Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Introducing... Snotz!
Here's the latest member of the Boogorz team, Lead Infantry Private Snotz...
Only a couple more Boogorz to add to the team, then I'll bake them up, paint on some details (like a gloss coat over the eyes) and then I can move on to the other clans. Think I'll do the Skabz next! Eeeeewwwww....
Only a couple more Boogorz to add to the team, then I'll bake them up, paint on some details (like a gloss coat over the eyes) and then I can move on to the other clans. Think I'll do the Skabz next! Eeeeewwwww....
Friday, March 18, 2011
Hey! Look at My Toys! is Going on Hiatus...
Hey kids! I just wanted to drop a quick post to let everyone know that I'm going to be taking a small break from posting for a while. The wife and I are heading to Vancouver, BC for a few days to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary and right after I get back, I'll be heading to sunny California for a couple of weeks for work.
I can't say much, but this super secret side project I have been working on has just blown up in a major way and I'm going to be spending a couple of weeks cranking out artwork, meeting with big wigs and basically launching stuff into the stratosphere.
I wish I could tell you more, but I can't right now. I assure you all that it's something you would all love, and as soon as I get the okay to show off some of the production work/concepts/final products, I certainly will, but probably over at my art blog.
So, Hey! Look at My Toys! will be quiet for about 3 weeks or so. But hopefully, I'll find scads of cool toys blog about when I get back!
Adios, muchachos!
I can't say much, but this super secret side project I have been working on has just blown up in a major way and I'm going to be spending a couple of weeks cranking out artwork, meeting with big wigs and basically launching stuff into the stratosphere.
I wish I could tell you more, but I can't right now. I assure you all that it's something you would all love, and as soon as I get the okay to show off some of the production work/concepts/final products, I certainly will, but probably over at my art blog.
So, Hey! Look at My Toys! will be quiet for about 3 weeks or so. But hopefully, I'll find scads of cool toys blog about when I get back!
Adios, muchachos!
Vintage Imperial Monsters!
Greeting boys and ghouls! MuuuaaaHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha!!!
So, I've got to be honest; I'm hella short on time and have a ton to do today, so I don't have a lot of time to wax poetically about some toy I had when I was a kid and how I had a multitude of adventures with it and all that nonsense, so I'm just going to post some pics of toys I never had, but saw them on eBay and just had to have them.
I scored this lot of monster figures by Imperial a few weeks back and they have been dominating my Universal Monsters shelf ever since, mostly because they are just massive, about 8 or 9 inches tall, and made of a bulky, heavy plastic. These figures could be used as murder weapons.
Anyway, like I said, I never had these before, but I do have vague memories of seeing them in stores when I was younger, and maybe some kids I knew had them, but whatever, these are mine now! Now all I have to do is find the Wolfman figure, and possibly a Gillman one (if they ever made one of him).
So, there it is. Enjoy the pics!
(By the way, I happen to have two Frankensteins, if anyone wants to make a trade for a Wolfman or Creature!)
So, I've got to be honest; I'm hella short on time and have a ton to do today, so I don't have a lot of time to wax poetically about some toy I had when I was a kid and how I had a multitude of adventures with it and all that nonsense, so I'm just going to post some pics of toys I never had, but saw them on eBay and just had to have them.
I scored this lot of monster figures by Imperial a few weeks back and they have been dominating my Universal Monsters shelf ever since, mostly because they are just massive, about 8 or 9 inches tall, and made of a bulky, heavy plastic. These figures could be used as murder weapons.
Anyway, like I said, I never had these before, but I do have vague memories of seeing them in stores when I was younger, and maybe some kids I knew had them, but whatever, these are mine now! Now all I have to do is find the Wolfman figure, and possibly a Gillman one (if they ever made one of him).
So, there it is. Enjoy the pics!
(By the way, I happen to have two Frankensteins, if anyone wants to make a trade for a Wolfman or Creature!)
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Boogorz 2.0
Some of you may remember the disgusting little creature I made out of clay a while back, based on what I imagine an anthropomorphic, personified booger would look like. If you don't, scroll down. I don't post that often.
Well, sadly, the $4 children's modeling clay that I used was surprisingly crappy. Who knew? And our poor Boogorz fellow dried up and got all gross looking.
So, I went to a craft store and bought some good ol' faithful Sculpey, in a multitude of colors, and decided to remake the ugly little cuss.
