Original Mixo Concept Sketches!

As some of you may know, I'm the art director and designer for a company called Mixo. Right now, we produce a series of collectible figural tins called Kookycans, but we're about about to launch a whole slew of other products starting this July (with a big launch coinciding with SDCC).

Now, many of you have seen our Kookycans before, some of you may even own a few, but for those of you who don't know what they are, this is what they look like...

They come with crunchy fruit tart candy stars inside along with a bonus sheet (or three) of punch-out papercraft accessories for your Kookycan.

But not that long ago, the original idea was to fill these with ground coffee and sell them to adults. When I think back on this, I can't believe how much has changed. Not only were they going to be filled with coffee, but the head/cap was going to act as a cup and the designs were going to be all un-licensed (at first) Big Daddy Roth style monsters and weirdos.

The only reason I'm writing about all of this is because I came across my original sketches from what feels like 10 years ago, but is really only about a year and a half ago, and I was shocked at how different it all turned out!

Anyway, I just thought it'd be fun to share these sketches. Enjoy...

Lite Brite Brutes - Space Ghost!

League of Extraordinary Bloggers Weekly Theme: Prized Possessions!

This week's topic: What is the one item in your collection you would save if your house was being swallowed by a sink hole, carried off in a tornado, and then swept away in a flood.

This was a no-brainer for me. In fact, so beloved are these certain items (yes, I picked more than one, I had to) that two of them got a mention in last week's post about Holy Grails and White Whales.

However, I would like to point out that I approached this week's topic with the idea that we are talking strictly about items in our collections, and not the obvious things like my wife, my pets, my family pictures and my tiger-striped blanket that I've had since I was 5. All of those things come first. But if we're just talking about collectible items found within the confines of the Nerdatorium, I'm going with these three pieces right here...

The three items you see above (all of which are within easy grabbing distance from eachother and easily carried out of a burning house) are the kings of my collection.

First, we have my vintage Mego Conan figure. He was given to me by a good friend and was one of those holy grail collectibles that I had never thought I would own. Although, if lost in a fire, I now know that I can easily get one complete and in mint condition on eBay for about $200, but it wouldn't be the one that I got for my birthday from a very generous buddy during a time in my life that I look back upon fondly.

Second is the legendary Blue Snaggletooth, given to me by the mighty Eric Stettmeier of Toyriffic fame. Again, another collectible that I could always get on eBay, but the story behind this one is priceless to me. This Blue Snaggletooth was the childhood toy of Darius Whiteplume, which I narrowly lost in a contest against Eric (aka Bubbashelby), only to have it passed on to me a couple of years later. I made a promise to take great care of it, and I mean to stick to that.

Finally, we have my all-time favorite Matchbox car. To everyone else, it may just seem like an ordinary red station wagon, but the one I had as a kid (this is a replacement found on eBay after years of searching) held so many great memories for me that it would just break my heart to lose it again.

So, there you have it. Yes, I cheated a little by picking more than one item, but I just couldn't narrow it down any further.

Please see the complete list of posts from the Extraordinary League of Bloggers and show their blogs some love. Thanks! 

Vintage Star Wars Thursday!

Book Look: Fangbone! The Egg of Misery!

For the few of you who actually read my posts on books, you may remember my unbridled gushing over Mike Rex's book, Fangbone! Third Grade Barbarian! Well, Fangbone is back, baby!

The author was cool enough to send me a copy of his second installment in the Fangbone series, The Egg of Misery, which is pretty cool since he just did this out of the blue, but what really made my day was that he signed and included a little sketch of Fangbone (just like last time), but with this little added inscription...

BOO-YA! You hear that, pople? I'm officially Fangbones first fan! Well, who knows if that is true, but if it is, I take the honor very seriously.

What is true is that I am definitely a fan. Much like I mentioned in my last review, I'm all about kids' fiction, like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and the How to Train a Dragon books. And Fanbone fits nicely along with these books with the added feature of their graphic novel format.

There's really not much I can say that I haven't already said about this series. I still love Rex's art style, simple yet deftly rendered. And the monotone coloring gives it a nice, warm feel.

The story this time around brings back the evil Lord Drool, who's still around trying to retrieve his lost big toe, so he can finally be whole again. Well, not so much him as his cronies, who are trying to bring back their glory days as an evil horde. This time, things get complicated when Fangbone receives an egg from his fellow clans people in his home dimension (it was supposed to be a bag of supplies, but it got switched out by Drool's minions), which Fangbone is tricked into believing is an egg of the legendary White Titan Razor Dragon.

I know, this all sounds pretty heavy, but luckily, Fangbone's best friend, Bill, breaks up the tension with moments like this...

