Romping Around With the Resonators at Toxic Catalyst

Argonaut Resins, Motorbot and Steven Erst

Saturday night witnessed many characters from the shadowy subforum called Resonators Romper Room step into the light of Toxic Catalyst at San Francisco’s Super7. Curated by Cliff Kirschner and Sean Blay of MONSTREHERO, the “resin invitational” showcased a wide range of toxic toy talent, crossing continents and highlighting resin’s diversity and appeal. All together along the marble countertop were Japanese toymakers like Ilanena and Nerd One, Pacific Northwest innovators Le Merde and Arbito and even a handful of Super7 debuts. Regarding the latter, as soon as I snapped the photo above, one of Argonaut Resins‘ neon pink ToxCat Tuttz and Steven Erst’s Black Metal Gus got snatched up. You gotta be quick with your pics when a show says “cash and carry”!

Resin figures by MONSTREHERO

Cliff and Sean have some of the wildest color theory ideas that just WORK. Here, Skullminion, Franken-Victim, Victim #4 and Lady Ape flank a three-headed logo trophy. Below them (not shown), troops of bright MONSTREHERO in My Pocket mini-figures stood at attention.

Mock Bats by Paul Kaiju

Paul Kaiju’s Mockbats took flight quickly and were gone. The little Fungus Boxer in the foreground was part of his Bad Trees trio, a resin set that could have made a cameo in a Tim Burton movie.

The Hobo (x2) and The Seeker by Arbito

Now armed with a new mold, Arbito sent two Hobo escorts to guide this new Seeker on his journey… Of course I’m digging the green Hobo.

Buff Monster in resin!

This one-off Buff Monster was impeccably fabricated by our friends at Pretty in Plastic. The chrome-bearing behemoth weighs over 10 pounds and looks like solid glass. Resin is such a chameleon.

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Melt Down Tonight at SOYAL Gallery

Fire and Ice Eyezon by Mark Nagata & Custom Edward the Gator by Bwana Spoons

I love a toy show with a theme. I’m especially excited about Melt Down, the first group show at SOYAL, the Scottsdale gallery co-owned by Artizona artists Emmett Potter and Spencer Hibert. The show came about as a way to create a cool art space for desert-dwellers. “It’s hard to get people out to shows, because they just don’t want to leave the nice AC of their houses,” said Emmett. “We wanted to create an environment that would be comfortable and fun to be at for people that made the effort to come out.”

Bomb Pop Parade by Emmett Potter

The show’s title, Melt Down, is a double entendre: “We wanted the feel of a winter storm meets the brutal AZ heat,” Emmet said. “Plus we all kind of have a meltdown in the summer out here.” Here in the Bay Area, it’s not even that hot, but just looking at these images makes me feel cooler. (Time to take off my nerd glasses…)

Fire and Ice by The Sucklord

SOYAL is certain to be a new force in the Scottsdale art scene, and Emmett hopes Melt Down will provide a “broad range of what to expect from SOYAL in the future”.

Yeti Jr. by Andrew Hadle

As for the fantastic artist roster, Emmett puts it: “Spencer and I are really lucky to have so many super rad friends and artists that are in the show. It’s going to be a blast!” A blast of cold air?

Mini Wolves by Cupco

Ready for the lineup? Bwana Spoons, Le Merde, David Horvath, Sucklord, Martin Ontiveros, Koji Harmon, Andrew Hadle, Grease Bat, Brian Flynn, Josh Herbolsheimer, Oliver Hibert, Spencer Hibert, Jeremyville, COPE 2, Mark Nagata, Bigfoot, CUPCO, John Black, Naoshi, Kristin Bauer, Emmett Potter, Piper Ferguson, Tara Logson, MonstreHero, Miss Lotion, KILL, Grant Wiggins, Tripper Dungan, Steve Agin, Mykil Zep and Beak.

Snowbird Return Ceremony by Bigfoot

There are a lot of snowy treasures in this show for sure. The guys are all really stoked about this original handmade Cousin Flatwoodsey by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim. It looks like Cousin’s riding Reverse Ugly on a Killer! (And that’s a sentence you need to really know your toys to understand…)

Cousin Flatwoodsey original handmade UGLYDOLL

I seriously wish I could teleport to this show, which kicks off at 7PM tonight as part of Scottsdale’s Art Walk.  There are over 30 artists working in multiple mediums all united under the Melt Down concept. Besides being among cool artwork, SOYAL is keeping it chilly with snowcones, ice sculptures, drinks and food. And oh yeah, the work will be available online here after 10PM tonight. Big ups to SOYAL and all of the artists involved in the show!

EKL Bear by Tara Logsdon & Matter Cruncher by Le Merde

If you’re reading this and you have a blog or a Facebook page or you Tweet or whatever, please spread the word about this show!

Whatsa Matter Le Merde?

