MAN-E-NEWS// Ron English’s “American Depression” for Kidrobot Black…

It’s been a long time since the release of Tara McPherson’s Lilitu figure, so it came with great pleasure to find out that Kidrobot Black‘s latest release, Ron English‘s “American Depression” will be dropping at the end of the month! Fitting the more-art-than-toy brief of Kidrobot‘s super sleek subsidiary, the piece has been adapted from a painting English did back in 2008. Depicting the economic crisis in a way only he know’s how, the figure features the amalgamation of two American icons- Mickey and the American Express card, with the mouse helplessly pinned to the credit card as if it were trap! The sculpted version appears a lot fatter- maybe a sign of the times? We’re guessing it probably has more to do with legal issues… Set for release on May 29th, expect to find “American Depression” exclusively on the Kidrobot Black site and  at select Kidrobot stores.

MAN-E-NEWS// The Paul Kaiju x Uamou exhibition at Studio Uamou…

Ayako (aka Uamou) is proud to present Studio Uamou’s latest collaborative exhibition… this time around with neo-kaiju master, Paul Kaiju! Featuring a mixture of work from both artists, Kaiju will be working his neon magic on a number of Uamou figures, whilst Ayako teams up with the legendary Gotto-San to tackle Boss Carrion- an absolute must for fans of both sofubi and kaiju! Set to take place this Friday  and Saturday (May 18th/19th), all of the pieces featured will be up for grabs, with any remaining presumably heading to the Paul Kaiju shop next week. Stay tuned for more custom reveals soon…

Studio Uamou
5-9 Ueno Taito-Ku
Tokyo, Japan
110-0005
2k540 Aki-Oka Artisan N-5

MAN-E-NEWS// The “Resin is King” blind-boxed series from Tenacious Toys x Dead Hand Toys…

Fresh from the success of the recent Uncle Argh Noir Kickstarter campaign, Tenacious Toys are proud to officially reveal their long awaited collaboration with Dead Hand Toys, the “Resin is King” series! Featuring contributions from some of the biggest names in resin today including Dead Hand Toys owner Brian Ahlbeck, Richard Page (UME), Motorbot, Matt A*, Jay222, David Bondi, NEMO and OsirisOrion (Bad Applez Inc), the series has been limited to just 40 blind-boxed pieces. With each artist tasked with sculpting and casting an original 3″ figure, each of their included pieces have been either hand painted, tinted, or embellished to make them totally unique. Coming randomly packed, each purchase will get you one resin mini figure, a ratio card and sticker- all for just $25 plus shipping!

Brian Ahlbeck has also created a golden ticket Teuth figure, that will be winging its way to one lucky collector. As with the recent “Sweet Teuth” release, the hand cast resin piece stands at 7″ tall, this time around coming in a beautiful green/yellow paint scheme. Set to drop next Friday (May 18th) exclusively at Tenacious Toys, be sure to stay locked on their blog for more reveals over the next couple of days…

[Motorbot’s entry, revealed last month]

MAN-E-NEWS// The Mega Mecha custom Android series from Adam Pratt…

As mentioned last week (Custom Street Shark post, here), our good friend Adam Pratt has been busy working on an awesome new blind-boxed custom Android series, the Mega Mechas! Taking the kit-bashed army aesthetic that we’ve come to know and love, Adam has produced 16 pieces for the series, with 7 common designs, 5 uncommon, 3 rare and one ultra rare. Featuring a plethora of cool accessories and colourways, each level of rarity offers a more complex style of customisation, including increasingly unique and intricate paint schemes, decals and such. Adam has stated that 2 of the Mega Mechas will come with a golden ticket, entitling them to an extra custom Android chase! Priced at just $40 each, the signed and carded figures will be hitting Adam’s store tomorrow (May 11th) at 1pm, and will be available to order (with free shipping!) for a limited 24 hour period…

MAN-E-NEWS// The “Oh Schnapps” Poison Plum CrappyCat set…

“CrappyCat and FlunkMonkey shove off for a Multidimensional Schnapps Tasting tour. The first flavor on the tour is Poison Plum schanpps. This is a plum based, fruity schnapps. The ingredients include plums, fermented heads of lost travelers, a dash of poison pink berry to add a sweet & smooth finish, and a trapped spirit to serve our thirsty friends. 100% proof … of life beyond death.”

