The Holidays

To begin with, huge apology's as always, for my lack of posts lately. Christmas time is exhausting for me(the heat here isn't helping) & I'm only just finally feeling like myself again.
Anyway, I thought the easiest solution to this big gap of updates, is a giant post about everything new! So, lets get started.

An appropriate place to start, my new Brad McGinty shirt. Periodcally I go back & buy more from him. Last year he released his Kaiju Santa design on cards(I bought 5) this year he released it on a t-shirt, limited edition. I HAD to preorder one! BY far the greatest x-mas shirt I've ever owned. I wore it 4 times over the holiday season. A few little extras were tossed into my package too, always makes me happy!

I bought myself a couple of little items for Christmas. Didn't have much money to spare, but these purchases were spontaneous & are greatly loved. One awesome My Little Unicorn from Rampage Toys to hang on my bag & another 'Be My Slave' toy by Superdeux for my VERY slowly growing collection.

Superdeux - Stereotype - Be My Slave - Nami

Rampage Toys - Micro Bobble - My Little Unicorn

Of course, in addition to all the items I bought for myself, I acquired some epic gifts this year. I'm a hugely materialistic person, gifts are what Christmas is all about for me(both giving & receiving), this year, was a good one.
I had a few friends send me gifts this year, along with my familys Secret Santa & my own annual x-mas gathering, overall I acquire a nice little hoard.

Gift from my friend Debbie

Gift from my friend Sue

Gift from my sister

My Secret Santa gift

That's not quite everything(there's more dvds, kitchen items etc.), tragically the batteries in my camera died while I attempted to take more photos. I think those 4 photos sum-up the awesomeness of my gifts this year however!
The red arrow shelf is probably my favourite gift of the year, I had wanted it badly. Once I get it hung, I'll be covering it in toys. I promise to snap some photos.
I have a couple of others toys on their way(money to spend online, a gift from my roommate) but I'll post about them when they arrive. Expect many more blog posts this week however, as I'd created a bit of a back-log for myself over the holidays season.
Hope everyone had a great Christmas & Happy New Year!

Micro 'My Little Unicron' & Cupcake Plane Kit - Rampage Toys

Received another order from Rampage Toys today. Always an exciting way to wake-up. Ordered myself one of their Micro 'My Little Unicorn' toys in yellow vinyl. It's adorable, I hope to buy more of them when more colours are released in the future. I also managed to pick up one of the last Cupcake Plane model kits. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna leave it unpainted, mostly because my 'small detail' painting skills are quite lacking & I wouldn't want to destroy something so awesome. It has a basic nail to use for it's stand. That aspect amuses me greatly, one simply can't go wrong with something so tiny & ridiculous. Rampage Toys Cupcake Planes are also pretty awesome due to the fact they're made up of three pieces. Magnets keep the cupcake & plane blades in place. So cute & simple, I'm actually considering buying a few other colours just for the novelty aspect.

Rampage Toys have also released their Halloween selection:

- Splatterhouse GID Kyuuketsushi
- 'Tricks and Treats' Bobby and Harry set
- X-Ray Kowaillas(5 varieties)
- Orange/Black marbled vinyl Ugly Unicorns

Absolutely fantastic group of toys. I'm seriously considering buying one or two of the 'X-Ray Kowaillas' & generally, I'm not a big fan of that sculpt. Yet here I sit, contemplating an exception. I'm a huge fan of skeleton toys & orange/black, so Halloween is a great time for me & toys, assuming I have the money to spend. In this case, I may have to wait. Maybe I'll be lucky & there will be a couple still available next week.

So many new toys from Rampage lately, I'm in awe over their creativity(& motivation). Hopefully I'll acquire more in the near future. However, I'm currently saving for a rather large toy/art purchase, so my flow of purchases might be a little low for a while. All worth it though, to own the things one truly wants, sacrifices must be made now & then. I will blog about a couple I've had to say 'no' to recently to afford other, higher priority toys.

Chou-Cho the Wing Monster - Rampage Toys Edition - Grumble Toys

So happy about my new toy! My first Kaiju!
Now, to emphasise why this toy appealed to me, I must embrace my geekiness. I'm a huge fan of the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer series & this little toy SO reminded me of one of the creatures from the show, that I simply had to own it! The Queller Demon from 'Listening to Fear'. Ok, so it's incredibly strange reasoning to want a toy, but I'm weird like that.

This purchase is of course, as a result of my new obsession with Rampage Toys. Browsing through their store seems to automatically result in me spending money. Additionally, looking up the artist Grumble Toys, I've learned there's at least another two version of this toy. I'm seriously considering buying another! For now however, I have the adorable dark green version. Incredibly creepy & incredibly cute too. This toy is everything a toy should be!

The arrival of this toy was slightly delayed. Turns out one cannot use a box with the word 'produce' on it, to ship things to Australia. So my package was sent back to Rampage Toys due to a tomato sauce box. Due to the delay however, they sent me a little something extra. A little cupcake dude keshi called 'Micro Cake'. He's based on their Cupcake Kaiju character. So adorable & a great addition to my keshi collection. It's always nice to find something a little extra in ones packages afterall. So today, I'm happy.

As always, apologys for my crappy photography. I really need to buy a photography tent, it's hard to prioritise for one when I'm much more inclined to buy toys.
Hopefully I'll have another toy or two arrive this week in fact(one never knows with Australia Posts crappy work ethics), might buy another one or two if I have the funds too. One must plan for future blog posts afterall.
Also, I suppose I should mention the little signature image I've created to end my blogs with. Basically I just found the end of my blogs didn't look 'right', so I created a little blob-dude with a hat. I may one day try sculpting him, but that will be FAR into the future I think. I do think he's cute though & it's nice to have a kind of 'mascot' for my blog.

Animal People - Konosuke Chishima

I've recently developed an obsession with Japanese toys(can you blame me?), so ordered a few over the last couple of weeks. Stumbled across Rampage Toys during my hunt, who stock many fantastic kaiju, sofubi & keshi toys. This is where I found, what are probably the cutest toys I've ever laid my eyes on. Animal People(Doubutsu Ningen) by Konosuke Chishima.
Jon Malmstedt from Rampage Toys met Konosuke at Design Festa 37 & grabbed a small supply of these adorable little keshi. They come in five variations, bear, chicken, koala, octopus or shark. They're less then 2inches tall & beautifully simplistic, but affective.

(image from Rampage Toys)

Tragically I was only able to get four out of the set. The shark version has sold out. I'll be keeping my eyes open in the hope of finding one in the future.
I personally adore the octopus version though, it screams 'Cthulhu' to me. It amuses me greatly. Also, how adorable are those little header card? I mean seriously, they were the decision maker for me, love cute packaging.

Hopefully I'll be buying a few small display boxes to randomly place around my home soon. That's where I plan to put these little guys & other potential Rampage purchases. I'm incredibly tempted by their Ugly Unicorn keshi, it's so tiny & kitschy. It even comes in a custom box, there's nothing cuter & more ridiculous then a 1inch toy in it's own display box. I shall order myself one or two in the near future!

(image from Rampage Toys)

I look forward to seeing future work by Konosuke Chishima & will of course, maintain a long-term obsession with Rampage Toys. Always love a touch of 'tiny & sickenly cute' around my home now & then.