Archive for the ‘Figures’ Category
Bigtop Jinny Video Review
I just received my Burgerman Bigtop Jinny Bitbot (say THAT five times fast), and it’s kind of how I thought it would be. Jon’s all-over doodle design helps me look past the Bitbot’s strange head curvature and bloated Dunny body. But at $60, I’d recommend this for devoted Posse and Burgerman completists only. SpankyStokes does a nice, 10-minute review of the figure, which is available here.
Custom Spy Vs. Spy
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Spy vs. Spy, MAD launched a Spy vs. Spy custom toy project.
First, we created a 6-inch “blank” version of our Spy action figure (right) — then we sent it out to a bunch of crazy-talented artists to customize however they liked! Suffice to say, the results were awesome!
The figures were on display at SDCC, although I never managed to find them despite being in the exhibition hall for four days straight. Luckily, The Idiotical is doing daily spotlights on the customs. This one’s by Jon.
Bigtop Jinny Toy Teaser
Bitbots is circulating a teaser for their new Jinny ‘Bigtop’ figure. ‘Bigtop’ Jinny sees the first release of their character with the discordant head in a new 6-inch size. Based on the image above, it looks to be a Burgerman. The figures will be released on August 1st in an edition of 500 pieces at $65 each. Will it look anything like Jon’s custom Jinny from 2010? Who knows, but it’s been a long while since I’ve gotten my fix of Burgerman vinyl. I predict that despite my criticism of this platform, I will want to own this figure. Well played, Bitbots, well played…
LOVE MOVEMENT Customs Now Available!
Curating LOVE MOVEMENT was one of the best experiences of my life. You may remember seeing Jon’s figures as a preview here. I’ve already pontificated about LOVE MOVEMENT plentifully on my own website, but I wanted to post that all of the work is now available online for purchase at StoreEnvy. Here is a direct link to Jon’s figures, Love Messes You Up & Broken-Hearted Bear. Check out this video from the art opening.
Customized Toys for LOVE MOVEMENT
Jon is one of many artists involved in LOVE MOVEMENT, a very special project I’m curating with Shin Tanaka and Nao Shimojo. LOVE MOVEMENT is an art show using vinyl toys to deliver universal messages about love. American, Japanese and European artists were given blank versions of toys designed by recently married artists, Shin and Nao. The finished works will be exhibited and sold at SUPERFROG Gallery in San Francisco with an opening reception on December 11th at 7PM. Many artists will be in attendance!
I met Shin and Nao in Tokyo while on my honeymoon. I was freshly married, Shin and Nao were engaged, and Japan felt like the most welcoming place in the world. Love was everywhere, and I promised I would get the two artists a show in San Francisco. Shin and Nao are now married, and LOVE MOVEMENT is that show.
Jon’s custom T-BOY is called “Love Messes You Up,” and his custom Dankeschoen bear is called “Broken-Hearted Bear”. More images of his work are available upon request.
You can see all the artist’s designs for LOVE MOVEMENT here.
Find out more information about the show and join the LOVE MOVEMENT here!
Name Jon’s Mugo Player
Mugo is running a contest to name Jon’s new Mugo character. They’re looking for a name and a short description, and they’re putting the winner’s fate in Facebook fans’ hot little hands. The Mugo Player is a character-driven mp3 player for all those folks who would rather their digital music come in the form of a cute humanoid companion than that sleek little gizmo everybody else has. I have no doubt that Jon’s character already has a name, as Jon names and titles all of his work. But Mugo wants to crowd-source the little guy’s hello my name is (and collect a few email addresses along the way). Designer Mugo Players retail for about $60, and DIY blanks go for $50. No word on if these gadgets will be available through Burgerplex, so if you’re chomping at the bit, send your suggestion to mugo at submit [at] mugoplayer [dot] com.
Custom Jinny by Bitbots
I’m not really sure the world needs another platform mini-figure to DIY, but I do like designer Jats Gill’s mission to “develop new designers, especially from the UK and Europe”. (Everyone knows I’m gay for the UK.) The toy is called Jinny. The company is called Bitbots. Jon customized a blank figure for the opening of the the Bitbots pop-up shop in London near the Oxford Circus tube station. The store and the show will be up through October 3rd.
Lossy Botany Lab: The Plant Plushes
Remember this great Felt Mistress teaser? Felt Mistress really knocked it out of the park with these felted fruits, veggies and plants. As with most of Jon’s shows, there is a ton of work, so here’s just a glimpse at some of the plushes photographed by Jeps and Evelien (of Darker and the Dutch Doodlesplatter posse). Stay tuned (or if you’re at the last one, look back) for a plethora of posts [click here for current tag archive], each concerning a separate element of the installation and exhibit (as well as the pricelist from heliumcowboy artspace). Click through to see some of the great soft sculptures, a pic with Evelien to show the size of these buggers and a little video too. Head over to Felt Mistress’ Flickr set for even more fantastic felty foliage.
Buff Monster’s Custom Toy Show
Recently, custom group toy shows have been making me weary. Not the case here. This show has a stellar lineup and a unifying concept. My bud, Buff Monster, gave “roughly 50 super awesome artists [room] to reinterpret my 3-inch toys,” and according to Buff (as well as all people with eyeballs in their heads who’ve seen the previews), “there are some really amazing pieces in the show”! The show opens Saturday, July 10th at 6:30PM at Giant Robot in Los Angeles.
Buff, who shot all the photos of the pieces and created a special poster for the event, sent Doodlesplatter these exclusive snaps of Jon’s Monster. If you look closely at the at the side view in the triptych below, I think Jon’s taking the yellow fellow in the direction of an erection…
The full roster of participating artists includes:
Aaron Martin/Angry Woebots, APAK!, Arbito, Flying Fortress (Germany), Christopher Bettig, Jon Burgerman (UK), Camilla d’Errico (Canada), Chaz/The London Police (Netherlands), Olivier Cramm/KOA (France), Tristan Eaton, Huck Gee, Godmachine (UK), KaNO, David Horvath/Uglydolls, Mari Inukai, Jay222, Jeremyville (Australia), Kirkland Jue/Toybot Studios, Paul Kaiju, Mike Kelly/Le Merde, Travis Lampe, Joe Ledbetter, Daniel Lim/Fawn Fruits, Travis Louie, Markie Darkie (Canada), Drew Millward (UK), Miss Mindy, Junko Mizuno (Japan), Brian Morris, Moto (Japan), Mark Nagata, Martin Ontiveros, Alex Pardee, Albert Reyes, Johnny Rodriguez/KMNDZ, Chris Ryniak, Benjamin Salomon, Greg Simkins/Craola, Sket, Skinner, Bwana Spoons, Sucklord, Tado (UK), Uamou (Japan), Michelle Valigura, Amanda Visell, Yoskay Yamamoto.
The Monster Within closes on August 4th. I’m really working on trying to get Buff to bring the show up to San Francisco. Stay tuned!
Pictures From Kidrobot’s Doodle and Scrawl
Kidrobot posted a slideshow of photos from Jon’s recent Doodle and Scrawl signing at KRNY. The event looked well-attended, and Jon added colorful doodles to many a Munny. Although the bulk of the objects tended to be Munnyworld, I really dig this one person’s customized hat. A few photos follow. Click through for the slideshow courtesy of KR’s Flickr set.
Custom