Sunday Afternoon Toy Purge

Okay, so first, no I haven't lost my toy collecting mind. I did though promise some nephews we saw at a wedding a few weekends back that I would send them some Batman stuff. I needed to weed out some of my extra things and thought this would be a great opportunity... then things started to go a little crazy and I decided to fill the box with a sampling of some other things that they might enjoy.

Before you all look at the pictures and pass out, no I am not getting out of collecting toys, this is just keeping with the whole need to get more focused. I still plan on keeping an ongoing open Batman collection, I kept a few of my favorite things from my packaged collection... just a lot less now. I still have my Stormtroopers starting to take over a second shelf thanks to Reis ; ) Plus I still have a ton of other items in the loose collection. This is just a continuation of a process I started a year or more back.

I succeeded in filling the box in the background to the brim and saving on using any packing material!

I wanted to make sure they had a few Batman characters to open, plus I had some extra Aquaman for each of the boys and of course some Trek plush (heh, gotta try) and I think that may be my last Cantina Musician.

One of my favorite Batman figures. I had an open one so I sent this guy to a new home, plus a few other loose heroes.

The boys are very into the "old" Batman the Animated Series cartoons. Since I have the series on DVD I had these individual episode DVDs kicking around and packed those in as well, plus a few of the older Toy Biz Marvel guys, why not.

Last is a bout 30 plus loose GI Joes and Cobra with a few more Heroes thrown in for good measure. I bagged them to keep the accessories together.

Man if that does not make their day (by the way three boys all at the right age for this stuff) I do not know what will. Perhaps I may have sparked an interest in some other heroes say Aquaman, Spider-Man, some Trek possibly?

Next post maybe I will post about some stuff I found and kept, ha ha, stay tuned.

Dammit Uncle Owen...

"I was going to Toshi Station to pick up some Power Converters!"

Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? I have been swamped, well not swamped enough that I couldn't do a sketch. I've been thinking about the direction of the blog, artwork, and my toy collecting... not to worry I will still be talking about toys here, unless you like checking out doodles, then I will still be talking about art.

Some things I have been thinking about recently.

1) I need to do a sketch, drawing or doodle everyday! I knew an industrial designer that would start every project with a bunch of odd sketches and say it was a way to get the crap out of their head... I never thought of drawing as a way to purge crap from my brain so I was sort of insulted. I look at it more like working things out and trying different things... Sad little Luke here is a warm up drawing I did this morning, working some things out. It's origin was a text conversation with my wife and my response of "awe, I was going to Toshi Station to pick up some Power Converters", queue light bulb and poof, the Toshi Station Blues above. This is probably more finished than say my warm up sketches, but still I think it is important to draw something everyday.

2) Vintage Star Wars figures, I can't get them off my mind lately. Talking with friends, seeing posts about finishing up sets, blah blah blah, etc, etc. Not sure how I want to tackle my little collection of Vintage Star Wars figures, so stay tuned as I work this out.

3) I wish I was in Florida this weekend for one the Stitch Wars show opens up today and second at same comic shop Mike Mignola is going to be there on Saturday. I usually do not geek out that much on meeting celebs and what not, but come on Mike freaking Mignola!

4) I have enjoyed this little break from toys and I have actually been sorting through stuff to thin down my collection, but in the same breath there are a ton of new things I want for the collection... never ending cycle. This time I'm doing it different.

5) Hitting the local Tex Mex cantina tonight and now I'm wondering what to get...

That is all that is on my mind right now, lunch break over, now back to work! Stay tuned I do have a Spockcation update coming, and if I can stop being lazy I will shoot some toy pictures, and possible post some more sketches / artwork.

Have a great weekend, may the force be with you, live long and prosper, go do something creative!

Stitch Wars Strikes Back

Whew! I didn't think I would get my entry done in time to make the deadline for the upcoming Stitch Wars Strikes Back show at the Bear and Bird Boutique Gallery. I had actually planned on making a set of three of these for the show, to include Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper and of course this Bounty Hunter but you know how that goes, the best laid plans of wamp rats and men. Being slammed at work with preparing for an even earlier catalog season and taking on several projects for my family including some stuff for my Nephew's wedding in about a week hasn't helped and has me pretty pressed for time (that would include time for blogging, so sorry).

