Bird City Saint “Hustler’s Ambition” Chicago Edition Vinyl Figure by Sentrock x UVD Toys – A Rotofugi Exclusive!

Rotofugi has released the second colorway of Sentrock’s fantastic new Bird City Saint vinyl figure, Hustler’s Ambition! Produced by UVD Toys, Hustler’s Ambition brings to life the work of the Chicago based artist and celebrates the hustle of the ubiquitous street food vendors found in Chicago and beyond.

Hustler’s Ambition by Sentrock is an 8” tall and 10” long vinyl figure that features Sentrock’s iconic bird character pushing a paleta cart as seen in the mural of the same name. The lid of the cart even comes off / opens so you can store small items inside. The Chicago Edition Hustler’s Ambition is limited to just 125 pieces and can be purchased now exclusively at Rotofugi.com for $160.

Dumpster Fire Fried Chicken Edition Vinyl Figure by 100% Soft – A Rotofugi Exclusive

This summer is going to be hot… hot garbage that is! In honor of the world being constantly on fire, Rotofugi has released a new retailer exclusive Dumpster Fire vinyl figure by 100% Soft. Check out the KFC inspired Dumpster Fried Chicken vinyl figure! It’s the trashiest addition to any summer get together. This limited edition Dumpster Fire comes with a crispy fried drumstick embedded in its flame and features a finger licking good red and white striped body. Just please don’t eat the drumstick – it’s not real!

Based on 100% Soft’s Dumpster Fire GIF and pin, this production vinyl figure measures 3.5”x3.5”x2.75”. This limited edition colorway is available for purchase now at Rotofugi.com for $32.

Buny “I Don’t Get It” Edition Vinyl Figure by Blake Jones x UVD Toys – A Rotofugi Exclusive!

At 2pm CT today, Sunday, June 5th, Rotofugi is hosting a very special toy release and signing with Chicago-based artist Blake Jones for the newest colorway of his awesome vinyl figure, Buny! The Rotofugi Exclusive “I Don’t Get It” Edition Buny vinyl figure is just as confused as you are about the state of the world right now. Produced by UVD Toys, this retailer exclusive colorway features a hot pink and yellow color scheme and is limited to just 75 pieces. This version of Jones’ iconic rabbit character stands 6” tall and comes holding a removable picket sign to express his thoughts. It will retail for $80 exclusively at Rotofugi, which will also be releasing an exclusive matching print by Blake. An online release will follow on Rotofugi.com after the event.

Midnight Moon Bat “Bat Sabbatical” Edition Vinyl Figure by Igor Ventura x Nightly Made x Martian Toys – A Rotofugi Exclusive!

On Black Friday, Rotofugi will be releasing two exciting new retailer exclusives, including this fun Midnight Moon Bat “Bat Sabbatical” Edition Vinyl Figure by Nightly Made! As Rotofugi explained, “Our exclusive version of the figure, designed by Nightly Made (Megan Mahfoud) and produced by Martian Toys, is decked out to rock! Megan's super cute bat has taken a little darker turn thanks to a new paint design by Brazilian artist Igor Ventura — and we are all in for this black metal girl (swoon)!” Limited to just 150 pieces, this 4.5” vinyl figure will go on sale at 9am CT on Friday, November 26th, at Rotofugi.com for $55.

MAD*L Citizens Mad Ape Edition Vinyl Figure by MAD x UVD Toys – A Rotofugi Exclusive!

On Black Friday, Rotofugi will be releasing two exciting new retailer exclusives, including this awesome MADL Citizens Mad Ape Edition Vinyl Figure by MAD! As Rotofugi explained, “We’re absolutely loving this evolution of an early designer toy staple, the MAD*L. Our exclusive version is rocking a design inspired by a hoodie that Mad designed for us way back in 2005 when we were just a baby store.”

Produced by UVD Toys, the Rotofugi Exclusive MADL Citizens Mad Ape Edition Vinyl Figure by MAD stands 4” tall and features a ball jointed neck. Limited to 100 pieces, this retailer exclusive colorway will go on sale at 9am CT on Friday, November 26th, at Rotofugi.com for $50.

Dumpster Fire Smog Black Edition Vinyl Figure by 100% Soft – A Rotofugi Exclusive!

