Welcome! (Mummy Boy and Rose Vampire Figures By Super 7. All Photos By Gail)

Ladies and gentlemen, nerds and geeks, art enthusiasts and toy aficionados, get ready for a thrilling tale of creative chaos and wild wonders! Picture this: Brooklyn’s Zero Space venue transformed into a colorful playground, where Indie Artists, Designers, and Collectors collide in an explosion of imagination. That’s right, it’s time again for the Five Points Festival!

Ureshi Daruma Limited Edition Figure By Howard Lee for Presspop

If you thought your wildest dreams were too weird, think again! This weekend-long extravaganza is like stepping into a parallel universe where Resin Sculptures, Plushies, and Sofubis dance hand in hand, while Minis and Kaiju roam freely. It’s a smorgasbord of creative genius, a visual feast that leaves your eyes as wide as those cute little toy figures. You can’t help but feel like you’re part of an underground movement, where imagination rules and convention is left at the door.

Sakura Cone By Candie Bolton

But Five Points Fest isn’t just about the art, because it caters to all your senses. Craft Beer flows like a mystical elixir, and unforgettable Food Trucks (OMG, the Tacos) serve up culinary delights that would make a foodie weep tears of joy. Who said you can’t have your art and eat it too?

Toys By Zimotco

This year’s Five Points Fest was the ultimate gathering of like-minded souls, and a celebration of all things weird and wonderful. The buzz was electric, the atmosphere infectious, and the crowd. . . well, let’s just say it was the most packed I’ve seen since BC (Before Covid, the good old  days).

Embellished Vintage Family Photos and Swag By Gloopy Goblin

Now,  I have a treat for you — my rad photo recap that will transport you back to those magical moments. Whether you were lucky enough to experience it firsthand or are curious about what you missed, these snapshots will give you a taste of the magic.

Beastie Boys Tribute (Based on a Photo By Glen E. Friedman) By Jappy

So buckle up, brace yourselves, and prepare to be immersed in Five Points Festival: a world where art comes to life, and toys reign supreme.

Sticker By Murd3rbird

This year, I’m distilling my coverage (loosely)  into three categories, as follows.

Alien Figure By Vampire Robots

Monsters and  Horror

Want to see something really scary? Sure you do. Five Points has all the monsters to haunt your dreams and make you scream. EEK!

T Shirt Design by Justin Baehr for Bakerzduzen

Sometimes the monsters are cute, or silly, which we love!

Check out this cute-but-creepy prototype figure from PNL Toy Works: Charlie Brown with a Jack-o’-lantern head inspired by the classic Great Pumpkin animated special from the ’60s. Very scary!

What a pleasure it was to meet and chat with artist/author Dickey Nickles, whose mind-blowing ‘grown-up picture books,’ Mr. Williams and Lost as Hell are filled with his phenomenal illustrations while also telling wildly-engaging cautionary tales for modern life. Highly recommended! You can buy these books and more at Dickey’s website, Seaweedhuman.

This Mr. Williams toy is a prototype, but the real thing is coming soon to haunt you forever!

As someone who is obsessed with all things derived from and inspired by Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, this Pinhead mini-lego figure from Spandex Toys — complete with a tiny Lament Configuration Puzzle Box, is just insane.

Coincidentally, I found the puzzle box on its own in a completely unrelated both, but I was careful not to touch it, lest I unleash Demons from Hell.

Rampage Toys Micro Skull Tank:  Love it!

More Cute Monsters from Sunguts!

I didn’t see much cosplay at this years’ show, but the Phantom Starkiller from Killer Bootlegs was making the rounds and he was happy pose for a snap!

Cyclops cosplayer Monaka keeping an Eye on things in the Sunguts Booth!

Artist James Wrona likes to paint monsters. His work is amazing and fun!

The Watcher is a Winged Eyeball creature by Harddragon for Crawlah Club! I can imagine playing with these and having all kinds of fun adventures!

How great are these monster-takes on classic McDonald’s characters, courtesy of Under Our Knives? Answer: so great.

