toy

Arts Unknown: Doktor A’s Bella DeLamere Goes Into Production

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At long last, collectors can rejoice as Arts Unknown has just announced that Doktor A’s Bella Delamere has officially gone into production. The figure was met with a rash of mishaps since its announcement back in April 2011, but it’s now full steam ahead for this femme fatale (touch wood).

Above are colour samples of the regular and member’s exclusive editions. The latter, entitled “The Winter Deed”, features matte and glossy white accents. And there’s blood everywhere, so naturally I’m biased.

Expect a release announcement for both editions very soon.

Calliope Jackalope: An Anatomy, Pt. I

In continuing with our CP x Tomenosuke sofubi anatomy series, we now turn our attention to Kathie Olivas’ Calliope Jackalope, who we anticipate to see at Le Carnaval des Spectres this September at Artoyz Paris.

Unlike Brandt’s Stingy Jack, there was no pre-existing master sculpt for the Calliope Jackalope, which meant she had to be made from the ground-up. With Teodoru Badiu again at the helm of 3D rendering, he created the digital turns of the figure. Stingy Jack sculptor Yohei Kaneko of Mirock Toy would return as sculptor for this project.

One of the really interesting features of the CP sofubi project is the goal to have interchangeable heads between all of the figures. That also presents many obstacles, however, as was discovered while sculpting Calliope: in order to support Jack’s head and have it look natural, Calliope’s backline and shoulder width had to be adjusted. This element of interchangeability will have to be taken into account with each subsequent release and, while a challenge, may very well yield both impressive and playful results.

And here she is, in all her glory: after repeated modifications and adjustments to the figure to accommodate Brandt’s Stingy Jack and preserve Kathie’s signature style, the prototype was approved the evening of the Monsters & Misfits II opening in Takayama, Japan, last April.

Which means: we’re off to get waxed!

[via the Tomeno blog]

‘Paperwhite’ by Amanda Louise Spayd for Le Carnaval des Spectres, 9.13

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A new little lady has surfaced from the studio of Amanda Louise Spayd for Le Carnaval des Spectres, this one blessed ‘Paperwhite’. Similar to her Daylight Specters, Paperwhite is hand made one-off who comes packin’ enough electric punch to illuminate a room. I can only imagine what she’d look like under a black light!

Le Carnaval des Spectres opens Sept. 13 through Oct. 20th at Artoyz Shop + Galerie in Paris, France. The exhibition marks CP’s first group exhibition on European soil and features a collection of new two- and three-dimensional works from Kathie OlivasBrandt PetersTravis LouieChris RyniakAmanda Louise Spayd and Teodoru Badiu.

 

Say Cheese! A WIP from CMR for Lucha Libre! @ Rotofugi 10.5

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Chris absolutely nailed his critters for Monsters & Misfits II and he doesn’t look to have lost any momentum with yet another original figure in the works, this one a Luchador for The Beast Brothers’ Lucha Libre! group exhibition opening at Rotofugi Oct. 5th. This guy is certainly not shy of showing off his gap-toothed grin!

Really looking forward to seeing this sculpt finished —  not only to quell my curiosity of what lurks beyond the frame, but he looks to be a fair-sized figure. Scale is always hard to determine in photos, but the pic below suggests there’s a pair of arms jutting out the front on the body, reminiscent of this guy (aka my absolute ALL TIME favourite CMR sculpt EVAR). … More visual stimuli soon!

Lucha Libre! runs opens Oct. 5th through the 28th at Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago. Participating artists also include The Beast Brothers, Angry Woebots, Brandt Peters and Kathie Olivas, BurunDANGA, Eric Merrill, Huck Gee, Jime Litwalk, Joe Capobianco, J*RYU, Junko Mizuno, Kronk, Michael Motorcycle, Patrick Cornolo, Phil Young, Sara Antoinette Martin, Scribe & Alisa, Mr. Shane Jessup, Shawnimals, Sket One, Sourbones, TADO, and Tim Tsui.

 

Ultra Squid Girl Makes Her Resin Debut @ Le Carnaval, 9.13

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Oh hot damn, remember these two?! Kathie and Brandt’s Ultra Squid Girl figure made its debut as a prototype at the Super7 booth during SDCC 2011.

