Vehicular MERDE Slaughter

Mike Le Merde and Vehicles at SDCC 2010

OK, I know the title of this post is nonsense (and my former French teacher mother is going to read it and think the phrase “Vehicular Shit Slaughter” is increasing evidence that I’m losing my mind), but the Grass Hut guys have great senses of humor, and I’m going with it.

Some of the best booths in the SDCC toy cultyard were those that switched it up on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. On Saturday, rounding the corner by the Gargamel/Grass Hut stall, I noticed some new vehicles by Le Merde and Arbito. Suddenly, things made sense. Le Merde’s mini-resin Burgerbuns? Check. Arbito’s scented silicone mini-Seekers? Check.

Each character now has his own fleet of resin vehicles with rolling silicone tires. Le Merde demonstrated the excellent roll-ability, and Arbito confirmed that those alluring erasers were a fortuitous byproduct on the journey to make those tires. The colors are rad, the tires have tread, and these pieces get high marks for playability. The vehicles (with removable character figures) were being sold at $150. I’m told these are painted protos and more are on the way!

Arbito’s Cosmic Hobos Are Still Hanging Out!

One of the Neon Monsters wants you to know that, defying all logic in the universe, Arbito’s new sculpt of his signature Cosmic Hobo character is still available! She knows this because she just ordered one. We all thought the new Hobos would be on the first FedEx truck out of Seattle like the little transients they are, but we’re now thinking fans may have missed the boat on this release due to the holiday weekend.

You might recall that the original Hobo mold(s) broke a while back, and Arbito recently finished sculpting a new version:

Cosmic Hobo is much more similar to his cartoon version. He’s taller (without feathers) but skinnier than the original. He now has a removable head band and feather, and arms are still magnetized and removable like the original.

These custom tinted Hobos are an edition of 25 pieces made to order. That number just got smaller. Hobo’s back in the gang! Get you some for $125 here.

A Great Day for Monster Family and Pocket Monster Fans

Today is an awesome day for fans of Super7’s Monster Family, Gargamel’s Pocket Monsters, Arbito, Bwana Spoons, Martin Ontiveros and Le Merde. Announcements were just made that unite all of the preceding peeps under one umbrella of vinyl toy goodness. First up: our pal SpankyStokes posted an excellent interview with Arbito showing the first photos of the sculpt and test vinyl pulls for his upcoming Monster Family Patty Power. Not to play favorites, but Patty Power (the “boy with the girlie sounding name”) really does seem like a great choice out of Arbito’s gang to join the Monster Family. Hopefully, the Hobo, Sammy and The Seeker don’t beat him up for joining a “rival” gang. Although, notably, now that Patty’s been released from the prison  “body mobility of an armless Squidward,” he’ll be able to fight back with his new arms and legs.

Then, cruising over to Le Merde’s blog, we find an announcement for an upcoming Gargamel x Grass Hut Pocket Pak with vinyl minis by Le Merde, Martin and Bwana. The solid-black characters come as a 3-pack with a Bwana-designed header card and will be “available soon” at Grass Hut in PDX or Thrash Out in Tokyo, Japan. The Pocket Pak is definitely a release you will want to be stalking the Grass Hut blog for, whereas expect plenty of colorways of Arbito’s Patty Power to be released in the future through Super7 and affiliated retailers including Neon Monster!

Wondercon Resin Showcase Photos and Prices

The Wondercon Resin Showcase intrigued and allured visitors to Neon Monster’s booth at the convention from April 2nd to April 4th. It’s safe to say we introduced a lot of new people to the concept of resin toy art. Thanks to everybody who came through to support the show, those of you who kept me on my toes by asking questions, the bloggers who wrote nice things and especially you wonderful people who took a little piece of the WRS home with you. The remaining figures are awaiting adoptive aesthetes at Neon Monster HQ at 901 Castro in San Francisco and the online shop. It’s going to take us a little time to recover from the Wondercon carnage, so WE’LL notify YOU through the blog, Twitter and Facebook when the figures are available and ready for you. Stay tuned, OK? [Note: This is not a catalog of what IS available, but rather the art that WAS available for the show. Don't worry: plenty of figures are still in the mix. We will update you when we've put them online!]