Rock Star Action Figures

The National Hip Hop Museum had a booth with assorted Hip Hop related stuff, such at this clear figure of Biggie Smalls filled with Jelly Beans, and a  Vanilla Ice doll/action figure circa 1991!

I noticed many Action Figures modeled after various musicians all over the show, actually. Check it out!

Did someone say “Sex Pistols Action Figures”? Yes, please! Sid and Johnny are ready to tear some shit up, courtesy of Super 7.

The late, great Metallica bassist Cliff Burton was also rocking hard in the Super 7 booth.

And here’s Dio, keeping it Metal!

Speaking of Metal — Yes, it exists: The only action figure of the late Oderus Urungus from GWAR, courtesy of H.O.P Toys (High On Plastic). Be careful not to cut yourself picking him up!

I have at least a few friends who would commit acts of heinous violence to get their hands on this amazing custom art toy! Depicting Cramps‘ vocalist Lux Interior as The Human Fly, artist Jonathan Queen created this one-off for the 2023 Mixed Tape Show at Earth to Kentucky Gallery. Located in Covington, KY, E2K  sells bootleg, designer and  vintage toys as well as hosting themed group art shows that sound pretty amazing.

E2K is also where you’ll find this one-off Like a Surgeon-edition  Weird Al Yankovic figure that you can quite clearly see was once an innocent little Cupie Doll. Weird Al with his signature accordion is the work of artist Hamilton Alexander of Chumpchange.

Art By Lostncreative

Cuteness and the Squee Factor

Do you like cute things? I sure do, and Five Points brings the cuteness like nobody’s business. Let’s take a closer look at some  of the cute art and adorable tiny toys and things that made us squee.

Movie Popcorn Butter with face on it — cute! Movie Night Slimes are part the Slimes series from Fat Dads Toys.

Dungy & Pooba are just what they sound like: a tiny Dung Beetle and his ‘Mini Mystery’ Ball of Poo. Oh, the cuteness. Created by Andrew Bell for Dead Zebra Inc. Want!

We first met David of Bruckaroni Toys N’ Thangs at last year’s show, when he was promoting one of his original creations, the Chubby Ghost (seen on the right side of the table and banner).  David has been a busy guy, and this year he had all kinds of new friends to introduce.

Look at all of these cute little guys! David is especially proud of his production colorway  of the Moonbat character (created by NightlyMade), seen in the top  center of the above photo. Abigail (as she is called) is available in both standard release (left) and as an artist proof of just 9 pieces (right), where she sports a beanie with spinning-propeller-action and holds a tiny drumstick doll. Visit Bruckaroni.com for purchasing information.

The adorable Lazy Koala Ramen Bowl is by Little Lazies.

Toy designer CreepyMonsta is known for her many innovative renditions of the cute little guy with the big fangs, which is called a Rawrio. You never know what she’ll come up with next, so be sure to follow her on the ‘gram!

Can you tell that Illustrator and designer Alex Smith is also an animal lover? Pin collectors went nuts for her Strawberry Cat and Hot Dog in a Bun pins. She is super talented.

If you know me, then you understand that Small Pigs are my Spirit Animal.  These Little Piggies are based on the character Lulu the Piggy, and the toys are produced and available through Toy Zero Plus. Squeeee!

Cute Ghost illustration by Elliot Lobell!

What could be cuter than a tiny Sloth perched on a Pink Donut? I can’t think of anything.  Check out more of Diana Teeter’s compelling animal-themed artworks on her Instagram page!

Too Cute to Eat: Señor Taco plushie by Tainted Sweets!

Lil Dante’s Pizza (featuring the 666 Cat) should be a thing that exists here in NYC, because I would get all my pizza from them! Art available from Hell Mart!

It was great to see that GoofyFroot is still doing their thing.

What We Do in the Shadows  (best.  show. ever.) art by Jellykoe!

Favorite Toy From The Show: Pig Plane from Uho Toys spotted in the Toy Art Gallery booth! I am dead now, from the cuteness.

Who could resits these Anthropomorphic Food figures from One-Eyed Girl Toys! Crazy Cute!

And, thats a wrap! Thanks for reading and thanks  to all the cool artists and designers who shared they work and their stories with me. See you all next year!