Tag Archive | Toys

Five Points Festival: The Mother of All Photo Recaps is Here!

All Photos By Gail

If you happen to be a fan of character-based, pop culture collectibles — which includes dozens of items encompassing such must-haves as enamel pins, plushies, art toys, limited edition / designer vinyl toys and action figures, monsters, model kits, art prints, novelties and seemingly endless subcategories of amazing swag — then the Five Points Festival, which took place in Greenpoint, Brooklyn over the weekend of June 2nd and 3rd, 2018 is the only place you want to be. There’s a lot to distill in this recap, so we are going to get right to it. If you weren’t at Five Points Fest, here is just some of what you missed!

You can’t really talk about Five Points Fest without at least mentioning Kidrobot, acknowledged worldwide as the premier manufacturer and retailer of limited edition art toys, signature apparel and lifestyle accessories. Their booth was crammed full of goodies like these pocket collectibles.

Andy Warhol Dunny Series 2

Andy Warhol Brillo Box Object Series

Artists Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters have designed a new mini figure series called Dark Harbor, which Kidrobot manufacturers and distibutes. We’ve been fans of Kathie’s work forever, so these super cute little guys are fun to see!

Eric Althin’s Sad Salesman designer toy and vinyl collection started as a labor of love and has grown into a family of endearing characters inspired in part by Eric’s young son and daughter.

The Dessert Oracle came home with me to join my collection!

Eric’s Pink Astral Wizard (created in a now sold-out limited edition just for this show) also won Sad Salesman an award for Breakthrough Artist! Congratulations!

Jim McKenzie is a formerly New York-based artist who has enjoyed great success with his unique hybrid character creations such as the Pumpkin Crab, Racoonicorn and the Pugglepillar, as well as his adorable Scarecrow who is, literally, scared of crows. Jim recently relocated to live the dream out in Burbank, California so we were happy to catch up with him at Five Points Fest!

Racoonicorn

Jim painstakingly hand sculpts all of his creations.

Limited Edition Pink Scarecrow

He also does amazing digital paintings. Jim McKenzie!

Frank Ape is another character that has evolved from the street to the merchandise market thanks to the innovative vision of his creator, Brandon Sines.

Here is Geoffrey hanging out with Frank Ape on the exhibit hall floor. Hilarious.

Do you like Rock Stars? I get yer Rock Stars right here. Meet Matthew Lineham, who makes all kinds of wildly collectible merchandise featuring his own charicatures of famous rock stars from back when pop music did not yet suck. His shit is the shit.

Check out these David Bowie Valentine Cards, which are just insane.

If I was a person who still bought T Shirts, I would have to own this Halloween-themed Robert Smith design for sure. Twenty Bucks? What a bargain! I hope that you are doing a Google on Matthew’s website (M Lineham Art) right now because I am not going to make it easy for you by adding any hyperlinks to this post. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Husband a wife team Kelly and J. Spencer Shill work with both original and appropriated characters for their Jellykoe line of prints and soft toys. Do you like Uglydolls? Check out these out Mini Monsters that Kelly sews from Spencer’s original designs. Ugly Cuddly!

Ron Swanson’s Meat Palace

Ron Swanson Fans: this one needs to go in your TV room right now. And this Pennywise poster; just brilliant.

Move over, Barbie and make way for Pidgin, the fabulous creation of New York sculptor and doll maker Joshua David McKenney. A reinvention of the fashion doll, Pidgin is a medium for the language of style! All dolls begin life from an identical sculpt, and are then hand painted and styled by Joshua, so that no two are alike. The dolls have ball joints, so they’re fully posable and can be interacted and played with, as well as being a unique work of art!

Beautiful!

If you were at the fabulous Ramones and the Birth of Punk Exhibit out at the Queens Museum a couple of years ago, then you may have seen the art of Naoshi, who created a very memorable Kawaii-influenced picture of the band!