Fresh from the recent success of the Crap Stink Splasher (find out more here), Vanbeater is proud to reveal the latest CrappyCat and FlunkMonkey set, “Oh Schnapps Poison Plum”! The first in an ongoing series of schnapps related colourways, the set will once again feature both vinyl mini figures, with a beautiful 7.5″x13″ signed, stamped and numbered Poison Plum screen print. Limited to just 125 pieces, the set will be available on the CrappyCat store from 16th May, 2pm (EST) for a 48 hour period. Priced at just $35 shipped (within the US), these guys probably won’t make the whole 2 days anyway!

MAN-E-NEWS// Rampage Toys’ Design Fiesta 35 exclusives…

Hot off the heels of Super Festival 59, Jon over at Rampage Toys is readying another batch of awesome figures for this weekend’s Design Festa 35 ( Odaib Big Site, Tokyo)! Featuring a limited run of just 5 Rainbow Haired Ugly Unicorns and 3 custom Chima Group “Bollos”, the exclusive figures will be available at booths E17/18 alongside a whole host of prints and painted sofubi. We’ve already fallen in love with the Rainbow Haired UU’s- Jon’s newly acquired metal masking has given him the chance to go wild on the fades and create some of his tightest batch of customs yet! As always, first dibs on anything leftover have been promised to his newsletter subscribers, so be sure to head over to the Rampage blog now and sign up if you haven’t already…

CYCLOPS DINOSAURS UPDATE//

Unfortunately missed whilst we were off at the tail end of last week, Jon has also revealed the final teaser for the upcoming Cyclops Dinosaur sofubi series. Coming in the form of the mighty (?!) Tyrannosaurus Rex, this strangely cute little dino is set to come with a pair of articulated baby arms!  We’re dying to see this series in vinyl form, and hopefully it won’t be too long to wait- Jon has stated that fully painted versions could be dropping as soon as this year’s SDCC! More news on this awesome project soon…

MAN-E-NEWS// The “JINX” custom Munny from David Kraig…

Designer and customiser David Kraig kindly shares with us his entry for the Kidrobot NY store contest, “JINX” the custom 7″ Munny. With a face inspired by the Hannya mask, this devilish character has been beautifully sculpt with polymer clay and painted using a mixture of washes and acrylics. We absolutely love the creepy vibe going on here, and with the addition of an internal LED unit (that makes his eyes glow a satanic red!), we’re sure JINX could be a serious contender for the prize. Interested in seeing more? Then head over to DK’s site here to check out his amazing custom portfolio…

MAN-E-NEWS// New 2″ B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S from Triclops…

Swiftly following the release of PeeNut in MEGA B.A.S.T.A.R.D form (find out more here), Triclops are proud to reveal the return of the original 2″ bootleg series, with test pulls of the re-released Peenut alongside all new character, PeeNut Hunter! Set to make their debut in limited quantities at next week’s Kapow Comic Con in London, Triclops plan to step up production in the near future with the help of resin wizard, Stu Witter. This should hopefully mean we’ll be seeing a lot more from the highly sought after series in the near future- with Triclops promising the return of more from the classic line alongside new additions big and small! Stay locked on Blog Clops for the latest information…

MAN-E-NEWS// The Petal Purple Robotones from Cris Rose…

The beginning of the month signifies yet another Robotone drop from resin master Cris Rose, with May’s springtime robots coming in a beautiful “Petal Purple”, a wonderful spring tone seen in wildflowers all over England at this time of year. Available in either Renold or Rourke designs, the hand cast bots are available exclusively from Rose’s Big Cartel now for just $25 plus shipping (limit of 2 per person). And remember, anyone who manages to collect the whole set of 12 figures throughout the year will receive the 13th completely free!

MAN-E-NEWS// The Lost “Dia de los Muertos” Resin Skulls finally revealed!

If you’ve been following us on Twitter or Instagram (@trutek) over the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed a few shots of our latest resin project, the Lost “Dia de los Muertos” Skulls… well today we’ve finally decided to give you guys the lowdown, with 2 massive points we have to get off our chest before we start- first off, half of them will be free (yes, FREE!), and secondly, the rest will be hitting the store before next month’s Min-E-Face and ‘Ed Skworm release- EXCITING!!!

