All Posts tagged toy2r

Designer Qee Series 6 is a Return to Form for Toy2R

It’s been a while since I’ve had particularly glowing remarks for a new range of Qees, but Designer Qee Series 6 represents a return to what got me into collecting artist-made toys at the beginning of this decade…right down to the Doink! In a move sure to please longtime Qee collectors, Toy2R has brought back the designers behind one of many Qee fans’ favorite pieces for a trilogy in red, blue and GID. They’ve also tapped the talents of Cameron Tiede, Peskimo, DGPH, Daniel Jarrett, Saucernauts, Lisa Petrucci, Frank Kozik and Qee-creator, Raymond Choy for some interesting designs with a variety of heads. Perhaps most notably, Series 6 introduces the first production toys for Jon-Paul Kaiser and local customizer Dril One. Congrats!

With tomorrow’s release of Dunny 2010, it’s important not to forget the other white platform, the Qee. Get ‘em by the case here. Get ‘em individually blind-boxed here. Get ‘em in store in San Francisco, and you can always swap your blind pull for a display figure. For further insight, click on the artist links to see some of the chase figure reveals.

Roller the Reindeer is Here!

This summer comes an unexpected visitor, Roller the Reindeer, the newest Bossy Bear friend. Created by David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, Bossy Bear & Friends welcome the latest edition to the club. Standing 5 inches tall and window boxed, Roller the Reindeer is the fourth character in the Bossy Bear & Friends line produced by Toy2R. The neon green, blue and pink vinyl toy is available for $17.95 here.

Toys in Commercials

Thanks to today’s Twitter tip-offs, we can see another example of a major corporation picking up on toys. The Kia spot is actually the rare commercial interruption when I don’t get up from LOST to grab another beer. Gotta love a jet-skiing Sock Monkey. The AT&T ad replaces retro toys with modern figures from Toy2R, Julie West, Delme and Shawnimals.

That’s not our shop in the video, but we do have 3 of the 4 highlighted figures currently in stock! Toy2R’s – 8″ DIY Qee Bear (Orange), Julie West’s Bumble and Go Lucky Neko mini-figures by Delme. Congrats to the designers on the crossoversauce!

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.

Zipperpullapalooza

Zipperpulls are kind of the unsung heroes of the designer toy world. They’re really popular, but they have a Napoleon Complex. They serve a purpose, but they’re not exactly practical. It’s hard to justify that you need them, but you really want them. Zipperpulls are literally yanking your chain. And we’ve got tons of them.

Shane Jessup’s Things That Hurt are a fan favorite. You could sort of say that zipperpulls make you less likely to get something caught in a zipper, which would be a Thing That Hurt, indeed. I am guilty of being smitten by the new Paul Frank zipperpulls. Lots of people like the combination of dark humor and cuteness of Gloomy Bear zipperpulls. Perhaps the opposite of gruesome Gloomy Bears would be Friends With You’s Luckies zipperpulls. And the going joke is how nobody uses their Qees as keyrings, so Toy2R put out some 1.5-inch Qees as zipperpulls. We’ve got fishbowls full of ‘em for just a couple bucks each from Kidrobot, Toy2R and Rocketworld. Come fish ‘em out, or order blindly via the online shop.

Lucky 13 Toys From Frank Kozik

Frank Kozik invited us over to visit his studio next month, and we’re excited to go check out his toys and music and talk to The Man himself. Frank has said his interests have a way of turning into money, and that the whole toy thing began by being a customer of Kidrobot back in the day. I guess you could call that the best rationalization to go spend some money on toys?! Our shop is currently stocked full of Frankephemera, from vinyl to plush to paper. Here’s 13.

Up above, there’s five 5-6-inch Big Mongers by Frank Kozik and Kidrobot. That’s Ramirez, Lorenzo, Magistrate Wu, Sarge and Booger all in a lineup for $24.95 each.

Here we’ve got Kozik’s latest Labbit, the Corspman. Five inches of army green, stenciling and smork for $29.95.

Let’s say you’re on the fence about bringing a grenade into your house. Maybe the vinyl Monger is a bit too…hard? Frank’s newest version of Sarge is 14 inches tall and sports a mustache and a body of super-soft plush for $29.95.

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Neon Monster Loves You Sale

Shout it from the rowhouses and rooftops: Neon Monster loves you! Funny how collecting toys can be both an addiction and a medicine. These days, everyone is cutting back on their indulgences. Here’s a little pick-me-up: This weekend, take 15% off all items in Neon Monster’s inventory with the discount coupon code: “LOVE GIFT.” Just enter “LOVE GIFT” into the promo code field upon checkout to reduce your invoice by 15% on everything we’ve got. Yes, this even includes the limited edition resin psnails everyone’s talking about and our exclusive art prints from Art Basel.

Neon Monster also boasts the largest selection of Qees from Toy2R in the United States. We’ve got the rare 16-inch DIY Qees in black, white, GID and hot pink. We’ve also got 8-inch DIY Qees in 5 shapes and 5 neon colors. Each figure comes with acrylic paint. DIY toys make great gifts that indulge imagination and creativity. Check out all the customizable blank figures (and don’t forget to take 15% off your order this weekend only) right here.