toybot studios

Brian Flynn x Toygraph Ghost Trooper

2009-11-09T01:14:00.000-08:00

Sitting on an army of Toygraph Space Troopers, i'm relieved to see that a few Western Designers are stepping up and putting their signature spin on a beloved, but slightly over exposed toy. The first out of the gate is Brian Flynn's Ghost Trooper in signature Super7 orange and black. This could be one of my favorite Flynn designs to date. Probably because it's a riff on the vinyl gateway Ghost Fighter by Secret Base. My understanding is that a Space Trooper has lost his helmet in space and this is what happens. Bummer. I'd love to see this toy in more clear colorways. I have an extra helmet lying around. I might try to do something showing the ghosts ripping out of the helmet or something.

Next up to design Space Troopers are Bob Conge and L'amour Supreme

Dead Presidents x RealxHead = TROOPS OF DOOM

2009-11-09T00:45:00.000-08:00

Matt Walker of Dead Presidents Designs busts another sick collaboration. This time with vinyl fan favorite RealxHead proving that RealxHead is not dead by a long shot. It's a trio of RxH latest Mutant Zone 3 sculps to form the trifecta TROOPS OF DOOM including Chaos Beast, Evil Bat and Kaizer Head. If you turn out the lights, the GID fans will go crazy with the toxic parts glowing bright. Rest assured these won't last long so better hit up the Dead Presidents WEBSTORE to grab these for $80 each.

Mark Nagata Kaiju Comrades 2 Video by Sunguts

2009-11-09T00:36:00.000-08:00

Our buddy Yo sent us this link to a video done by Sunguts of Mark Nagata's KaijuComrades 2 show in Japan...!

3A Toys HK Venture Show Preview

2009-11-06T01:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the 3A Toys HK Venture show in Hong Kong. Wish I could be there. Fortunately, the 3A guys are kind enough to give us a few snaps previewing the event..!

ok, is this what I think it is? Fucking prototype of the 3A x Kojima collaboration???!! Of course it's Metal Gear Rex!! By the looks of things, this thing is going to be huge! My credit card is already weeping...

I like Armstrong

Bags of WWRp Berties look good to me

Bag of Severed heads

Kim panning for Gold?

Look carefully. the new 1/6 ladies of WWR?

Yokai sightings at Viz Media Theater - New People Mall

2009-11-06T00:59:00.000-08:00

Bert and I went down to the New People Mall the other day to check out the Yokai Mini Exhibit downstairs in the lobby of the Viz Media Theater. Yokai expert Matt Alt gave a lecture on Halloween on the Top Ten ways to ask a Yokai out on a date. The Top Three included allowing them to eat your brains. No, just kidding. I got to take some pics of these Yokai wood block prints by various artists. Very cool and worth checking out.

Leecifer Custom Devilman

2009-11-04T01:01:00.000-08:00

Leecifer is the man. His style is all his own. He can take American Icons and impose them on Japanese toys and it comes out looking like it was designed that way. Case in point is this Marmit Devilman figure. If you had never seen Devilman, you would think that Batman looks exactly like this. The cape is hand-made out of several layers of plastic garbage bags. Lee is Green too! Hit him up for some commission work. He will make all your art and toy dreams come true.

The best part is that it came with a framed canvas painting...

toybot studios makes Hyper Hobby !!

2009-11-04T00:53:00.000-08:00

Not too many things cooler than sitting on the can cracking open your new copy of Hyper Hobby. As I flip to the Sofubi section, I am surprised and honored to see toybot studios get a tiny bit of real estate on two pages! One for the One Up Custom Skuttle Show and the other for the BLObPUS Exhibition.

I am honored to be in Hyper Hobby alongside so many talented artists and designers. Thank you.

Project BM! 1/6 Kaneda Bike...It lights up!