Ramones By Naoshi

Naoshi also works with sand (called Sunae in Japan) to create colorful tiny pictures, and makes enamel pins of her characters. Oh, the cuteness. You can find her shop on Etsy.

Posters By Tara McPherson

Five Points Festival proved to be an ideal place to pick up original paintings, drawings and other unique wall art that you’d otherwise have to scour dozens of galleries to find — if you could find them at all, because a lot of these guys are underground, baby!

Look at this cool and affordable Monster art by Justin Lieter! You can see the top of Justin’s head behind the number 5 on the Kewties sign!

Do you like Sharks? I sure do. This awesome grinning shark character is the signature creation of the street artist known as Sharpy. I think his work is just fantastic.

Chil Pepper By Mike Grossman

Chil Pepper (which, genius) is the creation of Mike Grossman and is part of his Goofy Froot series of anthropomorphic fruit characters. Yes, I just typed that.

Okay, how great is this unintentional homage to The Residents? An artist named Christian Hooker (real name? Likely not) took one of photographer Gene Korman’s most iconic images of Marilyn Monroe ever, photoshopped out her face and replaced it with a giant, flame-encircled eyeball. It is so many kinds of brilliant.

Many of the artists in attendance participated in a Live Painting Event, where each artist created an original spray paint artwork on-the-fly!

Here are Chris RWK and Jim McKenzie in action!

Here are Chris and Jim again, a little bit farther along!

It was fun to watch the artists paint while enjoying tasty snacks from a selection of food trucks, like these mini donuts from Glazed and Confused!

All the paintings were auctioned off, with all proceeds going to benefit Planned Parenthood! Excellent!

We saw many very cool examples of toys and other merchandise made via the magic of 3D Printing, such as these adorable little planters from Meow 3D Printing! Check out the Pink Hedgehog!

You’ve seen his Batman Buddha on Worley Gig before, but were you aware that the artist known as 3D Mucky Chris has created an entire universe populated with Buddha-fied versions of many of your favorite sci-fi characters? It’s true!

The Tardigrade is an actual Living Thing That Exists, and now DoomCo Designs have created a Tardigrade character for all of you Tardi-fans. His name is Tarbus and he comes in variety of colors and two sizes!

Big Ten Inch Tarbus!

Tardi-great is more like it!

Here’s a bunch of other random stuff we liked enough to snap a photo (or two). Enjoy!

Is this the cutest thing in the universe or what? Presenting Mister Self Indulgence (Cherry Flavor edition) by Nouar (Martian Toys).

Mister Self Indulgence (a cherry pie with a chubby-cheeked grin who is poised to eat a slice of his own head) is a soft vinyl figure and he comes accompanied by his friend Lil’ Scoopy, who is a dish of ice cream. So cute, I can’t even live.

I am dead now, from the cuteness.

Artist Nick C. Kirk made this Pink Wookie character based on his photo of an actual Cosplayer whose likeness can be seen on the box.

GWAR Comics. I am speechless.

Pork Dumpling Pocket Toy

Topic: The Japanese have too much time on their hands. Discuss.

“Do Not Eat Me.”

Since art toy obsession is a legitimate lifestyle, you need some accessories to help you rock the look, amiright? KT Ferris Creations (#ThisShitBlinks) is a line of handcrafted Jewelry featuring hyperrealist doll eyes that open and close with the movement of the jewelry. Lovely and Disquieting!

We like these handbags by Marzipan Physics! Stylish!

Do you like Monsters? I got yer Monsters right here. This guy is called Mr. Death (2nd color Version) designed by Rockin’ Jelly Bean for their Freaky Monster Village series (sold by Black Book Toys).

Here’s a Pink Monster from Lonely Monster Toys By Elliot Lobell.

Zombie Alex from InstincToy is due for release in October 2018.

I don’t know this little guy’s name, but he looks like some kind of Monster Travelling Salesman, and he is just fantastic-looking! I found him at the booth for Mothership Toy Gallery.

