Lego Landspeeder!

From yet another awesome toy care package from a fellow toy blogger, this time the mighty Chunky B of Eclectorama fame, comes this classic Lego Landspeeder from the first series of Star Wars Lego sets (back when the figures were all still yellow).

I missed out on this entire series when it first came out (back in 1999), so I'm pretty friggin stoked to finally get my greedy mitts on this set! I know it's kind of old, and probably worth a bit of moola, but I don't care. I just had to crack this baby open and put it together!

Since my real love for Lego centers around the minifigs over the actual building pieces (which was the other way around for me as a kid), I can't help but find this little Luke and Ben Kenobi simply adorable! Although, this Obi-wan actually looks more like a gray-haired George Lucas.

The Landspeeder itself is a gem! 

And now I can finally re-enact famous silver screen moments from A New Hope such as this scene when Ben tells these Stormtroopers to bugger off. (I don't actually have any Stormtrooper minifigs or a C3PO, so I had to improvise.)

So, thanks Chunky B! Now I can have really, really, really tiny lightsaber duels! Pzzzhheeeooowww! Vwhhhoooommm! Ptch-OW! Vwhooom! Vwhoom!

Zombie Kid!

Here's a little quick illustration I did for a Halloween make-up kit. You may see it in store this year, so keep your eyes peeled! (And the doors boarded up...)

Lego Minifig of the Week! #17

This was my very first Lego Minifig way back in 1978. I loved these guys so much, I was inspired to permanently declare it...

Skate Themed T-shirt Designs!

Just showing off a style I experimented with at my old job. I think that these designs sold and you can find them in boys' sizes in JC Penny. But don't quote me on that.

Random Toy Pic #23

Chocolate Monsters!

One of the funnest things that I got to design at my old job are sticker packs! This is a sheet that I did for this odd little chocolate themed gift pack. NOM NOM NOM!

Payback Pac Man for Jboy!

I've recently taken up making some art pieces for my fellow toy bloggers, since so many of them have sent me cool stuff in the mail, and as a small way of paying it back, I've asked them to tell me what character from TV, movies, comics or video games they'd like me to draw in the same style as the Batman piece that I did for Chunky B.

My cyber-homie Jboy picked Pac Man, and his wish is my command! Here's the first in the Payback series...

Hope you like it Jboy!, I'll be sending a signed copy to you very soon! Wakka wakka wakka!

The Team Transylvania Toys That Never Were!

Yesterday, I posted some pics of some skateboard deck designs that I did that were going to be a part of this bigger brand called Team Transylvania, that would have included skateboards, t-shirts and toys.

I never really got past the concept stage for the toys, but we had planned this sort of Tech Deck/Art Vinyl kind of figure and mini skateboard combo. The figures would be all the main characters (Nashferatu, Frankengrind, Mummy Hawk, The Creature from the Empty Pool and whatever the werewolf's name was... I forget) and they'd all come with their own matching mini deck and matching carrying case.

But the sketch you see below is as far as that ever got...

(Click to see monster sized)

I think we talked about having magnets in their feet and in the decks so that they would just click onto the decks and ride off.

Such a cool idea, that will never be realized.

My Monster Skate Decks!

So, I know I don't post much here, but that's mostly because I've been working as a staff artist for a t-shirt and toy company for the past year, cranking out art on a daily basis, and I wasn't allowed to show this work while I'm employed by them but I can show it all off for "portfolio purposes" once I'm no longer with the company.

Well, as of May 4th, I'm officially laid off. Along with about six other artist and countless other staff. So, I've decided to say "screw it" and show off some of my hard work. Get ready for an art flood!

Today's pieces were posted here once already, but then I heard from a coworker that I could technically gert in trouble for showing them, so now I want to repost them because a) they're dope, b) the whole project got scrapped anyway, and c) that whole laid off thing.

So enjoy these skateboard deck designs I did for a line of monster/skate related toys and apparel we were calling Team Transylvania!

Oh, and don't worry about lil ol' me, I've already got a new job as an Art Director for a new company waiting for me. So I landed on my feet. In fact, you can see me and my art (all the stuff I've been doing with my new company) at this year's San Diego Comic Con! (Booth 5602)

Oh Man, This is Heavy...

