Skets Fatcap...

Fatcap Series 2 is released today! This one is Sket's chase figure (pic stolen from myspace), and i think its dope! Better grab them quick.

kidrobot.com

Sketch! Notepads

Saw these little beauties in Design Week yesterday (not that I read Design Week, just look at the pictures). These new notebooks from http://www.rarekwai.com/ have covers designed by Darbotz, Dalek, Jimi Crayon and ESOW. Check out the Dalek cover below.

Can anyone spare a few grand?

Because I really, really need this Amanda Visell Mega Munny....a gnome eating Bat. Genius!

Amanda's Munny is part a massive lot coming up at Christie's "Pop Culture" auction and follows hot on the heels of Philips' Kaiju show. A lot of nice pieces up for grabs but as usual they're way over even flipper prices on eBay for the Ledbetter Mr Bunny (est $1-2000). Sket's Kong 20" Dunny is there - as seen at NYC Comic Con - lovely piece!

Sukadelic's: "Gay Empire Attack!"

BxH x Jarvis = Sweetness

Oh hell yes....I do hope these aren't just to mock all us Jarvis fans that have been waiting for the next installment. But holy mother of Evil Martin....it's a King Ken Kun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Need!

Yoka Pics...

I Thought it may be useful if i posted some pictures of the Yoka that is sitting on my desk to help anyone who may be thinking about enter the competition at cluttermagazine.com/yoka

Ok so this photo was took on nicks desk.. would i really have a green wall?!?! But yes you have to watch yoka, he likes to dance!

JLed Smash...not such a mystery!

So the teaser campaign blogged a few days ago seems to be for the Toxic colourway Smash seen here. Limited to 200 (100 each split between San Diego and Taipei) this baby is gonna sell like hotcakes....and if yr not going to SDCC (sob....like me.....sniff) or TTF then you really stand little chance of scoring this one.

Liking the facial expression on this one a lot. Still there's always the Lava and Mono (likely to be Joe's online exclsuive if the Teeter and Deadbeat is anything to go by) versions to come.

Thank you George Lucas....

...for destroying my childhood piece by little piece. First Star Wars - yeah great idea bung loads of CGI into 3 films with no discernable narrative structure and no suspense because we all know the ending! Good one...least the pension pot has grown a lil more eh George?

And now Indiana Jones 4. It's not that it's bad exactly it's just not that good either. Yeah I know as an adult the thrill on any Indy is never going to be the same as a wide eyed boy in Birmingham wathcing Han Solo kick Nazi butt. It's just that Indy - esp the first film - were clever, knowing, funny. Everything that 4 isn't.

Still if there's an upside....Karen Allen is still cool, and there's one set piece that is truly, truly brilliant involving a village. Real edge of the seat stuff. Unfortunately that piece of brilliance only served to highlight how crap a lot of the rest of it was - Shia Lahwhatsit is awful, Cate Blanchett stinks and the ending. Oh the ending....

So George if you want to completely destroy my happy memories please re-make one of the following: Ghsotbusters, Back to the Future, The Dark Crystal, The Goonies. Then my hate will be complete.

If there's one upside there is some kick ass Lego and the upcoming Indy Lego game for the PS3!

Calling all Artists and Designers...

Clutter magazine is proud to announce the biggest design competition we have ever run and quite possibly the largest the designer toy world has ever seen!

In conjunction with adFunture we have launched the Yoka contest. But this is no ordinary contest - this is an amazing chance to get your design made into a production piece! Go check out the new minisite www.cluttermagazine.com/yoka and get your thinking caps on.

All designs submitted will be uploaded to the minisite and then put to a public vote to decide the winner. This is a great opportunity for both new and known artists to get involved in a great new platform toy and see your idea become a reality.

So please get involved and spread the word.
Thanks
Clutter and adFunture

My Dream

This weekend my family were invited to see 'My Dream' from China's Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe. Formed in 1987 with more than 85 performers this troupe has performed in over 40 countries on five continents, from Beijing’s Great Hall of the People to the Sydney Opera House, New York’s Carnegie Hall to Milan’s Teatro alla Scala. In 2004 it was performed at the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympics in Athens. Choreographer Zhang Jigang is currently co-directing opening and closing ceremonies for Beijing 2008.