I can already tell that I'm going to like this clay better, and once he's backed, he'll be solid as a rock. So I spent the afternoon trying to recreate my first Boogorz guy and you can see the process below...
Voila! An all new, brilliantly colorful, and slightly larger Boogorz critter! Again, I'm no sculptor, so pardon my less than perfect creature, but then again, he is a booger monster, so he shouldn't be too perfectly molded.
I had so much fun making him, that I quickly whipped up a little friend for him...
Aaawwwwww.... aren't they cute? So these are the first to Boogorz. I'm stiull thinking of names for them and I have three others planned, which I'm waiting to make before I bake them all. Then I'll move on to the other clans, like the Poo-toids, the Pee-zors, the Skabz, the Toejamz and the Waxilors.
It's going to get gross, folks.
Well, sadly, the $4 children's modeling clay that I used was surprisingly crappy. Who knew? And our poor Boogorz fellow dried up and got all gross looking.
So, I went to a craft store and bought some good ol' faithful Sculpey, in a multitude of colors, and decided to remake the ugly little cuss.
I can already tell that I'm going to like this clay better, and once he's backed, he'll be solid as a rock. So I spent the afternoon trying to recreate my first Boogorz guy and you can see the process below...
Voila! An all new, brilliantly colorful, and slightly larger Boogorz critter! Again, I'm no sculptor, so pardon my less than perfect creature, but then again, he is a booger monster, so he shouldn't be too perfectly molded.
I had so much fun making him, that I quickly whipped up a little friend for him...
Aaawwwwww.... aren't they cute? So these are the first to Boogorz. I'm stiull thinking of names for them and I have three others planned, which I'm waiting to make before I bake them all. Then I'll move on to the other clans, like the Poo-toids, the Pee-zors, the Skabz, the Toejamz and the Waxilors.
It's going to get gross, folks.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Vintage 1983 Kenner Force Lightsaber!
Out of all of the stuff I scored at last weekend's Emerald City Comic Con, I have to say that the biggest one for me was this vintage 1983 Darth Vader Lightsaber. I had one of these as a kid, a green one like Luke's, as did most of the kids in my neighborhood and we would regularly host epic lightsaber battles down by the Kindergarten school playground, under the monkey bars dome.
My original lightsaber was a trusty and beloved toy and I have literally been searching for a decade for another one. They rarely show up on eBay and when they do, they are either incredibly beat up, astonishingly expensive, or very often, both.
So imagine my surprise when I see this beauty, leaning up against a toy dealer's table, just waiting for me to pick it up. I asked how much he wanted for it and he said, "I wanted $25, but I'll give it to you for $20." I nearly peed my pants right there. Luckily, I kept it together.
This baby is in mint condition! Not a scrape, ding, nick or peel on it, just like the day it was bought from a store. (Monkey has decided that he wants to be in this post.)
"The Force" Lightsabers, were actually the second generation of this toy which boasted a little design tweak that caused it to make "VWOOOM VWOOOM!" sounds when you swing it around. The sound is absolutely nothing like the sound effect from the movie, but in 1983, we didn't care.
It's this little doohickey one the end that somehow makes it go "VWOOOM!"
Along with the fact that the entire thing is hollow. I have no idea about the physics behind this. And remember how I mentioned how "new" it was? Yeah, turns out that this baby still has the price tag on it! Only $6.99 at Eckerd's (which is a pharmacy/drug store like CVS or Walgreens).
And that's my favorite score of last weekend. That, and the mint condition Dukes of Hazzard Lunchbox I found (which isn't a toy, so I won't be blogging about here).
And now, for the epic finale of this post, I will battle Monkey to the death!
Ach! He used the Force push to deflect the blade!
Oh! A nasty slash to the midsection!
Followed up by a ruthless stab to the back!
What's this? He has blocked my blows with the legendary Kitty Jedi Head Rub?! Impossible!
Aaaaaannnnnnd now he has to lick his foot. Guess the fight's over.
Anyway, he and I will meet again another day, when my powers will be even stronger. Until then, I will take solace in the knowledge that I have found a new lightsaber... and my training is almost complete...
My original lightsaber was a trusty and beloved toy and I have literally been searching for a decade for another one. They rarely show up on eBay and when they do, they are either incredibly beat up, astonishingly expensive, or very often, both.
So imagine my surprise when I see this beauty, leaning up against a toy dealer's table, just waiting for me to pick it up. I asked how much he wanted for it and he said, "I wanted $25, but I'll give it to you for $20." I nearly peed my pants right there. Luckily, I kept it together.