2009-11-04T00:39:00.000-08:00

ok, check out this 1/6 scale Kaneda Motorcycle from Akira! It lights up! For 39,900 Yen, I would hope it would do the dishes too...! Beautiful. But with the Kaneda figure itself over $200 and this bike coming in at $450, you're looking at $650 for the set, baller! That kinda gets you right in the eye!

pic via Ngee Khiong

Tachikomas are for REAL..!!

2009-11-03T01:19:00.000-08:00

tachikoma1 from toybot studios on Vimeo.

I can't explain how, but the cutesy Tachikoma straight out of Ghost in the Shell is for real and coming to your house soon! Personally I prefer the Fuchikoma design. Where's the love for the OG? Check this out at a great site featuring real robots at ROBO GARAGE. Thanks for the heads up Sjors!

tachikoma2 from toybot studios on Vimeo.

Giant Robot Biennale Menois a Trois

2009-11-03T00:45:00.000-08:00

For all you rabid Dehara x Horvath x Le Merde freaks out there wanting to get in on the menois a trois lovefest, you probably already know that the Giant Robot Biennale custom pieces went up for sale today. Some awesome shit below. Some of it still available. Better bring your credit card and be ready to go big cause this shit aint cheap neither. I like the "Ledavhara" Collabs the most.

Dehara

Horvath and Sun Min

Le Merde

Ledavhara Collaborations

Skull Toys Customs

2009-11-03T00:28:00.000-08:00

Kaijin Mysubel

Some amazing customs by Skull Toys spied on his Flickr...

RealxHead Chaos Beast

RealxHead Fortune Cat

Popsoda Many Mey

Blamo Toys Custom Show Sneak Peek!

2009-11-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

Brent Nolasco

Check out some sneak peek shots of the customs coming up for the "Welcome To Blamo'ville Custom Toy Show at the Million Fishes Gallery in San Francisco.

live painting, dj’s, refreshments
nov. 8th and nov. 13th, 6pm -11pm
MILLION FISHES GALLERY
2501 bryant @ 23rd sf, ca

Leecifer

Hello Brute

Buzz Parker

Lucien Shapiro

Marco Mejia

Drilone

Will Kill You

Secret Base Astro Brain!!

2009-11-01T23:49:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure any toy in recent memory captures the pure awesomeness of Secret Base in all it's OG Fight Figure glory as this new Astro Brain. It's an homage to the infamous Astro Mu Devil Bado vintage figure. Concerned that Secret Base was no longer focusing on it's roots in the Fight Figure genre, Astro Brain proves that Hiddy still has that knock-out power. Astro Brain comes with a new brain sculp and two new arms. But this figure raises a few questions as well. Since this debut colorway is relatively true to the original Devil Bado, what other colorways could be done and still remain true to the homage? Does it really matter? I personally wouldn't mind seeing this sculp in all kinds of colorways as long as the clear vinyl and pipe cleaners are present. This toy with a clear brain would be killer. Are the rest of the Astro Mu heads going to be sculpted too? This is a bit harder and while one or two others may get made, i'm not sure all of them will. The problem is scale. It cost a lot of money to make a new head sculp. It takes several colorways at these run sizes to make the money back. I hope we see more from the Astro Mu line-up. I'm just glad they started with my favorite first.

Check Super7 to see if they have anymore. $65 each.

Cure Halloween Obake Boogie Man!!

2009-11-01T23:15:00.000-08:00

Just in time for Halloween is this sick, sick pair of new Cure Toys Boogie Man. This time dressed up in burlap sacks with Secret Base Obake Dog heads..!!!! A totally un-expected collaboration..!

Gotta love the yellow and blue GID vinyl....

Released on Halloween, i'm hoping Lulubell Toys snags a few...!

Max Toy Company Halloween Exclusive Neo Eyezon!!

2009-11-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

Max Toy Co is doing a super limited run of these GID Neo Eyezons (above) for Halloween. They are produced for Mark by Dream Rocket. He also painted five (5) one-offs (below). I bet they are sold out, but check his webstore just to make sure. $40 for the Halloween Exclusive (above). $100 for the One-Offs below. He also has a very small supply of red and pink unpainted Neo Eyezons for $18 each (not pictured).