Again, I don't want to spoil the story, so let's just say that it is equally, if not more so, packed full of as much rousing adventure as the first book.

I would, however, like to point out one of the coolest monsters I have ever seen in fantasy literature, the Flaming Ghost of Glor!

How does the author think of these things? I'm so tempted to somehow include this frightful specter in my next D&D game.

Another aspect of the Fangbone books that I love are the little stories within the story, told by Fangbone himself, that re-tell the legends of his people to his classmates here in our dimension. They smack of the actual legends that we have heard from our own ancient civilizations, yet push the envelope so much further and often include a healthy dose of silliness.

It was one of these legends that taught me that never, ever, ever washing your feet can be a potent weapon against a host of enemies.

In short; Mike Rex does it again. I'm forevermore a full-fledged Fangbone fan! I can't wait for the 3rd book!

If this looks like something up your alley, or you know the perfect kid who could use a shot of absurd fantasy in their lives, run out and pick up these books immediately! OR MAY DUNG TROLLS CAUSE HAIR TO GROW ON YOUR TONGUE!

Lite Brite Brutes! Masters of the Universe Part III

Welcome to the Seattle Pinball Museum!

I've decided that since this newer version of my blog is meant to be more of an all-encompassing record of my personal journey through Geekdom (as opposed to just about toys or books or whatever), I'm going to include more chronicles of my various adventures (and possibly start writing again about my weekly D&D nights, which I used to do on Geek Orthodox, but that's another story).

With that in mind, I have to share with you all some pics I took of one of the most amazing places I have ever seen.

This past Friday, while running around the International District (the PC name for Chinatown here in Seattle) with my boss, looking for packaging concepts for an upcoming project, my boss mentioned a place he wanted to show me. I told him to lead the way. A couple of blocks and a couple of turnarounds later, we found ourselves standing in front of the Seattle Pinball Museum.

(This pic stolen from this blog, since I forgot to take a pic of the outside)

As a kid, I was a pinball freak. Even when all of my friends were plunking quarters into Pac Man and Donkey Kong, I was the one kid who would wander over to the lonely pinball machines and give the old silver ball a launch.

The Seattle Pinball Museum is like stepping back into a classic arcade from yesteryear, filled wall-to-wall with dinging, blinking machines, all of which are playable of the general public.

Sadly, we were in a bit of a rush, so I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked and had to quickly snap some pics of some of the machines. So, please forgive me if some are a little blurry and I couldn't get a shot of every machine because people were playing them, but I'm sure I'll go back again when I have more time.

Anyway, enjoy the pics...

If you're ever in Seattle, do yourself a favor and stop by. Bring $7 for all-day-play. You can see the Seattle Pinball Museum at:

508 Maynard Ave S
(between King St & Weller St)
Seattle, WA 98104

I Won an E.T. Keychain!

First off, if all of you are not reading the blog Unpunched, start doing so right now. It's brought to us by our good friends Malcolm & Jeremy, and they basically blog about toys and stuff with a bit of a twisted slant.

Anyhoo, during one of their E.T. Thursdays posts, Malcolm blogged about a vintage E.T. keychain that he had as a kid and just reacquired thanks to this little known auction site called eBay. But the cool thing was that the seller sent him not uno, but quatro keychains, so it was time for a give away. I'll I had to do was email Malcolm and KA-BAM! I was a winner!

Just look at this beauty...

During the Summer of 1982, America (and I guess Canada, too) went E.T. crazy. I know I did. I ate Reese's Pieces for a year straight. And whenever a cultural phenomenon hits, the merch comes out and some of it is from rather dubious sources.

Now that I work with licensing, I know what it's like to have to stick to style guides and keep the art somewhat on-model, unless doing something truly original, so this keychain threw up quite a few red flags.

Just look at the E.T. logo. That's like Arial Bold or something. Not even close to the hand-scrawled logo from the movie.

Also, this is an interesting item in that it's basically a series of double-sided illustrations of E.T., held together at one corner so as to be fanned out, and all connected to a keychain. Just in case you needed to pause for a moment before opening you car door to look at some pictures of your favorite movie.

But the fun part comes when you look at some of the more questionable pieces of art. Take the following one for example. Who the hell is that kid?! And E.T. looks like he's doing something stinky in that basket.

Here we have that classic scene from the movie where E.T. tells Elliott to shut up and don't talk to him until he has his coffee.

And here's E.T. ship, exactly like it was portrayed in the movie! Wait...

And finally, here we see E.T. possibly doing something inappropriate with a young girl. I mean, just look at the look on his face.

Okay, I kid, but in all seriousness I love collectibles like this. They're such an inspiring slice of pop-culture past and I sincerely thank Malcolm for sending one to me!

