A Day in the Life of a Hot Wheels Designer

Meet retired Hot Wheels designer Larry Wood who created such classic toys as “Purple Passion,” a chop-top ’49 Mercury, and “The Boneshaker,” a hot rod with a skull for a grille.

Hot Rod Unlimited, take a look back at Wood’s illustrious career at Hot Wheels and see the amazing real-life toys (cars) he’s built in his garage since.

MOTU Claasics Octavia Gets Release Date

Matty Collector has released new images today of Octavia from the Masters Of The Universe Classics range. In these new images we get to see Octavia’s new Classics bio!

"The unpredictable waters of the Etherian seas are home to many seas creatures, none more dangerous and cunning than the Aquatican warrior Octavia. Working her way up the Horde ranks, she eventually became a Horde commander, first in her home waters of  Octopus Cave and eventually serving Hordak in the Sea of Sigh and the Fright Zone. Truly enjoying a good fight, she cackles shrilly while brandishing weapons in her four thrashing tentacles. Octavia uses her tentacles to hold weapons and capture her enemies, squeezing  their bodies into submission." - Octavia’s Classics Bio

Octavia the wicked tentacle swinging warrior will go on sale from Matty Collector HERE June 17 but be quick as these figures usually go quick.

Medicom Toys Sofubi Exclusive Seagool

Paul Kaiju and Lulubell Toys have released their sofubi 'Seagool' as part of Medicom Toys Exclusive ‘Flying to Japan’ edition! 

The 4.7" tall creature from the deep has a nice glossy black soft vinyl and has been hand sprayed in a mix of teal and silver sprays, coming complete with pink, red and white detailing. You can now pre-order HERE and expected fro release in August.

Sofubi Cat Range from Refreshment

From Refreshment comes a new Sofubi cat range of Key Charms and Cupcakes.

These 3.25" mohawk and pierced reminiscent of a punk troll doll to cat cupcake figures that hold candy do have a fun appeal to them. The detail is simple and the color spray and would be perrrrfect for any Sofubi collector.

These felines are now available fo pre-order from HERE with an expected release date
in June.

Hugh Rose: Custom Awesomeness

We got this amazing tip from Vinyl Pulse who did a feature piece on Hugh Rose custom vinyl artist.

A lot of Hugh's toys have a classic nautical theme but the one we could go past was his 'Diver' and 'Once and Future King' Munny. The detail in this and all his body of work is exquisit and worth having in one of his pieces in your collection. 

Hugh mainly creates for shows and direct sales through his site, but he does take commissions. So check out his other rad work HERE or on his Facebook page HERE.

Upcoming Dunny Series 2013 Revealed

Spied over on Instagram is the much talked about upcoming Dunny Series 2013 set by Kidrobot. Here's the official roll call of awesome talent and ratios of figures available (left to right, top to bottom):

Scribe (?/?? variant), Andrew Bell (1/20), Scribe (1/40)

DGPH (2/20), Julie West (1/40), and Jon-Paul Kaiser (3/40)

Sergio Mancini (2/20), Ardabus Rubber (1/40), Mishka (3/40)

Cris Rose (2/20), Nathan Jurevicius (2/20), Chairman Ting (?/??)

Okkle (2/20), Scott Tolleson (2/20), Jeremyville (3/40)

Only 14 designs and 1 variant of this blind box series are shown here but it was announced there would be 20 in the set, but only time will tell what the other 5 are when these rad Dunny's are released June 14.

New Squadt OOZE NO.00 is a Terror Boy

The next Squadt from Brandt Peters and Ferg titled Terror Boy "OOZE NO.00" has just been announced and man it is freakishly awesome! 

The best way other than rad to describe this latest Squadt is Toxic Avenger meets Leather Face meets Hobo with a Shotgun. The melted green and yellow infused ooze head is a nice surprise when he removes his hessian bag mask to add more terror.

This 6" Terror Boy wearing a tailored jacket also wields a nice double sawn off shot gun and by going with consistency (guessing) of other Squadt figures will be limited to only 200 pieces.

Terror Boy "OOZE NO.00" will be released June 3 but no info on where so keeping checking the Squadt store page HERE.