ARBITO (USA)

Arbito’s art tells the visual tale of a ragtag band of hippie vagabonds on a pop-psychedelic trip. With his resin figures, form and style meet vibrant, colorful, unique characters. His work has been shown in solo and group shows around the world, as well as at the Phillips de Pury Auction and Art Basel. He shares a studio in the Pacific Northwest with The Hobo, Seeker, Sammy, Patty Power and his wife, Snaggs.

1. Patty Power “Pink Special Sauce Edition” (resin, 6″ tall, 1/1) – $175
2. Sammy “Glow in the Dark Edition” (resin, 6″ tall, 1/1) – $150
3. Seeker “Purple with GID Body Edition” (resin, 8″ tall, 1/1) – $175
4. Seeker “Pink with GID Head Edition” (resin, 8″ tall, 1/1) – $175

BWANA SPOONS (USA)

Bwana Spoons is a painter and self-professed “half Jack of many trades.” His paint-soaked, rainbow-spewing characters exist in a special world where vampire bats play drums and then sit down for a knitting circle. Bwana started the Grass Hut Collective in Portland, and he still skateboards.

1. Pocket Killer (3″ tall, 1/1) – $100
2. Gary the Nerdasaurus 1 (resin, 4.5″ long, 1/1) – $100
3. Gary the Nerdasaurus 2 (resin, 4.5″ long, 1/1) – $100
4. Gary the Nerdasaurus 3 (resin, 4.5″ long, 1/1) – $100

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Arbito for Wondercon Resin Showcase

In a collective, there’s bound to be different opinions on just about everything, but when it comes to the work of Seattle-based Arbito, all of the Neon Monsters are in a full-fledged fandom agreement. We love when he has a show in San Francisco (like last month), and when we can’t find his figures locally, we try to take them with us (like his exclusives for F-Factory as part of Art Basel). Is it his color palette, his characters or his sheer skill at creating seamless, bubble-free, striking art objects? Stanley Kaplan would probably tell us to pick all of the above on that one, and he’s right. Even the die-hard vinyl elitists seem to appreciate Jesse Hibert’s resin-crafts.

With his busy schedule, we’re honored Arbito took the time to make these four figures for Neon Monster’s Wondercon Resin Showcase. We’ve got a pink and orange Seeker, a purple and green Seeker, a blue and orange Sammy and a green Patty Power complete with pink condiment drips. Fantastic stuff here! Jesse always takes great photos (not an easy task with clear toys, take my word for it) but if you’re on the fence about these, all you need (IMO) is to see these in person, and you’ll be a believer. All four pieces will be offered for sale at booths 944 & 946 beginning April 2nd. Hope to see you there!

Neon Monster Goes to Wondercon

We decided it was time to spill some info about what we’ve been cooking up for Wondercon. Neon Monster’s double-wide booth will feature:

Awesome Resin Figures!

I can’t tell you how stoked we are about this. We asked a handful of our favorite artists to create exclusive resin figures and/or special colorways just for Neon Monster and Wondercon. I think my head might explode being near a table packed with so much greatness from:

• Arbito
• Bwana Spoons
• Cris Rose
• Hello, Brute
• MONSTREHERO
• Spencer Hibert
• Tan-Ki
• Toy Architects
• 2PetalRose
• Sergey Safonov [Just added!]

Exciting Warehouse Finds!

We got together with our friends at STRANGEco to unearth some serious vinyl treasures carbon-dated back to the early-mid 2000s. We’ve got the goods from Nathan Jurevicius, James Jarvis, Mars-1, Tokidoki, Jeremy Fish, Jermaine Rogers, Rocketworld and more.

Mitch in Many Forms!

Local designer Lauren Venell is creating a 6-foot plush Mitch for you to hug up and have your picture taken with. Meanwhile, you can adopt a 14-inch plush Mitch and have it signed by Reuben Rude. Don’t forget to grab a Mitch T-shirt or some free Mitch stickers while you’re there!

Signed Stuff!

