Dr. Mario Virus Dunny Set

I wanted to work on a fun little side project before I started my next client piece. I'd been playing Dr. Mario on my old SNES (yes, I have a Super Nintendo) over the holidays last year and noticed that the three little viruses were pretty cool little characters. Following the along the same lines as the Dig Dug trio I completed earlier this year, I figured creating this virus set was a no brainer. I have a few more ideas for some custom mini sets, but I will be picking up my next commission this week so the fun side projects will have to be put on the back-burner once again.

Dig Dug Dunnys

So once all my 2008 show commitments were complete around November last year, I started working on commissions again. To keep from burning out, I like to work on some 3-inch customs just for fun while I'm working on projects for clients. Since everyone always wants Spade-Skulls, it's nice when I can turn out some small customs that are different once in a while. I have a list of custom ideas that I'm hoping to get to one day, but since I'll probably be painting commissions for another couple years, if I ever expect them to see the light of day they'll have to be in mini form. This newest set of minis is from that list. Dig Dug was one of my favorite video games when I was growing up. I remember spending hours at the arcade on just a couple of quarters, constantly glued to this game. With all the incredible video game consoles these days, the simplicity of games like Dig Dug probably wouldn't hold many folk's attention now. But I have very fond memories of this game (as well as many other 8-bit games) and still play it once in a while. So I decided to pay tribute to it by creating this little set of 3-inch custom Dunnys.

Update- These little guys got a quick feature on Toysrevil- thanks Andy!

Final Custom Toys of 2008

Here are my last custom toys for 2008. I'm neck deep right now in a very large commission and I'm also starting to think over ideas for some upcoming shows in 2009, so I've been taking little breaks here and there by working on these two little guys. The one on the left has a pearl white base color, with red and gold. The one on the right is plain white, with Black and orange. I still enjoy working on 3-inch Dunnys and have some cool ideas for some non-Spade-Skull designs that hopefully will see the light of day early next year. If all goes well I'll be starting on some more over the holidays while I continue on the commissions and show pieces. Most likely this will be my last post of 2008, so Happy Holidays to all and I'll see you in 2009. Cheers!

New Spade-Skull Mini Dunnys

Here are some new 3-inch Dunny customs I just finished up. I like to paint minis once in a while. I use them as a way to relax while I'm working on other projects. I try to have at least one mini in progress while I'm working on various commissions and show pieces. They're so small I can turn them around a lot faster, which is nice when I'm consistently working on the same large piece for weeks on end. These four little guys have been in a various stages of completion since the beginning of summer. After I finished my custom Stitch, I decided to take a little break and finish these guys up. I was in a flocking mood for a while, so most of my recent minis have been flocked, and I followed suit with three of these four. The little black and white one was supposed to be a Halloween skeleton guy, but the 31st came and went really fast. Anyway, I'm already back plugging away at my commission list, but I'm hoping to turn out a couple more minis before the end of the year. Stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

So it's now 2008 and already it's shaping up to be a very busy year. I stopped taking on commissions late last year in hopes I could slowly catch up on my list, but with 2008 shows and possible SDCC commitments, it's still going to be a long wait for all the folks waiting very patiently for a custom piece. On top of that, I really hoped 2008 would be the year I could work on some personal pieces that have been on my mind for the last couple years now- we'll just have to see how it all pans out.

I had also intended to redesign my website over the holidays- if you happened to check it out recently you'll notice it still looks the same. While I toyed around with some redesign ideas in my head, the actual focus over the holidays was updating my Actionscript so that all my galleries would be generated from external XML files. My site galleries were already pretty Actionscript heavy, and each time I added new content meant me having to add info to data arrays in the Actionscript and republish the site- not fun. It really started getting big and ugly, so I figured it was about time to clean things up a bit and get on the XML bandwagon. Anyway, the code is all set, and I just need to convert one more gallery to XML, and then I switch gears and think about the redesign again.

On the art front, I took a little time and posted a 2007 retrospective of all my custom toy and artwork on the Kidrobot Discussion Board. You can see the thread here. It's always fun seeing them all in one spot- makes me feel like I actually accomplished something last year :) I also have a show coming up on the 25th- the "Get A Grip!" Custom Moneygrip show at myplasticheart in New York. If you happen to be in the area you should check it out. No sneak peaks of my piece here either- you'll all have to wait for the show. And last but not least, I have a new interview up on the ToyToons website here. Enjoy!

The Artist Formerly Known As...

So I finally got around to changing my username on the Kidrobot Discussion Board. Okay, so you didn't even know I wanted to change my name huh? Well, here's the story.
Back when I first joined the KR board in early 2006, I wanted to stick with a username I could easily remember. Well, since I used "ryanc44" for my Yahoo IM name/email (yes, now all you stalkers will be able to find me on IM now), I figured I'd use a modified version of that- hence rc44 was born.
Fast forward to about a year ago- as I started getting some recognition for my art and custom work through the board, I realized that my username is what people remembered me by, not necessarily by my real name. Then one day I just decided to Google "rc44" to see what popped up. Low and behold I had a few entries on the search results, but the majority were all about a racing sailboat. Huh? Yeah, that's what I was saying to myself. Anyway, I didn't give it much thought beyond that, and it faded away.
So fast forward to about two months ago. I started to notice that a few old people on the Kidrobot discussion board seemed to have new names. Now it didn't appear that they had created brand new accounts all over again, but in turn their old accounts had been updated with new names. This got me thinking. Why not see if I could get my current "sailboat" username updated to something actually meaningful- like my website name? Now that's an idea... So as of today, rc44 will only be known as a sailboat, and reactor88 is now the guy on the Kidrobot Discussion Board that makes the Spade-Skull custom toys. Yeah, I figure it will confuse some people for a little bit, but that small setback will be worth it in the long run. Heaven forbid I decide to change the name of my website on day...

Big Rump Vinyl

I got a big rump vinyl DIY Qee Bear on Sunday. First off, you're probably asking why I said "big rump". Well, on the Kidrobot messageboard, they've got some sort of word substitutor that exchanges any "bad" words you type and posts alternate words. Most people swear to evoke some sort of emphasis with what they say, so I find it pretty funny that those words usually get substituted with some sort of toned down version. For instance, ass = rump. So if I were to say Big Ass Vinyl, the message board would translate that to Big Rump Vinyl. Funny. Anyway, I totally digressed there. What you're seeing in the picture is my new buddy- a 16" DIY Qee Bear that (best part) I got for free. Yes free. Well, not quite- I did have to take a painting break on Sunday and drive down to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica and take part in the "Find the Boo" contest that a fellow Kidrobot message board member put on. Surprisingly, I came in second, but still won the (literally) biggest prize that was offered. Once again, big thanks to Mark (you know who you are) for going out of his way and setting up this fun little Sunday afternoon jaunt.