This baby is in mint condition! Not a scrape, ding, nick or peel on it, just like the day it was bought from a store. (Monkey has decided that he wants to be in this post.)
"The Force" Lightsabers, were actually the second generation of this toy which boasted a little design tweak that caused it to make "VWOOOM VWOOOM!" sounds when you swing it around. The sound is absolutely nothing like the sound effect from the movie, but in 1983, we didn't care.
It's this little doohickey one the end that somehow makes it go "VWOOOM!"
Along with the fact that the entire thing is hollow. I have no idea about the physics behind this. And remember how I mentioned how "new" it was? Yeah, turns out that this baby still has the price tag on it! Only $6.99 at Eckerd's (which is a pharmacy/drug store like CVS or Walgreens).
And that's my favorite score of last weekend. That, and the mint condition Dukes of Hazzard Lunchbox I found (which isn't a toy, so I won't be blogging about here).
And now, for the epic finale of this post, I will battle Monkey to the death!
Ach! He used the Force push to deflect the blade!
Oh! A nasty slash to the midsection!
Followed up by a ruthless stab to the back!
What's this? He has blocked my blows with the legendary Kitty Jedi Head Rub?! Impossible!
Aaaaaannnnnnd now he has to lick his foot. Guess the fight's over.
Anyway, he and I will meet again another day, when my powers will be even stronger. Until then, I will take solace in the knowledge that I have found a new lightsaber... and my training is almost complete...
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Bonus Post: The ECCC Dollar Bin Toy Haul!
I just got to do an extra post to show off some of the killer figures that I got for a buck each this past weekend at ECCC. You saw a couple of them yesterday in the Random Toy Pic, but I thought that their fellow cheapies needed a little spotlight, too.
So without further ado, let me introduce you all to the ECCC Dollar Bin Crew!
Like I said before, each one of these classic figures were a big whoppin' buck! Let's take a look at them individually...
First up is a classic Ugnaught, who we saw yesterday making friends with Dagget. He didn't come with any of his gear, like his purple smock, but then again, he was a dollar. In fact, none of these figures came with jack squat, but that's what eBay is for.
Here's whats-his-face from Return of the Jedi. He was one of Jabba's skiff guards, I think. I don't know, I never had him. Somebody help me out with his name. Kevin? Was that it? No... Paul?
Third in line is one of the heoes of the Battle of Endor, Nien Nunb! This dude co-piloted the Millennium Falcon with Lando against the second Death Star! They blew that business up but good, and do you know what ol' Nien did? He laughed. That's one bad dude...
And finishing up the Star Wars members of the Dollar Bin crew is the one and only Luke Skywalker in his Hoth Gear. Like I mentioned a while back, I never had this figure and just pretended that my Hoth Rebel Soldier was Luke, and now that I finally have one I feel like my entire childhood was a sham! Just kidding. But this is an awesome figure and simply exudes "Luke-ness".
And here we have adorable little Dagget from the classic Battlestar Galactica line. I did have this guy when I was a kid and ofthen pretended that he and R2D2 were best friends. When I was a kid, i thought he was just about the cutest thing ever. Looking at him again is making me rethink that original assessment. He's one freaky looking critter.
And since I was buying Dagget, I couldn't pass up this Cylon figure. I already have one Cylon figure, but you can never really have too many. Why did these figures have zero leg articulation? What a gyp!
And finishing it off, it wouldn't be my blog without at least one mention of LJN's Dungeons & Dragons line, and Bowmarc here made it home with me to join my slowly growing ranks. Granted he's completely weaponless and wearing the world's gayest armor, but he's sort of a hard one to find, so I'm considering this dude a score.
Well, that's it for the Dollar Bin Crew! I've got another article coming up tomorrow showcasing a true classic, that I have been looking for for years. See you then!
So without further ado, let me introduce you all to the ECCC Dollar Bin Crew!
Like I said before, each one of these classic figures were a big whoppin' buck! Let's take a look at them individually...
First up is a classic Ugnaught, who we saw yesterday making friends with Dagget. He didn't come with any of his gear, like his purple smock, but then again, he was a dollar. In fact, none of these figures came with jack squat, but that's what eBay is for.
Here's whats-his-face from Return of the Jedi. He was one of Jabba's skiff guards, I think. I don't know, I never had him. Somebody help me out with his name. Kevin? Was that it? No... Paul?