Mummy Spice Version of King Creepy By Richard Strohmeyer.

One-of-a-Kind Figures by Emilio Subira (those that did not sell at Five Points Fest are available online from Mothership Toy Gallery).

I am pretty sure this Pirate Dude is called Captain Sturnbrau and he is by JPK, which are the initials of toy designer Jon-Paul Kaiser. Aaargh!

Before I forget, I must give a shout out to Five Points Festival’s primary sponsor, Clutter, which is the world’s premier magazine and media source for Designer Toys, and the originator of the Designer Toy Awards, as well as having a gallery dedicated to art toys, and doing custom manufacturing on-demand!

Thanks to Clutter for all that they do to support the community! See you next year for another rad Five Points Festival!

Kenny Scharf, Inner and Outer Space at Deitch Projects

Nov30

All Photos By Gail

Whether you’re seeing his colorful works out on the street, or in the gallery, Kenny Scharf has one of the most instantly recognizable styles in the contemporary art world. Deitch Projects downtown is currently hosting Inner and Outer Space, an ambitious exhibit of Sharf’s newest works which features several distinct collections that provide evidence of Scharf’s enthusiasm for expanding his oeuvre, while staying true to the playful characteristics of his work that his fans love the most.

You can get a hint of what you’re in for before you even stop inside the gallery

The faces are melting in Kenny Scharf’s new paintings. “Things are disintegrating,” says the artist. “I am reacting to our increasingly out-of-control situation.” Scharf’s work continues to be infused by his inexhaustible optimism and his sense of fun, but there has always been an engagement with profound issues beneath the façade. Ecology, the environment, and capitalist excess have long been central themes.

Kenny Scharf’s work has always combined and contrasted the pop culture he absorbed growing up in Los Angeles with the important innovations in modern and contemporary art. His earlier work fused Dali and Disney. More recently, he has been in dialogue with Pollock and Abstract Expressionism. In the new work, he merges his distinct style with color field and stain painting. “I like to connect with every movement in 20th-century art,” Scharf explains. “I make new hybrids, taking it all in and putting it in a blender.”

Scharf is very enthusiastic about his new “sloppy style” that characterizes the major paintings in the exhibition. Rows of faces disintegrate into colorful drips reminiscent of both New York School painting and the serial imagery of minimal art. In these new works, Scharf is striving to create clear and simple forms that resonate with meaning. He feels liberated and excited, adding that “it is so much fun.”

Like his artistic colleagues from his early years in New York, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, Scharf studied cartoons as a way to intensify figurative expression. He makes use of cartoon faces to express emotion with abstract power.

In the past, Kenny found many of the items integrated into his art in the garbage,and even today he still stops his car when he finds plastic toys and TV sets thrown away on the street. These discarded plastic objects have inspired the two other bodies of work featured in the show, one being TV Bax.

The TV Bax are painted on the plastic backs of discarded television sets. Like the toys, the TV backs have a disconcerting anthropomorphic quality. Scharf wonders if their anonymous designers created these plastic covers, which are different for every model, to resemble a face.

TV Bax, Detail

Scharf finds these thrown-away toys and TV backs to be poignant objects, resonant with emotion. “Each of these objects carries a story,” Scharf explains. He thinks about how people might have struggled and sacrificed to buy these toys and TVs, and about the intense relationship that children and families have with them. Scharf resurrects the lives of these inanimate objects in his work. He also notes that garbage keeps changing with technology. The backs of TV sets used to have large protruding “noses.” Now they are flatter and more similar to a canvas.

Another new collection, his Assemblage Vivant Tableaux Plastiques, inspired by the Nouveau Realistes, are constructed from his stock of recycled plastic toys. These wall sculptures, which mix assorted toy parts with Scharf’s whimsical animated faces, are my favorite items in the exhibit.

