Possessed CMY Series Vinyl Figures by Luke Chueh x Munky King

Check out the awesome new CMY Series 10th Annniversary Possessed vinyl figures by Luke Chueh that Munky King released yesterday! As Luke explained, “Educated as a graphic designer, CMYK was a language my colleagues and I saw the printed world in. This is my homage to the process.” The Possessed figure is based on an original painting by Luke, and for its 10th anniversary it has been remolded with all the subtle changes Luke and the Munky King team wished they had done the first time, while staying true to the classic figure.

Each 10th Anniversary Possessed Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh includes 2 figures made in rotocast vinyl, and features carved in facial features, two articulated arms, and improved design to address prior spinning devil issues. Each retailer exclusive colorway in the CMY Series stands 9” tall, is limited to just 200 pieces and retails for $90-100. The Magental Edition is exclusive to Munky King, the Cyan Edition is exclusive to I Am Retro and the Yellow Edition is exclusive to MSX in China. To purchase the Yellow Edition email msx_art@aliyun.com.

SDCC 2018 Exclusive 10th Anniversary Possessed Honey Bear Edition Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh x Munky King

Munky King has started to unveil its exclusives for San Diego Comic-Con 2018, which includes this wonderful 10th Anniversary Possessed Honey Bear Edition Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh! This is the fourth colorway of Luke Chueh’s 10th Anniversary Edition of his iconic Possessed vinyl figure. The figure is based on an original painting by Luke, and for its 10th anniversary has been remolded with all the subtle changes Luke and the Munky King team wished they had done the first time, while staying true to the classic figure.

The San Diego Comic-Con 2018 Exclusive 10th Anniversary Possessed Honey Bear Edition Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh features 2 figures made in rotocast vinyl, and features carved in facial features, two articulated arms, and improved design to address prior spinning devil issues. Collectors can purchase this limited edition collectible at the Munky King SDCC booth.

10th Anniversary Possessed OG Edition Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh x Munky King

Next Friday, May 4th, Munky King will be releasing the hotly anticipated 10th Anniversary Possessed Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh! It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Luke Chueh’s iconic figure was first released by Munky King. For its 10th Anniversary, the figure has been remolded with all the subtle changes Luke and the Munky King team wished they had done the first time, while staying true to the classic figure. This edition now features carved in facial features, two articulated arms, and improved design to address prior spinning devil issues. The 10th Anniversary Possessed will be a toy built to last!

The 10th Anniversary Possessed vinyl figure first debuted as part of the Grief Encounters Kickstarter campaign Luke Chueh and Munky King ran last year. Backers of that Kickstarter campaign had the opportunity to pre-order two Kickstarter Exclusive 10th Anniversary Possessed colorways – the black on black Black (As My Soul) Edition and the super shiny gunmetal Chrome Edition (limited to only 25 pieces). Now this Friday the Original Edition 10th Anniversary Possessed vinyl figure will go on sale to the general public!

The 10th Anniversary Possessed Original Edition Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh features 2 figures made in rotocast vinyl, is limited to 800 pieces and will go on sale at 12pm PDT on Friday, May 4th, at the Munky King online store for $80.

Grief Encounters Animated Series Kickstarter Campaign by Luke Chueh x Munky King

The biggest designer toy announcement coming out of San Diego Comic-Con this year was the launch of Luke Chueh and Munky King’s new Kickstarter project “Grief Encounters”! The goal of this exciting new KS project is to raise the funds necessary to produce a series of animated shorts based on the art of Luke Chueh. Entitled “Grief Encounters”, this animated series will bring to life Luke’s unique pop-surrealist art and answer some timeless questions like “What's the deal with the bear after he was hijacked by the Devil in Possessed?” or “What's up with the chicken in I Asked For Scrambled?”

Grief Encounters sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to see how the creators of these animated shorts are able to bring Chueh’s unique blend of comedy and tragedy to life through his iconic paintings. This Kickstarter campaign is Munky King and Luke’s way to feasibly independently produce their vision of Luke's art in animation. And as with most Kickstarter campaigns there are some insane rewards for this project! If you’re a fan of either Luke’s work or designer art toys in general, there are some amazing rewards to choose from!

Backing the Grief Encounters Kickstarter campaign is the only way for Luke Chueh fans to get their hands on the first two colorways of the brand new, never released before 10th Anniversary Possessed!!! The Blot can’t believe one of the most popular figures in the art toy scene is finally back! This redesigned vinyl figure is available in two KS exclusive colorways: Black (As MY Soul) and Chrome (limited to 25 pieces). The insane Chrome Edition features a gunmetal chrome Bear with a red chrome Devil.

But that’s not all! Collectors can also pledge to receive a Kickstarter Exclusive Glow in the Dark Hung vinyl figure , a Kickstarter Exclusive Glow in the Dark Prisoner resin figure, and a Kickstarter Exclusive Kuma Kush Edition Prisoner XL 6” flocked resin figure. There’s seriously just too much Luke Chueh goodness to choose from! Any Luke Chueh completists out there better be pledging big time to the Grief Encounters Kickstarter campaign because this will be the only way add all five of these killer exclusives to your collection.

All of these Kickstarer exclusives and so much more are available now at the Grief Encounters KS project page. Get some really cool art and collectibles while you help bring to life this amazing animated series. But act fast as this Kickstarter campaign ends in just 7 days!

