Killer robots and other art by Jimmy Pickering

Here's a few works of art by Jimmy Pickering currently on display at the "Nutz + Boltz: a robot show" at The Gallery @ Yummy in Oregon.



"myster-3"




"cogwork orange" (still available).




"Beef"

*Previously: Amanda Visell's Tic Toc Apocalypse.

*Choose from a large selection of Jimmy Pickering's illustrated books at Amazon.

Sea Serpent, Ship prints by Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth

"Mythical Sea Serpent" and "Wavejumper" limited edition prints by Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth, on sale for $45 each here. Via.

*Find more of my poster picks here.

*Buy classic movie posters collections at Amazon.

New photos of the PLUS Vinyl Figures from Devilrobots + Tokidoki

Last time I checked, these PLUS Vinyl Figures from Devilrobots + Tokidoki were supposed to come out in June. I don't think that happened, and Play Imaginative hasn't posted a new eta. But they have posted some nice photos.

*I stand corrected. They were released and probably sold out instantly. The packaging's really terrific.

*See a huge selection of customized vinyl toys at Toycutter.

*Buy designer vinyl toys at Fugitive Toys.

Logo for Luckyfish

Neat logo designed by Kit Hinrichs and Laura Scott for a conveyor belt-style sushi restaurant in Los Angeles called Luckyfish. Via.

*Previously: Horse sushi.

*Buy Long May She Wave: A Graphic History of the American Flag by Kit Hinrichs at Amazon.

Grenade Bunny t-shirt by Rich DeSimone

Grenade Bunny t-shirt by Rich DeSimone on sale here.

*Buy the latest Japanese capsule toys, action figures and plush toys at Play-Asia.

Impressive gameplay footage from Star Wars Force Unleashed

Well, I'm sold. You can preorder Force Unleashed at Amazon.

*Find Darth Revan action figures, miniatures and Lego minifigs at eBay.

Stalin grew up in Georgia, when it was known for streetfighting

The book Young Stalin, by Simon Sebag Montefiore, sounds great:

Born in 1879 as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, the man who would become known as Stalin, was known throughout his childhood and youth as Soso. Young Soso was born and raised in the industrial Georgian town of Gori, in the far reaches of the Russian Empire. This seething Caucasian town was a turbulent mix of piety, honor and drunken unruliness. "Gori was one of the last towns to practice the picturesque and savage custom of free for all town brawls with special rules, but no holds barred violence. Boozing, praying and fighting were all interconnected, with drunken Priests acting as referees." Soso's father was a drunken cobbler who viciously abused him. His mother was compassionate, yet maybe too much so, as she had a reputation for being promiscuous. Stalin was certainly aware, writes Montefiore, that his biological father might have been one of three neighborhood men that were close to the family. The Georgia of Stalin's youth was also steeped in a culture of rebellion and banditry. Young Soso grew up hearing stories of heroic Georgians who fought off the imperialist forces of Russia, and his original revolutionary cohorts were a turbulent admixture of dedicated Marxists and bloodthirsty criminals.

Young Stalin is on sale at Amazon.

Via.

Meanwhile, for some interesting commentary on the Russian invasion of Georgia, visit these sites.

Dunny Series 5 to be best series yet

From Kidrobot:

Start the countdown, the epic legend of the world's greatest vinyl canvas continues September 4 with Dunny Series 5! Collect 19 new and insanely detailed designs by the biggest players out there, blind boxed for $6.95 each. If luck is on your side, you’ll find 1 of 600 Golden Tickets redeemable for an elusive, 3-inch Huck Gee.

Collabs include Amanda Visell, Aya Kakeda, Clutter, Devilrobots, Dirty Donny, Frank Kozik, Huck Gee, JMGS//Jellymoon, Jesse LeDoux, JK5, Junko Mizuno, Kathie Olivas, MAD, Mad Barbarians, MISHKA, Reach, Sneaky Raccoon, Steven Harrington, TOOFLY.

*At my custom toy site: Evil Ryu Dunny.

*Nearly 1,000 Dunnys to choose from at eBay.

Scott Campbell's 2008 Crazy 4 Cult poster

Going on sale August 22 at Galleries One Nine Eight Eight.

And speaking of Scott Campbell, he's posted the papercraft arcade flyers he created for the I Am 8Bit show. Download them all here.

Cinematic war moment

From the obituary of Roger Hall:

One of his favorite OSS stories involved a colleague sent to occupied France to destroy a seemingly impenetrable German tank at a key crossroads. The French resistance found that grenades were no use.

The OSS man, fluent in German and dressed like a French peasant, walked up to the tank and yelled, "Mail!"

The lid opened, and in went two grenades.

Click through to read how Hall handled the surrender of a German colonel. Via.

Here's a longer obituary in the NY Times, which convinced me to add Hall's book You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger to my Amazon wish list.