I love these little guys...!

Super 7 Hijacks Thrashout Show on Halloween!

2009-11-01T22:37:00.000-08:00

pics from various sources of the "Super 7 Hijacks Thrashout Halloween Show" in Koenji last Saturday. It seems like a number of Skullbrainers were in Tokyo for the event as well.

Looks like a mini custom show featuring Comet Debris Tokoichi Seijin. Katope above. Bwana Spoons, Martin Ontiveros, Le Merde, Kiyoka and Naoya Ikeda participating.

Here is Itokin Park new Monster Family Garuru figure. I couldn't have picked a more awesome debut colorway myself!

Finally the release of the beautiful Flower Zag designed by Skullbrainer Pickleloaf as part of a Custom Zag competition last year. Awesome!

Saturday also witnessed the debut of Brian Flynn's new Toygraph Ghost Trooper.

pics via
Kadomiumtank
Gargamel Blog
Super7

Elegab Alien Puppet Master Test Mold

2009-11-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

This new Elegab Alien Puppet Master has hit written all over it. I love how Elegab incorporates the little Apache finger puppets into his recent toys. The Monster Patrol Car being the first example. Now this Alien Puppet Master gets these little dudes on his hands. I personally wouldn't mind some more vehicles. Monsters or Mechanical. Looking forward to this guy painted up.

I believe we have two new characters: Akatsuki and Yuuwaku.

Super 7 Florida Halloween Extravaganza!!!

2009-10-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

As traditional at Super 7, there will be a Halloween bash at the Super 7 Florida store with exclusive toys and lots of goodies to be had. Anyone near the St. Pete area needs to drop on by....right now!!

Super7 Florida will be hosting a shindig to help commemorate the holiday and celebrate the arrival of the new Mummy Gator in his first colorway. Festivities will begin at 3 p.m. on Halloween day, snacks and refreshments will be provided. Those who arrive in costume will receive a special Trick or Treat goodie bag.

The Swamp Muck Mummy Gator has been spotted rising from a nearby watering hole, so we are advising all but the most confident gator wrestlers to proceed to tomorrow's Super7 Halloween Party with Extreme Caution! Those brave enough to risk life and limb are advised to arrive incognito and in disguise, so as not to perturb the ornery reptilian mascot.

Store doors open at 11 a.m., food and refreshments will be served starting at 3 p.m.. Remember, those who show up in a costume get extra goodies, and those who spend 20 bucks get an extra special Super7 Halloween Mystery Bag.

Any remaining Mummy Gators from the show will be made available by phone order at noon eastern on Sunday 11/1.

Custom Adfunture x Mishka Bootleg by L'amour Supreme

2009-10-30T01:10:00.000-07:00

Ever since this "Bootleg" figure came out in collaboration between adfunture and Mishka NYC, i've always wanted one painted by the man who designed it himself, L'amour Supreme. I got my chance last weekend at his Custom Toy and art show at Super 7. There was a lot of great stuff to choose from, but this was my #1 pick. Since he comes complete with a Mishka Bear head plus a Simon head, it's like it's two toys one!

Subaru Kickboxer Concept Bike by Ian McElroy

2009-10-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

Geebus, will you look at this thing?

What you see below is the work of one Ian McElroy. It’s a render, done in SolidWorks, of a concept motorcycle that has a Subaru WRX motor at its core. With twin-intercoolers, underseat turbocharger, and a hub-steering chassis, the KickBoxer, as McElroy calls it, is an impressive looking machine, but what’s most impressive is that Ian didn’t know a lick of SolidWorks before he set out to make this design.

Learning as he went along, McElroy painstakingly had to battle with not only fitting a car motor into a bike chassis, but also with operating the SolidWorks software. The result is a tasteful and eye-catching design that promises some punch (couldn’t resist that) when you twist the throttle.

