MEGA UPDATE #1

THE MANOTAUR!!!! YEAH!!!!

Got a batch of these guys, and the rest of the blanks are on their way to Justin Hillgrove in Seattle! I'm painting a couple today!

HUGE! He towers over the Ugly Unicorn - and his arms are SUPER poseable - FUN!



Looking forward to working on runs of this guy - they are going to kick ass!

YOu can grab a white or black figure on Justin's Site - NOW! Here's a link

Waniphants!

"What's a Whaniphant?" you say? Well - only a most-excellent sofubi toy! Only the kick-ass brain child of Shane Haddy (Hints and Spices) from Australia!

:-P

Anyway, this Friday (Friday Evening EST) will see the release of a little micro-run Waniphant collab. RAMPAGE x Hints and Spices on glitter vinyl! I painted five of these crazy creatures with a bundle of clear sprays and a hint of brush work here and there. These serve as a little 'teaser' for something Shane and I have in the works, which will be revealed just a little before the next Superfestival near the end of April.

Here's pics of this Friday's new-ness!





Of course, don't forget about the RAINBOW GID Ugly Unicorns and Blank GID Ugly Unicorns that are up for pre-order until this Friday! Don't miss out on your only chance to grab a blank GID Unicorn (I hate to see people cry,... ya know?).

Post-Sufes 58

To all who followed on twitter and instagram - and especially to all who attended Superfestival 58 - THANK YOU! The event was a great success for RAMPAGE TOYS, and I believe it was one of the most well attended and altogether successful SF's in a while! Indy Sofubi IS NOT DEAD, and people in Japan seem to be gaining more and more interest in the creations of Japanese and non-Japanese Indy sofubi makers alike. This show made me really excited for 2012 - I'm already looking forward to the next Sufes in April!

below are a few shots of the RAMPAGE TOYS table, and some other stuff. There are bundles of pictures on my Flickr as well as a VERY VERY in depth report of the event over on my Buddy Andy's Blog (Kaiju Korner). Andy did such a thorough job of covering the event - it would be silly for me to attempt to do the same! Here are some of my pics:

"Zee Rampage Booss"
Ilanena-san with some vintage Starwars awesomeness (in front of his table)
Some Card-Monster and Ugly Unicorn Comradery

Ilanena Custom UU's! A taste of the (maybe near, maybe distant) future!

All of the remaining items from the show (Ugly Unicorns, Collab stuff, etc.), will be in the shop tomorrow, January 11th - early morning time in America - late night time in Japan ;-)

Here's the shop:

http://rampagetoysandart.bigcartel.com

Next up - more Kikkake Elephants and Bears, and then some REALLY exciting stuff! Who likes things that glow in the dark - I DO!

RAMPAGE x Imps and Monsters MANOTAUR!

Hello Toy People!

Update time! A couple quick-fire posts coming right up!

1st off - RAMPAGE is teaming up with Justin Hillgrove (Imps and Monsters - http://www.impsandmonsters.com/) to release a very cool new Sofubi figure - the MANOTAUR! The sculpt was done by Justin himself, and it has already been recieved at the wax/mold workshop here in Japan. We're looking at a spring release - hopefully at Justin's booth at this year's Emeral City Comic Con in Seattle!

This guy will stand around 8 inches tall - he's pretty bulky too! Here's the sculpt:




This toy is being made here in Japan - with the super high quality vinyl we are all getting used to seeing - and prep for releases will be done primarily 'in house' in the RAMPAGE TOYS' studio - here in Japan as well. I will be painting the realeases, and Justin and I will both host sales of the figure on each of our websites/shops. Also expect small and unique painted runs on occaison - from both Justin and myself.

Here's a little info about this dude (written by Justin)- gives you a feel for the character and Justin's sense of humor

"The Manotaur roams the world in search of something he can’t quite remember. In fact, ever since he invited that fire spirit into his head he’s had trouble concentrating on little other than catering to his countless neuroses and consuming anything with the word “gummy” in the description. In any case, he’s pretty sure he’s forgetting something really important..."

Here's a digital doodle that Justin did for this fellah - SWEET!



I'm psyched for this release! Hope you all dig this dude :-)

Playing Catch-Up

OK... way behind on the blog! Things are moving right along with the Ugly Unicorn and life in Japan - and time is flying by so fast!

The fall shows were great - NYCC and Design Festa! Most of those toys are off in the hands of the UU faithful (Thanks People!).