Walmart Exclusive Marvel Legends Ares Wave, coming September 2008

Iron Man (Heores Reborn), Guardian, Vision, Crossbones, Human Torch, Human Torch (Variant), Ben Reilly Spider-Man, Kang. A particularly good-looking line, although the Ares figure is maybe the worst build-a-figure ever, and a white Vision Quest Vision would have been a better variant figure. See hi-res photos of all the figures here.

*Buy complete Marvel Legends build-a-figures at eBay.

Garfield Minus Garfield to be published as an authorized book

From the Garfield Minus Garfield website:

NEW YORK, NY – July 30, 2008 – Paws, Inc. and Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, announced last week at Comic-Con International that Ballantine will publish a book inspired by the popular webcomic Garfield Minus Garfield.

Garfield Minus Garfield (www.garfieldminusgarfield.net) made its online debut in February 2008 and quickly became an online sensation based on a simple premise: What would Jim Davis’ Garfield comic strip be like without its lasagna-loving fat cat? Without the presence of Garfield and other characters such as Odie the dog and Nermal the kitten, the strips “create a new, even lonelier atmosphere for Jon Arbuckle…Jon’s observations seem to teeter between existential crisis and deep despair.” (New York Times)

The full-color book format will give readers the experience of having both the original and doctored Garfield strips together on the same page for comparison. Dublin, Ireland-based Garfield Minus Garfield creator Dan Walsh will provide the foreword to the book.

Garfield creator Jim Davis was intrigued by—and pleased with—the concept. “I think it’s an inspired thing to do,” Davis said. “I want to thank Dan for enabling me to see another side of Garfield. Some of the strips he chose were slappers: ‘Oh, I could have left that out.’ It would have been funnier.”

Garfield Minus Garfield site creator Dan Walsh says, “When I looked at Jon and laughed at his crazy antics I thought ‘He’s just like me.’ As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one saw myself in him: millions of visitors from all over the world visit Garfield Minus Garfield and tell me they think the same thing. Now, thanks to the awesome generosity and humor of Jim Davis, Garfield Minus Garfield is going to become a book and I’m absolutely honored to be part of it.”

You can preorder it at Amazon.

Stunning that Garfield would outlast Calvin & Hobbes as relevant. I guess that's what happens when an artist doesn't jealously guard his creation. Via.

Umbrella Academy PVC figures

Coming from Dark Horse, and the card says price and date tbd. Direct Flickr link to the photo, and there's more photos of these same figures here and here. These just jumped to the top of my wishlist. Spaceboy's the coolest.

*At Toycutter: Custom Umbrella Academy action figures.

*Buy Umbrella Academy comic books and collectibles at Amazon.

Photos of Doktor A's Mechtorians vinyl toys

I'm looking forward to these blind box toys. More photos from Comic Con here.

*Previously: Customized Hot Wheels van by Doktor A.

*Buy Doktor A art toys at eBay.

Blind box Uglydolls

Blind box Uglydolls. Fascinating to read David Horvath describe the creation process. The man is obsessed with vinyl.

While I'm on the topic of vinyl toys, this Bad Robot figure is pretty cool, too:



More info here. Via.

Time Travel posters by Amy Martin for 826LA

You can buy them individually, or get the entire set and decorate a room like a super cool travel agency. Via.

(These are the posters 826 LA teased last week.)

Evil Skaters opened blind box figures

Fugitive Toys has 10 different figures available (as well as blind boxes).

Song Summoner, the great iPod game I've been waiting for?

The official description:

# Transform your iPod songs into "Tune Troopers" to combat the evil Mechanical Militia
# Tune Trooper types and abilities are determined by the songs used to create them
# Your Tune Troopers can be powered up even outside of the game--just by listening to the songs you used to create them!
# Control Ziggy, a "Conductor" that creates warriors out of music, and guide him through his journey to save his brother Zero from the Mechanical Militia
# Experience a turn-based tactics battle system, divided into player and enemy phases where each side takes turns maneuvering their forces
# Deploy the right troopers at the right time, and use contraptions found on the map effectively to achieve victory in battle!
# iPod Click Wheelallows players to play the game as easily as selecting music

Available at the iTunes Store. (66 reviews give it an average 4 out of 5 stars.)

Otis Frampton's sketch cards, collected in a book

I think Otis Frampton's art is terrific and actually own a few sketch cards. If you're going to be at San Diego's Comic Con, then, for just one dollar, you can get a book featuring 144 full color scans of personal sketch cards plus space on the cover for a personalized sketch. That's an unbelievable bargain. I mean, just look at his Dark Knight and Robin. Link.

Photos from the opening of Amanda Visell's Tic Toc Apocalypse

Here's the gift bags the vips got:

After an even quicker bus ride back to Silverlake, all of the VIP’s were given a gift bag – filled with the latest Swindle issue featuring a story on Amanda, Amanda’s stationery from Dark Horse, a Poopicorn Brigade print (1/100), a mini replica of the show logo bomb (hand-painted clock face), as well as a Boosted Backpack and cell phone case.

Many more photos at Vinyl Pulse. And here's Visell's official site.

*Buy toys and art by Amanda Visell.