Since the world is still in shambles even though we’re in a new year, 100% Soft thought it’d be fun to have some new Dumpster Fire colorways exclusive to 2021. They will be available this year only and then retired.  New year, new trash!  Check out 100% Soft’s third and final 2021 exclusive – the Smog Black Dumpster Fire – which will be sold exclusively at Rotofugi in Chicago.

It goes on sale at 10am PT on Friday, April 30th, at Rotofugi.com for $25.  The Dumpster Fire vinyl figure is based on 100% Soft’s Dumpster Fire GIF and pin, and measure 3.5” x 3.5” x 2.75”.

Evil Ape Fink Magenta Edition Vinyl Figure by MCA x UVD Toys – A Rotofugi Exclusive!

Yesterday, Rotofugi released a retailer exclusive colorway of MCA’s new Evil Ape Fink vinyl figure! Check out the Magenta Evil Ape Fink, which stands 4” tall, features 4 points of articulation, and is limited to just 50 pieces. It is so good to see MCA back in the designer toy world, and The Blot’s loving this second colorway of the Evil Ape! Produced by UVD Toys, the Magenta Evil Ape Fink can be purchased now exclusively at Rotofugi.com for $60.

Chris Ryniak’s Five Points Festival 2018 Exclusives!

Chris Ryniak and Amanda Louise Spayd are heading out east this weekend and setting up shop at Five Points Festival 2018 in Brooklyn, New York! One of your first stops should be their booth #230 to check out all these fantastic new resin figures that will be sold exclusively at the Five Points Festival. First up is Dashi, a super cute kitty that will be available in two sizes, mini and mid-size. The first Eggplant Edition is limited to just 10 pieces. Then there’s the Succulent Dewlap, which will also be released online after the convention.

And check out Howden, an adorable little gourd that will be making his world debut at Five Points Fest. This figure was designed by Ryniak, 3D modeled by Brian Oskins and cast by Eric Carlson. Ryniak will also be releasing a whole crop of mini Veggie Critters in a variety of vegetable inspired colorways. These are ripe and ready to be harvested by collectors this weekend at FPF!

But that’s not all… meet Algonac, the newest collaboration between Chris Ryniak and Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi! This Spring Green Edition, the first colorway of this new vinyl figure, will debut at Five Points Festival 2018 this weekend and can be purchased at FPF booth #236.

SDCC 2017 Exclusive Glow in the Dark Figgle Bits by Chris Ryniak x Rotofugi

The Figgle Bits by Chris Ryniak are back exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con 2017! Produced by Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi, these glow in the dark editions of Fibbly, Gubble and Plopp are limited to 300 pieces per character and retail for just $14 each at the Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi SDCC booth #5248.

SDCC 2017 Exclusive A Little Misfortune Japanese Vinyl Finger Puppets by FERG x Rotofugi

Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi are set up at San Diego Comic-Con 2017 right now where they are releasing a ton of epic exclusives! The Blot especially loves these SDCC 2017 exclusive new colorsways of FERG’s A Little Misfortune Japanese Vinyl Finger Puppets. These Misfortune Cats are available in unpainted clear yellow, clear with pink glitter and clear with blue glitter. Each San Diego Comic-Con 2017 exclusive color is limited to just 50 pieces and retails for $13 at the Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi SDCC booth #5248.

Rotofugi Needs Our Support!

Below is an email our friends at Rotofugi sent out yesterday to their newsletter subscribers asking the designer toy community for help! Please take a few minutes to read their story and then head over to Rotofugi online store and place an order!

Hi there, Kirby and Whitney from Rotofugi here. We're writing today because we could really use your help.

We just celebrated our 12th anniversary as a business, but to be completely transparent with you, it's been quite bittersweet. On one hand, we're extremely proud of reaching this milestone, but the plain and simple fact is that we're just barely making it as a business.

Pretty much since 2008 when the global economy took a dive we've been just getting by, and relying heavily on things like a line of credit from our bank, credit cards and loans to keep Rotofugi from becoming a casualty like many other designer toy sellers.

Until this past 6 months or so we always managed to juggle the bills, buy inventory and keep the train moving forward, even if we weren't getting out of debt. But the last 6 months have been, frankly, brutal. Sales of designer toys are down significantly, and while we've made some moves to offer more pop culture figures and things like classes, the fact is that it's not making up for the drop.

As of this week, we've exhausted our credit and made cuts to just about every aspect of our business to the point where it's hard to find anything else to cut without slimming down our already small staff. If we do that we fear that the short term gains would quickly disappear as we wouldn't be able to provide the level of customer service that our customers deserve, and frankly, we see our staff as our family and can't imagine letting anyone go.

