SpankyStokes.com Exclusive Hot Pink Stroll OMFG! Mini Figure

As a toy blogger, there is nothing cooler than seeing fellow toy blogs get their own figures produced! I’m not all that artistic, but I’d love to see a TheBlotSays.com colorway produced one day. First there was the ToysREvil.net Yoka (which I own!), and now October Toys has included SpankyStokes.com’s mascot Stroll in its OMFG! (Outlandish Mini Figure Guys) Series 1. These MUSCLE sized figures are awesome, and I’m proud to say I’ve already amassed good sized army of Stroll mini figures in 4 different colors (as you can see below).

This Hot Pink color is the mysterious 7th OMFG! colorway; one you can’t purchase as a set. October Toys gave each artist that had a character included in Series 1 a small number of their specific figure in this “Artist Proof” Exclusive Hot Pink colorway as a thank you. So the only way to get a complete five figure set of these Hot Pink OMFG! figures is to purchase one from each of the series’ creators. To purchase one of these awesome Hot Pink Strolls head over to the SpankyStokes.com online store. They’re just $5 each and will definitely sell out quickly.

Johnny Cupcakes Hawaii One Night Only Pop-Up Shop This Saturday

This Saturday, for one night only, Johnny Cupcakes will be in Honolulu, Hawaii for a very special event! From 7-10pm Johnny will be at the Fresh Café x Loft In Space for a lecture and Q&A, which will lead into the opening of the first ever Johnny Cupcakes Pop-Up Shop in Hawaii (from 10pm-12am). If you’ve been following Johnny Cupcakes for any period of time then you know his Pop-Up Shops are always stocked full of exclusive t-shirts, buttons, hats and more, so this is one event you definitely do not want to miss!

Be sure to get there early to ensure your seat for the lecture and then stick around afterwards to score this gnarly Hawaii themed Johnny Cupcakes t-shirt and meet Mr. Johnny Cupcakes! The Johnny Cupcakes Lecture and Pop-Up Shop takes place this Saturday, January 21st, from 7pm-12am at Fresh Cafe x Loft In Space at 831 Queen St., Honolulu, HI 96813.

Mad Men Season 5 Teaser Poster

It’s crazy to think that Aly and I bought Mad Men Seasons 1-4 on Black Friday two Thanksgivings ago for $10 a season. We had never watched Mad Men before, but had heard so many good reviews we wanted to try it out. Our goal was to watch all four seasons before Season 5 started…little did we know that one and a half years later Mad Man Season 5 would still be missing from AMC’s schedule. What was everyone thinking? How do you keep one of the best shows on television off the air for 16 months? It’s insane right?

Well, the long Mad Men drought is finally over! Season 5 is scheduled to begin airing on Sunday, March 25th, on AMC at 9/8c. In the meantime, check out this incredibly minimalistic Mad Men Season 5 teaser television poster based on the show’s opening credits.

Iron Man Custom Figure by UME Toys

While The Blot loves me some toys, my first love will always be comic books. So when I see a merging of those two worlds, like with this incredible handmade Iron Man figure by [rich] of UME Toys, I get pretty freaking excited! Every aspect of this 8” figure was handmade by [rich] out of clay, wood and metal, including the crazy looking base holding drunken Tony Stark up. I love this figure because it does an incredible job showcasing [rich]’s unique style while still staying unbelievably true to Marvel’s Armored Avenger. At one time I know this custom figure was available for purchase, but I’m not sure if it ever sold. If you’re interested, shoot [rich] an email…it might just be worth your wild if you do!

The Huck Gee Project: The Seven Samurai Custom Munnys

The fourth and final set of figures in The Huck Gee Project was unveiled and it’s freaking insane!!! The Seven Samurai Custom Munnys by Huck Gee is based on director Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece The Seven Samurai. I could go on and on about how awesome this movie is, but hopefully you already know this so I’ll spare you my ramblings. Huck went to great lengths to make each figure accurate and you can really tell how meticulous he was on all seven Samurai’s garb. Each kimono was hand painted with the original patterns and mon (heraldic symbols that denoted a samurai's family or clan) portrayed onscreen, each samurai's katana and weapon was cast in stainless steel, and the identifying characteristics of each character’s look from the film was captured perfectly in Huck’s signature minimalist style.

One interesting tidbit I learned from Huck’s visit to Houston is that because the movie is in black and white, it allowed him a little artistic freedom to choose each character’s color scheme. In case you aren’t familiar with the Seven Samurai, here’s a quick recap of each character by the private collector who owns this amazing set: 1) Kikuchiyo, the brash, emotionally turbulent, yet ultimately brave aspiring samurai who came from humble farmer origins; 2) Gorobei, a man of cheery disposition, but intelligent in the ways of war; 3) Heihachi, who had resorted to chopping wood so that he could eat; 4) Shichiroji, an old friend of the leader's and a veteran of many battles; 5) Kyuzu, the master swordsman; 6) Katshushiro, the eager, but young and inexperienced samurai from a noble family; and 7) Kanbei, the wise, kind and battle-weary leader of the Seven Samurai.