Installation View

Assemblage Vivant Tableaux Plastiques, Detail

Since his childhood, Scharf has been fascinated by outer space. Space travel and the portrayal of infinite space have long been central themes. In his life and in his work, he tries to eliminate boundaries and borders. As he pursues his dialogue with the great painters of the New York School, he is increasingly preoccupied with the inner space of painting. His exploration of inner space creates a dynamic tension with his passion for outer space. With his characteristic exuberance and his moral voice, Scharf reformulates his unique combination of Pollock and Pop to create a vibrant new body of work.

Kenny Scharf’s Inner and Outer Space will be on Exhibit Through December 22nd, 2017 at Deitch Projects, Located at 18 Wooster Street (Just North of Canal) in NYC.

Kenny Scharf and Friend at the Exhibit’s Opening Reception.

Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Remote Control Cars for Girls!

Oct6

This Weeks Pink Thing of The Day is a Guest Post Contributed By Jen Dukson

Gone are the times when girls were supposed to sit tight and play with their Barbies! Nowadays, parents understand that our tastes and likes are not defined by our gender, but by our personality — a girl with a strong personality must have a Pink Remote Controlled Car!

Why pink? Because Pink is the color of joy, and it takes a stand in this world filled with dark, pretentious colors. Pink is an innocent color, and when you see it on an RC rally car or a monster truck, you know that toy is tons of fun.

However, kids still need adult protection and that’s why I can only recommend RC vehicles suited for beginners. Big trucks and fast RC cars are indeed amazing and come with lots of features but they can also be dangerous for small children. Still, if your girl is mature enough to understand responsibilities, you should browse the list with Best RC Trucks for Sale – Top 10 Reviews. When your baby girl grows up, she can lease a car, for further info click here.

On the other hand, if your small girl likes cars and wants to be a driver someday, one of the two models below will definitely make her day!

#1: 1:16 R/C Assortment 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302- M. Vehicle

A beautiful pink RC car for a beautiful girl who is just learning how to drive! This car is mostly recommended for small children (under 7 years old). The car doesn’t come with lots of features and because it is a small version (1/16th scale) you shouldn’t let your child drive it outside. Still, it is a lot of fun to drive it inside and works on a wide range of surfaces. Even more, it comes with a sticker sheet so your little girl can get creative on her brand new car’s design.

I like it for the gorgeous design and because it is quite durable in spite of the small size and plastic body. Still, make sure to not leave it around toddlers – they love putting everything in their mouths!

#2: Traxxas 58034-1-PINK 1/10-Scale 2WD Short Course Racing Truck

The Traxxas truck is bigger than the first option (1/10 scale) and it comes with a lot more features and power. While it’s not one of those remote control drift cars, it is impressive when you drive it outside, on rough terrain. It is also quite fast and comes in several color versions, but we’re only covering pink RC cars today. It is also equipped with a NiMH battery that can be recharged and the Titan 12-Turn 550 Modified motor for increased power.

This cute truck is every racer girl’s dream came true as it looks bad ass and it behaves just like a real racing truck! Even more, if your girl is passionate about engineering, this is the perfect RC car for her as many elements resemble a true car’s inner design.

Both cars are a good fit for beginners as well, but for an adult, I would recommend the Traxxas. The control system is easy to understand but it’s also ingenious and fit for someone who understands how radio control works. In any case, RC driving is a fun activity that will help parents bond with kids while the young ones develop their creativity and sense of competition.

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Auto accidents are never pleasant. You and everyone around, including onlookers are affected. The physically weakening, emotionally overwhelming, in worst cases, fatal scenarios, and damaged property are clear signs that you are having a bad hair day. Tampa car accident lawyers know how to protect your rights and give you peace of mind.

Author Jen Dukson has a passion for geeky toys, especially drones. During the weekends, she loves to visit parks with her pet and play fetch.

