All Posts tagged contest

Tuesday Time Waster: Frank Kozik Twitter Contest

We thought toy king, Frank Kozik was not in the Cult of The Twitter, but as it turns out, he’s been quietly  tweeting about rainbows and farts for a couple months now. While Frank’s not (yet) fond of, as he puts it, “twatter,” he’s agreed to amp up the twittery so you can keep tabs on his whereabouts (and bathroom bouts) at SDCC. Now that glory-stealer LeBron James is done with his Twitter debut, we shine the light on Frank’s feed. If you’d like to know what Kozik’s thinking, follow him here: http://twitter.com/frank_kozik.

Now, for those of you who are not on Twitter (or even if you are), let’s get ready to waste some (more) time. In honor of our comment form’s new capability to accept your Twitter handle (for example, type in: @jeremyriad), we’ve got a contest just for you.

Leave a comment on THIS blog post with your answer to this question: What was the inspiration for Frank’s Labbit character?

The first correct answer will be noted and revealed on Frank’s Twitter account on Friday, July 16th. This astute person will receive a never-before-seen signed 10-inch SDCC exclusive Cubano Labbit sent directly from Kozik HQ. So get guessing, and as they say in the Twitterverse, “please RT”.

This Guy Needs Your Feedback

Hey guys, remember this contest? You all left really nice, funny and insightful comments, but alas, I had to pick a single winner (for round 1), and that title goes to Avri in Tel Aviv for his thought-provoking questions left on Part 2 of our interview with Brian Flynn. Avri’s comment got a response from the subject of the interview himself. And I’m interested in exploring his critique, that he expresses like this:

I disagree with with the idea the product can be art and art can be product. It’s quite widespread and I think it’s a damaging idea. that’s a very American-capitalism co-opted sort of notion. Some things have to exist for the sake of themselves, even if they are being sold. it’s either product, ie something that is made to make a profit, or art; art can be sold, but that’s just the nature of the mechanics of being able to make more art and put food on the table. in my my opinion, there has to be a distinction. there has to be something pure.

In any event, Avri will be receiving a Neon Monster T-shirt and sticker pack, but I thought: brother’s probably got some clothes, what he needs is a little exposure and some feedback. To that end, I’ll give out another T-shirt and sticker pack to someone who leaves Avri some useful comments on this post regarding his new sculpt, working title: This Guy.

Who is This Guy? Am I This Guy? Are you? He could be everyone, but is he anyone?

What do you think of This Guy? Humanoid toys are definitely tricky to pull off. I actually kind of dig Patricio Oliver’s Cucos, but they’re still lingering around the shop. And we’ve been contemplating whether or not our own Dr. Dayglow would make a good toy. Click through to see more pics of the 6-inch This Guy sculpt and leave your comments on this post. Whenever he feels like it, Avri can pick the most insightful comment, and we’ll send that person some swag. Be nice, but be constructive. Remember Brian’s words:

You need to be constructive in your criticism in trying to build to something better. There are tons of toys that everyone keeps saying “that is so great, I would totally buy that” just to be nice, and then the person goes out and gets it made and can’t sell 5 of them. What good does that do the person who just shelled out their savings for something no one will buy? It would’ve been better for them to have had constructive criticism on how to make a better figure so that when they finally got it made, they could sell it and hopefully get to make another figure. Read the rest of this entry »

Parenting Magazine Calls Mitch a Cool Buddy!

How cool is this? Parenting magazine chose Mitch to include in a series of the “7 Coolest Buddy Toys for Your Child“!

If your tot is going to have a constant companion, it may as well be irresistible. Upgrade her from a plain old teddy to one of these über-adorable finds.

Mitch is in the company of Puglee Uglydoll and several non-mass market toys. Nice! Even better, you can win all 7 buddies from Parenting. This contest is being run through their site (not ours), so register here for your chance to win yourself (or, um, we mean, your kid) an awesome entourage! Outside of contests, Mitch is available exclusively through the Neon Monster shop. Remember, Mitch is made of eco-friendly materials and is certified safe for children. Click here for a size comparison.

Talk to Us and Win Cool Prizes!

We want to hear from you. Do you think this art is the shit? Or do you think this shit is art? Many of you had (and continue to have) things to say about our interview with Frank Kozik. There was a flurry of response on Twitter, but just a few of you left comments on the post itself. We put our heads together and thought, “How can we encourage people to leave comments?” Pretty quickly our eyes drifted away from each other and locked on the toys and comics that surrounded us. And there it is. Take a minute to leave a comment that makes us think or makes us laugh, and you could win cool stuff. We’ll choose winners every so often, get in touch with you, and send you something that makes you smile. It’s really that easy.