The Huck Gee Project: A private collector recently commissioned Huck Gee to create an entire series of one of a kind custom figures, which combined would make up a larger project entitled, appropriately enough, the Huck Gee Project. While the project has since been put on hold, the collector has decided to share photos of the completed pieces with the world, since these are such incredible custom Munnys. This is definitely some of Huck’s best work, and I am so glad these photos are seeing the light of day!

TRON & TRON: Legacy Screen Print Set by Martin Ansin

Mondo and Sideshow Collectibles have teamed up once again with Disney to release a new TRON two print set by Martin Ansin. Both movies are glow in the dark and will be sold only as a set. I love how these two TRON prints look in conjunction with the other, but I question why they’re being released now. I can understand its release two summers ago, but now? It’s not like TRON: Legacy did that well. But regardless, Ansin knocked this one out of the park!

"TRON" and “TRON: Legacy” by Martin Ansin are 24”x36” hand numbered screen prints with limited edition run sizes of 390. Each 2 poster set will retail for $90, and will go on sale at the Mondo online store today, Thursday, November 19th, at a random time.

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!

The Blot’s Booster Gold Sketchbook - Page 1 Kevin Maguire

For years now The Blot’s been wanting to start a sketchbook of my all time favorite superhero, Booster Gold. Something I could take with me to conventions and have my favorite artists draw a Booster Gold sketch or commission in. There was only one thing holding me back…I had decided long ago that if I was going to do a Booster Gold sketchbook the first commission had to be by my favorite artist, Kevin Maguire. Of course as luck would have it, even after going to comic book conventions for almost 25 years Kevin and I have never been at the same show! Thankfully that changed last November.

When I heard Kevin Maguire was going to be at Wizard World’s Austin Comic-Con at the end of last year, I knew I had to be there. The convention was great, and I was lucky enough to finally be able to start my Booster Gold sketchbook after all these years with a sick Kevin Maguire commission (which you can see in the photo above). Now I’ve got an entire Moleskin sketchbook to fill up! So while this won’t be a regular feature on The Blot Says…, you can expect updates periodically throughout the year whenever I have the opportunity to add to this exciting project.

Crazy Color Edition Pop! Vinyl Figure Prototypes by Funko

For the past two weeks, Funko has been holding a super cool giveaway of these awesome “Crazy Color” Pop! vinyl figures on the Funko Funatic forums. Funko’s Brian Mariotti picked six of his favorite Pop! vinyl figures (Batman, The Joker, The Penguin, Franken Berry, Count Chocula and Boo Berry) and created 12 unpainted protos of each one in wacky, crazy colors. Each figure comes signed and numbered by Brian, and the only way to win one is through the giveaway contest at FunkoFunatic.com. The giveaway was thought to be over, but rumor has it there will be one more day of giveaways sometime soon. So if you’re interested in winning one of these rare, blind bagged toys head over to Funko’s official forums to find out more!

The Blot was lucky enough to actually win one of these fun figures on the first day of the giveaway. I was super pumped to open my package last week to discover I had won the Crazy Color Batman Pop! proto you see above! I was secretly hoping for a Batman, and am pretty excited to have it as the centerpiece of my DC Universe Pop! Heroes collection. Thanks so much to Brian and the entire Funko family for holding this contest and my prize!

8 Bit Apparel NFL T-Shirt Collection

The Blot loves indie clothing brands, and I’m always on the lookout for the next cool t-shirt to add to my closet. When I saw these retro NFL inspired designs by 8 Bit Apparel I knew I had to have one! While I’m a sucker for all 8-bit designs (they take me back to my childhood spent mashing the A and B buttons on my Nintendo controller), I especially love these t-shirts by 8 Bit Apparel. Why? Because they pay tribute to the greatest sports game on the NES, Tecmo Super Bowl!

Anyone who has ever played Tecmo Super Bowl knows the best player in the game was the unstoppable Bo Jackson. My group of friends had to eventually outlaw playing with the Oakland Raiders because anyone who played with Bo Jackson was always going to win. You can now honor Bo’s dominance in Tecmo Super Bowl with this killer “Can’t Stop 34” t-shirt from 8 Bit Apparel! Along with the Bo Jackson design, 8 Bit Apparel also has a cool “I [Ran] ________” t-shirt featuring different cities and their franchise’s most prolific running backs, and these sweet 8-bit NFL helmet logo tees in a variety of teams and colors.

This Columbus, Ohio based clothing brand has done a really great job giving retro graphics a modern feel with these 8-bit designs, and I’ve got a feeling lots of NFL and Nintendo fans are going to want to snag one of these 8 Bit Apparel t-shirts. You can pick up all of the designs you see here and more from the 8 Bit Apparel online store for $27 each. And don’t worry, if you don’t see your favorite team represented in the collection, new designs are being added all the time!