Munny Box

Here is the most recent pic of the Munny box and I hate this pic because after seeing it it's a little blurry, and because of this photo I dropped my phone and it landed face down in my kitchen and shattered the screen....FUCCCCKKKK!!!!!! I am so pissed at myself. Goddammmn! At least the sculpture is coming along great! Onto the arms.

9 days to go

 9 days to go til I need to finish my cardboard bot. Made some great progress last night. I decided to start from the feet and work my way up to the collar that I had already made. I showed the digital drawing that I am using as a go by but for something like this you kinda have to improvise as you go along and in that way it is slow going.... having to determine each panels side lengths angles and all the geometry. I will post a pic when I come back from lunch.

On a side note, is it just me or are the boards super dead lately? Noone is really talking about anything intriguing or interesting. There aren't even any of the typical bitching or cyclical nonsensical threads from noobs. It's kinda disappointing to see the boards in this state. The typical arc for most collectors is they move onto different things after finding out about KR but at this point it seems like there isn't much of an influx of new intelligent collectors or else they just aren't saying anything. I find it a bit annoying that the type of person that bails on KR for other boards that are considered "cooler" tend to have this elitist attitude about whatever it is they collect. Some of these other boards have a gestapo mentality. If you're new, Fuck you, and if you don't follow the unwritten rules, fuck off. KR might be annoying sometimes but for one reason or another I gravitate back there and right now seems to be the dullest and least active it's been since I joined almost 6 years ago.

Top Secret

So I'm working on something that is top secret...well, in the grand scheme of things that doesn't mean all that much, but what that means if you're reading this is please don't re-post this pic anywhere. The project is for an upcoming event that I have told a few of you about but will remain nameless for now, but what we have here is a Mega Munny sized mech robot made completely out of recycled KR product boxes. You may be aware of my affinity for cardboard already and that is where this idea began. I originally wanted to make a box hero KR Mascot head that would fit onto a Mega Munny. I'm currently working on a 7" Box Hero Munny for a friend that is way overdue so I know it looks cool but I couldn't come up with a concept AROUND that exact idea that made me happy. THEN I saw Pacific Rim. I loved the movie despite its many hiccups. Plain and simple I loved watching massive robots beat the shit out of massive monsters. But on top of that the tech was amazing and it got me thinking that it would be sooo sweet if I could build a box hero suit for a Mega, and then it evolved to just making the suit so the presence of the Mega is merely implied, then it evolved to making the robot out of the very thing the toys come in...their boxes. I like this idea because the majority of people see these boxes as garbage but as a whole toy collectors keep the boxes as they hold a degree of value with the toy itself, so I like the relationship between that and making an actual figure or sculpture out of boxes that inherently have no value.

I need to finish by the 25th and I'm on track to do so as I have the head finished and have started in on the body. Here is the first pic of the figure which also reveals the makeshift skeleton that I made for the body. I made this to act as the support for the figure but then I'm going to wrap it with the cardboard mech so that none of it will be visible but the weight will be on the central support and not the skin. The head is held on with a giant 1" disc magnet and the arms will eventually be secured with magnets as well. Once the skinning is done I'm going to go in and some color, texture outlines and painted details to give it more personality but at no point will I obscure the fact that the whole thing is made from boxes from their own products.

He is roughly based on Gipsy Danger from the film

Hope you all like and please, as usual any feedback is appreciated.

Can It Be More?

I've been giving this alot of thought and because of the scale of the question I really haven't come up with any ideas. It would be like predicting the weather and then somehow making it happen to actually forecast the trajectory of the scene... but I've been asking myself if and how designer toys can be more than toys? I know there are early pieces in the Moma but as a whole the scene is still incredibly small and because of the novelty of the medium is it possible that someday some of the giants will be considered as masters? In an age when there are so many possibilities for artistic expression there seems to be castes creating an invisible hierarchy and what I desperately want is to figure out a way to throw the whole scene on my back and scale that ladder. I briefly mentioned this problem of mine to a friend and we were both completely void of ideas. The only artist that I could reference that has been able to transcend his humble beginnings is Kaws, and beyond attracting fans with money and fame I don't see a way to replicate his success. Then the question becomes how do you develop a fresh perspective and then put it in front of the people that can help you? The problem with the arts is that every artist or movement has solved the problem in a different way and once that solution has been found it is no longer a viable one. The equation is constantly changing and morphing, evolving if you will, with the passing of time and growth and decay of humanity, so the way Kaws did it won't work again. I know where I want to go but how to get there... that's what I'm trying to figure out.