So why are we telling you this now? It's actually really simple.

If you'd like to see us stick around, and you've had your eye on a toy or a piece of artwork, now would be a great time for you to buy it. We're not looking for a handout, but at the same time, we need your business now more than we ever have.

In addition to shopping on rotofugi.com, we have also started listing toys from our personal collection on eBay, so maybe you'll find something there you'd like to grab. Every little bit will help.

We have some concrete plans in place to offer more services and with a little luck, increase our revenue to a point of sustainability, but if we don't get over this immediate hurdle we may not be able to get that far.

Thanks and we hope you have a great rest of the week.

Sincerely,
Whitney & Kirby Kerr
Rotofugi

Rotofugi Exclusive Pirate Abe Headspace Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh x Munky King

Munky King is teaming up with Rotofugi to release the third colorway of Luke Chueh’s popular new vinyl figure Headspace as a retailer exclusive! This figure is inspired by Luke’s amazing Headspace series of paintings, which were designed to give credit to the things that have had an impact on his life and career. The Rotofugi Exclusive Headspace features a white body and two heads: Pirate Abe (Rotofugi’s mascot) and a Crying Bear (designed by Luke). What’s cool about the Pirate Abe head, which was sculpted by Scott Wetterschneider at Shinbone Creative, is that it’s the very first 3D manifestation of Rotofugi’s iconic mascot.

The Rotofugi Exclusive Pirate Abe Headspace Vinyl Figure by Luke Chueh x Munky King stands 4.5” tall and is limited to just 200 pieces. This awesome new colorway goes on sale today, Friday, December 11th, starting at 10am CST at the Rotofugi online store for $60.

Rotofugi Exclusive “Gloss Black” Pre-Historic Resin Figure by Alex Solis x Threadless x Mighty Jaxx

Last year, Mighty Jaxx collaborated with Threadless to launch a design challenge entitled “Characters”. After receiving 800 submissions, the winning design was “Pre-Historic” by Chicago based artist Alex Solis! Not only was this cool design sold by Threadless as a t-shirt, but Mighty Jaxx produced Pre-Historic as a limited edition vinyl toy. The figure is even getting a sleek retailer exclusive colorway from the Chicago based Rotofugi!

The Rotofugi Exclusive “Gloss Black” Pre-Historic Resin Figure by Alex Solis x Threadless x Mighty Jaxx stands 4” tall and comes hand painted in beautiful gloss black all over. This polystone figure is limited to just 30 pieces and comes packaged in a full color printed box. Pick one up today at the Rotofugi online store for just $30!

“Golden Spicy” Stinky Ginger Vinyl Figure by Chris Ryniak

Chris Ryniak’s newest Stinky Ginger colorway debuted at Traveling Circus: A Circus Posterus Group Exhibit, which opened last weekend at Rotofugi, and it’s a real beauty! The “Golden Spicy” Stinky Ginger is cast in a striking gold soft Japanese vinyl with golden glitter throughout, and features tan, black, white and red sprays. As always, Ryniak’s “Golden Spicy” Stinky Ginger is a collaboration between Tomenosuke and Circus Posterus, stands 7” tall and has a limited edition run size of just 60 pieces. While Rotofugi has sold out of their allotment, the remaining Gold Spicy Edition Stinky Gingers will go on sale at the Circus Posterus online store soon for $89.

“Resting Champ” Bear Champ Screen Print by JC Rivera

Earlier this week Pobber released its very first screen print exclusively at Rotofugi! “Resting Champ” by JC Rivera features JC's signature character Bear Champ taking a well deserved rest on a rooftop after a long day at work (i.e. boxing). The design is based on what JC does when the weather is nice. He sits on the rooftop of his building overlooking the Chicago skyline to get inspiration. Pretty nice all the way around.

“Resting Champ” by JC Rivera is a 19.5”x10” 4 color screen print. Each print comes signed and numbered by the artist, has a limited edition run size of 50 pieces, and can be purchased exclusively at the Rotofugi online store for $40 each.