100% hand made by MAN-E-TOYS editor/writer, Tru:Tek, the first batch of DDLM Skulls will be limited to just 50 pieces, with 25 heading to the store for a very reasonable £8 shipped (worldwide), and 25 getting the “random drop” treatment around some of the UK’s cultural hotspots (London, Nottingham and Bristol will be hit first!). We will be giving clues as to the whereabouts of these figures on our Twitter and Instagram feeds, so stay tuned in the coming weeks to be in with a chance of grabbing yours…

Out of the 50 randomly assorted skulls on offer, 25 have been made using a special blend of aluminium and resin (including 5 Terminator customs), giving the figures a cold touch, 50% more weight and a shine like no other resin figure we’ve seen before! 10 one-off hand painted pieces will also be joining the fray, alongside the elusive Crimson and Frozen Tears, plus a super rare 1/1 Mystery edition- which one will you get?!!

We’re planning on dropping these guys in the shop next Monday (May 14th), but for now, here’s the ratio card to whet your appetite…

E-mail Tru:Tek directly at trutek.uk@googlemail.com with any enquiries/pre-order requests…

MAN-E-NEWS// Bridget Rhee’s “Buddy’s Den” at TT Underground…

“Buddy is a hunter. A cute adorable one. But Buddy doesn’t prize the ordinary wild animal, he seeks to collect the eccentric– fantastic, strange, and unique creatures and odds and ends from the likes no one has ever seen before.”

Peter Kato kindly shares with us the first group art show from friend, artist and former Toy Tokyo employee, Bridget Rhee. Entitled “Buddy’s Den”, Bridget’s vision was to create the feel of a hunter’s trophy den in a gallery, replacing the usual array of taxidermy with a slew of fantastical creatures! Enlisting the talents of some of New York’s most respected artists including Healeymade, Mariangela Tan(Plushplay) & Justin Alan Volpe(Popprolific), Bridget’s amazing idea has finally come to fruition, with “Buddy’s Den” opening its doors at the mighty TT Underground Gallery this Friday! We suggest to anyone in the NY area to pop down… this is set to be one of the most imaginative shows this year. Head over to the TT Underground site for more details…

MAN-E-NEWS// The Hang Gang’s “May the 4th be with you” group art show revealed…

With a number of Star Wars themed celebrations taking place around the world last Friday, we decided to get a piece of the action by heading down to the highly anticipated “May the 4th be with you” group art show at FullCircle, Leeds. Curated by Barry over at the Hang Gang, the massive event played host to over 30 different artists work- both art and custom toys- including the likes of Richard Page, Jon Paul Kaiser, Guy McKinley, Drew Millward, Squink, Bryan Brutherford, and Elmos Empire, most of which were on hand to talk Star Wars, consume art, and of course, drink beer!

As you can see, a great time was had by all, but the fun didn’t stop at the artwork and alcohol… Nestling amongst the various paintings, prints and customs was one of the largest displays of vintage Star Wars toys we have ever witnessed! Featuring a massive selection of carded figures alongside some extremely rare playsets and vehicles (boxed Imperial Attack Base and Troop Transporter anyone?!!), the whole collection was housed in a beautiful display that reportedly cost around £1000 to construct!

As well as the plethora of Star Wars themed art and toys, Barry also laid down one hell of a party… From the wonderful array of treats conjured up from the Wookie Cookie handbook, through to the patrolling Storm Troopers, A New Hope screening and pop-up shop, no expense was spared in making this a great night. A massive thanks to the organisers and all the great people who turned up, and here’s hoping for more of the same next year!

We couldn’t resist picking up a piece from the show, and what a piece it was! One part of a triplet set (the other 2 are pictured above), Jon Paul Kaiser’s “Chewie” Mini-Munny was easily one of our favourite customs on display. Now sitting proudly on display at the MAN-E-TOYS HQ, we can’t help but feel he needs a certain UME Wookie (also above) to keep him company!

Anyone interested in picking up one of the many pieces will be glad to know that they will be heading to the Hang Gang store in the next few days. Be sure to keep checking back regularly, as we can guarantee they won’t be around for long…

[photos- hanggang/man-e-toys/jpk]

MAN-E-NEWS// UPDATE: ‘Ed Skworm vs. Min-E-Face test pull shot #2…

As you may remember, we have been working on a couple of resin releases over the last few months, with our first M.U.S.C.L.E bootleg 2 pack, ‘Ed Skworm vs. Min-E-Face, finally nearing completion (find out more about their progress here and here). Today we reveal the latest colour-test pull shot from Steve Patt over at Papagrim Toys- and as you can see, things are coming along nicely! We really wanted to make the release as authentic as possible, so (luckily for us) Steve has gone the extra mile in getting the perfect M.U.S.C.L.E flesh tone. With hopefully only a couple of more tries to go (we’re aiming for in between the 2 highlighted figures below), progress is still on track for an early June release.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks, where we’ll be revealing header art, plus full details on edition size, pricing, and of course, our elusive “Artist Series” contributors!