Have you guys ever had one of those collecting weekends that turns out to have a theme? I did that this past weekend. It was almost spooky. I was just doing my normal thing, but somehow, with very little effort on my part, my weekend became THE WEEKEND OF BACK TO THE FUTURE DELOREANS!

Allow me to explain...

So, on Friday night, i had to get out after several hours of cranking out art on the computer. So I made my usual stops at my fevorite used book stores and then on a whim, decided to check out Toys R Us, to see if anything new came out. Lo and behold, I spotted this little baby...

The Minimates Time Machine! I'm not a huge Minimates fan, in fact up until then I've only had one, a Batman (and now have a couple more from a recent care package, which are now turning me into a full blown Minimates lover, but more on that later), but I remember passing this up a while back and then never seeing it again. So there I was, face to face with another one and the best part? It was on clearance!This must have been a return or they found it stashed behind some Mega Bloks or something, but I don't care; It's mine now!

Then, on Sunday, I find out last minute that my local twice-a-year toy show was happening, and I manage to swing by for a couple of hours. While milling around and rooting through the various sellers' boxes, I spot this puppy on a dealer's table...

 Boo-YA! Johnny Lightning Time Machine! And this is the build-it-your-damn-self version, which is just fine with me. The guy only wanted $5 for it and I couldn't throw a Lincoln at him fast enough. That's Time Machine number two.

Then, to top it off, that night, while at the grocery store to pick my usual pile of junk food, I walk by an Easter display of Hot Wheels cars and BAM! There's the elusive Hot Wheels Time Machine! I say elusive because although many of you out there have been finding them left and right, I live in an area infested with neckbeard scalpers and can never find anything good.

The Hot Wheels Time Machine is an absolute beauty and goes damn well with my Ecto-1 and 1966 Batmobile.

I really love that Hot Wheels is doing this. I hope they make the A-Team van next!

I cracked open the Minimates set and  have to say that car itself is bigger on cuteness than accuracy, but then again, so are Minimates figures; That's the point of them.

But the double gull-wing doors are PIMP!

Ah yes, I can see where the Mr. Fusion goes...

The Johnny Lightning Time Machine took a little work to put together. I had to bust out some super glue and everything. But I threw on the headphones, listened to some Kevin Smith podcasts (it's my new thing while working) and put that baby together.

And let me tell you, this car is amazing! The detail on it it out of this world.

Looking at them side by side, the Johnny Lighting version clearly outshines the Hot Wheels version. But then again, the Hot Wheels version retails for $1, and the Johnny Lightning one went for much more originally.

They're also slightly different in scale, as you can see from the pic below...

Oddly enough, though, the more detailed Johnny Lightning version is lacking the classic OUTTATIME license plate, where the Hot Wheels version clearly has it. Go figure.

Anyway, that's the tale of me having no toy Back to the Future Deloreans in my collection on Friday, to having three of them by Sunday evening. That, my friends is a collecting hat trick and doesn't happen often.

I guess it was my... destiny...

Lego Minifig of the Week! #16

Bonus Shout Out!

Another fellow toy blogger hooked me up with a killer toy care package, so I just want to give a shout out to Jboypacman from The Revenge from the Cosmic Ark! There's a few things you can tell about this pic:

1) That's one more Batman for the shelf, Chunky B!
2) You can never have too many Green Arrows in one care package.
3) HELL YEAH MONSTER FORCE!
4) Slimer's gonna get it.

Again, thanks to Jboypacman! (click thy magical white arrow upon yon picture to fully embiggen)

Random Toy Pic #22

Oh, My Beautiful Mistress of the Dark...

Next to Lynda Carter, my biggest and longest-running celebrity crush comes in the form of leggy, black-clad wisecracking horror-host and all around Halloween Hottie, the Mistress of the Dark herself, Elvira!

I used to watch her cheesy horror movies religiously when I was a youngster and usually just wanted the stupid monster flick to go to a commercial to see the next Elvira skit. Then came her very own movie, which I watch on HBO about 20 times in one Summer alone. In fact, I always thought Elvira was a grade A TV hottie, but after that movie, where her humor really shined alongside her amazing taste in cars, it was pretty much true love forever. (Incidentally, I just saw her on American Idol this past Wednesday night; she's still looking hot!)