Anyway, here are some pics of recent Ugly Unicorn releases. There are still a few items up in ye olde shoppe, and more to come soon as well!

Some customs that came out of the woodwork for Design Festa (in Tokyo a couple weeks back). The fleshy fellow in the foreground awaits a warm(-er) home - it's frickin' cold here in Northern Japan!
Design Festa Exclusive "Original Ugliness" Unicorns! Did a run of 5 in this colorway.
"Army of Brightness" Uglies! These guys were a bit of work indeed... But I'm psyched on them - nice bright sprays over black vinyl. As I'm writting this, you can still grab one of these fellows here.

Up next is a release that I'm SUPER excited about! I'm teaming up with KFHC (Kentucky Fried Hardcore) for a very very cool UU release! These guys will be coming up just in time for Christmas - and there's a bit of a surprise in the works ;-)

Lot's more coming for 2012 and beyond!

Quick Post SF Hit!

Hey Folks!

Superfestival has come and gone, and I'll do a full-on write up about it (and the Bwana show at gargamel) soon. But here's a quick note to let you know that SF Exclusives that are still remaining are now available in the Rampage Toys BigCartel shop! Go ahead and check them out here:

http://rampagetoysandart.bigcartel.com/

Ugly Hath Arrived on the Scene!

Hey Folks! Time for a quick update before I jump on the night bus - headed for Tokyo!

The UGLY UNICORN is in full swing! I got the first box of blank vinyl 2 days ago, and yesterday was a day of nothing by painting! I'm excited beyond belief that this project is happening, and I'm also psyched on the first painted runs.

So, without further delay, here are pictures:

Bag of candy! The whole house smelled like vinyl for hours :-D

The airbrush studio - ready to go!

Two painted runs for SUPERFESTIVAL on the 25th in Tokyo! "Allsorts Liquorice Ugly" and "Poppy Goji Ugly"!!! I had a blast painting these and can't wait to paint more - for NYCC ;-)

Did some simple painted and screen printed headers for these two releases. I love header cards - it makes a toy into a 'whole package' for me!

If you're in Tokyo on the 25th come by and say 'hi' at Superfestival - and get a chance to grab these figures first! Leftovers will go up in the shop on the 27th in the morning - also known as the 26th in the evening/night in America ;-) E-mail reminders will go out to the mailing list.

One last note - pre-ordered blanks will go out in the mail on Friday!

Thanks for stopping by the blog and reading up on UGLY's progress!

Making a Sofubi - How it all works!

OK, so, perhaps some of you have checked out the blog, and you get the resin thing, but aren't into the vinyl - or maybe you ARE into vinyl - regardless, for anyone on either side (or both sides) of the coin, perhaps you haven't gotten the full story on how the whole vinyl production process works. There are many steps to making a vinyl figure (no matter where you do it), and this summer I finally got the full story laid out in front of me - almost entirely all first hand; as a result of the UGLY UNICORN project. I can finally say I have seen just about every step in the process of making a Japanese soft vinyl (sofubi) toy, and I've taken pictures and videos along the way - So, I figure it's time to share! The process is VERY hands-on - at every step there is a craftmans/artist/artisan working with raw material and creating an item. There is next to no machinery involved, and that which is used is operated by one person. The figures produced are, in my mind, as hand-made as any resin figure - though the processes and materials are slightly different. The experience of making a figure has been SUPER eye-opening, and makes me appreciate my own collection just that much more!

...but I digress...

Without further adieu, here it is, an intensive multimedia overview: "Making a Sofubi Start to Finish"

1)You need an idea! Let's say a painting/drawing - a character essentially. For example the Ugly Unicorn --->


2)A sculpt needs to be done. Normally this is done in clay (sometimes in wax - depending on the preferences of the artist doing the sculpting). This is generally refered to as the "Clay Proto" (Clay Prototype) - it's your master copy of your figure and should basically be the final form of your figure once completed. Here's part of the Ugly Unicorn - sculpted in clay - and visible behind him, a clay proto by Paul Kaiju - his Seagool --->


3)A wax casting is needed of your figure in order for a metal mold to be made. For the Ugly Unicorn, this piece looked like this... --->

....and it was made by the following process:

3a)The clay proto is molded (usually with silicone - the same material used for resin figures' molds). This is the mold for the UGLY UNICORN --->

3b)Wax is poured into the mold - giving you the 'Rough Wax Proto' (Wax Prototype).