Now, this probably goes without saying, but this is a very complicated sculpt and production on the vinyl edition is still up in the air, but the GOOD NEWS is that resin versions of the sculpt EXIST. What you see above is the first hand painted set to be revealed (we’ve also seen a lone Squid Skull), and is part of Le Carnaval des Spectres in Paris this September. Unlike the vinyl edition, these figures cannot be stacked (originally the Squid Girl on the left was intended to slip over the Skull), but I don’t think I’d want to conceal the sheer awesomeness of that irradiated invertebrate, anyway! We’re talking handpaints, people! Just when you thought this figure couldn’t get sexier … ;)

Plenty more pics and info to come; this is startin’ to get good!

 

Orange Triple Crown Monster Dropping this Weekend @ Triple Crown of YoYo Chicago!

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The annual Triple Crown of YoYo is blowing through the windy city this weekend and in celebration of the event, TCY, in collaboration with Rotofugi and Squibbles Ink., will debut the first painted colourway of the event’s handsome mascot, the Triple Crown Monster, this Saturday, July 28th!

Designed by Chris Ryniak and sculpted by Shinbone Creative’s Scott Wetterscheider, the trophy/toy hybrid stands 7 inches tall and, with that solid gorilla stance, an impressive 8 inches wide. The orange beastlie will be available at the YoYo Expert table for $100 + tax. He’s a run of only 50 pieces.  Some will be reserved for the World YoYo contest in Orlando in August and any runaways will be sold by Triple Crown, so keep tabs on their news page.

Unpainted orange versions of the figure will also be offered at the YoYo Expert table for $80 + tax. Any leftovers of the naked mascot will be available via Rotofugi on Monday, July 30th.

ALSO! Be sure to pop by Rotofugi after the event Saturday for Triple Crown’s official after party from 6pm to 8pm. There will be snacks and drinks and a ton of YoYo fun with some of the country’s best players.

[via Rotofugi]

DrilOne x Kathie Olivas MBG-1812 Custom Bird Greeters

You’ve seen the wings of desire … now … behold the militant archangel they’re equipped to! Coming soon from DrilOne and Kathie Olivas is MBG-1812, a series of custom Bird Greeters and DrilOne’s first editioned Skelve since joining the artist collective late last year.Standing a menacing 10 3/4″ high, the MBG’s (Military Bird Greeters) feature a custom-cast chest plate and removable wings that are built upon Kathie’s iconic sculpt. Each of the 18 figures is hand painted by Dril and retails for $300.  One randomly selected order will also receive a custom Kathie Olivas bird companion!

The drop is just around the corner; man your battle stations and await the signal!

Doktor A & The Curse of Bella DeLamere

Remember this lovely femme? It’s been just over a year since Doktor A and Arts Unknown announced the pre-order of Bella DeLamere, an 8-inch Victorian steampunk bombshell who was expected to release last fall/winter.

Well, not all toy releases go accordingly to plan, and according to Dok, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong: several digital sculpting attempts were trashed, two physical sculpts were rejected … there was even a studio flood.

Fast forward through the migraines and hair loss and the duo finally have a prototype that is capable of being produced. She also scored some weapons upgrades and also has a ‘secret tucked away somewhere.’

… Have fun going in search of ;)

Bella is anticipated (curse allowing) to hit retailers by the end of August.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In other Bella news: Doktor A’s final iteration of the DeLamere Mechtorian badge releases via the Spookypopshop tomorrow, May 5th. ‘Mourning’ is an edition of 100, comes signed, bagged, boarded, numbered … she comes packing, in other words, and for only 10 bucks. They’ll release in waves throughout the day tomorrow to accommodate the different time zones. Good luck!

 

 

8″ Honey Elizabeth from Kathie Olivas for Pre-Japan Sale

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In among the recent batch of Monsters & Misfits teaser pics from CP’s Instagram was a lone picture of a Honey Elizabeth hangin’ out with some insectuals. Well, I have some good news about this little lady: she’s a new edition and will be offered to fans on this side of the globe as part of the pre-Japan sale slated for next week. Run size is 30 pieces and pricing is TBA, but if it’s in line with last summer’s Plasma release, expect her to be around $100. Sweet.

Doktor A’s Chester Runcorn to Release @ WonderCon 2012

Heads up, Dok A fans! Chester Runcorn (peek the prototype) is set to release at this year’s WonderCon in Anaheim, CA, March 16th! After making a splash at DesignerCon 2011, the first edition of the stately, 6-inch figure from Kuso Vinyl is dubbed the ‘Port’ colourway. He’s a run of 300 pieces and will retail for around $65 per. Kuso will have about 30 of them at their booth (#65), so arrive early! Totally loving the mustachio’d display box.