Prints and Trades

Greetings!!! - after a period of silence...

Hope all are well out in the internets there ;-) RAMPAGE TOYS is plotting away on many new and exciting things - including NEW toys, new ART and new languages! IN anticipation of an upcoming release, I'm trying my very bestest to acquire a bit of Japanese language skill - with hopes of getting some stuff in the Japanese market! They do have the best toys EVER after-all!

So, that covers the new languages bit. Now to the new ART bit (and some pictures - since that's what everyone wants to see anyway!). I finished making a whole bundle of monotypes and stencil prints recently, and here are a couple for your viewing pleasure. The two robots are BIG (2.5 x 3 feet) monotypes. The set-up for these things took over an hour each - and that's AFTER cutting out the stencils. It can all be messed up with one bad pass through the printing press, but these two 'made it out alive.' YAY! This in 'On-Off-Bot in Silver and Black':

Also, in recent news, the awesome and prolific designer and toy maker UAMOU (Ayako Takagi) and I did a little toy trade - 1 for 1. She got a RAMPAGE TOYS Jelly-O resin toy, and sent a fluorescent orange Uamou vinyl toy (one of her MANY sold-out Uamou designs) my way! Here's a pic of the little guy (left) - along with a couple of his friends:

And last but not least- new TOYS - a sneak peak of something new that I'm working on right now (literally!). A new RAMPAGE TOY for release early this summer - and to be sold at the 'Indie Banditas Bazaar' - June 26th 2010 in Port Townsend, Washington - be there!

SkullyBoom PVC Entry!

Hallo Leute! (That's 'Hey guys' in German...)

So, last month Lief over at Delicious Drips invited me to take part in the Skullyboom PVC (Poly-Vinyl Cranium) show/contest; so of course I jumped on it - despite the somewhat short notice. I was asked to choose a Skullyboom DIY skully and make some magic happen ;-) The result: "Octo's New Home"!!!! This toy was inspired by a small acrylic painting I did - some time back - of a little purple octopus - 'Octo.' Now octo has taken up residence inside a glow in the dark skull! He's even got some barnacles and a starfish to keep him company. YAY!

If you've got a moment, please head on over to the following link and vote for 'Octo's New Home'! It's quick and easy :-)

http://deliciousdrips.com/submissions/submission.php?i=407

This guy was sculpted onto using armatron wire, Super Sculpey and Kneadatite, masked and splattered with spray paint, then finished off with many many layers of acrylic paints, washes and inks - plus a little glow in the dark paint on the eye. I'm psyched on the results! The tentacles feel like they have good movement going on, and the GID plastic contrasts well with the purple tentacles - don't you think? Enough chatter - here are the pics!

The requisite Toy-Full-Frontal-Shot! YAR!

Detail of the eye and skin texture - that's 5+ layers of purple and pink!

Barnacles!!!!!

He GLOWS!!!!

Thanks for checking in! As always, there are lot of things going on in the RAMPAGE TOYS universe. I'll be releasing some print art for sale soon, and designs are near complete on a production plastic toy that will be manufacture in the USA!!! That's right - keeping it national! Head on over to the RAMPAGE TOYS flickr page for updates and A LOT more RAMPAGE TOYS and ART!

Dunny-Monaut Custom!

Hello!

So, finally I'm able to post about this rediculous toy that has taken me over a month and a half to complete! It seemed at every turn I was running into an issue with the various found objects I was using - or I just kept on having more and more new ideas, and couldn't make up my mind how to move forward!

Anyway, here it is - My RAMPAGE Dunny-Monaut (think 'Cosmonaut' but for Dunny) Custom!!! The body on this guy is a Mini-Munny, and the head (inside the helmet) is a Dunny. Here I used the left-over parts from last December when I made 'Kawaii' (check out the January post "Kawaii!" to see where the other parts got to). The hinged helmet opening was tricky, and took numerous attempts to get right... I eventually came accross a small make-up compact that wass the right size, and only took a hour or so of dremel work to perfect. All of the sculpting was done with Kneadatite 'Green Stuff,' combined with found objects, some plastic card and some masking tape here and there. The paint is primarily sprayed on (gray then blue then white), leaving some areas less covered and some more 'splattered' looking. The rest is acrylics. The Dunny head was painted and floced (yay! fuzzy bunny!). Anyway, enjoy! I'm psyched on the results and welcome any and all comments!

Here's the full-frontal view - helmet closed to keep the out of the vaccum of space!!!!!

...And here's te open-helmet-view. The hinge moves smooth like butta'.

Dunny-Monaut has three kills - so far... I used waterslide decals for these skulls and some of the other tiny details. The gun was modified from the full sized Munny accessory, then masked, sprayed and detailed with acrylics.

Detail of the LASER OF DOOM - note the 'power-o-meter' and the two buttons for either 'mame' or 'destroy'

Here's Dunny-Monaut himself - Handlebar Moustache and all! Watch out!

Check out the RAMPAGE TOYS Flickr page for more photos - including documentation of this fella in the making. I'm also working on about 5 other custom toys at the moment - including one for the upcoming PVC Show (hosted by Delicious Drips and Skully Boom). Stay tuned for more toys and art from RAMPAGE TOYS!!!

Famous People + RAMPAGE = AWESOME!!!

Hello Again out there in Internet Land!

Well, as the title of this post suggests, RAMPAGE TOYS has been on the go and 'working' in the presence of some massive celebrities! Yeah! So, yeah, they might not be known to all people in all lands the world over, but these people are known to me and MANY MANY others within the two most righteous circles of coolness: Toys and Sci-Fi! What more DOES one need!?!?!?

