Recap: Huck Gee Book Signing in Houston

Last night the biggest event in Houston’s fledgling designer art toy scene took place…a signing with Huck Gee! Huck is currently on tour supporting his new book, The Art of Huck Gee, and yesterday he could be found signing copies at Houston’s Domy Books. Over the past year Domy has hosted Houston’s first custom toy show, Cast in Plastic, and now a signing with one of the biggest artists in the industry. To say The Blot was looking forward to last night would be an understatement, and let me just tell you The Blot totally geeked out over meeting Huck (what can I say I’m a fanboy)!

I’d like to think I bring a really unique perspective as a toy blogger living in Texas. While most US based bloggers are based on the east or west coast and are able to get to conventions, shows and signings on a regular basis, The Blot’s stuck here in the Lone Star State away from the action. Don’t get me wrong, over the years I’ve been lucky enough to meet and talk with so many talented creators via the internet, but I’ve only gotten to meet a select handful in person. Because of that, a signing like this caries even greater significance. I know that sounds like a lot of pressure to put on a books signing, but in my opinion the event lived up to the hype!

It was a thrill meeting Huck and seeing the long line of people eager to have their books signed and Munnys doodled. The highlight was definitely talking with Huck afterwards with a few fellow collectors and picking his brain on a variety of different topics, including the creation of his amazing customs. Huck was so gracious with all of his fans and I for one could have not have had a better time. Hopefully Houston’s small but dedicated designer toy community can build upon this event to grow our little corner of the art world.

So what’s the moral of this story!?! If you live in Mesa, LA, Sacramento or San Francisco make sure you attend Huck’s last four book signings over the next few days! You’ll be really glad you did and you’ll have an opportunity to purchase the tour exclusive white covered The Art of Huck Gee book (if you can’t make it to a tour stop don’t worry, the red covered standard edition will be in stores soon). I haven’t had a chance to read it cover to cover yet, but just from a quick flip through this is one slick book! The embossed cover is awesome and I loved getting a look at some of Huck’s unused Dunny designs. This pictorial of Huck’s career serves as a great walk down memory lane for any long time fan and an excellent way for new collectors to find out more about Huck’s work.

Thanks again to Domy Books and Huck Gee for a killer time!

The Art of Huck Gee Book Tour Houston Tour Stop at Domy Books!

We’re less than a week away from Huck Gee’s visit to Houston and The Blot is pumped! I’ve heard from a number of fellow collectors from Southeast Texas and it sounds like everyone is planning to attend Huck’s book signing next Thursday, January 12th, at Domy Books. If you live in Houston or any of the surrounding areas (heck, if you live in Texas), then I highly recommend coming down to Domy for this exciting event. It should be a blast!!! And if you’re at the event be sure to come up and say hi to The Blot.

The Art of Huck Gee Book Tour rolls into Houston on Thursday, January 12th, at Domy Books from 6-8pm. The line will start at 5pm, so be sure to get there early! Attendees will be able to purchase a special limited edition white cover copy of the book, which will retail for around $30-40. This white covered version of the book will only be available during the book tour, and is limited to only 800 worldwide.  To find out more about The Art of Huck Gee Book Tour click here.

The Art of Huck Gee Book Tour

Every time The Blot complains about how Houston never gets any cool signings, I find out about some killer event coming my way. Maybe I should complain more often!!! As it turns out, next month Huck Gee is hitting the road to promote his new book The Art of Huck Gee, a massive 150 page full color retrospective of Huck’s work. The Blot can’t wait to get my hands on a copy when Huck hits Houston on January 12th!

Over the span of 13 days, Huck will be embarking on an amazing 11 city signing tour that will span from coast-to-coast. This will be the first time Huck has signed in many of these cities, including Houston (yeah, I’m excited what can I say). Each event will take place from 6-8pm, but get there early as the lines for Huck's appearances tend to go around the block a couple of times.

The tour starts Thursday, January 5th, in Denver followed by Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Miami, Houston, Mesa, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and will finish in his hometown of San Francisco on Tuesday, January 17th. Attendees will be able to purchase a special limited edition white cover copy of the book, which will retail for around $30-40. This white covered version of the book will only be available during the book tour, and is limited to only 800 worldwide. If you plan on hitting up Domy Books for Huck’s Houston tour stop, you can pre-order a copy of the book here. Hope to see you there!

