Little Round-Headed Wooden Spidey!

Hey gang! Long time no blog, eh?

Well, I found myself with a few minutes before we head out to a cookout, so I thought I'd share some pics of this brilliant little wooden toy that was given to me by my co-worker.

That's one of the benefits of working in the design department of a toy company; we're always coming across cool toys, and if it's not really your cup of tea, one of your fellow designers is sure to love it. And since I'm the one with a pretty impressive Spider-Man display (but, believe it or not, only the second largest Spider-Man collection in the building) this little round-headed Spidey got passed on to me...

The simplicity of this figure just warms my heart. His design is like a Fisher-Price Little People mixed with a squeaky bath toy and then made completely out of carved wood.

Each line is etched in and the paint applications are applied with a careful hand.

We actually couldn't find much about the figure. my co-worker got it as a freebie from some Japanese company around the time of the latest Spider-Man movie premiere. I guess a few of these were floating around the office at his previous job and he grabbed one.

And since it was made for the latest movie (which I still haven't seen), he has those unfortunate yellow eyes, which I'm seriously tempted to paint over with white, but I'm worried that it may be shockingly rare and worth a gazillion dollars or something.

And even if he is, that still may not stop me.

Anyway, a brilliant new piece for the Spidey shelf. Yet another reason to love my job.

'Nuff said.

Help Identify This 2-Headed Mystery Monster!

Hey gang! This morning, my co-worker gave me a handful of creepy little toys and this double-noggined monstrosity was among them. We have no idea where he's from. Is he new? Vintage? From a playset or a gumball machine? No idea.

So if anyone can help identify this chap, chime in!

Thanks!

Buy a Ghost and Help Send Me to SDCC 2013!

Hey gang! Just a quick moment of shilling...

It looks like I'm going to San Diego Comic Con after all! Things were a bit up in the air, but then my boss gave me a badge and our Vice President of Creative said I could crash on his floor in his hotel room, so all I have to do is come up with the moola to pay for the airfare and some walking around cash.

That's where my Obvious Cause of Death Ghosts SDCC 2013 Exclusive comes in!

"Fanboy Stampede" is a San Diego Comic Con 2013 Exclusive, limited edition of 20 pieces, signed and numbered by the artist.

If you've been to SDCC, you know the dangers of getting trampled when those doors open! Well, this little spook didn't move quick enough.

Each piece comes with a crumpled up mini comic book. EACH COMIC BOOK WILL BE DIFFERENT! Which one will you get?

Pieces sold on a first come, first serve basis, starting with 1/20.

Help send me to San Diego Comic Con!

Also, if anyone buys 3 regular priced ghosts (Mystery Ghosts not included), you'll get "Fanboy Stampede" for FREE! Just put "SDCC 2013" in the notes section so I know you want the special deal.

Anyway. Just throwin' that out there. No pressure.

Just head on over to ocodg.storenvy.com to get your hapless haunter today!

Thanks gang!

Braggity Brag Brag! My Walking Dead Funko Blind Box Figures Are Officially Announced!

Hail fellow Hordytes!

Please pardon my moment of shameless braggery, but Funko has finally released images of the Walking Dead Blind Box series that I designed.

I ain't gonna lie, I'm pretty effin' proud of these and can't wait for them to hit stores.

The pre-sales are phenomenal, so we're already expecting a series 2.

It has always been a dream of mine to design and develop an entire toy line and to see these little guys come to life (or "un-life" I suppose) is quite frankly blowing my mind.

Enjoy the pics if you haven't already seen them.

Leage of Extraordinary Bloggers Post: Star Trek!

I've managed to find about 10 minutes to squeeze in a quick post for my favorite weekly feature (that I miss dearly), and this week's assignment is simply titled Star Trek.

Unfortunately, I have never been a fan of Star Trek. Despite my penchant for green women, Star Trek has never really impressed me.

The original series bored me as a kid, the Next Generation stuff was even worse (and it was crammed down my throat thanks to a Trekker roommate), and pretty much all of the movies were lame-o (although Wrath of Khan had its moments).

However, I did honestly enjoyed the latest reboot movie, and look forward to the new one. So I guess my distaste for Star Trek is 100%.

Still, I wracked my brain trying to think of something Trek-ish that I could post, and the only thing that I could come up with is a quick pic of the only remotely Star Trek related collectibles I own; my Captain Snoopy and Woodspock Funko Wacky Wobblers...

And I gotta be honest, I only have these because I'm a Peanuts fan.

But that just goes to show how powerful the legacy of Star Trek is; When a person who actively avoids and is inherently repulsed by a certain franchise and he still ends up with at least a couple of collectibles on his shelf touch by the very thing he tried to avoid. Star Trek, whether I like it or not, is everywhere.

Live Long and Prosper.

From the other League Trekkies...

Fortune & Glory Days
AEIOU & Sometimes Why?
Infinite Hollywood

Zombie Captain America Custom Funko Pop!

Hey guys! I just wanted to share a quick shot of my latest custom Funko Pop. This time I whipped up a Zombie Captain America from the Marvel Zombies graphic novel.

Hope you all dig him!

By the way, if you haven't read the Marvel Zombies books, I strongly suggest that you remedy that as soon as possible. They're tons of fun!

Vintage Disney Wonderful World Lunch Box!

So, my vintage lunch box addiction has gone full-blown. I'm in deep, people. I don't exactly know what it is that I I suddenly love about them. Perhaps it's that I've been working on tin products for the past few years and I'm starting to see the artistry in the graphics and embossing. Or maybe I just like how they look all lined up on my shelves.

Either way, you guys and gals can count on a lot more lunch-box-centric posts from me in the coming months.

My latest acquisition is this beauty of a lunch box from 1980 featuring Disney's heavy hitters within Disney World backdrops.

The front shows Mickey acting as the engineer of an old-timey railroad engine, accompanied by Pluto and only one of Donald's nephews, which is weird to think that Huey, Dewey and Louey went out and did stuff on their own every now and then. Where are the other two? At the dentist? Freaks me out.

The flip side is less exciting and I guess they were trying to promote some ice skating show. Still, that's a lot of showgirl thigh to be showing on a kids lunch box.

What I really love are the side graphics, which serve as a virtual tour of Walt Disney World. Under the handle we see  Mickey, Donald, Pluto and two of the three nephews gettin' all space-agey in a rocket ride.

We also get to see Goofy acting goofy in front of a hippopotamus...

Here's a beautiful scene of Donald going through the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Incidentally, this happens to be one of my favorite scenes on the Disneyland version of the ride.

But my favorite has to be the shot of Mickey running in mortal terror from a few Haunted Mansion ghosts...

Now, unlike most of my vintage lunch boxes, this bad boy came with a Thermos. The graphics echo the scenes from the lunch box, with more pirates, hippos, trains and ghosts.

I normally don't care about the Thermos, but if I do get one with my vintage lunch box scores, I much prefer these cylindrical ones with the graphics all the way around.

I scored this baby for about $20, but it looks like a million bucks on my shelf.

Many more lunch boxes to come!