Copasquat Toys has released the four figure "Alea Iacta Est" (The Die Is Cast) by Copasquat Toys x Dski One. These clear and pink marbled vinyl figures have been tastefully painted by Dski One. Each one has a shake action LED light in the Ailesh cavity and comes bagged with a letter pressed header card. You can pick one up now (via the above link) for $80.00 per figure plus shipping.
The finalists for the 6th Annual Designer Toy Awards (DTAs) have been announced and Public Voting has begun. Voting lasts until Monday September 26th 2016 at Noon EST.
And somehow Plastic and Plush made the finalist list for Best Blog (I'm guessing someone drunk-nominated me. Thanks!)
So...to vote for us...or maybe a better deserving blog...go to the Designer Toy Awards website and log in or create a new account. Then, go to the categories page. And you can vote once in each of the six awards under Public Voting (you can't go and vote multiple times or else you'll get a spanking). And that's it. You've made the world a better place by voting.
Obsessed Panda, Zectron, and Unbox Industries are back at it with a new release. This time, they're twisting the classic Hawaiian vinyl colorway to bring the inner carnage out of Tug O' War one more time. Using pink, orange, black and blue Obsessed Panda brought the blood-soaked Tug O' War back to life for this Hawaiian Crunch Edition.
Limited to 5 pieces and priced at $55.00 each, the Tug O' War - Hawaiian Crunch Edition will be available in Obsessed Panda's online shop this Wednesday (September 14th 2016) at 9AM PST.
Zectron's artist exclusive version of Gristle is now available to purchase for $80.00 from the LittleRubberGuys Store. Designed by Zectron and Retroband, sculpted in clay by Zectron himself and produced in soft vinyl by Unbox Industries. This blank vinyl version is expertly marbled to give the appearance of raw meat. When the lights go out you can see the blue glow-in-the-dark marbled vinyl highlights as well. Each monster comes with a recreation of the "Welcome to Fear City" flyer that was actually handed out in New York in the 70's warning visitors about the dangers of a city overrun by crime. The only change made to the flyer itself was the very last paragraph which tells the story of a radioactive pig terrorizing Central Park.
Matt Jones (Lunartik) has released Ping Pong Gone... Wronger! It's broken particles of “ping pong gone...nom nom nom” adorned with playful Illustrations of mosquitoes dead and alive. The acrylic on concrete art pieces are signed by Lunartik. There are different shaped pieces, and they range in price from £20.00 to £50.00 (about $26 to $66)
Ben Spencer and Galaxxor will be releasing their new production vinyl figures. Each one features Glyos vinyl-compatible articulation at the head, shoulders, and waist. They sport multiple paints aps and tempo printing. And each 5.5-inch tall figure includes both a dome head and a horned head (that are interchangeable).
The three figures that will be released are Galaxxor 007/Infernicus (red), Gorgax/Roxxalag (black), and Galaxxor 001/Thanyr (blue). Each vinyl figure will run $30.00 and be limited to 2 pieces per order. They'll go on sale tonight (August 22nd 2016) 8PM Central at galaxxor.com.
FrankenToys Inc., which consists of Gus Fink, Emi Boz and Eric Grenier, has announced a new Kickstarter project that's looking to fund their upcoming miniature blind box series - the Creeplings. They'll be made of flexible soft PVC with pad printing (that's probably a good thing). Each with their own name, personality and fun colors/textures. If you recall some of Gus's previous mini figure lines, you'll definitely see some slight similarities.
Actual toys start at the $22 funding level and go all the way up to $10,000. That's where you're getting some crazy hand-sculpted figure and an original painting, plus other things. This project will only be funded if at least $15,000 is pledged by Sunday September 18th 2016 at 4:59PM EDT.
Remember...this is not a pre-order. There are many instances of crowd funded projects that have been funded never making good on their promised goods. So back with caution.
Roll20 has announced a licensing deal for their online “virtual tabletop” to distribute Dungeons & Dragons content.
“While Roll20 was designed to play nearly any tabletop game, the spark that pushed us to start the product was Dungeons & Dragons,” said cofounder Riley Dutton, “Our very name, ‘ Roll20’ comes from the concept of a ‘ critical hit’ as popularized by D&D. For us, D&D represents an evergreen part of our gaming lives, and to be officially working with its creators and caretakers certainly feels like we’ ve made a winning roll.”
The launch is beginning with sales of the introductory adventure module Lost Mine of Phandelver, which comes with pregenerated characters, image handouts, maps, and tokens prearranged in Roll20 to help Dungeon Masters avoid lengthy setup times. Other licensed products will follow, including Dungeons & Dragon’ s latest upcoming adventure storyline Storm King’s Thunder, which is available in Roll20 for preorder and launches September of 2016.
It's quite possible that you've read about Rotofugi and the financial strain they've encountered recently. If you haven't read the open letter, I've pasted it after the break. Kirby and Whitney Kerr run one of the last remaining bastions for designer toy aficionados. They've won Best Toy Store or Best Online Toy Store in the Designer Toy Awards (as voted upon by the fans) since those categories were introduced in 2012.
If you've followed the designer toy industry, it's not a surprising turn of events. In all of my years running Plastic and Plush, Rotofugi has never advertised on this site. I noticed they do have ads on other designer toy news sites. I've also noticed that the number of online and brick and mortar designer toy shops have plummeted since 2008. Looking back at this site in 2008, comparing the number of advertisers, shows you how the market has tanked.
But this doesn't only impact toy stores. It's a great example of true trickle down economics. Designer toy companies start shutting down...then the stores that specialize in those toys...then the news sites that report about them.
Personally, this has been a huge hit to me and Plastic and Plush. I haven't been able to attend San Diego Comic Con due to the lack of funds generated from Plastic and Plush. Honestly, I'm paying to bring you the news. I still enjoy doing it. But when it has come to a choice of going to Comic Con or paying for speech lessons for my son...things are easily put into context.
The Designer Toy Awards have officially launched the nomination period for the 6th annual awards. Running from now until August 10th 2016 (6PM EST), nominations can be submitted through their website. This year's awards will accept nominations for releases, artists, and companies that were active from January to December 2015.
Head on over to the Designer Toy Awards website and answer the "Call For Entries" by adding those worthy from 2015, and don't forget... only nominated items can be considered for the awards. And since my site is always so well represented during the nomination process, I'd like to thank my great aunt Eleanor for always nominating Plastic and Plush for Best Blog. Ha! I've never even made the "Short List" for these things.