Now go check out Unpunched!

Lite Brite Brutes - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Vinjtage Star Wars Thursday!

League of Extraordinary Bloggers Weekly Theme: Holy Grails

This week's topic: We all collect something. What is a holy grail item you hope to find at a flea market, toy show, or comic convention? 


One would think that after all these years of hunting and collecting, and my (sometimes) single-minded focus of finding every single toy I had as a kid, that I would finally have reached that collector's nirvana where everything you have ever wanted was displayed before you, gleaming in its near-mintedness and filling your shelves with the comforting radiant glow of nostalgia.


But you'd be wrong!


There are still a few white whales out there for me, and with every fruitless flea market search, with every outbid eBay auction, the desire for these items becomes more and more like a burning sickness.

Don't me wrong, I've been very fortunate as a collector and have scored several of my Holy Grails, such as my Blue Snaggletooth (thanks to Eric Stettmeier!) , my Mego Conan the Barbarian (thanks to my good friend, Greg!) and my Shogun Warriors Raydeen (thanks to an eBay seller who didn't know what it was and just listed it as big toy robot). But this post is about the ones that got away.


Thinking on these elusive collectibles, I had to set a few rules for myself when writing this post. First, I'm only going to talk about items that I actually had as a kid. I mean, I would love a rocket-firing Boba Fett from 1979, but I never had one, so I'm not including it here. Also, I'm only going to talk about those items that are truly Holy Grails to me because they are either extraordinarily hard to find, or some jaw-droppingly expensive that my wife would make me sleep in the guest bedroom for spending that much on a toy. Sure, there are tons of toys that I had as a kid that I still haven't gotten around to getting again (Stomper 4X4s, Evil Knievel motorcycle, some vintage Smurf figures), but that's mostly because they are just a little too pricey for me but still plentiful and not out of the realm of possibility of finding for a decent price.


So this list is about the biggies. The uber-expensive. The ultra-rare. These are My Big 5.

5. Shogun Warrior Godzilla -  Every single kid in my hometown seemed to have had one of these. I had two, as a matter of fact. One I got out of a garbage can (missing his fist and flame tongue) and one I bought at a garage sale for $2 (complete). The sheer terror that this mighty beast instilled into the hearts of my hapless action figures is still felt to this day. Sadly, he went along with all of my toys in The Great Forced Purge of '87. Now he goes for hundreds of dollars on eBay, but I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for one that's a little less harsh on my wallet.

4. Blue Mustang State Police Car - Now, I know what you're thinking, Why the hell is this no-name Woolworth reject on his list? Well, I'll tell you. This car may have started out as a one-off mom-can-I-get-this toy purchase, but it quickly became one of the most played with toys in my toybox. There was just something about the sheer aesthetics of this car that made me fall in love with it. When it wasn't chasing my Mego Dukes of Hazzard General Lee around, it was often being turned over and over in my hands, being admired for it's simple beauty. Turns out that I wasn't the only kid who loved this toy car, because every time one pops up on eBay, I get soundly outbid every time. But one day...

3. Transformers Shockwave - I only ever owned one Transformer and it was this violet badass right here. Finding a complete one for under $150 is about as hopeless as a dream can get.

2. Weebles Haunted House - This, ladies and gents, is the very first toy I ever remember opening at Christmas. I must have been 3 years old. And this toy has it all for me. It's kind of spooky, yet kind of cute. And although the parts would get lost over the years, the house itself (along with my Fisher Price Sesame Street playset) would act as a main headquarters for my action figures for years. But most of all, opening this on Christmas morning (or it may have actually have been Christmas Eve) in 1975 and playing with it on the floor of our living room with my mom is the very earliest memory I have of my mom and I playing together, a memory that I hope to god I never lose.

1. Nerfman - And the number one Holy Grail toy of all time for me is the legendary Nerfman, the squishy superhero that you could throw through the house! Oddly enough, my burning desire to find another one of these isn't so much built upon tons of fond memories of playing with him (although I did have a blast with this toy), but more upon how shockingly hard to find he is now (a few show up on eBay each year, but go for hundreds of dollars). Also, for some reason, Nerfman represents to me ground zero of my childhood. I got him for Christmas when I was 6, when the unfettered joy of being a kid was truly kicking into gear for me. Nerfman serves as a marker for me, at the very moment that I became aware of how awesome it was to be a kid. So, it's not like I have some strong emotional attachment to him, or some especially great memory connected to him, but as a bookmark in time, as a beacon on the shores of my childhood, that get farther away from me with each passing year, Nerfman is a must. Not so much as a collectible, but as a time machine.

Please see the complete list of posts from the Extraordinary League of Bloggers and show their blogs some love. Thanks!