By no means was I one of the first customizers, nor was I even in the first wave of people to start using toys as a canvas... but since I started the number of people that dabble has gone up exponentially. It seems to be the natural arc of anything popular. We can really blame the flood on ourselves. The more work we do the more people we reach and the more people we inspire to pick up a brush but then those people become our peers and essentially our competition. But it's not like we're all jockying for the same position or something but it's hard not to see our friends and comrades this way. With all these new artists how do you make yourself stand out above the rest? It's really 2 parts of the same question. How do I make myself stand out amongst so many amateurs, and then how do I convince the world that my art is as important as something on a canvas? Maybe because the scene has roots in street art and graffiti people can't wrap their heads around it being fine art even though street art itself has become more main stream. The same question could be asked about graphic design. Because it IS art for commercial purposes the value of it is very fleeting no matter how good it is. Very few designers have been able to reposition their work as fine art and those that have find it hard to exist in both the fine art and commercial art world. Can all of these different cliques coexist and merge to be that 1 time solution that I'm searching for? Can I make toys for the average person, wealthy art collectors and design an ad that will end up in the garbage tomorrow, and still be considered a fine artist? I don't know.

I'm Back

It's been almost a month I think since the last time I posted and I'm sorry about that. I was all crazy with getting ready to leave for comic con, then I was at comic con and ever since I got back work has been nuts and I have been trying to decompress from the whole thing and I've finally got back into the swing of things. I will be starting and shipping Horseman heads very soon meanwhile working on all the current commissions that I still have out which are many. But first  here is a little taste of what went down at comic con. I took a bunch of pics on my phone, and took some with my new Go Pro so I will gradually be posting what I have. And, I hope to get around to editing the Zombie Escape footage I took because that was badass.


I got into San Diego early on Preview Night so we had some time to kill. John and I went and ate at this place called Bubs @ The Ballpark, which was basically right next to Petco Park where the Padres play, and it was a great place. It's just a sports bar but they had a ton of beer on tap, good food, and some cute girls worked there too. We had this sandwich, that we had each of the 3 times we ate there, that was chopped chicken, bar-b-q sauce and honey mustard mixed, with melted cheese and mushrooms. Sounds odd, but it was fucking amazing. I drank this beer from Saint Archer Brewing Company in SD the whole time I was there, a Blonde Ale, and it was great. I always try local beers when I travel and this one was good.  Anyway, so we went and got our badges and then shortly after that got in line to go in. I had so much shit to mule but the first thing on my list was my Super7 Reaction Alien figures and this was the goddamn line I faced as soon as I managed to get over there.

                                            

This line is wrapped to the other side of the block perse of booths that were adjacent to Super 7 so you cannot even see their booth in this pic. There are about 35 people in front of me and this line was barely moving. I waited over 2 hours in this line. Good thing too because they sold out of the 2 pack prototypes the next day and the lines were nuts almost the whole con.

The Alien figures brought in a ton of new fans that don't collect Super 7's typical fare. Old school action figure fans and fans of Alien came out of the woodwork. 

For signing up on the mailing list you got one of the foot stands seen here in this pic. They were free but this was the only way to get them. Amanda now receives emails from Super 7 as well and I have 2 stands, 1 for each of the prototype figures seen here. These things are going for like $250 on ebay right now but mine are not going anywhere.

I also ordered my set of 5 which came with a cardboard stage just like a Star Wars set from back in the day. As you can see these figures are certainly retro and I believe are figures that were developed back in the early eighties and were never released.