First, in early January, Mr. Huck Gee payed Seattle (AKA - 'Rampage-toys-town') a visit; gracing the premis of Seattle's own little toy and plush source - Schmancy Toys. Having heard that Huck would be heading north to Seattle from the Bay Area, I decided it was high time to prepare a toy for him to sign and doodle upon. I had this Trexi lying about the place, and had no plans for it, so it got a smattering of pinkish spray-can tones, and off it went to the artist's signing! I then took the little guy and added some acrylics and a nice thick clear-coat. Awesome! Here's all the photo evidence:

Huck himself - doin' a doodle in the RAMPAGE TOYS sketch book. A trusty can of Ranier (pronounced: "Ron-yay" of course) nearby.

Trexi from the front. Some smooth paint and Huck's signature doodle on the belly. Very Nice!

Huck x RAMPAGE. YEAH!

Paint splatters. Precise AND random! umm.. that makes sense, right?

More recently (i.e. last week) RAMPAGE TOYS filled an order from a modern literary mastermind of sci-fi - Kij Johnson - winner of the 2009 World Fantasy Award for her short story '26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss'! (read it here!) This lovely lady put in an order for two yummy yummy cupcakes from RAMPAGE series one, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that she was psyched to get them! Here's some pics from delivery day:

Kij and her cupcakes! YAY!

Coffe and Cupcakes? But wait, the cupcakes are taking bites out of YOU!

As, always, there's a ton in the works - including some 2d Artwork, and more toys. Check back in the next couple of weeks for more from RAMPAGE TOYS! In the meantime, feel free to check out the flickr page for photo updates.

Jelly-O and Punkin Pie REVEALED

Finally, here for your reading pleasure: The storied pasts of Jelly-O and Punkin Pie!

Punkin Pie: After a long stint as a juvenile pumpkin on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Punkin Pie finally grew up and joined the ranks of pie-dom! Having achieved the ranking of black belt in his karate class, and master gardener at the lovely Longwood Gardens, Punkin Pie hit the road in serach of new adventureS. He now travels the world making friends in youth hostels and inns, and teaching them the way of the Punkin. Turns out we all have much to learn...


Jelly-O: Jelly-O is the most savage of all the RAMPAGE characters! His sharp teeth and 132.77 psi jaw clamping capacity make him a toe biting terror, so you'd better watch out! Jelly-O wants nothing more than to play the ukulele, and therefore lives a life of frustration - he has no arms!!! He takes out his angst on unsuspecting children, who run away in fear once they realize that the Jello-snack they though they just found was in fact a ravenous monster with sharp pointy teeth and NO MERCY! BE AFRAID!


NEWS FLASH: RAMPAGE TOYS are now for sale in the Rampage Toys ETSY page! Just search 'rampagetoys' on www.etsy .com or go to http://www.rampagetoys.etsy.com/

More soon on the RAMPAGE BLOG! MUCH MORE!!!

PLUSH!!!!

Welcome to a new RAMPAGE blog posting!!! I hope this finds you all well, and surrounded by mounds of RAMPAGE toys and other such awesomeness!!!

Anyway, after being in the works for ages, the RAMPAGE plush series is in production and out for sale. These cute, cuddly, fuzzy (and ankle-biting) fellahs are up for sale at Monster Art and Clothing (<--click for more info) in Ballard, Seattle. They will also be up for grabs on the new RAMPAGE TOYS Etsy page (http://rampagetoys.etsy.com/). Bear with me while I get things up there, and do feel free to contact me if you need a cuddly companion immediately!

Marketing jargon aside - here it is: the first run of the RAMPAGE plush line - fresh off the sewing machine!!!! We've got Choco-chip, B-Scotty, Cupcake and Jellyo (who you'll be introduced to in an upcoming post - I know, you were worried).


Above: my wonderful RAMPAGE assistant, hard at work on the Singer! Making toys is FUN!!!

Also, don't forget t get you RAMPAGE TOYS t-shirt! You can send me a blank shirt to screen print, or put in an oder for a size and prefered color.

Just e-mail rampage.toys@yahoo.com !!!!!

Storytime Continues!

Time for more RAMPAGE profiles!

This time around you'll get the nitty-gritty on Devil Dawg, Choco-Bar and Choco-Chip - the 'Choco-Fiend-Trio'!!!! So, without further ado:

Devil Dawg: Cast from the depths of HELL (actually the subburbs of Northern Jersey, but what IS the difference really?...) by plaintive neighboors, after throwing one too many wild parties, Devil Dawg fled to greener pastures in the greater Pacific Northwest. Free from a stressful existence amidst his Drakes Cakes Fraternity (<--yes, this is hyperlinked), he discovered the wonders of the mountains and the relaxing company of new friends. Devil Dawg now spends his days plotting world dominion and sipping Mac'n Jacks along with his partners in crime: Choco-Bar and Choco-Chip.

Choco-Bar: At some point, this tasty fellah' found himself boarding a ship in Brazil bound for Portland, Oregon. What attracted him there? Was it the vibrant music scene, the myriad of watering holes, or the moderate climate? - all of the above? What we know for sure is that Choco-Bar knows how to rock out on the drums, and his penchant for loud music eventually led him to team up with Devil Dawg and Choco-Chip to form the 'Choco-Fiend-Trio.'

Choco-Chip: Grandma Fruxbee of the UP, Michigan was terrified when one day she opened her oven to behold Choco-Chip and his sharp pointy teeth!!! Like many hip Midwesterners who yearn to escape lulling boredom and snowy winters, Choco-Chip joined the western migration to Seattle (<-- also hyperlinked). The long rainy season of his new home provided ample opportunity to hone his rockin' guitar skills. Choco-Chip loves mexi-fries and pop!





Up Next: Punkin' Pie and Jell-o, and some tasty RAMPAGE plush!!!