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Toys

From Out of the Toy Box

Robert X. Burden is an artist who has taken an unusual subject and really run with it. He paints complex, highly-detailed, collage-like but highly-ordered pictures based on classic toy action figures from movies and TV. As such, of course he paints a lot of science fiction subject matter. And yes that includes a lot of Furry subjects, like the Thundercats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Visit his web site to see more of what he’s done — and spend some real time looking slowly through all the detail he puts in.

image c. 2016 by Robert X. Burden

image c. 2016 by Robert X. Burden

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Toys From A Scary Attic

Among the many categories of stuff that one will find at San Diego Comic Con are some truly strange toys, models, and action figures. Among those you will find Munky King, a Los Angeles-based company that specializes in toy design and animation production. And yes, several of their designs (but not all, by far!) do in fact deal with monkeys. Not very happy monkeys either, it seems. Not very happy bears and (ahem) very happy cats also come into play. If you’re an adult (seriously!) take a look at their web site for more of their current designs.

image c. 2016 Munky King

image c. 2016 Munky King

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Rover the Rainbow

Action Labs Entertainment are now the official U.S. distributors of the Soft Spots line of toys — 36 colorful puppies for kids to collect. Now this month Action Lab is premiering a new Soft Spots full-color comic book series for young readers, written and illustrated by M. Alice LeGrow. “The Soft Spots toy line gets the Action Lab treatment as young Sophia learns lessons of friendship with her colorful cast of pets… the Soft Spots!” According to Previews, each issue comes bundled with one Soft Spot Puppy plush.

image c. 2016 Action Labs

image c. 2016 Action Labs

Oh, Isn’t That Kieud?

After years of studying fashion design, the artist Kieu Le currently works in the licensing department for Blizzard Entertainment (home of World of Warcraft and so much more). In her copious (?) spare time she also has a thriving business on her own designing cartoonish 2D art prints as well as cartoonish 3D plush animal toys.  All of which can be found on her personal web site, which besides examples of her work also includes links to various on-line stores where you can buy it all.

image c. 2016 by Kieu Le

image c. 2016 by Kieu Le

 

The Young Shall Lead the Way

Back in 2014, illustrator Katie Shaw got busy on a life-long dream of creating her own comic, based on the works she loved growing up. The result is Dragon Child, an on-line black and white fantasy comic created, written, and drawn by Katie, that is also available in paper form. Over the past year she’s been appearing at various comic conventions in the western USA to introduce people to her work. What’s the story? When the dragons of the world gather from the four corners to decide what to do about the growing impact of humans, a young girl named Ryu Kodomo discovers that she has caught the attention of an elf named Chase — and a precocious young “dracling” named Embyr. The comics and much more background material can be found at the official Dragon Child web site. Did we mention that Katie sells plush dragons too?

image c. 2015 Katie Shaw

image c. 2015 Katie Shaw

One Toy at a Time

Another toy-and-art centered company — there were so many at WonderCon this year! Beefy & Co. specialize in rounded plushy toys, t-shirts with funny animals (and funny other things), and art prints of a decidedly cute nature. Their official slogan is “Creating joy, one toy at a time.” They’re making appearances at comic book conventions all over the place, but if you can’t wait that long for more cuteness then head on over to their web page right away.

image c. 2015 Beefy & Co.

image c. 2015 Beefy & Co.

Behind the Bricks

If you’re a fan of Lego System’s surprise furry hit The Legend of Chima, there are a couple of new resources out you might want to find. With LEGO Legends of Chima: The Secret History you can “Dive into the world of Chima and follow the epic story of the LEGO® Legends of Chima minifigures as they feud over the energy source CHI in LEGO® Legends of Chima: The Secret History. Relive the adventure while learning tons of information about your favorite LEGO Legends of Chima tribes, locations, and minifigures including Laval, Eris, Razar and the infamous Cragger. Learn battle plans and attack strategies, the difference between the five main tribes, and much more in this exciting new LEGO book. LEGO® Legends of Chima: The Secret History presents the world of Chima like never before!” according to Brickipedia (gotta love that). Then there’s the Chima Character Encyclopedia, which is pretty much self-explanatory — and currently available at Barnes & Noble. Both of them are published by DK Books.

image c. 2014 DK Books

image c. 2014 DK Publishing

Speaking of For The Birds…

Last year we talked about these guys seeking funding. Looks like they found it! According to this year’s San Diego Comic Con, the folks at Four Horsemen Studios are set to premier a brand new collection of toy figures in their Gothitropolis series this autumn. Featuring characters like The Raven, The Eagle, The Griffon, and Minotaur the Duck (and more!), these are simple names for highly detailed collectible figures. What more can we say? Check out their web site and click on Gothitropolis in the Gallery Section to see these guys close up. Then look for them to be on sale in the fall.

image c. 2014 Four Horsemen Studios

image c. 2014 Four Horsemen Studios

30 Years of Turtles

As part of the build up for the (somewhat controversial, ahem ahem…) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie coming this summer, comic book non-fiction author Andrew Farago brings us Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History (in hardcover from Insight Editions). As you can see from the cover, it does indeed cover several different iterations of our favorite heroes in a half-shell. “Discover the complete story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the first time–from their humble beginnings in black-and-white comics created in a home studio in Dover, New Hampshire, to their multimillion-dollar breakout success, and their position as four of the best-loved characters of all time. Featuring interviews with every key figure in the Turtles’ evolution, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History presents the tale straight from the mouths of those who were there, including co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, animation legend Fred Wolf, creature effects maestro Brian Henson, and even the man behind the Ninja Rap, Vanilla Ice.” Ooo, now there’s a plus… O_o Anyway, check it out at Amazon.

image c. 2014 Insight Editions

image c. 2014 Insight Editions