The highlight of the show is the Thousand Hand Bodhissatva, which features 21 hearing impaired dancers who form remarkable arm and hand positions by standing behind each other in a perfect column. Breathtaking images are created as the dancers produce perfectly timed and choreographed movements. All performances were amazing and the visually impaired piano player definitely put my skills to shame!! I must say we were all a bit apprehensive about going to the show as we really didnt know what to expect as performers are visually or hearing impaired or in wheelchair but it was delightful to see such talent!

There's still a number of dates left in the UK and all proceeds are going to be given to the Earthquake relief (with the troupe already having donated 1 million yuan to affected villages)

If you cant make a show then check them out on youtube! Absolutely breathtaking!!

Fatcaps Series 2

(L-R): Reach, Jessup, MAD, Pon

Next up from KR is Fatcaps Series 2....kinda been the poor relation to Dunnys with less hype and def less collectors. But I think this series, curated by TILT might turn that around - KR has got a lot of good people on board with this Series 2 - Sket, MAD, DOMA, Dalek - and the designs are looking tight.

Gotta love the Van Halen and the pigeons! Not so enamoured with the Dalek design or Flying Fortress they seem kinda lazy.

Tizieu

29 Degrees

3 Bears signing at RGG!

If you're out and about in Manchester on Saturday don't forget to stop by Richard Goodall Gallery between 2-5pm for a triple signing for the 3 Bears KR Dunny set. Should be a lot of fun with some of Britain's best ready with their markers!

The artists will be showcasing new work and there will be exclusive limited prints available! This is the only place where all 3 artists will be in attendance together!!

Hope to see you there!

Smash mystery

Yep as if by magic there's another Ledbetter Smash colourway coming! Bet you never saw that coming huh?

I like the campaign for this one with a Bigfoot-esque sighting pics but does it really need another colourway now they've already done Brown, Blue, Pink, Yellow and Gold with different facial expressions? Chances of this being green or black/orange (aka lava) to match Ringo?

Jeff Lamm rocks my (poster) world

Was desperately trying to flatten these out to take a pic....but this huge tube full of kaiju posters turned up on my birthday from Jeff Lamm. This is about half of what he sent me! So thanks Jeff much appreciated!

If you don't know Jeff's work he takes kaiju monsters and inspiration from japanese toys/TV/film to create these amazing posters for local gigs. And he even did one for one of my favourite bands - The Black Keys - doesn't get much better than that :)

And yes Maz the skull one is heading your way!!

Sixxa store..

Our friends over at Sixxa over in Vienna have just opened the doors of their first physical store, and it looks great! If your in Vienna stop by and pick up something awesome.. maybe a copy of clutter too! Well done guys.... We wish you every success!!

http://www.sixxa.at/

Flying Fortress Thundermutt

Flying Fortress doesn't customise his own toy very often, never mind anybody elses, but after seeing this little guy I expect his mailbox to be full of requests from rabid fans.

Done for the 'Here We Grow' show at LA's Black Maria gallery there is also a matching 10" Teddy Troop which looks just as awesome, would love to see this design released as a 3" Trooper, so if you're reading Eddi ;)

Urban Art @ Selfridges

Was out shopping with the family on Monday and came across this unexpectedly...


(No photographs inside so only a pic of the entrance)

"Urban Art at Selfridges provides a unique snap-shot of an evolving sector of the contemporary art market as it emerges from its underground roots. Rarely seen works by Banksy along with dozens more from the leading artists of the Street Art scene will be presented together for the first time.

Urban Art at Selfridges will preview 147 works, many of them for the first time, with several works for sale exclusively at Selfridges.