Book Review: The Art of Luke Chueh - Bearing The Unbearable

From the minute Luke Chueh first teased his new art book The Art of Luke Chueh: Bearing The Unbearable on Twitter a number of months ago, I knew I had to have it. So of course I jumped at the chance to review a promo copy of the book when the opportunity arose. The book is a retrospective of Luke’s carrier focusing on his first seven years of painting form 2003-2009, and I was blown away by how early into his career his vision seemed to fall into place. I seriously lost track of time as I flipped through all 160 pages, with each painting taking me back to the place where I first saw so many of these iconic images.

I have been a huge fan of Luke’s since well before I started blogging, and he’s quite possibly the only artist I’ve been too intimidated to talk to. I chalk that up to how impactful I find his art and the messages behind each piece. I can still remember heading over to Munky King’s San Diego Comic-Con booth back in 2009 (my only trip to SDCC so far) so I could meet him. Luke was there for the release of his Decapitated Bunny Head and all I could do was stand by and watch as he sketched and signed for fellow fans. Looking back on it now I guess you could say I was a little star struck.

Now I may be a bit biased, but this is one beautiful book. Luke teamed with Gallery 1988 and Titan Books to produce Bearing the Unbearable, and it’s really everything you’d want in a coffee table style art book. The cover is great, the binding is impeccable and each piece of Luke’s artwork pops off the page. I also really love that it's an oversized book (9.3"x12.5"), so that the paintings can be reproduced in a larger format. And fans will definitely want to read all of the quotes and interesting stories included throughout. Everyone involved did a fantastic job capturing the essence of Luke’s work.

I for one have never been able to understand some of the criticism that Luke is “just that emo bear guy.” Yes there are similar themes and images running throughout his art, but to focus solely on that seems to devalue Luke’s body of work. His ability to evoke emotion with such minimalistic imagery is amazing, and I love his use of empty space and thick black lines. If you’ve never taken the time to really study Luke’s art, here is the perfect opportunity. Pick up a copy of The Art of Luke Chueh: Bearing The Unbearable when it goes on sale next Tuesday, June 12th, in bookstores everywhere for $34.95 (or pre-order yourself a copy from Amazon for $22.83 here).

To celebrate this release of Luke’s new art book, he’ll be holding signings throughout Southern California over the next three weeks. The first is Saturday, June 9th, at Gallery 1988 (Melrose) from 1-4pm PST. For this signing, Gallery 1988 has put together a show featuring the original sketches for many of the paintings seen in the book from Luke’s first seven years of full time painting. Luke will also be at Nucleus Gallery (Alhambra) on Saturday, June 16th; Gallery 1988 (Venice) on Sunday, June 17th; and Giant Robot (West Los Angeles) on June 24th.

Skin Deep Custom Resin Figures by Scott Wilkowski

Wow, this is one of those releases that reminds The Blot how exciting a designer art toys can be! I’m personally not all that into skeletons, but Scott Wilkowski’s “infection” of six designer toys totally blows my mind. Wilkowski has been busy putting skulls, skeletons and creepy creatures inside the industry’s favorite designer toys for his new traveling show "Skin Deep". For Skin Deep, he infects Buff Monster's “Buff Monster,” Luke Chueh's “Possessed,” Frank Kozik's “Labbit,” October Toys “Gwin,” Suckadelic's “Sucklord” and Scott Tolleson's “Otis & Otto.”

The show will premiere November 5th at the Designer Con 2011, where all eight artists involved with the project will be on hand! Scott Wilkowski, Buff Monster, Luke Chueh, George and Ayleen Gaspar of October Toys, The Sucklord, Scott Tolleson and Frank Kozik all in one place. Now that’s a signing! There will be a photo opportunity and signing at 3pm at the DKE Toys booth with all attending artists.

Each of the six hand-cast resin edition figures will be limited to 25 pieces of two different colors each (50 total of each style). Due to the labor-intensive process of hand making each piece, only 10 of each colorway will be available for purchase at Designer Con.

Prices are as follows: October Toys Gwin - $50; Scott Tolleson's Otis & Otto - $50; Suckadelic's Sucklord carded figure - $100; Buff Monster's 3” Buff Monster - $100; Frank Kozik's Labbit 5" by Kid Robot - $150; and Luke Chueh's Possessed by Munky King - $300.

Following the Skin Deep show’s debut, Skin Deep will travel to Lulubell Toy Bodega in Mesa, Arizona (December 9th - December 30th) and then to Screaming Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon (February 23rd - March 25th).

Custom Batman Possessed Vinyl Figure by WuzOne

The Blot’s not sure how I just found out about this amazing custom by WuzOne, but it’s too awesome not to blog about! Originally made for Gallery1988 SF’s Crazy 4 Cult Custom Show, Wuz has turned Luke Chueh’s signature figure, the Possessed Bear, into DC Comics’ the Dark Knight. Best of all, he transformed the Possessed Bear’s controlling little demon into the Joker, creating a great juxtaposition of Batman and his archenemy.


The Custom Batman Possessed seen above was painted by WuzOne with acrylic paint and makers on an original white Possessed vinyl figure. You can check out many of the other killer custom figures for this show at G1988 SF here.