Toy Break: Special Delivery #44 - Outtakes

We all love a good outtake and the Toy Break team of George, Ayleen, Regulars and Guests are back with a Special Delivery (#44) of Outtakes, which gave us a good chuckle. Warning: Some material may be NSFW. Enjoy!

Sekure D's Awesome AM90 Nike Mural.

The Australian customising movement is only just getting started but not for Sekure D who was invited by Nike Australia to come down to their HQ in Melbourne and paint up a storm of an AM90 Mural on canvas for an upcoming conference. 

Due to safety regulations concerns Sekure could only use spray paint on the initial stages of the background after which the rest of the mural was then continued by hand with the finishing touches done infront of the conference crowd over a couple of hours.

We're lucky enough to have the timelapse video to show how much work went into this totally rad piece of art.

The result of this awesome piece is stunning with vibrant background colors helping the Nike AM90 pop as the feature. For those of you who know of Sekure D's work you can see signature styles that relate to his other awesome body work in toy customising. Like what see? Then check out Sekure D HERE.

Funko are off to see the Wizard of OZ

Funko are off to see the Wizard with their latest release of images of the Wizard of OZ POP! figures series 2.

This time around the vinyl figures will be the Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Glinda The Good Witch, with the detail in of the Tim Man and Cowardly Lion are pretty. So to pre-order yours today follow the Yellow Brick Road to HERE, with the figures due for release in August.

Flawtoys Awesome Custom Labbit Rider

FlawToys shared the full reveal of their Dunny and Labbit combo custom, ‘Labbit Rider’. 

This 3″ vinyl piece features two custom figures both done in FlawToys signature custom style. Both the sculpting and paint work is superb especially the wooden areas. Labbit Rider will be available on May 31 HERE.

The Man in The Mask is a Killer Bootleg

To commemorate being nominated for Clutter Magazine's 2013 Designer Toy Awards for Best Resin, Killer Bootlegs are going to re-release their rad Man in The Mask (unsigned) bootleg. 

The Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett figure comes packaged on a custom backer card designed by Mike Mancuso of The Yetee and is painted using Monster Kolor paint. 

The Man in The Mask is limited to only 15 pieces and is available Friday 31 so be quick to grab yours HERE.

It's Billy Insane for Dolly Oblong

Dolly Oblong have finally released images on their Blog of their latest vinyl figure
'Billy Insane'. 

Inspired by David Bowies "Ziggy Stardust' persona, this 3" glow in the dark Billy Brains custom was released at ToyCon UK and was a limited edition of 3 which sold out straight away at the con.

But fear not, as Dolly Oblong asure us that more might appear in the not so distant future.

MApMAp goes Berko with New Custom

MApMAp have released an image on their Facebook page of their latest custom 'Berko'. 

"With a slight shuffle Berko walks through the world with one question on his face. Which question could that be and would anyone ever have the answer, we may never know.  

The only time Berko can find thoughtless solace are the moments when the fuzzball from within his thinking stick hops out for a bite or bathroom break. Within this slice of time Berko pauses to watch as it skuttles down his beard, disappears into a bush, and emerges refreshed or clutching a mouthful of berries. Once his little companion is safe and snug, Berko gives his branch a gentle tap and returns to his wandering ways as his brow scrunches bank into deep thought."

This 3" awesome Dunny custom using polymer clay and acrylic paint will be available at the MApMAp store HERE Wednesday 29.

Lunartik's Doctor Who Series 1 and 2 Ready for You

We interviewed Matt Jones aka Lunartik HERE when he revealed that he had designed the very first Doctor Who mini-series along with Series 2. 

Produced by Titan Merchandise, Series 1 features 12 characters including: 

The 10th Doctor (David Tennant) in two outfits, the TARDIS, two Daleks, Sontaran, Vashta Nerada, a Weeping Angel, Davros, Clockwork Robot and the Cyber Leader as well as 4 hidden chase figures. 

Series 2 features 12 characters including: 

The 11th Doctor (Matt Smith), the TARDIS, five Daleks, an Ood, a Silent, a Silurian, a Juddon and a Cyberman as well as 4 hidden chase figures. 

Each figure is 3" blind-boxed with certain figures come with a character-specific accessory and can be pre-ordered from HERE now for release in August. Or you can purchase series 1 direct from Matt's site August 1 from HERE.