Berlin, we are coming for you! We are pleased to see we will be making the European premiere of our Fall 12′ collection at the Bright Trade Show in Berlin from Jan 19th – 21st. You can find us in the “All Tommorows” section which features emerging as well as established brands like ours that are doing something a bit different in the skate/streetwear/lifestyle scene.
And to show you how different we are, we will be releasing a Bootleg Kaiju, inspired by our favorite ghost with the most! This piece is limited to 13 pieces (10 as seen, with 3 that are a secret version). If you can get to Berlin, and you can get in, you will have the option to purchase one of these bad boys!
You know all the crazy stuff that you see in our flagship stores? All the toys, collectible and other fun junk? Well, I have a horde of that stuff at my parents house in Florida and I decided to set up at this old school style comic & collectible show!
The Deland Central Florida Collecible show is one day only! If you are in the area, and into this kind of stuff you should def stop by! If meeting me wasn’t enough of incentive, you can get a signed photo of Paulie from the Godfather!
Sunday January 14th, 10am-5pm
Volusia County Fairgrounds
3150 E. New York Ave. (Hwy 44)
Deland, FL 32724
Admission: $3 (12 and under FREE with paid adult)
As you may remember, at the end of every year I like to take a look back at all the best collectibles I’ve found on the massive digital fleamarket that is eBay and share them with you folks. As a collector, I can’t tell you how great eBay is for finding things I didn’t even know existed.
That being said, it was a bit of a slow year for me on eBay. I guess I was too busy, or maybe I wasn’t finding as many treasures, but I didn’t actually buy that much stuff. I think I actually only purchased 10 items this year, and this is them. I try to use the actual photos from eBay when I can, and the titles that you see are the actual descriptions from the auctions. These 10 items are in no particular order of favorites.
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• THETA NU EPSILON 1901 Gold SKULL Secret fraternity PIN
I got really into gold this year, I’m not sure why as I have always been a silver person. Maybe it was the fact that it was pushing over $1,700 an ounce, which really made me want to start buying gold. I forgot how I found this pin, but I am so into these right now.
They were made to put on lapels or hats from “Secret Societies” at different colleges. I have a few more of these on my list, but I think this is my favorite because of the condition, the fact that it’s 18k gold, the jewels are original, and it’s actually dated on the back from 1901.
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• TIN BLACK FACE DEXTERITY GAME W/ADVERTISING…GERMANY
If you know me, then you know I am not a stranger to the collection of the taboo. Honestly, I don’t remember how I found this auction, but I am pretty sure that I looked at the other items from a seller and I saw this item and knew I had to have it. It’s some sort of old German advertising game, where the goal is to get the white balls (teeth) in the man’s mouth.
This is, obviously, from a time before civil rights. It’s a racist caricature, and something to remind us of how life once was. The game is really well made, with a metal frame and the front and back made of glass. I have a feeling it was made for some sort of medicine or elixir.
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• CREEPY BODS – “DR. GUTS” – HEADLESS BODIES
This year I finished my complete collection of Creepy Bods. If you’ve ever owned a Mad Ball and wondered where the body went, then here’s your answer.
Well, sort of. They weren’t really licensed by the same people, but more power to the guy who figured out that for some people the heads just weren’t enough. This is Dr. Guts, he is supposed to go with Slobulous. Bootlegtoyz4life!
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• CREEPY BODS – “OOZE” – HEADLESS BODIES
Another Creepy Bod to finish my collection of four. This is “Ooze” and he appears to be some sort of carnivorous swamp creature, or perhaps a science experiment gone wrong and run amuck in the sewers.
Special shout out to all the Keep Watch-esque bloody eyeballs that are peppering his bod (his Creepy Bod!). Not sure which Mad Ball this goes with. Maybe he’s just a utility player.
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• vintage HUGE SILVER SKELETON RIDING MOTORCYCLE RING s15
I love rings, especially vintage Silver ones. This one is pretty epic. First of all it’s a size 15, which is HUGE, and it’s also a full size Grim Reaper riding a motorcycle. How bad ass is that!?
The coolest thing about this auction is that the seller failed to mention that it was made by “G & S”, which not only dates it (1980s) but gives it more value as there are people who solely collect rings by G & S. They were the ones that sold in the back of comic books and magazines, as well as what you could find at swap meets and flea markets aplenty in the 1980s.
So which is it? The end of the old year, or the beginning of the new year? What sort of person are you?
Are you currently in the throes of looking back—happily or sadly—on 2011 and saying “damn, that was something” or are you held in thrall (demonsweatlive) of the looming twelvepocalypse and saying “damn, this will be something”?
I really don’t know where I fall between those two camps. On the one hand, 2011 was very good to me—my own little mopster!—but on the other hand, I lost my dog; another quiet casualty of the motherfucking world turning.