Toy Titans Toytem Vinyl Figure by Gary Ham

This Friday, December 20th, Gary Ham will be releasing the Toy Titans Toytem, which is quite possibly the greatest collaboration in the history of designer toys! Designed by Gary, the Toy Titans Toytem celebrates five important contributors to the world of designer toys: Lulubell Toy Bodega, SpankyStokes.com, Rotofugi, Dragatomi, and Clutter Magazine/The Designer Toy Awards. The Toy Titans Toytem stands 11.5” tall and is comprised of five stacked vinyl pieces, each representing the mascot of a “toy titan.”

As with Gary’s previously released Monster Toytem, the Toy Titans Toytem is fully interchangeable and stackable. It can even be combined with the Monster Toytem! The Toy Titans Toytem is limited to just 300 pieces, will retail for $85 and can be purchased at Gary Ham’s online store as well as LulubellToys.com, Dragatomi.com, SpankyStokes.limitedrun.com, Rotofugi.com and Cluttermagazine.com. This is the only colorway the Toy Titans Toytem will be produced in, so be sure to grab one while you can and help support those that keep the designer toy scene going strong.

SDCC 13 Exclusive Omen Blink Vinyl Figure by Coarse

Coarse Toys has taken the amazing Omen design that they revealed at last year's Souls Gone Mad exhibit at Rotofugi Gallery and shrunk it down to a super cool 3.5" size and named it the Omen Blink. This exciting new vinyl figure’s first two colorways are Hoot and Hush. Here is their story: After the last rays of the sun dip behind the forest’s edge, two pairs of eyes burst open. Hoot and Hush warily stand together keeping watch over a nest of unhatched eggs. Gazing up into the night, they wait in silence until the voice of the Void breaks through the darkness and orders them where to go.

Each San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Exclusive Omen Blink colroway has a limited edition run size of 800 pieces and will retail for just $14 exclusively at the Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi SDCC booth #5248.

OMFG! Mini Figures Series 1 On Sale Now!

The Blot’s been meaning to write about October Toys’ official release of its OMFG! (Outlandish Mini Figure Guys) Series 1 for a while, but I wanted to wait until I received my Kickstarter sets so I could give a true review. And let me just say, these are awesome!!! Everyone involved with these MUSCLE-esque series did a fantastic job, and each figure is way more detailed than I ever expected. This is definitely one of those times where the pictures don’t do the figures justice. I like them so much, I’ve already started a collection of SpankyStokes.com’s mascot Stroll (but more on that later).

As previously reported, there were 6 different colorways of OMFG! Series 1 created. The Kickstarter Exclusive Black and the Onell Design Exclusive Pheyden Blue are already sold out, but the other four can be purchased now for $10-15 per set. The Standard Flesh/Pink Edition can be purchased directly from October Toys here, the Little Rubber Guys Exclusive Green colorway can be purchased here, the Rotofugi Exclusive Blue (312c) colorway can be purchased here and the UofMuscle Exclusive Yellow colorway can be purchased here. Rumor has it a super rare 7th Hot Pink colorway will be released by each figure’s creator but no details have emerged on that one yet. Bet you can’t just get one!

Space Junk Destroyer Resin Figure by NeMo & OsirisOrion

Bad Applez Inc, the new art toy company by NeMo and OsiRisORion, is about to release upon the world its very first designer resin figure! The Space Junk Destroyer will be making its debut at Rotofugi’s Toy Karma III one week from Saturday (on September 10, 2011). Two one of a kind Space Junk Destroyers will be available, with each figure hand painted by the company’s two founders: NeMo and OsiRisORion. Don’t these look crazy!?! Not only is the figure’s sculpt and design off the wall, but each artist did an incredible job applying their unique styles to this devilish monster.

Each hand painted 1 off Space Junk Destroyer resin figure will retail for $160 and can be purchased by contacting Rotofugi or by attending Toy Karma III’s opening on 9.10.11.

Toy Karma III Rotofugi Exclusive Orange Painted Greasebat Vinyl Figure by Jeff Lamm

Rotofugi’s Toy Karma 3 is just a few weeks away and The Blot is super excited for the show. Besides featuring some amazing customs, the show will also be the exclusive retailer of Monster Worship’s newest painted Greasebat colorway! Inspired by vintage kaiju colorways of old, the Toy Karma III Rotofugi Exclusive Orange Painted Greasebat by Jeff Lamm looks pretty freaking awesome! The fourth painted production Greasebat is cast in an orange vinyl, and comes highlighted with green sprays and metallic silver horns and accent sprays.

The Orange Painted Greasebat will go on sale exclusively at Rotofugi’s Toy Karma III opening on Saturday, September 10th.