Why are we doing this? We want to promote discussion. We like to hear your opinions. The artists we interview like to hear your support. You might be used to putting your thoughts on Twitter or a forum, but if you’ve got something to say about a topic we post about, submit a comment! We know that the Library of Congress is going to be archiving your tweets (have fun with that one, guys), but a blog permalink is immediately there for posterity!

By reading this blog, you get to know a little (or a lot) about us. We want to get to know you. Here’s a little story about that. There was a guy who constantly cracked me up with his comments back when I was editor of ToyCyte. His name is Kyle Nelson. When Red Hot Robot curated the 2009 Resin Collective in Phoenix, Kyle said I could crash at his place. I’m not in the habit of accepting sleep accommodations from strangers on the Internet, but I’ve never met a sarcastic sociopath, so I figured I’d be OK. And I was. Now Kyle’s my buddy, and, as reigning Comment King, he’s your biggest competition to win our Neon Interaction Prizes. Win our NIPs!

In a nutshell: Leave a comment. You might win something. This contest is retro-active to the last week of posts. Quality over quantity. We really appreciate if you post this on your blogs or the forums you visit. Let the commenting commence!

Win a Six-Pack of Circus Punks!

Circus Punks (aka Knock Down Dolls) are a genuine article of American nostalgia. Paul Cruikshank and crew injected the dolls with a hearty dose of So Cal Punk and made ‘em themselves (screened, sewn and assembled by hand) in a carnival tradition that dates back to the 1930s.

We’ve got a carton of mini Circus Punks (6 inches tall) courtesy of STRANGEco. We’ll be handing some out at Wondercon, but we thought it might be fun to reward a true fan of toy art by mailing you this six-pack. Want to win these 6 Circus Punks? Post a comment with the names of the 6 artists responsible for the Circus Punks shown above. IMO, four of them should be fairly obvious. For the other two, you get these hints: One of them is related to Neon Monster. The other is known more for comics than for toys. Contest starts NOW! Click the pictures to enlarge the images. First person with the correct answer wins!

CONTEST EXTENDED! Congrats to Rob for naming all 6 Circus Punks artists. We’ll give away 6 more right now. You’ll get 1 Touma, 1 Kozik and 4 mystery Circus Punks if you can answer the following question correctly: When Neon Monster’s Kristy looks at these Circus Punks, what does she want to do to them?

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 Mitch Valentine’s Day Twitter Contest Winner Is…

Following a flurry of re-tweets, our Valentine’s Day contest has come to an end. Pink and Grey Mitch put their nodes together to pick a winner, and so without further ado, let us announce that our new friend, @Amezri, will be receiving a large box of Valentine’s goodness straight from Neon Monster headquarters! We couldn’t be more pleased to send you a pair of Mitches, as they supply warmth, and your latest tweet suggests you have the sniffles.

Have you ever pulled names out of a hat? It’s not really tons of fun, but when you put in the time to write a couple hundred twitter handles on little scraps of paper, suddenly your perception of fun changes. And so, we extended the fun by drawing out a couple more names. To that end, we would like to send @smack6102 and @shuzluva each a 2-sided Mitch T-shirt and Neon Monster sticker pack. Look out for a DM, and send us your shirt size!

Finally, it just seemed inconceivable not to pull the name @xriyah after all her diligence re-tweeting our contest every day several times a day. So even though the hand of Mitch did not pull your name, we want to send you out a shirt and sticker pack, too.

Congrats Amezri, Smack6102, Shuzluva and Xriyah (Geez, could we pick people with harder names to spell?)! You should be getting a DM from us to get your details. We’re trying to follow most of you back, but did you know how many people just have Twitter accounts to tweet and re-tweet random contests? A LOT. So if you didn’t get a follow back and you want to get our attention, send us a message @neonmonster!

If you didn’t win, you can still buy a pair of Mitches here on sale, and get them before V-day if you’re in the U.S. You can further discount the purchase and save 10% off your total by entering our special Valentine’s Day coupon code “XOXO” when you check out. Please keep following our tweets and posts for news of more contests to come, and thanks for playing!

Win a Pair of Mitch Plushes for Valentine’s Day

Neon Monster wants to make someone’s Valentine’s Day soft and fuzzy. That’s right, friends: Don’t get fleeced by DeBeers this year; get some recycled soda pop bottles spun into fleecy softness and melded into Mitchness instead! We’re giving away a pair of Mitch plushes to a randomly chosen Twitter follower who re-tweets this message (or this one with the almighty hashtag). The only rules: You must RT the message and you must be following Neon Monster to be eligible to win. The contest is open to anyone, anywhere, but we can only guarantee delivery by V-day if you’re in the U.S. Help us spread the word about Mitch through Twitter! If you can’t wait, Mitch is available individually or on sale as a pair here now, and we ship quick! May we also suggest a selection of snarky e-valentines? Get tweeting! We’ll announce the winner Monday morning.