I have a soft spot for Street Fighter toys, and that should be pretty obvious by now to frequent Tomopop readers. I have an even softer spot for awesome custom Street Fighter toys and collectibles, to the point that I often wish I had more art skills. You know, so I could paint and sculpt awesome things.
Such was the case when I saw this custom Vega Qee from Tomopop's own Rio McCarthy. She's painted a ridiculously cute version of Vega, with no detail left out. The little red tail on the back of the Qee just adds that little touch to the devilish Spaniard. All of this was done using acrylic paints, clear spray, a very tiny paint brush on a 3.5 inch White Devil Baby Qee. All that matters to me is that it's totally awesome.
In my spare time spent not thinking about toys, I actually plow a lot of time into watching horror films. One of my favorite genres is known as J-Horror, or Japanese horror, which was made popular in the United States by Gore Verbinski's remake of a popular Japanese film called Ringu. The film set off a craze in Japan to make similar films, and soon enough the images of pale girls with long black hair hanging over their faces were ubiquitous.
Hit the jump to learn more about the creepiest children you may ever allow to grace your toy shelf: Little Apple Dolls.
Remember those gruesomely awesome Gears of War figures I posted a while back? With all the Gears of War 2news spreading around and gamers exploding into orgasmic fits, it was about time we saw what Player Select had to offer. Four out of the six previously on show case are avaliable, they are sadly the safest picks too. While I am sure many fans were looking forward to having a Locusts brains spilling over their desk, I can only express how upset I am that 'Headless Locust' hasn't hit the first batch of figures on sale. I am crossing my fingers for an eventual release though.
So what is the selection? The rather popular Augustus Cole (aka Cole Train) joins the ranks along with main protagonist MacusFenix and the Locusts in Sniper and Drone style, each packed with a gun or two. However if you're like me and end up buying all four in a pack, you will not only receive guns for your army but also a change of face for the Locusts and extra accessories. You know, to make them more pretty and take them out on sexy dates!
All the action figures hit 7" in height and are poseable. Order now and Neca Club will ship to you within the 3rd week of June. The full set will cost you $50.99, but if you are a boxed nerd you can fetch them in separate packaging, which will set you back $67.99.
"Witch-touching" DS title Doki Doki Majo Shinpan made some waves when it was first announced, mostly due to the fact that it allowed you to use the DS stylus to touch young girls in borderline inappropriate ways. That certainly didn't stop anyone in Japan from liking it (quite the opposite effect was observed, in fact), and Doki Doki Majo Shinpan 2 was announced at last year's Tokyo Game Show.
What does this have to do with toys? Well, the sequel will come packed with a pair of petit nendoroids! You will get Akai Maho from the original DokiMajo and Seika Horon, a new face from the sequel. The limited edition set is open for preorder now through Play Asia for $95 and also comes with a cell phone strap and a deluxe school ID card/notebook. Not bad for a game and two nendoroids. These two definitely bring new meaning to the phrase "devastatingly adorable".
Minneapolis based illustrator Christopher Schons has certainly made his mark on the comic world, having worked on projects for TokyoPop, Vertigo, Darkhorse, Ait Planet Lar, and Teshkeel Comics. However, it's not his comic contributions that tingle our toy-places, but rather his custom Munny projects.
Featured on his Flickr is a gallery of Marvel Zombies Munny customs and a few development shots of his Master Chief Munny work in progress. I've seen more than a few comic-based vinyl toy customs and more often than not I find them underwhelming. Admittedly, being a comic book fan as well as a toy collector I've got some lofty expectations to meet, but in one way or another comic customs simply seem (to me) to fall short of the mark.
Not so with Christopher Schons' collection, all of which are highly detailed while retaining the minimalistic simplicity that a Munny usually represents. Don't touch that dial Tomopeeps, we'll have more images of Master Munny as soon as they're available.
You may remember Murakami's sculpture "The Lonesome Cowboy" from way back when our own Jonathan Holmes wrote about it in his feature on Murakami's exhibit at Los Angeles MOCA. It is, after all, the kind of work you don't easily forget: a spiky haired blond anime-styled boy tosses a generous ejaculate from his erect penis, wearing an expression of almost demonic glee. It's show stopping, for sure, but do you want it in your house?