Still I plan on making more punks, even for my own enjoyment, or possibly to set up on Etsy. I just love the lo tech, low brow look of Punks, or Cat Punks as they are also called. I plan on completing my Imperial Collection and move on to some Rebels, then who knows after that.



Since the Stitch Wars show revolves around sewing I went ahead and made this Punk with stitched on elements and a more presentable rounded wood base, covered of course. Punks in the wild are usually painted or screen printed with cat or clown designs and include the fur trim and are weighted down way more than this piece. Plus they have a square wooden base, makes them a little harder to tip I guess. I think I will try and keep the round base, but if I do move toward the more traditional base I will finish it instead of leaving it unfinished as they are usually found. I will also keep the weight down as these are more about displaying as art than playing with.



The fun part about the expanded collection it will give me a chance to illustrate and paint on the canvas for each design, or possibly do some screen printing, sort of giving them my personal touch. I promise to post things here as I get them done, so stay tuned.

Yes I made a tiny hang tag for it as well : )

I will also try and post more illustrations and sketches, some artwork for Tate's Comic Shop, plus whatever fun stuff I have been working on. I have been doing more roughs using an ipad, still not the best, but I think pretty good for finger painting. Well, enjoy the Punk. Be good to each other. May the Force be with you.

Poor Redshirt

"The Captain is nuts, this planet is beautiful, how could it be dangerous?"
(click image to monster size it)

Red, White and Blue!

It's time again for a Photo Assignment reveal! This time I asked for some Red, White and Blue. It could be a Captain America Figure ( I got a few, not as many as I thought), a red figure, a white figure and a blue figure. A toy that had all three colors on it. It just had to be a toy(s) and had to have the theme on it somewhere.

I was expecting an avalanche of Captain America toys, I mean the movie is being released soon right? The toy aisles are flooded with Captain America everything right?

So with that let's go, three cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

Reis had this to add to his photo, "You know you're going to get a gazillion shots of Captain America toys, right? ;)"

Matt "Still no website" sent in this with this explanation, "This time I have Darth Maul in a lightsaber battle with a Smurf and a white robot trying to break up the fight. I think DM will defeat both of them. Happy 4th of July!"

Logan sent this via Mock's email, "My dad told me what the next thing with the toys was. I looked through my toys and found some toys that were red, white, and blue. I also did a rainbow but I put that on my blog."

Colin (Super-D!) dropped in with this awesome pair of heroes, "I realize Captain America would be the obvious choice, but these 3 3/4" figures are new for me and I'm particularly excited about them :) Hasbro Marvel Universe Iron Patriot & Hasbro Paratrooper Dive Captain America! Happy 4th of July, Chunky!"

Jason rocked it with mix of characters, " only picked toys that had all 3 colors present. Jazz and Spider-Man(along with Panthro, Tracks and Mr. Sinister) are chaperones for their kids' class party. :)"

Victor sent this in "Since I have a bunch of Captain Americas, I thought I'd send in a collection of figures that AREN'T Cap.
Wasn't that hard, just had to go though some boxes to find something.
I think the most interesting find was the Lone Ranger who is RWB, he's just old and worn. I've had him since I was a kid.
Also interesting is that all the British Marvel figures are RWB, but that makes sense since the US was UK colonies.
Power Girl was a surprise since I didn't expect to find a fig from DCIH, but there she was.
Oddest RWB find was R5-D4 since I opened my "new toy" drawer and there he was. lol
Hope you enjoy the pic!"

Brian stole my thunder and left me scrambling for a new subject, ha ha, "Nothing like getting something in just under the wire.... :)"
Funny his pictures never look like they are under the wire.

Last and least, ha, my "Plan B", when world's collide. Red (Helboy from Mezco), White (The legs of my Super 7 Stormtrooper and Blue (non other than Spock), Happy 4th of July everyone!