Artworks will later be sold by auction at the Village Underground in Shoreditch on 17 June from 6pm. Dreweatts has also sponsored the Elizabeth 798 Fund, to promote the work of up-and-coming urban artists, and will be donating some of the proceeds from the auction to this fund. For more information go to http://www.dnfa.com/urbanart " (Information via Selfridges.com)

The show features 3 pieces from Banksy (one of them hoping to fetch around £500,000 at auction) and includes many other artists such as Seen, Faile, D-Face, Mr Jago, Blek Le Rat, David Choe, Nick Walker and many more!

It will stay at Selfridges until Sunday 1st June, then between 5th - 10th June it will be at The Paintworks Gallery, Bath Road, Bristol, BS4. Finally from the 13th June it will be at Village Underground, 54 Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, London EC2 until the auctions are held. Go have a peek if you can!

Sushi Sunday....

So over the weekend we received a little box of joy, with these two happy little fella's in. Sent to us by Vanessa England. They are part of her Sushi Sunday range of plush, and we think they are awesome. Sushi Sunday is Vanessa's brand new venture so i hope you all get behind her and show your support.

Kozik's Giant Soldier

Incoming from Frank Kozik's new Ultraviolence label is this stunner - a huge Toy Soldier. Liking the scale of this thing a lot and the fact for the pacifists out there (or those wanting to create a realistic post cold-war scenario) it also comes with a broom accessory!

Due to be released in German, US and Russian uniforms if the initial run proves successful but given the sales of his larger Mao and Ho Chi Min busts you really can't see that being a problem. Kinda reminds me of the custom Erin did for AM40/40 in the Toy Solider style that was green. Wonder if Kozik will do a sniper version?

123 Klan Wallpaper...

Brand new desktop wallpaper, from the awesome guys that are 123 Klan...

Spotted in Brighton

Just to prove the UK did get some sun over the holiday weekend I thought i'd post these pics from my wander around Brighton. We actually went to Brighton to see the BRAG Art show - a collection of gig posters done UK artists shown in their stuido as part of the Brighton Open House month. BRAG has some nice work and has a great lil collective of artists - you can learn more about them here: http://www.bragart.co.uk/

The walk to the studio took us past some of the best graff in Brighton (including an older Banksy) by the local Heavy Artillery crew, SABER and INSA (click on the INSA for a bigger pic!). These pics don't really do these pieces justice as the level of detailing is amazing and if you're in the area check them out...especially as it looks like Sainsbury's are about to tear down these boards to build yet another supermarket.

MONQEE MAGIQ...

Forbidden Planet have joined up with the Match It For Pratcheet appeal and created a signed Monqee for Auction. They have gathered together a collection of Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre figureheads and asked them to sign or draw on the blank figure. The piece will be auctioned off as part of Forbidden Planets 30th Anniversary celebrations.

Artists include:
Neal Asher
Chris 'Fangorn' Baker
Tony Ballantyne
Chaz Brenchley
Holly Black
Ed Buckley
Paul Cornell
David Devereux
Brianna Flynt
Neil Gaiman
Plus many more..

The piece is currently on display in the Vinyl Cabinet in the London Megastore, so if your thinking of putting in a bid, or just want to take a look, head on down there.

http://static.forbiddenplanet.com/promo/monqee/

TOYKYO SUMMER T-SHIRTS 2008...

The guys over a toykyo.be have just released a brand new series of artists T's for the summer.

The designs are called: BUE (BE) - SAY WHAT!; POINTDEXTR (BE) - ROOT OF ALL; EVILTURBO (FR) - TURBO WOODE. Each shirt comes with a limited edition screen print (A4) + 2 stickers.

Kathie Olivas Scavengers

(L-R): Masao, Winston, Beaumont, Chase, Dexter, Aubrie, Nigel

Clutter got up close and personal with these beauties at NYC Comic Con and they look great in the flesh - super job by Kathie and MINDstyle on these for her first series of blind boxed toys. I say first as a second wave of designs are likely to see the light of day before the end of '08!


Each of the six regular figures - Masao, Winston, Beaumont, Dexter, Aubrie, Nigel - have a run of under 2000 pieces. A chase figure of just 300 (the gas mask in the pic above) is also randomly inserted into cases....gonna be a toughie to score for sure! There's also going to be a series of US store exclusives limited to 200 or less.