Third in line is one of the heoes of the Battle of Endor, Nien Nunb! This dude co-piloted the Millennium Falcon with Lando against the second Death Star! They blew that business up but good, and do you know what ol' Nien did? He laughed. That's one bad dude...
And finishing up the Star Wars members of the Dollar Bin crew is the one and only Luke Skywalker in his Hoth Gear. Like I mentioned a while back, I never had this figure and just pretended that my Hoth Rebel Soldier was Luke, and now that I finally have one I feel like my entire childhood was a sham! Just kidding. But this is an awesome figure and simply exudes "Luke-ness".
And here we have adorable little Dagget from the classic Battlestar Galactica line. I did have this guy when I was a kid and ofthen pretended that he and R2D2 were best friends. When I was a kid, i thought he was just about the cutest thing ever. Looking at him again is making me rethink that original assessment. He's one freaky looking critter.
And since I was buying Dagget, I couldn't pass up this Cylon figure. I already have one Cylon figure, but you can never really have too many. Why did these figures have zero leg articulation? What a gyp!
And finishing it off, it wouldn't be my blog without at least one mention of LJN's Dungeons & Dragons line, and Bowmarc here made it home with me to join my slowly growing ranks. Granted he's completely weaponless and wearing the world's gayest armor, but he's sort of a hard one to find, so I'm considering this dude a score.
Well, that's it for the Dollar Bin Crew! I've got another article coming up tomorrow showcasing a true classic, that I have been looking for for years. See you then!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
CARZ! is Back!
But I've changed the name of the series to "VROOOM!" as mentioned in a previous post.
I've been so busy with artwork for my job and some other side projects that I haven't had any time to just noodle around withan art for just me. But today, I just had to take 10 minutes and crank out this quickie of Dick Dastardly's hot rod from Wacky Races.
Hopefully, I'll squeeze in a few more of these here and there, and I'm still trying to get an art show showcasing all of the VROOOM! series (I've done about 30 cars and gave another 40 to go, since I've added so many to the list). Wish me luck.
Until then... enjoy...
(click to embiggen)
I've been so busy with artwork for my job and some other side projects that I haven't had any time to just noodle around withan art for just me. But today, I just had to take 10 minutes and crank out this quickie of Dick Dastardly's hot rod from Wacky Races.
Hopefully, I'll squeeze in a few more of these here and there, and I'm still trying to get an art show showcasing all of the VROOOM! series (I've done about 30 cars and gave another 40 to go, since I've added so many to the list). Wish me luck.
Until then... enjoy...
(click to embiggen)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
I'm Back from Emerald City Comic Con!
I walked for 8 hours straight, talked to a ton of awesome people, spent a butt-load of money, bought a bunch of cool toys and comics and thanks to my new vintage 1983 Darth Vader lightsaber, Captain America shield, brand spanking new Mister Miracle t-shirt and vintage Spider-Man knit ski mask (that was actually scored on eBay, but was waiting for me when I got home from the con), I'm have been instntly transformed into the Fearsome Fanboy!
I'll be devoting this entire week to all the toys I scored! So stay tuned!
Also, if you all want to see some of the pics I took of people in costumes, you can swing on by my Flickr set HERE. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Heading Out to Emerald City Comic Con!
Well, I'm off to the annual Emerald City Comic Con here in scenic Seattle, WA and plan on picking up armfuls of killer toys. So next week here on the blog will be devoted to my ECCC Haul Report! See you then!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Dungeons & Dragons Colorforms!
It's pretty hard to find a kid that grew up in America in the '70s or '80s that didn't have at least one set of Colorforms. Let's face it, they were cheap, looked like they had a lot of play for their buck and therefore often ended up under every kid's Christmas tree at least once. Heck, I had a couple; a Batman set and a G.I. Joe set later on.
But let's face it, this is one of those toys/games/crafts that are fun for about ten minutes. You'd peel off the rubbery (and smelly) two dimensional figures, stick them somewhere on the board, then put another one somewhere in proximity to the first one so that they sort of looked like they were interacting in some way. Then you'd look at it for a minute. Then you'd push it under your bed, never to be seen again.
Okay, to be fair, I would make and re-make some scenes, but that only bought it an extra 10-20 minutes of play before it got pushed aside.
But still, despite their lack of staying power, Colorforms were a huge hit, big sellers and still a major nostalgia bomb for many of us, myself included.
