for another 100 years.

While OddCo currently only distributes these new figures within the UK, we at Neon Monster hope this will change and that you’ll see Weenicons, Bad Taste Bears, Teeny Demons and Popmash figures stateside in the future. In the meantime, I’ve had a right proper chat with Mr. Paul Kell of OddCo on the topic of all things ODD. Got a short attention span? Follow OddCo on Twitter.

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Last Call For Resin Hamster Contest!

Here’s a public service announcement to get in your entries for The Toy Architects x SpankyStokes Resin Hamster Contest, since it ends tomorrow! I was really happy to help the hamsters travel from the late night laboratory of Mathias Bax in Germany to the toy world that is the Bay Area. After Friday, we’ll scatter them around the world again to a couple of winners. Of the hamster-making experience, Mathias said:

Casting resin was not hard to do, but very expensive by trial and error learning. The Hamster form needed to be simple and flexible so it can be made into something wholly new…perhaps a Stormtrooper, Hellboy or an Easter Egg. As a result, the Hamster has no eyes: the mind of the Hamster is therefore neutral. But the idea of artificial teeth make him laugh…

FYI, there are three additional ways you can get yourself a Hamster by Toy Architects:

1. Follow ToyArchitects on Twitter, and Tweet something @ Matthias using the hashtag #resinhamsters. If that sounds like I’m speaking another language, fear not. Just copy and paste like one of these people did.
2. Toy Architects has a little virtual shop, which he’ll attempt to keep stocked with hamsters.
3. Hang tight for Wondercon 2010, because you never know what kind of collaborations are coming your way…

The Decadence of Decay Resin Robots by Cris Rose

You know you’ve got something good when you’re viewing a show’s preview on your iPhone and the images compel you to get out of bed on a rainy day and run to your computer to see the details. As you may have guessed from these pictures, I’m talking about the newest range of resin robots created by Cris Rose for the The Decadence of Decay show at Rivet, beginning March 6th. The show marks the debut of Rummage and Rumble, two entirely original robots that diverge from the trend of enhancing a pre-existing platform toy. Not that a few old stand-bys won’t be making an appearance: You’ll find a few Qees as part of the Pet Recovery Service and families of Observation Drones who were formerly Dunnys.

TOYSREVIL has a nice interview with Cris about his latest work and its relevance to decadence and decay here. A quote:

Decay is an interesting issue with regards to the robots I create, because it has very different connotations to people or animals and that’s something I like to explore. For us, when we age and are damaged, it can be extremely detrimental and often signals our impending end – thusly we prize youth and a lack of imperfections within society. With regards to the objects we consume, we’re moving away from the “mend and make do” attitude of my grandfather’s generation and increasingly throwing away perfectly good things just because they’re a little scuffed at the edged or because a new one just came out. I find a lot of pleasure in objects with a history, cuts and chips that tell a story.

You can check out a full preview of both Cris’ Bots and Ohio native Amanda Louise Spayd’s mixed-media fabric creatures here. Act quick on pre-orders, as Cris Rose robots don’t stick around long. Not to be a tease, but a little Bot told me to tell you to keep your eyes open for a Bay Area appearance of Rummage and Rumble…hmmm…

Bay Area Street Art Canvases

If you live in the Bay Area (and specifically the East Bay), you should recognize these icons of local street art. If you’re not from around here, or you don’t get out much to look at walls and street signs, Endless Canvas has been chronicling San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland graffiti culture since 2008. The web and print zine now presents the opportunity to own one of two ubiquitous emblems: a piece by GATS (Graffiti Against the System) and a canvas featuring STAR PIG.

The GATS piece is an 18×18″ 8-color serigraph with spray paint limited to 13 stretched canvases. The STAR PIG canvas is an 18×18″ aerosol, ink and serigraph limited to three of four colors, all with variations. Both artists are no strangers to the East Bay news. Star Pig is an “Anti-Police Street Propaganda Campaign that has been going strong since 2001.” The local paper even quoted Star Pig for an interesting multi-page article about graffiti vigilantism.

GATS really gets into some interesting places (and pieces). Work has shown up from Brooklyn to Rome. I really think GATS could make a killer vinyl figure, so if anybody knows anybody who knows GATS, send word! Above is a GATS wall in Oakland, and below, a street sign stickered by GATS, STAR PIG, and if you look closely, the Doodlesplatter posse.