Yes, It Exists: Divine Fashion Dolls

Jun27

All Photos By Gail

The Goldberg Company (those responsible for the original 1978 Dolly Parton doll) fashioned an impressive set of four Divine character dolls in 1984. While the full line was on shelves in time for Christmas, most never made it under the tree. Most units were left unsold, even after being discounted as much as 90%. Goldberg was banking on Divine’s disco career creating the necessary interest to sustain the line, but it was an appeal that did not translate in the toy department.

It appeared that American girls under 12 were not ready for this kind of Barbie, which is unfortunate given Goldberg’s future plans to add six more figures to the line.

Upcoming fictionalized Divine characters included Astronaut Divine, Party Girl Divine, Divine as Shirley Temple, President Divine, Waitress Divine (Dawn Davenport) and Surf’s Up Divine.

Photographed as Part of the Lost Merchandise of the Dreamlanders Exhibit at La MaMa Galleria in NYC.

Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Balls

Apr22

All Photos By Gail

Look at these Pink Balls? Aren’t they just beautiful?

Photographed at the Kiosk Archive and Gallery at MOMA PS1 in Long Island City!

How Many LEGO Would It Take to Build These Sci-Fi Megastructures?

Mar24

Matthew Dutton’s Midnight Paracosm at Stephen Romano Gallery

Mar8

All Photos and Videos By Gail

A Paracosm is a detailed imaginary world created inside one’s mind. Such a fantasy world may involve humans, animals and things that exist in reality, or it may also contain entities that are entirely imaginary, alien and otherworldly. Commonly having its own geography, history and languages, the experience of such a parascosm is often developed during childhood and continues over a long period of time: months or even years.

Paracosms are also made reference to as types of childhood creativity and problem-solving. Some believe that paracosm play indicates high intelligence. In his installation entitled Midnight Paracosm, Tennessee-based artist Matthew Dutton is creating his own world of creative play. And if you are already familiar with Dutton’s delightfully disturbing found object sculptures, you will understand that this tableau represents exactly what is going on in his mind most of the time.

Taxidermy Deer with Santa Mask and Wig/Beard

My Absolute Favorite: Hula Baby in a Birdcage with Blonde Fall

To me, Midnight Paracosm looks like a Living Room on Christmas Morning in a Midcentury Nightmare. Let’s go to the Video!

As you can see, there are four animatronic creatures inside the Midnight Paracosm, three of which emit audible voice recordings that sound like that of small girl child. I asked Matthew about those voices and he told me that the recordings are all from conversations with his two (“almost three”) year old son. So adorable, and yet very creepy!

Gnome Head

Look, more videos!

How fast would you lose your mind if you saw this Mutant Porcupine Baby crawling up the wall? Scary!

And do you even want to know what’s under the blanket on the couch? I prefer to let my imagination run wild!

Thank god this one didn’t move or speak.

Matthew Dutton’s Midnight Paracosm isn’t quite as much fun as going to Disneyland while on Acid, but it’s a lot cheaper.

Midnight Paracosm by Matthew Dutton runs concurrently with Saint Bowie at the Stephen Romano Gallery, Located on the Southeast Corner of Harrison Place and Porter in Bushwick Brooklyn. Take the L Train to the Morgan Exit and Walk a few Blocks East on Harrison to Porter Avenue. There’s a Vietnamese Restaurant Across the Street. Please go there and let me know if the Food is any good.

The Worley Gig

• Art • Pop Culture • Music • Lifestyle

Tag Archive | Toys

Five Points Festival: The Mother of All Photo Recaps is Here!

Kenny Scharf, Inner and Outer Space at Deitch Projects

Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Remote Control Cars for Girls!

Yes, It Exists: Divine Fashion Dolls

Pink Thing of The Day: Pink Balls

How Many LEGO Would It Take to Build These Sci-Fi Megastructures?

Matthew Dutton’s Midnight Paracosm at Stephen Romano Gallery

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