Mike Mitchell exhibits himself at the Mondo Gallery

Last Friday Mike Mitchell opened his new exhibition at the Mondo Gallery in Texas. 

Running from April 26 to May 25, his new show features thirty-ish portraits of pop culture from Tarantino to Beetlejuice, Ash to Driver and The Joker and The Bride just to name a few.

To see all the portraits plus a lot of other rad work from the talented of Mike Mitchell, check out his blog here.

There's a Darkseid to Funko POP!

Funko released an image today on their Facebook page of the prototype for their upcoming Darkseid POP! figure. The menacing New God looks pretty cool in prototype fase, so we can't wait to see him in all his colored vinylness.  

Part of Funko’s upcoming DC Comics Pop! Heroes Wave 4, which you can pre-order Darkseid from here and is expected to drop sometime in July.

Happy MOTU Day 2013

Masters of the Universe Day has been brought back by a special crossover event with seven of our favourite Toy Blogs. There’s more info at the links below of these sites that will have special MOTU content of reviews, interviews, photos etc.

If MOTU interests you then check ItsAllTrue, Battlegrip, Preternia, Poe Ghostal, The Epic Review, Hoard World, and DoomKick.

Tic Top 5: Interview with Jon-Paul Kaiser (JPK)

Welcome to Tic Top 5 where we ask an artist or specialist the hard hitting questions (not really they're actual quite easy). Todays artist is U.K. based Jon-Paul Kaiser (JPK), Illustrator, Designer, Customiser of Designer Toys and Store Owner of Rhyme Square.

Working as a designer and illustrator, JPK’s career path took him through a variety of jobs, projects and trends until he was introduced to designer toys by his friend Porlzilla. Together they created their own original resin-cast limited edition art toys and sold them through their website. 

After working with Porlzilla, Jon-Paul decided to go it alone concentrating at first on the toy customization scene, building up a name and strong reputation for himself with his stark Black & White custom style, influenced by comic book art, film noir & Ukiyo-e prints. As his reputation grew, he was also invited to participate in more and higher profile art exhibitions such as Show Me The (mini) Munny, Art Strikes Back and Sketchbot Custom Show V2; just to name a few.

JPK's body of work is extensive producing both original pieces like his fantastic "Captain Sturnbrau" among others and loads of world renowned custom figures which you can see here. With all this experience we would be remiss not to ask Jon-Paul to answer the Tic Top 5 for today:

1. How did you start in the industry of creating & customizing?
   I started out drawing Transformers when I was about 4 or 5 and never stopped really. I studied Model Making at University with the aim of creating Toys, characters and models and was eventually introduced to the Urban Vinyl/Art Toy scene by Porl of Porlzilla.
2. What was the first toy or item you customized or created?
   I used to make old Fisher Price cars into battle-wagons when I was young, does that count? 
3. What influences you?
   I'm inspired by all kinds of things; Walks in the woods, conversations with friends, films, travelling, nature, fine art, my wife and daydreaming.
   
   
4. What are your weapons of choice?
   A decent paint bush!
   
   
5. If you could collaborate with anyone (living or dead) who would it be?Hmm... There's several! Kurt Schwitters, The Chapman Brothers, Angry Woebots, Yoskay Yamamoto, Murakami, Ralph McQuarrie, Mark Boudreaux, Picasso, Francis Bacon, Mark Landwehr, there's too many to name.

If you'd like to get in touch or know more about the awesome Jon-Paul Kaiser here's his links:

• Business: Rhyme Square
• Website: Jon-Paul Kaiser
• Facebook: ImprobableCast
• Twitter: @rhymesquare
• Instagram: jonpaulkaiser

Coming back tomorrow to see who's next in the Tic Top 5 hot seat. 

Dwaine Morris' Awesome Custom Androids

With the popularity of the Android figure there are so many custom figures but we are really digging these custom Androids of Tin Man, Scarecrow, The Greatest American Hero, Rocketeer and Rocky the Squirrel from Dwaine Morris.

If you'd like to see more of Dwaine's awesome work, check out his Google+ page here. And if you'd like to purchase your own Blank Android check out the Dead Zebra Inc store here.

Oliver the Bat Boy and Mortimer the Mortician

Artoyz Originals has released images of  Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters of the very adorable 'Oliver the Bat Boy and Mortimer the Mortician'.

"Mortimer," a narwal-themed undertaker originally from the Carnies mini-series, is 6" tall and comes with his trusty straight razor & bottle of Toxico embalming fluid accessories. Olivas' "Oliver the Bat Boy," stands 6.25" tall and comes with two scavenger bird companions.

