toys

Melissa Sue Stanley knits and sews plush creatures in her hometown of Chicago. Some are simply cute, while others have more of an edge.

I do enjoy the look of this critter which is named The Tootsie Monster (there is another white tootsie monster listed on her etsy account).

Be sure to take a look through her Soft Sculpture gallery. I especially like "the little hill that couldn't keep still".

(via Boo Spooky who spotted the artist in a magazine and was kind enough to share her in the blogosphere)

While I work on my peekaboo plants, take a gander at some toys from the collection of Peekaboo Monsters posted by Pocket Full of Monsters.

While I really like the monotone design, they have another bird figure but this one is blue with its brains exposed. Nice.

I can't bring myself to talk price, but you can find out more information on the Spanky Stokes website.

You may recall me lamenting my lack of funds to purchase the $5,400 sculpture by Kathie Olivas. Having received word there are new toys being released, I'm at least closer to my goal of owning one of her figures.

MINDstyle has announced a few different toys including Two-Faced Hazel, a gas mask laden little girl with those lovely striped tentacle feet.

They are releasing a limited run of 200 figures for $99 a piece. This is at least closer to my price range.

Finally, the folks over at www.roadkilltoys.com have introduced the hedgehog stuffed animal Splodge. I've been waiting for them to reveal new characters.

There is already Twitch the raccoon, and Grind the rabbit.

Still waiting for Pop the weasel.

For those of you unaware, Roadkill toys is:

an alternative designer toy boutique, creating original toy characters. We make toys with a twist. Toys as dark as the inside of a black pudding. And they all have one thing in common - they've been run over. We're calling it Squash-Plush.

The folks over at thetoyzone.com are onto something. They've offered their readers $100 each for any worthy My Little Pony upgrade.

Johnny Depp gets three reincarnations: one as Edward Scissorhands (posted left), one as Captain Jack Sparrrow, and one as Cry Baby.

There are numerous Star Wars themed ponies that have made the cut (and for good reason. The Chewbacca transformation cracks me up, and the Boba Fett pony is plain wonderful. The My Little Solo in Carbonite deserves a special nod as well).

You'll also find a collection of super heroes & villains, and a few Disney characters like Jack Skellington and Sally (posted below).

Looking for something a little more creepy-classic? How about My Little Cthulhu (also posted)?

I was so distracted by the glowing fingers story (see previous post) that I completely forgot to wish you all a Happy Friday the 13th (I should note I nabbed the image to the right from Monsterama: Cute Creeps From Popular Culture who seems to have the same distaste for Valentine's Day as I do).

I ask, what better way to celebrate Friday the 13th than with the transformation of Winnie the Pooh into Jason, the homicidal machete-wielding maniac?

Found this on Deviant Art and had a good chuckle. See what too much honey can do? If you check out the creator's gallery, you'll find a load of zombified toys from Mickey Mouse to Hello Kitty and even My Little Pony.

Have a good day folks, and if I don't see you tomorrow, Happy Horrible V-day as well.

I can blame metalchick666 over at Skulls and Bacon for introducing me to a treasure trove of pointless gadgets I must have and am in danger of wasting money on. I'd followed the link that lead to the cute monster bandages I would proudly wear, and decided to explore the site some more.

It was then I realized Archie McPhee ("Eating Brains and Taking Names for 25 years" - an actual slogan that came up on-screen) is home to endless streams of kitsch and subculture! Including, but not limited to, this fantastic remote control zombie.

And I kept looking. Deeper and deeper I tumbled, loving the tv dinner napkins and other retro gear. But I'll focus on the darker goodies for this post.

I was playing around on flickr when I came across toyranch's account. It's a fun collection of vintage (1940ish-1980ish) toys and ads of monsters and Halloween. For example, there is an entire album dedicated to monster gumball toys (pictured right).

There are two other pictures that caught my eye (more, actually, but these were my favourites). Scanned from the Amazing Figure Modeler Magazine (issue #38, to be precise), here's a photograph that makes me wish I could step back in time. The caption beneath it reads:

Rich Palmer ran the nation's largest volume hobby shop in Parsippany, New Jersey. Aurora hired him to organize its Monster Customizing Contest in 1964. Aurora received national television attention when the CBS Evening News visited his shop. Walter Cronkite and Palmer held a conversation in the "Monster Korner" of the store. Big Frankie occupies the top shelf in the Monster Korner.

Ok creepy kiddies, and all you monster-crazed collectors, have I got a fun website for you. It's called Mad-Monsters.com, and it's filled with some visual treats.

Let's start with the magazine covers. The section is sorted into 30 categories, each one represented with an image from that collection. You click on the cover of choice, and it leads you to additional images. Titles include Famous Monsters, Horror Tales, Tomb of Dracula, and Modern Monsters (to name but a few).

If you like those, you'll appreciate the movie posters as well. There are vintage selections such as Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and some cult classics like Blackula and Astro Zombies ("See astro space laboratory. See brutal mutants menace beautiful girls").

Want more movie images? You got it. There are 13 movie titles that each have 30 or so movie stills to choose from.

Like a number of other artists I have blogged about, Greg 'Craola' Simkins started his career as a graffiti artist. Now 33 years old, Simkins is more likely to showcase his artwork in galleries instead of back alleys.

I first saw his work on www.imscared.com which highlights sketches, illustrations and graffiti created by Simkins. The news section is out of date, but with some sinister sleuthing I was able to track down his blog. You'll find information about his current exhibits there (most of which are currently taking place on the west coast of the United States near his home of California).

I had a difficult time narrowing the selection of artwork to showcase on this blog. I've attempted to pick items that show the diversity of his subjects.

In one piece, Simkins creates a fantasy world reminiscent of 'Alice in Wonderland', where familiar creatures are given twisted transformations. In the next, it's a nod to Tim Burton or Walt Disney with a very creepy-cartoon rendition of popular icons. He's even recently signed to create vinyl toys with the first installation being Cap'n Rotnclaw.