Surprisingly in the concept, the motor & transmission from the Subaru don’t look nearly as looming as one would suspect. In his design, McElroy uses both front and rear single-sided swingarms, with perimeter rim disc-brakes. Reminiscent of the Confederate Wraith, the overall effect of the KickBoxer is a sportier, and probably better handling street shredder

via: FLYLYF

Mondo Mecha Godzilla Collection by Smo9monster

2009-10-30T00:33:00.000-07:00

I've got a soft spot for all things Mecha Godzilla so when I saw this amazing collection from Skullbrain board member Smo9monster, I had to take note. There are some versions i've never seen before. quite impressive. Above: Marmit Vinyl Paradise.

1974 M1

1975 M1

Bear Model

Marusan

Marmit, Bandai Yamakatsu

Toygraph Transforming 50%

Toygraph Transforming 25%

M1, US Toys and Charatics Minis

Slash Popy Reissues

Introducing RESTORE by Junnosuke

2009-10-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

Introducing RESTORE by Abe Junnosuke. We first spied these at Wonder Festival earlier this year. Looks like resin pieces only around 4 inches tall. The gimmick is that pieces of the toy come apart to form a ring for example. Junnosuke has many commercial accomplishments under his belt. Most notably with Marvel and ArtFX. I like these two figureS, COMPASS which is the Jesus Christ look-alike below and KINGDOM MIND which is the catholic dead priest. Interesting... I like them and you can pre-order all of them at Lulubell Toys for $40 each. Retail is 3,000 yen so with exchange rate, it really sucks. I'd like to see him apply his notable sculpting skills to other subject matter. Keep the skulls and go with a death Samurai? man, his work is detailed...!

Butanohano Thrashman and Trashcan by Bwana Spoons

2009-10-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

This Friday at noon pacific I will have two new releases here Bwana Spoons

Trashcan. This is the first release of trashcan. Jessie the wanderers super alter ego. When distressed or threatened Jessie turns into the ultimate power of Trashcan. Super powers to be disclosed at a later date. Small handpainted edition comes with trashcan lid (which will tumble trashcan over with it's mighty resin weight), and original Thrashman head.

Rootbeer Thrashman. Thrashman is Gargamel's mascot. This sculpt was done by my most favorite toy company ever, uh... After gargamel- Buta No Hana.
So it's a collab between gargamel/butanohana/bwana as it is my colorway and painted by me. Rootbeer vinyl, purple, neon red, yellow, green, and smoke spray with blue eyes.

Super 7 Hijacks Thrashout Show on Halloween!

2009-10-28T02:31:00.000-07:00

Super7 is apparently hijacking Gargamel's Thrashout on Halloween. Good thing there will be some toys as a result!! How about the debut of Itokin Park's Monster Family Garuru above?

Bloody Mini Hollis by Le Merde

Hold on to you bandages....Pocket Mummy Boy??

The long awaited Flower Zag originally designed by Pickleloaf.

Mummy Boy with spiders...

Dead Presidents x Onell Customs Corps 2.6

2009-10-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

All set for release, Custom Corps 2.6 will be up for sale tomorrow (October 28th) at around 7PM EST. We are trying something a little different this time and offering our first Custom Corps set. In the past few releases, a large majority of the orders we received consisted of 2 Custom Corps per person, so we thought it might be time for a combo twist. This is a chance to get the duo of Hades Pheyden and Cerberus Gobon (I have Greek mythology on the mind) plus one Phase Arm and Gobon Blaster all in one swoop (plus a secret bonus). The cost will be $55 for the set and the run is more limited than usual. These two characters have an important connection to Phanost and stand together in all that they do. Whether it's saving those in need or hastening the demise of their enemies, their bond cannot be broken. Huge thanks to Matt Walker aka Dead Presidents for his dedication to making every piece look top notch and to Jesse aka Callgrim for creating a new killer painting to bring all the elements together. We are lucky bastards to get to work with these masters. Hope you guys enjoy this mini release.

Better get to the Onell Store early!!