BACKSTORYS:

MIN-E-FACE// Cast aside from the MAN-E family at birth due to a rare defect that left him without the use of two of his faces, Min-E was kindly taken in by an NJPW wrestler who nurtured the otherworldly fighting skill that laid dormant inside the young boy. Sworn enemy of the Skworm (his estranged family’s closest ally), MIN-E is about to embark on his biggest quest yet- to rid the world once and for all of these putrid, sickly creatures and gain revenge on the family that once left him for dead!

‘ED SKWORM// Although one of the smallest species of [sick worm], the ‘Ed Skworm is widely known as the most brutal. Reported to be able to ingest a whole human head within 6.66 seconds, natives of the Stench (the Skworm’s most common hunting ground) have taken to wearing ‘Pepto-dysmal’ charms, the sorry beast’s only weakness, in a bid to stay alive. With a penchant for midget Japanese Pro wrestlers, our hero Min-E will have to watch his back or he’ll be losing the use of three faces instead of two!

MAN-E-NEWS// Plaseebo’s customs for Monster Mayhem at FOE Gallery…

Following the slew of reveals for last week’s BITS show, the ever busy king-of-creep, Bob Conge (aka Plaseebo), shares with us another 5 customs that will be featuring at this year’s Monster Mayhem. Consisting of 2 Molezilla customs, the resin cast “Moleortise” and the vinyl “Cotton Candy Molezilla”, a new GID Diagomi, the Grody mash-up “Braineniac”, plus the stunning “Versace Night Gamer”, each piece has been expertly sprayed in a rainbow of standard, metallic and GID Monster Kolors, with both Diagomi and “Braineniac” coming with Plaseebo’s trademark LED units for night time display.

Monster Mayhem is set to drop at the FOE Gallery this Friday (May 11th), featuring a whole host of kaiju artists from both the US and Japan. Stay tuned for more details on the event in the coming days…

Featured artists//

Brian Mahony, Bob Conge/Plassebo, Monster Worship, James Groman, Koji Harmon, Elegab, Miles Nielsen, Michael Nordstrom,Ricky Wilson/Velocitron, Martin Ontiveros, Bob Eggleton, Michael Skattum, Eric Talbot, Joe Merrill/Splurrt, Dennis Hamann/Shirahama,Steven Erst, Mark Nagata, Paul Kaiju, Stephen Blickenstaff, Mark Masztal, and Michael Bracco/Spaghetti Kiss

MAN-E-NEWS// “Cans” custom sculpt and those Wookie magnets from Rich UME…

Richard Page over at UME Toys bombards us with yet another quality custom sculpt, the hip-hop loving “Cans”! Based on a sketch Rich did a while back (pictured below), this guy has been in the sculpting stage for the past week, so it was great to see him finally emerge with a huge blast of colour! Featuring the smooth flowing curves and top-notch characterisation that we’ve come to know and love from the talented sculptor, the vivid pink and blue colour scheme really helps to make this piece pop, whilst making it undisputedly UME. No news on whether this guy is available to purchase, so our best bet is to e-mail Rich directly at umetoys@googlemail.com for the lowdown…

After briefly mentioning to Rich about making Wookie magnets in the style of his recent Chewie custom last week (find out more here), he swiftly managed to sculpt, cast and paint the little critters in time for last Friday’s Star Wars Leeds event! Limited to a batch of just 8 at the moment, we were lucky enough to receive one on the night (expect a full write up tomorrow!) along with Rich’s beautiful trademark Tiki mask. Anyone interested in picking one of these up should e-mail Rich at the above address asap- they’re not going to be around for long!

MAN-E-NEWS// Freshly Caught “Fruity” Feelings from Taylored Curiosities…

Penny Taylor of Taylored Curiosities kindly shares with us the latest addition in her long line of aromatherapy designer plushes, the Freshly Caught “Fruity” Feelings. A successor to the hugely popular Freshly Caught “Worry” released a while back, the latest summer inspired edition stands at a mere 1.5″ tall, has been made in a super soft red fleece with hand embroidered eyes and hand painted yellow ‘pips’, and comes lovingly stuffed with naturally soft stuffing and a beautiful strawberry aroma! Housed in a rustic mini jam/pickling jar that has been lined with artificial grass, each Freshly Caught “Fruity” Feeling comes with its own bag of strawberry sweets and hand made vintage tag.