3c)The rough wax proto is smoothed and made nice and shiny - like the one shown above. The finish on this piece will be the finish on your final vinyl casts, so this step is SUPER important! Artists like Ricky Wilson (Velocitron - http://www.velocitron.org/), and Luke (Lulubell Toys/ Grody Shogun - http://www.lulubelltoys.com/) work in small studios in Japan (many being in Tokyo - it is the epicenter of this process), to help artists take their designs from concept to toy. These guys do A LOT of work on the wax for figures designed by artists in many countries (Japan and the US being a couple of the larger contributors), and they also make their own awesome creations! On top of it all, these are the guys doing all of the brokering with the factories (building relationships, ordering liquid vinyl, and getting in orders so artists get figures for events like SDCC and NYCC). Ricky and Luke in particular are working hard to keeep the torch burning in the Japanese Soft vinyl scene - putting new stuff out and promoting and assisting others who wish to do the same - HUGE thanks to these guys for what they are doing! Here they are; hard at work in their studio ("The Fort") - smoothing wax during a hot day in Tokyo this past August --->

4)The wax proto is very gingerly handed over to the mold maker, who makes the final (and damn near immortal) metal mold for the figure. This process involves: a)electro-coating the wax proto with copper, b)melting the wax out from inside the mold (yep - hours and hours of work... melted and swept away in seconds...), c)welding the copper mold to a steel frame for use in the factory/workshop where the vinyl will be cast (note - the balance of the mold is SUPER important, so this is no slap-dash welding job!). This is the one stage where I was not able to see things as they were done... However, here are some molds that were used to make some really popular figures for this year's Sandiego Comic Con (the Cannibal F**kface), and for one of my favorites - UAMOU! --->

5)The mold is given to the factory that will casts the figures, and they get started! First they have to do some testing of the mold, which results in 'Vinyl Test Pulls" - which are usually done in stock colors (flesh, white, black for example). Once these guys sort out things like the cure time for the mold and the best way to pour and cure the vinyl, they can start pulling figures like mad! And that's where we hit the "Multimedia" portion of our 'lesson' :-P Here is a video that I pulled together with footage from a recent trip I took to Takahashi-san's vinyl factory - near Kamaeri in Tokyo. It's up on YouTube, and it seems to be working just fine, so please enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cHuU_cKD0M

What an amazing experience - going and actually watching some really AWESOME toys being made (some of Luke's figures)!!!! And again - thank you Ricky (Velocitron) for making it happen! Here's a little snapshot-sample of what they were making that day --->

6)The figure is in production! I haven't gotten any shots of the production runs of the Ugly Unicorn (red and yellow casts - coming right up!), but the test shots are in the post bellow! Also, James - over on the Grass Hut Message Bored (spelling is correct!) - put together some cool photoshoped images to get a feel for the colored casts of the Ugly Unicorn, and one thing that isn't doin the previous post is the following picture - which shows the foot-stamps (company name, where it's made and the figure name are all common on foot-stamps. They are either carved into the wax proto or actually 'stamped' on using metal stamps - similar to what are used on a paper printing press) --->

7)Of course then there are all of the other things that follow the actual 'manufacturing' of the solid colored casts. Painting (or hiring out someone to paint for you), finding shops to stock your stuff, going to shows, networking and internetting about your art/toys/figures (however you wish to call them ;-) )... Suffice it to say - it doesn't end here. But this post is ending!

I hope you enjoyed reading about this process! Like I said above - it's been an INCREDIBLE and eye-opening experience to produce my first Japanese sofubi figure! I look forward to painting the coming casts and to making more in the near future!

UGLY LIVES!!!

I just got the pictures of the Vinyl Test Shot for the UGLY UNICORN! Very Exciting :-D This flesh cast looks so nice and shiny, and it makes me psyched for the red and yellow that should be up late next week from Tokyo!

Pre-orders are staying up in the shop for another week (until 9/9 in America), or until they sell out (whichever comes first). Following that I will be starting on the painted runs for Superfestival in Tokyo on September 25th, and also the pieces for New York Comic Con in October! More info on releases and all that very soon! Here's the figure!




Grab your blank yellow or red figures here: http://rampagetoysandart.bigcartel.com/

UGLU UNICORN Pre-Sale Going Live!

It's an extraordinarily exciting time for me right now; having moved to Japan, and now announcing the official release of my very first Soft Vinyl Toy! I hope some of you guys like this little fellah, as I'm SUPER Excited to make more already!