Anyway, after months of trying to find a decent Elvira action figure on eBay for a decent price, and passing on all of them as they were either overpriced, or gouged in the shipping, I finally found one, mint on the card, at my recent San Diego swap meet trip for a big, whopping $5!

This figure came out several years ago from a toy company that came and went pretty quickly, with no help from their inanely vapid company name. This Elvira figure is the "Witch Variant", which basically means that she came with a witch's hat and a broom instead of the boa constrictor and chainsaw of the regular figure, two accessories that were quickly thrown to the wayside; it's all about the figure for me in this case.

Not the most articulated figure, and it has those stupid "hole hands", but I don't really care. The figure was 5 clams and it's Elvira. I'm a happy guy.

Despite the no-name toy company, they actually did a really good job in capturing her likeness, especially in the face, and her costume is top notch, right down to the removable dagger on her belt.

And it wouldn't be a post about everyone's favorite Mistress of the Dark without a gratuitous shot of her... umm... assets.

So, not a great figure, but not a horrible one, either. Like I said, I'm just jazzed to finally have an Elvira on the shelf, where she can host bad horror movies for the rest of my action figures

Anyway, kiddies... unpleasant dreeeeaaaaams!

*UPDATE*

Since Bubbashelby couldn't resist asking me for naked pics of Elvira (he just can't help himself, he has no self control), I guess I'll oblige him this one time.

Sorry, gang! That's as naked as she gets. Still, kick ass wristbands, though!

Lego Minifig of the Week! #15

Random Toy Pic #21

(I picked up the Vintage Series ROTJ R2 before I left for San Diego, and scored his darker evil twin at the swap meet.)

Video Blog #21

Lego Minifig of the Week! #14

My Haunted House UV Shirt Goes to Print!

Just got to see this sample of one of my UV color-changing shirts! The ghosts show up really bright in UV light. It's hard to tell but there are even little ghosts peeking out through the broken windows. :)

WooooOOOOooOOOOoOOOOoooooo!!!!

The Adventures of Clawtron in San Diego!

Hey, kids! It's me, Reis, reporting from sunny San Diego, California, where I'm halfway through my work trip. I know I said that the blog would remain "radio silent" until I got back, but I found some down time and I just couldn't resist a little blogging. I have so much to show you guys, but all in good time.

Today, I just wanted to show off some pics. Inspired by Chunky B's Gonk Adventures, I decided to bring along one of my new favorite figures, Clawtron (from the Fisher Price Adventure People) and let him have a little vacation too!

So sit back and enjoy Part 1 of The Adventures of Clawtron in San Diego!

The day we left Seattle, was rainy and cloudy, as usual, and Clawtron was more than a little anxious to get on the plane.

Once on the plane, I had to explain to Clawtron that despite him being programed to pilot and navigate over 7,000 known airborne conveyances in the galaxy, he was not allowed to fly this plane.

So I did my best to keep him occupied and we shared a snack of sesame sticks and dried cranberries together.

But that wasn't enough, so as soon as we landed and met up with my friend, we all went out for burgers. Clawtron was thrilled.

He spent the first couple of days meeting the locals.

And despite his frightening countenance, it turns out that he's rather quite good with children.

Clawtron has been joining me on my daily breaks (this being a working vacation, after all) to to the Starbucks down the block, where I give my eyes a rest from the computer screens and get some other ideas sketched out. 

One new favorite pastime that Clawtron has been embracing with me is our new-found love for collecting those squashed pennies that you get at tourist traps. And believe me, they're everywhere down here!

You can't go to San Diego without going to the zoo and here I managed to snap a pick of Clawtron admiring the elephants from atop the tour bus.

Thanks to a visit to my first California swap meet (which I have heard are collector's paradises), I managed to pick up a couple of friends for Clawtron to hang out with while working. So now, he and Mutt talk a lot about motorcycles and the weird little green dude, just seems to be happy to listen to them. (I don't know who he is, so if anyone can tell me, that would be much appreciated.)

And to wrap things up for now, I thought I'd end Part 1 with a shot of Clawtron hanging out with my recently acquired Lego minifigs. Woot! Woot! Series 4!

Anyway, I'm here for another week, so I'll see you all again soon with more Adventures of Clawtron in San Diego, plus some killer toy pics from the swap meet, and a closer look at some of the awesome toys I've scored.

Adios, mi amigos!