All Posts tagged emilio garcia

Jumping Brains Are Here

Considering how many projects Toy2R seems to have in the pipeline, 2 years or so doesn’t seem like such a long time for the little plastic versions of Emilio Garcia’s resin Jumping Brains to have made it to market. I’ve been a fan of these buggers for a couple years. First, the good news. For $6.95, you can get a Jumping Brain that is a bit smaller than the originals, but also much cheaper than the upwards of $100 USD price of the resin editions. Design geeks could therefore create a Brainbow^{TM @jeremyriad} without breaking the bank. I can speak positively to the case ratio, because even with my bad luck with blind boxes, I pulled the a chase (silver) and most coveted color (green) pretty quickly. We opened up a few more (so that Jacob could get a black one) and encountered the full spectrum. From Lapolab’s Flickr page, there also appears to be clear and two-tone chase figures. These things are positives.

It’s hard, though, to not mourn the loss of the artistry behind the brilliance of Jumping Brains, as seen in the 2009 Design Junkie edition and the recent Kaiju Comrades 2 figures. Toy2R’s Jumping Brain minis are definitely one of those toys that readers of this blog will probably accept as being “art toys,” but your friends and family will likely say, “You paid $7 for that?!” Bottom line is this is a cheap way to get yourself a piece of the previously hard-to-afford/access Jumping Brains, but don’t expect to be awed by its quality. That said, it’s nothing that a little custom paint couldn’t fix. This is also a situation where quantity over quality may actually help–as, in my opinion, seeing the Jumping Brains assembled as a set is actually greater than the sum of its individual parts. How’s that for nerdspeak? Speaking of speak, a little Engrish from the box:

Your Jumping Brain figure is a prefect [sic] specimen for display, but you may also attached [sic] the included keychain attachment to take your brain with you at all times. Keychain attachment is only for Jumping Brain Figures – Not Your Brain! Use yours to keep children and real animals safe!

These are leaping off the shelves in the Neon Monster shop, so come in to get one while they last, or order online here.

A Good Excuse For A List of Green Toys By Artists

Green isn’t the most popular color, but those of us who love it will defend it to the death. Although Kermit had a public struggle with it, being green is now easier than ever. Nobody ever says, “The grass is always yellower on the other side.” The Enlightened adore green’s many hues and shades (which is more than I can give to purple). Green tells people to GO! It’s the only color with its own political party. It factored heavily into the urban planning of Emerald City. With a green screen, you can go anywhere. If you really need to get away, you can camouflage yourself with green. There’s a reason why people chill out in the green room. It’s a super-great color, and it’s presence in the world brings me happiness.  Soylent Pink just isn’t people, you know?

DISCLAIMER: There’s a nice amount of green toys in the Neon Monster shop right now, and much like how The Man in Black dispatched Jacob on LOST, I only needed a loophole to tell you about them. This post has absolutely nothing to do with Saint Patrick’s Day, although I wish our Irish and green-loving friends a terrific time today!

We recently came into possession of a small batch of 2005 Observers. The classic figure from San Francisco’s own Mars-1 has seen its way to something like ten production colorways, but in my opinion, this green edition is one of the best. We’ll be putting the remaining few green, red and grey Observers online this week. (Watch the blog and the Twitter for the notice.) Oh, and don’t forget: We’ll have signed glow-in-the-dark Observers at Wondercon.

Andrew Bell always delivers on two things: buttcracks and green. We hope the widespread embrace of his Google Android toys (a series which sports several green figures), brought Andrew some serious greenbacks. For the rest of us, there’s  O-No Sushi in Green and Giver of Disease.

Jim Woodring is another artist who brings the green. Yes, I know that Big Egypt Parlor Sphinx is a new toy and it’s a green frog, but it seems so…obvious. By contrast,  Mr. Bumper and LORBO are mixing it up psychedelic-style.

Read the rest of this entry »