Here is all the info you need:

'Pre-sale goes live on Tuesday 8/16 @ 8pm EST (5pm West Coast or Wednesday 8/17 @ 9am Japan Time) in the SHOP.

A little more back-story: The UGLY UNICORN (アグリー ユニコーン ) is a mysterious creature believed to come from a planet where cake and frosting are the main source of sustenance. Via some semingly random circumstances (a wormhole perhaps?) he has come to earth and now seeks the only thing that can keep him alive - CAKE! Due to his absurdly rediculous size (measured by scientist to be somewhere around 75' - depending on his food intake at time of measurement), UGLY tends to make a mess of his search for food; destroying things and leaving rubble in his wake.

Each figure is made in Japan, measures slightly over 5 inches in height and will come bagged and header carded. I'm releasing the first two colors (unpainted) at the same time. Red and Yellow! The color swatches in the attached pics should match the Pantone requests I put in. I have been told to expect the casts by the end of August. 15 of each blank color-way. Painted one-offs and small runs will starting being available at SUPERFESTIVAL in Tokyo on September 25th!'





Many thanks to all the folks who have checked out, voiced interest, blogged about or otherwise helped in getting word out about this thing! YOU ROCK!

Also, I'll get a post up soon that details the ENTIRE process of sofubi production - start to finish - sculpt to vinyl casts - including PLENTY of photos and VIDEO! Have to make use of my new video editing software ;-) I just have to sort out my 'alien registration' stuff first!

UGLY PROTO

OK - quickest post EVER! I got pics from Velocitron of the WAX proto for the UGLY UNICRON sofubi figure! PSYCHED! Pre-sale in the shop soon for blanks - bright yellow and red, HEADER carded!!! Here are the pics!

THE GREAT JOURNEY BEGINS!

Hello all you most excellent people! This will be one of the last posts from a computer residing within the United States because I’m about to move to JAPAN!!! That’s right, RAMPAGE TOYS is up and moving to the ‘Toy Mecca,’ the home of Godzilla, Heddorah, King Ghidorah, and all those other great Giant Monsters – not to mention the birthplace of all the greatest Soft Vinyl toys EVER!

Not to worry though, this move only means great things for production. I’ll try to keep on top of the small resin releases. I’ll also be moving into the world of Soft Vinyl – releasing the UGLY UNICORN around the end of August! If you are in Japan, look for me at some of the upcoming shows – I’ll be at Super Festival with Velocitron (Ricky Wilson – who is doing the production work in Tokyo for the UGLY UNICORN) and his fellow Sofubi Producer ILANENA, and I’ll get more information up about that as soon as I have it! What I know now is that I’ll have a spread of OG paintings,Prints, Resin Toys and the first release of UGLY!!!

Since I’m outta here in only 2 weeks, I figured it’s a good time to get one last batch of work up in the shop! So, I’ll be adding some small paintings and some mini resin figures on Monday – July 25th – around 12 Noon Eastern Time (as I’m currently ON the East Coast). Here’s a little taste of what I’ll be adding to the shop:

A RAINBOW of Flex Packs. The last batch of the Flex Packs will come in 6 solid colors, all cast by me - RAMPAGE TOYS. The first sets I personally casts, the only sets to be cast in opaque resin and the last sets that will be made!

Another 'final batch' - the last release of the Cupcake Buddha V2.0! If you've been waiting to grab one (or another) of these guys, here's the last chance! V3.0 is in its infancy - perhaps late this year? Perhaps Vinyl? ;-)


Booska LOVES Cupcakes! So, yeah, he NEEDS Ramen Noodles to survive, but that doesn't men he doesn't love cupcakes! This is one of the pieces I did for the show at Cakespy in May. 5x7 - Pen, Watercolor and Acrylics on Archival Paper.

Another one of the pieces I did for the show at Cakespy in May; this is part of a series of 5 paintings - all with the same 'apple a day' theme. 5x7 - Pen, Watercolor and Acrylics on Archival Paper.

I'm sure I'll get one last update up before I head out of the country, so keep your eyes peeled!

アグリー ユニコーン Full Reveal!!!

Just a quickie here folks, and mostly pics! I sent the sculpt off to TOKYO for this guy. I expect it will get there in about a week, and we'll see test pulls (in VINYL!!!) in about 2 months! More info soon! Here are the pictures of this guy in all his UGLY GLORY!!!!

アグリー ユニコーン !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little group shot for scale, and, well, FUN!

More info soon - as it rolls in from Japan ;-)