I am, however, looking forward to whatever is on the horizon with 2012. It promises to be full of new and exciting things for me as a father, and of course, not to take work/business for granted, but I’m sure if I’ve got the will, I will find a way to keep that thing ticking, too. Toys are either getting more exciting or less exciting—depending who you ask—and so I’m sure there will be plenty to talk about in that neck of the woods, too.
But what about me? Let’s get to me. As you know, O loyal order of Bloglin, I make this shit about me. I lure a bright magenta hook in the water and wait for you to come hither and nibble at the legitimate awesomeness that is this brand and then boom. A razor-sharp piece of middle-aged shrapnel screams right through your young and tender gills. You are now unwittingly reading about me and my feelings.
I’d like to find time to write more. I’d like to be here more often. Hell, I’d like to actually READ this blog…something about this past year has made me all but immune to new and exciting things on the internet. That probably includes everything—music, videos, memes—I don’t even think the porn I’ve been looking at is altogether new or fresh. Go fig.
I have wondered several times in the past few months at whether or not I’d ever return here (as an author, at least)…and I suppose I’ll keep wondering that between posts. Mishka has been such an awesome entity to be associated with….even in this loosest of ways, that I would hate to fall out of touch with that. Of course, on the other hand, I’m not gonna write about stuff just to write about stuff…I mean, it’s gotta be interesting, right? I worry about my predilection towards kid stuff now, as of course, I’ve always worried about my distance from ‘you all’…not just in terms of locale, but also in terms of age. Perceived age?
Why is it that I constantly do that to you? Why do I assume that I am at home, kicking back with Stephen Ambrose and PBS while you’re out at some sort of epic topless comedy club? I’m pretty sure that assumption is rude to both of us…but why can’t I shake it? #sorryBroDidn’tMeanItLikeThat
Are we all growing up together? Is this what that feels like? As time goes by, and we all sit here and mutate and feed and grow these ideas that are all rooted in nostalgia…is that what growing up feels like? And how many of you are so young and new and fresh that you don’t remember the first time that Air Jordans incited violence on the street? How many of you think My Pet Monster is something new? #seeAboveHashTag
Jesus. What a bummer. Why am I being a bummer all of a sudden? I came here to talk about toys. Didn’t I?
Reflection is good. It’s good to know what you do and why you do it. Right? There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking questions of oneself to really get a handle on how one feels. Maybe the weird part is that one is asking these things of oneself while 10,000 or so other ones sit around and wait for one to get to one’s point. Maybe?
As life—in all it’s forward-moving glory—progresses ever forward, I know I feel good about looking back. I know I feel good about toys. And I know I feel good about talking to you, The Bloglin, about all of that shit. I’m getting ready to enter my fourth year of posting here (which is sort of a lie…I don’t really count ’11, as I wasn’t really ‘here’) and I’m excited. I have absolutely NO idea what I plan on talking about, but I know I want to talk about it…and I know I want to talk about it to you and you.
I read a really fantastic article in GQ the other day (I was sitting on a couch in a hair salon waiting for my beautiful wife to get her eyebrows done…the kid was on my lap and I was feeding him cheerios with one hand and turning pages with the other [note: looking to get laid? find a kid {any kid} and take him to a hair salon.]). It was about how Aziz Ansari, James Murphy and David Chang sort of stumbled into this rad situation in which GQ was paying for them to go to Japan together and geek out on food and each other, etc.
Fuck…where am I going with this? Long story short: Bloglin Summit needs to happen. I have become pretty good (internet-, but still) friends with several of the dudes who post here, and I would just love to get in a room—any room—with them and shoot the shit. About whatever.
I guess this is more of an aside that I originally planned intended, but anyway, I guess the gist is that I love the Bloglin. I love you, the readers. And most of all, I’m oh-so-very fond of the friendships and acquaintances I’ve made through this site over the past three years, and I look forward to this next one. Very much so.
Happy New Year, Bloglin. Thanks for letting me play.
Oh. Shit. Right. I made a movie for you to watch and enjoy. Please watch and, um, enjoy.
Medicom has officially announced their line up for Series 23 of the Be@rbrick collection (which is the 20th anniversary series Be@rbrick) and guess what? Yup! Мишка was asked to be one of the guest designers for it.
I have been wanting to design a Be@rbrick for a long time, and I am glad that we finally are. To really execute what I wanted to see, we had to look to Lamour Supreme to really bring the toy to life, and I think he did an amazing job.
The Be@rbrick comes blind boxed and the chance of getting one is like 1.09% so around 1 per master case. We do get some ourselves to give out to friends, family and maybe even some fans!
I know for a fact you will be able to pick up the new series — which is set to release on December 23rd — over at Toy Tokyo. Good luck in hunting one down!