Nothing’s the matter (that I’m aware of). Le Merde’s fourth Super7 show was chockablock with neon resin and painted vinyl toys. Just last month, Mike was in San Francisco with a plethora of prints. This round, he set up shop in the third dimension. As far as production figures, the show includes a rainbow of all Monster Family Hollis figures to date (display only) plus the new Dental Green Le Turd (available in the online shop shortly) shown at far left below.

There were so many figures, it’s really impossible to pick favorites. Le Merde’s original resin sculpts always stand out for their character and color. I know in Super7’s eyes these are “just toys” and all, but I wish they wouldn’t display the prices as if Hujili’s Ghost is Flavor Flav and the price tag is his clock. It’s a tad distracting…

Notably, there were less of Le Merde’s trademark “drippy” figures in this show.  In their place, an awesome array of choice customs.  Left to right below: Le Merde’s take on Dokuwashi by Brian Flynn, Rose Vampire by Josh Herbolsheimer and Steven the Bat by Bwana Spoons.

A couple of mascots or “icons” in this trio. Left to right below: Le Merde’s take on Uglydolls’ Ice Bat, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Rat Fink and Super7’s Mummy Boy.

Ah! Now here we have some resin and some shiny, glossy figures. Left to right below: Le Merde’s take on Arbito’s Sammy, original Hujili’s Ghost by Le Merde and Le Merde’s take on L’amour Supreme’s Mongolion. Dudes though, please fix the price tag on that Mongolion! It’s looking like a cat trying to get out of its collar.

There’s always an abundance of local artists in the house when Super7 throws a show, so it’s nice to see out-of-towners making the scene. Sean Blay of MONSTREHERO trekked up from LA, and Emmett Potter took a break from his new gallery, SOYAL, to visit from Phoenix.  Check ‘em out below, along with a shot of Mike flashing his shirt made especially for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk. Good cause, good people.

Le Merde showing off his Team Hondo shirt

Emmett Potter of SOYAL Gallery and Sean Blay of MONSTREHERO

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Wondercon 2010. At first, it was rather quiet. Even amongst the mini-Mitches.

…And then the doors opened.

My pal Domo stopped by.  It’s always good catching up with him.

Not sure who these guys are, but the one in the striped shirt poked me in the eye. Watch your back at Wondercon 2011, buddy.

Isaac and Jacob Pritzker, co-founders of Neon Monster, stopped by on Saturday. They take good care of me.

Click through for tons more pictures.

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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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MONSTREHERO’s Victim Trio for Wondercon

MONSTREHERO has added a third Victim to their roster of terrorized resin humanoids. The shorts are shorter and the stakes are higher. The new guy, Victim #3, features a head-covering of sludgey garbage. Unlike the images of a swirlie that sentence conjures up, the sludge is removable, and the fate is Victim #3’s alone.

MONSTREHERO will debut Victim #3 as part of a Neon Monster Victim trio for our Wondercon Resin Showcase. Sean Blay and Cliff Kirschner have never shied away from using color in extreme and unique ways. We asked them to victimize their characters with pink and grey sprays, and here’s the awesome result. Can’t wait to see these Victims in person. Speaking of “in person,” Sean will be around for Wondercon, so lookout San Francisco! Some classic MONSTREHERO figures for your viewing pleasure…

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.

Mishka Brings Awesome To LA

We’re a little late to post news on these awesome Mishka toy exclusives, but it’s never too late to roll out the welcome mat. It goes without saying that all of the Neon Monsters are stoked to see Mishka set up shop in Echo Park. We couldn’t make the opening, but we’re viewing it vicariously through the Flickr sets of our pals MONSTREHERO (who made a signature GID ape for the event) and John Prolly, who designed the awesomeness that is the interior of the shop. If you’ve been reading our blog, you may recognize that Mishka x CURE Boogieman on display from our favorite pink monster toys of 2009 roundup.

The Mishka opening party also featured toys by the reliably rad Lamour Supreme and a chandelier by Adam Wallacavage. We dig seeing the mix of old and new toys on display. John wrote a good post about the event, and I’m gonna quote him on the toys bit now:

One of the other details that is consistent with all of Mishka’s stores are their toys that line shelves and fill niches. It’s absolutely essential that when I work on designing a space for them, that I make ample room to display their toys.

Nice when toy displays are a design priority! Another point of consistency was the use of neon purple. You know we are all over that neon! For even more photos of Mishka’s LA opening, Caesar Sebastian did a bunch of coverage, and if you look carefully, you’ll probably see some folks you know.

Neon Monster is a proud stockist of Mishka apparel. You can check out shirts, New Era caps, and even some socks here. Not sure if the MONSTREHERO figures are sold out. Between the anatomical correctness and glowing resin, we’re figuring they are (or should be), but you can always keep tabs on Sean and Cliff via their blog. Not to be a big tease, but expect to see something(s) from the talented duo in San Francisco in 30 days…