"Cast in Plastic" Custom Toy Show Opening Night at Domy Books

On Saturday night The Blot attended my very first custom toy show, and I have to say…it was awesome! Featuring custom toys by artists from around the world, “Cast in Plastic: Art from the Designer Toy Revolution” exceeded even my greatest expectations. Not only were there some truly amazing custom toys, but collectors from around the state of Texas showed up in droves to be a part of Houston’s first designer toy show. Domy Books was packed Saturday night, and The Blot was on hand with my Flip and camera to document the evening. While I was really excited to do some live reporting, let me just warn you…I’m not quite as good with the video camera as I thought I would be. Then again, it was fun putting together the first TheBlotSays.com video!

The “Cast in Plastic” custom toy show runs May 14-June 23 at Domy Books, Houston (1709 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77098). The art exhibit features custom toys by Abe Lincoln Jr., Ack!, Andrew Shondrick, Anville, Babyvtec, BALD, Brett Osborne, Chauskoskis, Christian Navarrette, Daniel Anguilu, Evoker, Fried Gold Productions, Ian Ziobrowski, Igor Ventura, James Fuller, Jay Bramhall, Jeremiah Ketner, Julie Truong, George Lamontagne, Lara Slater, Luihz Unreal, Martin Hsu, Matt Anderson. MeSmithy, Mr. Den, Nreazon, Rocketboy, Rsin, Ryan the Wheelbarrow, Saner, Squink!, Valerie G, VISEone and Zam Art.

Cast in Plastic Custom Toy Show at Domy Books This Saturday!

This weekend is a monumental event in the Houston designer toy scene, the city’s very first custom toy show! After months of teasers, “Cast in Plastic: Art from the Designer Toy Revolution,” curated by Marie Ung, will be debuting this Saturday, May 14th, at Domy Books (aka the epicenter of designer toys in Houston) from 7-10pm. The show includes over 30 different artists from around the globe showcasing their unique skills on a variety of vinyl platforms. The Blot will definitely be in attendance Saturday night, and I look forward to not only meeting fellow collectors but giving readers of TheBlotSay.com an in-depth review of the show!  Finally, an opportunity to use my Flip video recorder for some good old fashion toy blogging.

To find out more about Domy Books’ “Cast in Plastic” custom toy show, check out these killer flyers by Abe Lincoln Jr. and then head over to the official Cast in Plastic Facebook page. The Cast in Plastic exhibition runs May 14-June 23, 2011 at Domy Books, Houston (1709 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77098).

"Cast in Plastic: Art from the Designer Toy Revelution" will feature custom toys by Abe Lincoln Jr., Ack!, Andrew Shondrick, Anville, Babyvtec, BALD, Brett Osborne, Chauskoskis, Christian Navarrette, Daniel Anguilu, Evoker, Fried Gold Productions, Ian Ziobrowski, Igor Ventura, James Fuller, Jay Bramhall, Jeremiah Ketner, Julie Truong, George Lamontagne, Lara Slater, Luihz Unreal, Martin Hsu, Matt Anderson. MeSmithy, Mr. Den, Nreazon, Rocketboy, Rsin, Ryan the Wheelbarrow, Saner, Squink!, Valerie G, VISEone and Zam Art.

Exclusive Dunny Fatale KLOR Case Colorway

Yesterday, Kidrobot announced a special promotion tied to the release of the Dunny Fatale Series scheduled to drop on January 28th. (link) Any fan who purchases a sealed case of Dunny Fatale from a Kidrobot store or select retailer is eligible to receive an exclusive colorway of the 3 inch KLOR Dunny (while supplies last and limited to 1 Dunny per customer). It looks like the standard/common KLOR Dunny is black and white, while this exclusive “case colorway giveaway" is yellow, blue & pink. To see the complete list of participating retailers click here!


The Blot will of course be at Domy Books here in Houston on the 28th for the release of KR’s latest series of 3” mini-figures. While I think this is a great idea and the giveaway will definitely help increase the sale of sealed cases, in no way does this 3 inch figure (limited to just 500 pieces) increase the likelihood I will purchase a case of the Dunny Fatale Series. I think I’m sticking solely to blind boxes and/or trades with this series as the Dunnys Fatale vinyl figures I want (Amanda Visell, Kathie Olivas, Tara McPherson and Julie West's) are all extremely common.