• In addition to 3 great rare colorways of Mars-1’s Observer, we’ll have a small amount of signed GID Observers.
• Matt Furie will present a signed special edition print.
• Last, but not least, Frank Kozik will be signing Labbits from 12-2PM on Saturday, April 3rd. More info on that to come!

Free Stuff!

We’ve got Mini Circus Punks from STRANGEco and mini-Miigiis from Spencer Hibert to give away while supplies last.

Toys, Art Multiples and Comics!

We’ll have plenty of production toys, DIY toys and art multiples on hand, as well as comic sets and special variants.

Details to Follow!

All week long, we’ll be posting more details and teasers. If you thought you knew the score at Wondercon, take a fresh look at this year’s exhibitors. More toys than ever! We want to give priority to fans who make it out to Wondercon, but we’re keeping those of you in distant locales in mind as well. Check the blog for online ordering info and contests! If you have a blog of your own, please help us spread the word. And come back tomorrow to see the first reveal from the Neon Monster x Wondercon Resin Spotlight.

Toybot Studios Interviews Arbito

Cool little video interview with Arbito by Toybot Studios from last Friday’s Far Out West show. Lots of interesting factoids like where the name “Arbito” comes from, and who is the bigger inspiration: Kozik or McDonald? Possibly a hint at a two-legged Patty Power in the future… My favorite quote: “The cartoons in between the pages of MAD magazine, that’s where I lie.”

Far Out West With Arbito

Arbito’s oeuvre always works so well in San Francisco, where psychedelia never went out of style. He made his latest solo show, Far Out West just for us, his favorite part of the world: “the west coast and all the crazies who live there.” Arbito created new versions of the usual suspects in fresh colorways and patterns: The Seeker, Patty Power and Sammy. (The Hobo had to sit this one out due to a busted mold.) Beyond the resin figures, the vintage banks had everybody talking. Best appreciated in person, Arbito has painted new life into old ceramic, and in the process, really brought to light how wacky some of those vintage characters actually were. Arbito and his wife, plush artist Snaggs, said the banks were something they’d been collecting for years, and one day just decided to paint. The results are in a word: mesmerizing. Pinocchio and the Magic Cat got snapped up mere moments after the doors opened. If any of the banks, figures, original 2D art or prints are still available, they’d be for sale here. Short on cash and shelfspace? Get 32 Seekers in two dimensions for less than one Seeker sculpture. Just saying.

Speaking of Seekers, all the new Seekers looked incredible. There was GID, embedded bits, skulls and, of course, tons of color. Arbito said he’s working on sculpting some of his characters who haven’t yet made the jump to 3D (something for the ladies this time…), and we may even get a bit of backstory via comic-style panels. Want to see even more photos of the show? For immaculate turnarounds of all the pieces, you can’t beat Arbito’s Flickr. Hit up Fiends Ain’t Family and ZincSaucier442 on Flickr for candids from Friday. As with most great shows in the toy city that is San Francisco, almost everybody in attendance was also an artist or blogger (or both), so shouts out to Kaiju Chronicle/Joe, Toybot Studios/Kirkland Jue, Josh Herbolsheimer and Leecifer (following their own recent successful show at Super7 Florida), Brian Flynn (owner of Super7 and an artist), Glenn Pogue (president of Super7 and an instigator), Bert Gatchalian and Dustin Cantrell.

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Arbito Resins Are Sold Out!

Sorry to be the bearer of bittersweet news, but the beautiful resin Seekers, Sammy and Patty Power pieces Arbito sent us for Art Basel have been claimed. The figures merged magnificently with the fluorescence of Neon Monster’s cave-like installation, and it’s no wonder they were snapped up so quickly. One of the most exciting parts of this story is that, although the figures were displayed in Miami, they are soon to journey to separate continents. Congrats to the lucky collectors, and for the rest of you/us, we hope to work with the talented artist again!

Arbito for Art Basel

Neon Monster is honored to host 4 psychedelic stowaways from the magical land of the Pacific Northwest. The Seeker1, Patty Power, Sammy and The Seeker2 are all unique and stunning original resin figures by Arbito. They’re currently available in the Cave of Wonders pop-up shop at the F Factory for $175 each.  Hit the jump for closeups.

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