I scored this sweet Dungeons & Dragons set on eBay last week, mostly out of my love for old D&D toys and ephemera. But that didn't stop me from cracking it open and slapping those floppy heroes and villains onto the background... and then looking at it for minute, then putting it all away on the shelf for diplay.
But not before I snapped some pics first... (click the images to view Tiamat sized)
First off, the box art is dope! It's just the type of art that I remember from the action figure card backs and coloring book covers. As a kid, this type of art smacked of a forbidden joy, reviled by parents and rampant with scale-covered, bat-winged dangers!
Inside the box, we have our usual menagerie of Colorforms components; static background scene and shiny black sheets of oddly colored vinyl figures. When I opened this set, a couple of the figures and some of their accessories were already loose and sliding around, remnants of what appears to be the one lone time some kid gave it an effort at playing with this set, only to be so bored as to let the other figures stack stuck to their black backing boards, never to be played with.
The choices of the characters, both who they are and how they were rendered, is beyond odd. I mean, a pink Warduke? And who is that little dwarven wizard character? He looks like a reject from Rankin & Bass' production of The Last Unicorn.
Anyway, none of this stopped me from putting together a harrowing scene of epic struggles in the age of swords and sorcery... umm... rendered in pink polyurethane...
Look at this exciting battle scene! A weaponless Strongheart, locked in battle with the Ogre King! Melf the male elf, looking directly at the viewer as if to say, "What the hell is going on here?" and the lovely yet competent Mercion, also looking at the viewer as if to say, "What the hell is Melf looking at?" And the maghity and fearsome Warduke... just standing there... looking pink.
Oh well, they can't all be winners. But for all its faults, this set is still an excellent example of the silliness of '80s toys (or games or crafts, depending on your point of view) and a testament to the history of a more innocent time from Dungeons & Dragons.
You know, I think I'm going to open this box back up and make another scene.
Wait... no. No I'm not.
But let's face it, this is one of those toys/games/crafts that are fun for about ten minutes. You'd peel off the rubbery (and smelly) two dimensional figures, stick them somewhere on the board, then put another one somewhere in proximity to the first one so that they sort of looked like they were interacting in some way. Then you'd look at it for a minute. Then you'd push it under your bed, never to be seen again.
Okay, to be fair, I would make and re-make some scenes, but that only bought it an extra 10-20 minutes of play before it got pushed aside.
But still, despite their lack of staying power, Colorforms were a huge hit, big sellers and still a major nostalgia bomb for many of us, myself included.
I scored this sweet Dungeons & Dragons set on eBay last week, mostly out of my love for old D&D toys and ephemera. But that didn't stop me from cracking it open and slapping those floppy heroes and villains onto the background... and then looking at it for minute, then putting it all away on the shelf for diplay.
But not before I snapped some pics first... (click the images to view Tiamat sized)
First off, the box art is dope! It's just the type of art that I remember from the action figure card backs and coloring book covers. As a kid, this type of art smacked of a forbidden joy, reviled by parents and rampant with scale-covered, bat-winged dangers!
Inside the box, we have our usual menagerie of Colorforms components; static background scene and shiny black sheets of oddly colored vinyl figures. When I opened this set, a couple of the figures and some of their accessories were already loose and sliding around, remnants of what appears to be the one lone time some kid gave it an effort at playing with this set, only to be so bored as to let the other figures stack stuck to their black backing boards, never to be played with.
The choices of the characters, both who they are and how they were rendered, is beyond odd. I mean, a pink Warduke? And who is that little dwarven wizard character? He looks like a reject from Rankin & Bass' production of The Last Unicorn.
Anyway, none of this stopped me from putting together a harrowing scene of epic struggles in the age of swords and sorcery... umm... rendered in pink polyurethane...
Look at this exciting battle scene! A weaponless Strongheart, locked in battle with the Ogre King! Melf the male elf, looking directly at the viewer as if to say, "What the hell is going on here?" and the lovely yet competent Mercion, also looking at the viewer as if to say, "What the hell is Melf looking at?" And the maghity and fearsome Warduke... just standing there... looking pink.
Oh well, they can't all be winners. But for all its faults, this set is still an excellent example of the silliness of '80s toys (or games or crafts, depending on your point of view) and a testament to the history of a more innocent time from Dungeons & Dragons.
You know, I think I'm going to open this box back up and make another scene.
Wait... no. No I'm not.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
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