These super freaking sweet cups just were up for pre-order from Super7 but I didn't get a chance to order them yet. Plus I have too many cups at my house anyway. I believe they will be widely available in September.

This is the stage that came with pre-ordering the set of 5. Hit a bunch of other places the first night, got a number of things I needed to mule and then we went and ate. It was a pretty hectic first night but it was awesome. Plan for the next day was to get up real early and try and get in line at Hasbro.

We got up at like 5:30 AM. Our hotel was right on the Bay directly next to the convention center so we walked over and we were there in like 5 mins. Little did we know that there were already like 1500 people in line and most of them were in line for Hasbro. It was INSANE. They had a separate inner line once they started letting people in and literally about 90% of that line ended up in the inner line. We just said screw it at that point because they had already capped the line.

Then I tried to find Hallmark which was in the Lucas Films Pavillion. I got to here and just plain couldn't find it. I wandered around for a while in the area and finally stumbled into Hallmark only to find out all the items for the day had sold out and if I wanted a chance I better get in line as soon as the floor opened the next day.

I eventually ended up in the appropriate line and was in time to buy and got the U.S.S Kelvin and Rancor ornaments for a friend of mine. All I actually got was a free Star Wars button.

Most times I started the day with Mondo depending on what was dropping. I ended up getting The Kevin Tong Pacific Rim variant, both Ash Thorp Pacific Rim posters, both Ken Taylor Aliens prints and the Ash Thorp Predator variant. After all the purchasing was done for the day I wandered around for a while and headed back to take a closer look at all the customs. These were some of my favorite pieces from the Dragatomi booth. Mike Die, Ardabus Rubber, and the Southern Drawl Voltron piece which is amazing.

Then I saw BLAKE!!! He was doing a Mishka photo signing thing at Toy Tokyo and I was just happy to see him. I didn't need an autograph. But I did score a free sticker that should have cost me a dollar. :) I got the hook up. 

More to come.

Horseman Heads

The 3.0 resin heads are for sale in my store right now.

There are still a good amount of the intended run of Horseman heads so I am gonna start pulling orders that have been placed already so some of you may be getting them sooner than you thought. I'll be posting them on my IG @Nikejerk as I pull them to try and get people excited and order. You'll be sorry you slept when the production version comes out someday.... :)

Skerpent

As you can see I finally have a complete resin version of Skerpent. Pictured here is a slightly Metallic glow red. It doesn't glow that vibrantly and is a bit uneven but I think it still looks cool. AND...the base isn't quite as perfect as I want so it probably won't be sold as a final piece. These near misses might be up for sale for customs if anyone shows interest. Despite the hiccups here and there with the casting I am ecstatic with how things are coming along. The mold came out exactly like the master and I was admittedly a bit worried that I wasn't going to be able to capture all the fine points and details... but all is looking good!

So if you've been following along the process you've seen him take shape and really think it is a unique and striking figure. This whole time I've been planning on taking a few to comic con and maybe even doing an online drop of a few of them before hand but I've been thinking that I am gonna do a small pre-order of the Skerpent so that anyone that already knows they're interested can pick the colors they want as opposed to picking the one I've already made that they like the best. SOOOOO, if you know you want one email me at jared.cain at gmail, we'll talk over what you want and you're in. Cost is $235 shipped, more for international orders. It's gonna come in a box but the box will be fairly simple in comparison to what I normally do. I'd prefer these guys arrive safe over the box being pretty.

If you follow me on IG @Nikejerk then you've seen the various colors that I've already pulled so you might have an idea of what you can get but basically I can do any color you can imagine in transparent, metallic, glow in the dark, you can do the marbling with a lighter solid color or metallic and a darker swirl, just plain clear, solid white, I even have a porcelain powder that can be added to white resin to give it that shiny porcelain look. I plan on adding painted details to each one: eyes, teeth, facial features, and other small accents here and there If you're familiar with my work then you should know what to expect.

So, if you want to get the exact Skerpent you desire, now's your chance. I'm only going to make around 10 Skerpents TOTAL for now, including these, so don't sleep. My very first resin figure — hopefully the first of many awesome toys and figures!