Limited to a numbered edition of 40 (including 5 white chase variants), the Freshly Caught “Fruity” Feelings will be making their way to the Taylored Curiosities store in the next few weeks for just £10 plus shipping…

MAN-E-NEWS// Suckadelic’s “Toy Lords of Chinatown” Episode 3 screening party…

“After a year of speculation, rumors, and forgetting about it completely, the next chapter of the exciting SUCKADELIC Comedy-Drama-Supervillain Soap Opera is ready to be unleashed on the World!”

At long last, the Super Sucklord has finally finished the third instalment of the acclaimed internet viral series, “Toy Lords of Chinatown”, and is holding his very first screening party to celebrate! Originally debuting online in 2010, with a second episode dropping last year, the third is set to be the biggest yet, featuring an impressive 20 minutes of guerrilla style bootleg tomfoolery (including 4 all-new Suckadelic characters) on the streets of NYC.

Due to be screened at The Producers Club on Friday, May 18th for one night only, head on down for one of two screenings at 9pm and 10pm. Admission is free and seating is limited, so be sure to arrive early to avoid disappointment. All those who cant attend will be glad to know that both the new episode and toys will be heading online on May 19th…

“TOY LORDS of CHINATOWN, The no-budget DIY Supervillain Crime Comedy, produced by The Super Sucklord, depicts the fantasy World of Suckadelic. In this reality, Action Figures Rule the Streets, and Ruthless Gangsters Control the Supply, and Chinatown is where they wage their Wars. Witness the struggles of Vectar the Intolerable, a hapless Minion of The Sucklord, as he tries to escape from his Rock-Star master and set up his own evil Toy Empire in a culture of Bootlegging, Double-Crosses, Fame, and Laser Guns.”

MAN-E-TOYS at the Star Wars “May the 4th” art show…

We’d like to just give our readers an advanced apology for our lack of coverage over the next couple of days… “Why?” you may ask- because we’re packing our bags and travelling up to the Midlands for the long awaited Star Wars: “May the 4th be with you” art show at the Full Circle Gallery, Leeds! Featuring a staggering array of Star Wars themed low-brow art from the likes of Rich UME, A Little Stranger and Bryan Brutherford, the gallery will also play host to a vintage toy exhibition, live music, film screenings and much, much more!

Stay tuned on Saturday, when we’ll be bringing you the full lowdown on the show, including a full reveal of all the amazing pieces set to feature. Check out the Hang Gang site in the mean time for more details…

MAN-E-NEWS// Plaseebo’s customs for the “BITS” show at Lot F Gallery…

Follow the reveal of both “HD2” and the “Toy Shrine” print series earlier in the week, Bob Conge aka Plaseebo kindly shares with us the 3 custom pieces that will be featuring at tomorrow’s “BITS” show at Lot F Gallery (find out more here)…

Mickeybabypuppy// First up comes Plaseebo’s collaboration with the mysterious Kaiju Coup… Entitled “Mickeybabypuppy”, the super-creepy hand cast resin figure features the body of Coup’s Warui Inu dog, with the head of Plaseebo’s Mickey/Doll hybrid! Hand sprayed and painted in a suitably garish palette, the figure even comes with its own velvet collar.

Daigomi// Next up we have the stunning Daigomi custom… Cast in clear vinyl by Brian Mahony for the Guumon series, this stunning slab of neo-kaiju has been fitted with internal LED lighting plus a selection of neon pink and green guts. Coming expertly finished with a mixture of black, red and yellow sprays, this guy is truly breathtaking!

BITS Mascot// Lastly we bring you the “BITS Mascot”… Appointed as the face for the show, this freaked-out piece has been roto-cast in resin, leaving space inside for another wild LED unit! Featuring Plaseebo’s trademark blend of dolls, monsters and found objects, the one-off piece comes in a strangely alluring mixture of peach, mint and purple sprays…

Lot F Gallery Presents Bits
Bob Conge, Todd Robbertson, William Long
Opening reception: Friday, May 4th, 7.00pm-11.00pm