Both vinyl figures will be available in four colorways of Grey Scale, Purple, Red and Turquoise with a limited release of 200 pieces each and be purchased from here when they're released in May.

Blind Mouse Toys Enlist Judge Dredd Penguin

Blind Mouse Toys have announced they are releasing 'Judge Dredd Penguin'. Sculpted and painted by Joe Amaro and box art by Eamon O’Donoghue this vinyl figure looks fantastically detailed.

This awesome 2000AD character stands at 4" high plus helmet (which is NON REMOVABLE) the first 1000 orders will be receiving a frame-able copy of Eamon’s art.

If you'd like to pre-order the Lawgiver the attitude of a penguin then check Blind Mouse Toys here with Judge Dredd Penguin shipping June 23.  

Tic Top 5 Interview: Ahren Gauthier

Welcome to Tic Top 5 where we ask an artist or specialist the hard hitting questions (not really they're actual quite easy). Todays specialist is U.S. based Ahren Gauthier who is a Molder, Caster, two time guest on the weekly online toy show Toy Break and Super Knowledgable on all things casting. 

Through his company ImprobableCast, Ahren produces soft tooling and resin castings as well as sculpting, prototyping, painting, 3D print finishing and production for a variety of industries. Being more of a behind the scenes kind of guy we thought it would be a great idea to get Ahren to answer the Tic Top 5 for today:

1. How did you start in the industry of creating & customizing?
   I have been building models since I was a kid but the first time I ever got paid to do work like this was working for Games Workshop back in the early 2000s.
2. What was the first toy or item you customized or created?
   Probably one of those build your own robot kits. I used to think I wanted to go into robotics so I spent years monkeying around with them.
3. What influences you?
   Because a lot of what I do day to day is on the "technical" end of toys, I am constantly (my lady love would probably say incessantly) watching videos, reading tech bulletins about new materials and manufacturing processes.
4. What are your weapons of choice?These are the things I use almost every single day: Accurate gram scale - I literally could not do my work without one. Wax pen. Epoxy putty. Drill mixer. Nitrile gloves. Electrical tape.
   
   
5. If you could collaborate with anyone (living or dead) who would it be?Matt and Michelle Doughty from Onell Design are #1 with a bullet, Paul Kaiju, Dream Rocket, Mark Nagata, about a million other people. My wish list is loooooong!

If you'd like to get in touch with Ahren here's his links:

• Business: ImprobableCast
• Website: Ahrenheit
• Facebook: ImprobableCast
• Twitter: @improbablecast
• October Toys: Ask questions on the forum about casting here

Coming back tomorrow to see who's next in the Tic Top 5 hot seat. 

Tee of the Day: Imagination by Fernando Degrossi

Our tee of the day goes to Fernando Degrossi's 'Imagination' tee. Available only in white the Toy Story inspired tee has Buzz, Woody, Rex and a Toy Soldier are beautifully blended in colour.

To purchase the Imagination' tee at $23.50 plus shipping, check out the Threadless store here.

NECA has an Albino Predator for SDCC

NECA announced their SDCC Exclusive through the AFI website. This year’s Comic Con Exclusive will be “Big Red” who is the “Albino” Predator only briefly seen in the Batman: Dead End fan film. 

Bringing a unique look to the already extensive line-up of Predator figures, Big Red features 25 points of articulation, including the new ball joint hips and double knee joints and new shoulder armor. This SDCC Exclusive will be sold at the show and we're sure some stock will make its way online after the convention.

Holy Awesome Car Seat Batman

It might not be toy related but it is Batman and deep down Batman is a tender, loving superhero who embrace and protect your kids. Now before this gets any weirder let us introduce the Batman Car-seat from Kids Embrace.

A built-in five-point harness that can be easily tightened with just one hand doesn't hurt either, and with two reclining positions your kids will always be comfy on Batman's lap as well as two fist cup holders and his cape can become a blanket. 

Order here so Batman can protect your kids during an accident, just like he can protect Gotham from evil villains.

Iron Patriot becomes a Bearbrick

With the 'Iron Man 3' film releasing on May 3 in the U.S., Medicom Toys has revealed its Bearbrick version of Col. James Rhodes, 'Iron Patriot'.

The 400% figurine with its articulated head arms and legs measures a very tall 11" high in star-studded metallic red, blue and silver armor. You can be pre-ordered 'Iron Patriot' here now, which will ship in September.