Someone did, apparently, because the sculpture sold for $15 million in a recent Sotheby's auction. The winning bid was submitted by phone, which is not too much of a surprise, as I can only imagine any guy that volunteered fifteen mil to buy this would get some serious stares (although if it was a woman, that would have rocked the house ten times harder.) Hit the jump if you want to see the full statue, although I warn you, it doesn't get much NSFW than this.
Having been impressed by their earlier efforts with Sonic the Hedgehog and Zero Suit Samus (to the point the latter was my first selection for our monthly Do Want feature), First 4 Figures continues to roll out some impressive video game figures, and this time, they've almost floored me with their beautiful rendition of Samus Aran's gunship.
Built off the model from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and according to First 4, "painstakingly recreated from original game files," Samus' gunship is a thing of beauty. The statue has over 50 LED lights throughout the model, including under the windscreen and in the four engines at the back. There are also LED lights in the base of the ship for lighting effects. The point where the ship connects to the base has a swivel joint, which lets you tilt and angle the ship to any position that you want. However, because of the internal wiring, you cannot rotate the ship. Or rather, you can, but it will tear up all the wiring inside, and we don't want that now, do we?
Each statue comes with a screwdriver to secure desired position, and the ship's LEDs are guaranteed to last for a minimum of 17 days of continuous use. I don't know why you'd leave them on that long, nor would I recommend it, but it's at least sobering to know they won't crap out on you the second you turn them on. Each piece comes in deluxe full-color packaging, hand numbered base, and includes a certificate of authenticity.
The Nintendo-licensed gunship statue stands an impressive 11.5 inches tall (292.1 millimeters) and weights a whopping 6 pounds (2.72 kilograms), making it an ideal centerpiece for any collection.
Of course, nothing this amazing comes cheap, and pre-ordering this beautiful piece of collectible artwork will cost you $299.99. Also, these are limited edition, with only 500 to be made. Ever. Pre-orders are open over at Sideshow Collectibles right now if you've got the money for this kind of thing.
As for me? I'm just gonna sit here, look at these pictures, and wish I had one of my own. *sigh*
We've posted some strange papercraft here on Tomopop -- ranging from elaborate sculpture to LOLCats -- but Hermes (a French fashion accessory designer) really takes the cake here simply for their great concept. Presumably as a promotion, Hermes have released a free pdf containing instructions and a template for building a papercraft Hermes Kelly bag.
While I'd consider myself nearly a fashion god amongst my fellow men I'll admit I know little about the vagaries of women's accessories. Let me be the first to inform you that a Hermes Kelly bag ain't cheap. We're talking upwards of $2,000 per bag. So while few of us 'round these parts can afford to drop that kind of dosh on a purse for ourselves or a friend; the papercraft version is a cute, if slightly less extravagant, desktop alternative.
So many beautiful things land in my inbox on a daily basis that I find myself slightly immune to a lot of their charms, but discovering the full range of Curster's work today was like that girl that walks past you and you smell her perfume and suddenly the world seems to slow down like an old stuttering reel of film. That's the best kind of distraction, when something is so stunning it seems to blur away the world around it for a moment or two.
Curster creates everything from plush to vinyl customs, but the faces of her minions are a trademark stamp -- once you see that face, you know its her work. She sells her art and some plushes through Etsy, with prices ranging from $13 to $90. She has a Deviant Art profile too, where you can see some absolutely amazing Munnys that will likely make your jaw drop.
If you live in the Minneapolis area, you can see Curster's work in person at Robot Love on Lyndale Ave, where several of her pieces are for sale. She also has a show running at the Soo Visual Arts Center through May 31st entitled Curster's Fantastico, so check it out if you are lucky enough to be in the vicinity.
It's always a little unsettling when something you're used to seeing from a certain perspective is suddenly shown to you in a whole new way. Such is the way of photographer Alessandro Cidda, whose latest work consists of a gallery of action figure portraits that put a new spin on some of the most common figures around.
The subjects of his work are taken from a wide array of media including Star Wars, Sin City, The Lord of the Rings, and the Marvel and DC universes. Thanks to a little moody light work and Cidda's keen eye each figure takes on an emotional depth previously overlooked due to its minuscule stature and mass-produced nature.
A gallery of figures is available on Cidda's website, the contents of which are well worth a look. Even with figures like Shrek and Daffy Duck the photographer manages to present the toys in a way most people have never seen them before.
Collectible toys, vinyl, vintage, papercraft, oddities, and more: Tomopop is a place where people of all ages can all enjoy our inability to grow up when it comes to our toy collections! If you're new to Tomopop check out a note from our editor.
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