The Blot’s Recovering From Dunny Overload

The Blot's still recovering from last night's awesome Dunny Series 2009 pre-release party at Domy Books here in Houston, Texas, so The Blot Says... will be a little light in the posts department today.


I got some awesome figures last night, but am still looking for a Pon and Huck Gee! Arghhh. I hope everyone else found/finds the figure's they're looking for this week. The designs in this series look even better in person than they do in pictures, so I highly recommend picking up a few blind boxes. And the two Travis Cain Wood Dunnys I saw look incredible! The highlight of the night was finding out there's a chase Wooden Dunny that has a hinge in its head so it can be opened and shut! How cool is that. I only wish I had gotten a picture of it.

Tree Huggr AWOL Edition 8 Inch Dunny by Kronk

This might be a first for Kidrobot! Yesterday the designer toy company announced they were releasing an AWOL Edition of South African illustrator Kronk’s Tree Huggr Dunny to select retailers worldwide. Basically this means the AWOL colorway is a non-Kidrobot exclusive that will only be available at the 41 stores listed below and not at Kidrobot.com or any of Kidrobot’s four retail locations (NY, MIA, SF or LA). As you can imagine this means the Tree Huggr AWOL colorway will be extremely hard to find. Think of it as a thank you to all the stores who have been faithfully selling Kidrobot toys and apparel the past 7 years.


The Tree Huggr 8” AWOL colorway is limited to just 500 figures and will sell for $75 each. While this is extremely cool for The Blot because one of these stores, Domy Books, is here in Houston, the AWOL Edition Dunny may be extremely hard to get for those of you who don’t live in a city that hosts one of the following 41 stores. If you do live in one of the following areas, I recommend contacting them ASAP to find out details on price, inventory and the AWOL Edition’s arrival date.

Countries, Cities, Regions and Stores Selling
The Tree Huggr AWOL Edition 8” Dunny

USA
Arizona:
Lulubell Toys Bodega, Tuscon

California:
Mixi-bang, Los Angeles
Mobius, Torrance
Munky King, Los Angeles
Neon Monster, San Francisco
Somos, Salinas

Florida:
Lift Designer Toys Royal Oak, Miami
Pinkghost, Coral Gables
Uberbot, Winter Park, Winter Park

Illinois:
Museum Of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Rotofugi, Chicago

Minnesota:
Robotlove, Minneapolis

New Jersey:
Brain Candy, Ridgewood

New York:
Hero Design Studio + Boutique, Buffalo
My Plastic Heart, New York

Ohio:
Shoparooni, Cleveland

Oklahoma:
Chingogu Gallery, Oklahoma City

Oregon:
Missing Link Toys, Portland

Pennsylvania:
Jinxed Clothing, Philadelphia

Texas:
Domy Books, Houston
Domy Books, Austin

CANADA
Camiondepompier, Montreal
Headquarter, Vancouver
Lost Marbles, Ottawa
Magic Pony, Toronto
Voltage, Vancouver

EUROPE
Artoyz Montreuil, France
Atom Plastic, Italy
Concrete, Netherlands
Highland Toys, Netherlands
Orbital, UK
Playlounge, UK
Richard Goodall Gallery, UK

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
Headquarter, Mexico
Plastik, Brazil
Zoo Concept, Chili

ASIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Adventures in Kitsch, Singapore
Fresh Metro, Philippines
Popup Gallery, New Zealand
Starluxe, Seoul, South Korea
Tomenosuke-Syoten, Japan

AFRICA
Toitoy, South Africa

Kidrobot's Dunny Series 5 Hits Stores World Wide Today

The official release of Kidrobot’s Dunny Series 5 is finally here. Have you bought your blind boxes or cases yet? It’s ok if you haven’t, The Blot hasn’t either. But, I will have by tonight when I head down to Domy Books, my local designer vinyl toy and book store, for their official Dunny Series 5 release party.


In the meantime, I wanted to pass along these cool photos of the entire 19 figure set, front and back. This is one of the best Series Kidrobot has released in a long time and I’m hard pressed to pick a favorite (or a least favorite for that matter). Here’s hoping I find a Huck or Kozik figure in one of my blind boxes tonight!



As always, each blind boxed 3 inch Series 5 Dunny sells for $6.95 and can be purchased directly from the Kidrobot online store here.