To make things even better these blind boxes comes in a flip-top magnetic latch box complete with slip cover with a designed cby Kathie and Rob Schwager. The store display also looks pretty damn nice!

Mini Trooper... UPDATE

Spied over on eddi's blog is this box image for the general release of the blank 9cm Teddy troops. You may remember the show of custom troopers held at Bodhi not too long ago (blogged) well these are the very same canvas' so you can now all have a crack.

Euro-culture.....

So I'd like to claim my weekend has been as cultural as Geoff's, but judging from what i am about to write you'll see it has been far from it.

Eurovision.... Love it or hate it, you can't deny its cult following and its comedy stylings. Personally I love it, or rather love to hate it. I love the fact that the voting is rigged and that we don't stand a cat in hells chance of winning, or even coming anything but second to last (with me always hoping out for a nil poi to really rub in our failures, Not that we would want to win and spend more of the tax payers money on another nonsensical 'national event', but you know "its the taking part that counts"). More than anything I love the fact that eurovision can laugh at itself. Half of it is probably the larger countries like Spain and France not wanting to have to put up the money to host the whole extravaganza, but the comedy stylings of this years entries really made it hard for me to pick a top 3 to blog about, far too many to choose from!

This years euro-extravaganza, was a real mixed bag of genre's. From the axe wielding death metal Finnish entry (of course).....

to the Pirates of Latvia (both of whom are getting honorable mentions.. with a hi hi ho.... ). You may be shocked that the Latvian pirates are not making my top spot, I know your thinking, 'Maz, but they are all dressed as pirates, surely they are clear winner's', but the pirate ditty they put forward was far to euro pop and not enough scurvy dog, and yes it pains to me to knock them out of my top 3.

Unfortunately the winner of this years competition was Russia, with a god awful, boy band type affair (even wearing boy band white), made marginally more exciting by a gimp on ice skates, confined to the worlds smallest ice rink.

However, this is how it should have gone down in my view.. So lets count down Maz's 3 to 1....

8 points goes to..... France!!

How could i resist the 70's inspired, golf buggy driving, Beach ball toting, sleazy singer and bearded (even the women) backing singers.

10 points goes to... Bosnia and Herzegovina!!

Helena Bottom-carter has nothing on this chick!! Brides, washing lines and a crazy ass tune, what more do you need in a euro-vision entry.

Top spot and my 12 points, has to go to, SPAIN - Chiki Chiki.

There are so many reasons that this makes my top spot. First up has to be the dance routine... i'm a sucker for anything with associated dance moves, even if one dancer did go arse over tit (i'm still not convinced if that was part of the routine, it seemed anything goes). Secondly the catchy beat and lyrics. It somehow makes me wonder if it was some kind of homage to the chiki girls, i'm hoping not, or else i would have to rethink this top slot. Which brings me onto the next reason... the lyrics.... which i will leave you with (not sure how good the translation is but it gives you an idea).....


Dance the chiki chiki

Dance doggystyle, dance doggystyle

The chiki chiki is so great
They dance it in China and also in Alcorcón
Give that mulatta chiki chiki
Because the chiki chiki drives her crazy

José Luis dances it
Hugo Chávez dances it
Mariano dances it
You know it, my love

The brothers dance it
My brother dances it
My mulatta dances it
With panties in her hand

And the chiki chiki is danced this way:
One – the breakdance
Two – the crossed step
Three – the Michael Jackson
Four – the Robocop

Dance the chiki chiki
Dance the chiki chiki
Heavies dance it
And so do freaks

They dance it in prison
They dance it at school
My mother dances it
And so does my grandmother

The puma sings it
With its striped costume
And Juan Carlos says:
“Why don’t you shut up?”

At Father Damien’s wake
They played the chiki chiki and the dead man started to dance
Dance, dance, dance…

And the chiki chiki is danced this way:
One – the breakdance
Two – the crossed step
Three – the Michael Jackson
Four – the Robocop