Well, this is the coolest thing I’ve seen this week. Toy customizer MegoScott Adams has finished work on his absolutely epic recreation of the Swan Station (AKA “The Hatch” for you LOST noobs) for use by his also-customized Mego toys. Coming in at a wildly inconvenient 20 pounds, this hyper-detailed box of fun contains all your favorite parts of the Island’s most mysterious underground science bunker.
It’s got everything, from moving doors, glow-in-the-dark island maps, Mini Apollo Bars, record player, Dharma food, and much much more. Apparently he’s willing to recreate them for the right buyer, but I have to imagine it would cost a ridiculous amount of money seeing as the damn thing is like 4 feet wide and 20″ tall and all custom painted. Who wants to buy Whole Milk a Christmas gift??
After your finish your day of shopping over at 350 Broadway tonight you should head down the street to Cotton Candy Machine for the release of a Tara Mcpherson Boryoku Genjin!
Limited to only 10 pieces worldwide, only 5 pieces will be released this Friday from 9-10 pm. The sale will be done by an in-store lottery, with one toy being available through an online lottery system.
If you can’t make it here for the Event… We are holding an Email Lottery as well! This will be for only ONE of the 5 Toys we will be releasing through Cotton Candy Machine. There will be a 3 hour window for the Email submissions from 3 to 6pm EST on Black Friday, November 25th. Send an email to zombieicebaby@thecottoncandymachine.com and please include your Full Name, Shipping Address and a Phone Number to reach you. Only one entry per person, multiple entries will be discarded. The winner will be picked at random during the event on Black Friday night. The other 4 Nag Toys will be sold here at CCM in person on Black Friday.
Good luck to all you toy fiends in getting your hands on one!
Friday November 25th, 9 – 10pm Cotton Candy Machine
235 South 1st St.
Brooklyn, NY
I hate it when this happens. 28 year old, Pornpilai Srisroy destroyed her husband’sStar Wars toy collection. In retaliation, he did what any man of reason would and killed her.
Widower Rickie La-Touche, 30, told police that his memorabilia was smashed as a part of his wife’s campaign to “make his life hell.” After suffocating his unnapreciative wife, he reportedly ran sobbing to his mother’s house. This, really, is the only thing to do in a situation like this. I imagine once he told his mother what happened she was pretty disappointed that she never taught him the proper way to play with others.
“She’s put me through it before,” La-Touche told detectives, likely referring to when she smashed all of his Lego creations. He continued, “I couldn’t let that happen again. I then just remember getting up from on top of her. I think I’ve choked her.” Yeah, I think you’re right about that. He also told police that he was afraid his wife, originally from Thailand, was going to leave him. Now he doesn’t have to worry, because there is no chance of that happening.
This is fandom taken to a new level. Of course, this is likely not an issue of the toys at all, but a larger, martial issue. Not to discount Rickie’s love for Star Wars, as I’m sure before actually choking his wife he tried his best to force choke her. Additionally, he told authorities that his wife had once threatened to “cut him up and eat him.” Clearly she was a huge Hannibal fan. That, or rapper Big Lurch.
La-Touche was sentenced to a minimum time-out of twelve years. Additionally, he’ll be sent to bed with no supper.
Last Tuesday the coolest thing ever happened: A giant Lego man washed up on the shores of a Flordia beach. Measuring eight feet tall and weighing one hundred pounds, this Lego figure is a sign that I am always right about everything, as I have long said that the small Lego figures available in stores are the enslaved offspring of a larger Lego species living in the mysterious Bermuda Triangle.
The fiberglass figure was first discovered by a local Sarasota man during his morning walk. He initially believed the Lego man was beached marine life, apparently confused about what the definition of marine life is, but upon standing the figure up discovered its true nature. Once upright, he discovered the message printed on the figure’s chest: “NO REAL THAN YOU ARE”. He then proceeded to go home and watch The Matrix and question all reality.
Still no one is sure of the Lego’s origin. When asked about the appearance of the figure, one woman said, “I kind of think it’s from the UFO people, I really do.” She should never be considered a reliable source for anything ever again. Others are turning to the new Legoland park in Winter Haven (a place where absolutely no logic was used when naming the Florida town), which opened just ten days before the Lego gentleman appeared. If this were a publicity stunt by the park, or the Lego brand, it would be straight up one of the greatest ploys of all time. So far, however, they’re denying it.
The Lego man’s back reads, “EGO LEONARD.” A quick search of this name leads to the website of the Dutch artist of the same name. It turns out that this is not the first time an Ego Leonard Lego man has washed ashore. In 2007 a similar idol appeared on a beach in Holland, and then another one in 2008 in England. A translated message from the Ego man’s website reads as follows:
My name is Ego Leonard and according to you I come from the virtual world. A world that for me represents happiness, solidarity, all green and blossoming, with no rules or limitations.
Lately however, my world has been flooded with fortune-hunters and people drunk with power. And many new encounters in the virtual world have triggered my curiosity about your way of life.
You get it now? Yeah, me neither. While Ego’s identity and purpose are being determined, all we’ve got for sure is a case of wrongful imprisonment. It appears that the Ego who showed up in Florida will stay in police custody for three months. Look for many more giant Lego men to storm Florida shores with shirts reading “FREE EGO,” not to be confused, of course, with the Lego men who will soon arrive on California shores with shirts reading, “FREE EGGOS?” I like waffles.
Let me preface this by saying that I know it’s an odd thing to call a terrorist organization “awesome,” even an imaginary one, but seriously – Cobra are just that, friggin’ awesome. No where in all of comic, cartoon or toydom has there ever been a villainous group whose awesomeness was at such great disparity from the heroes. As a a kid I was buying Cobra action figures at a rate of 4 to each Joe I got. They just couldn’t be touched with how cool they all looked. I don’t who the hell was tasked with character design for most of Cobra, but has there ever been a greater collection of villain costumes on the planet?
So this week’s High Five is gonna be dedicated to five of my favorite Cobra costumes, but specifically ones that aren’t as commonly known. Because let’s face it, we all know how incredible Destro and Cobra Commander look. Serpentor was bananas. Firefly? A dude who sort of looks like a ninja in grey camo? Are you fucking kidding me!? Then there’s the nerdy BSDM beauty that is the Baroness, the Aussie chameleon Zartan (who kinda had a Kiss-meets-Alice Cooper face paint thing going on) and of course Storm Shadow, who was able to make a white pajama ninja costume looks sick thanks to that big red Cobra emblem on his chest. And don’t get me started on just the generic Cobra grunts and officer uniforms like the Crimson Guard and Viper costumes! But I don’t really need to tell you all of this because I think (I hope!?) you all already how cool they all were.
But these five below you may not be all that familiar with. Maybe you just never got that deep into G.I. Joe lore, or maybe you stopped watching the cartoon, reading the comic book or collecting the toys early in the series. Hell, maybe I’m wrong and everyone here has a deep knowledge and appreciation for the uniforms and characters of Cobra, whatever. But here are my five favorites from the outskirts of the most bad ass terrorist organization that was ever invented.
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5) B.A.T.s – Cobra Android Trooper (1986) // Series Five
I’m gonna start out light with one that I don’t think is all that obscure but tends to get lost in the mix of incredible Cobra costumes. If a see-through chest and cybernetic arms with interchangeable weapon attachments weren’t cool enough, B.A.T.’s have one of the sickest helmets in all of Cobra. That thing looks like a cold-blooded killer…which of course they were.
From the filecard:
B.A.T.s are the perfect Cobra trooper. They never question orders, shirk duty or surrender. They are cheap and easy to replace. However, B.A.T.s do not react well to changes in field conditions, or discriminate well between targets. They will shoot at anything that moves. Cobra Infantrymen don’t like to be on the same battlefield with B.A.T.s, and will sometimes dispense B.A.T.s into a losing battle, by kicking them out of low-flying aircraft without parachutes. B.A.T.s also have a tendency to burst into flame when hit from behind.
I only wish they made a variant from the original mold that featured the red visor that B.A.T.s had in the cartoon series.
I don’t think Big Boa ever appeared in either the original cartoon or comic book (not counting the Rank & File handbooks). He was Cobra’s trainer and the guy who got tasked with getting all the lowly recruits into shape before they became troopers, vipers or ended up in Dr. Mindbender’s lab.
I have no clue what the deal is with that crazy helmet with a breathing tube, but dude was clearly pretty physically fit to be able to train and box with that thing on, because it looks heavy as fuck! I always wondered if Boa did any personal training sessions with some of the more decorated characters?
From the filecard:
Cobra Troopers can be an unruly bunch at times. They aren’t motivated by patriotism, unit loyalty, honor or sense of duty. It takes a brutal, unfeeling taskmaster to whip them into fighting trim and Big Boa fits the bill to a tee. He has a voice like a bullhorn, fists the size of frozen turkeys, and the disposition of a bear with a sore head.
Big Boa kicks open the Cobra barracks door at 0500 and makes everyone do a low crawl up the mountain while pushing a bowling ball with their noses. Then, it’s a twenty mile run through the bramble thickets, more push-ups than you want to know about, and a two mile swim upstream with a flak jacket and helmet. After breakfast he starts on the HARD stuff!
Boa is also Cobra’s most homoerotic looking character with those red studded straps. It’s like Tom of Finland meets Mad Max, and we all know what that HARD stuff alluded to in his filecard was…
Also, while I have no proof, my gut tells me that Big Boa’s appearance in some way inspired Batman’s Bane.
