Toys are NOT evil

only those that cost a tonne and immediately leave you with buyers remorse are evil...

anyway... since i'm researching toys as an excuse to make my own toy AND link in with the ones i already own (like Kidrobot things and stuff by Ledbetter and Burgerman) I thought I best post some of these things so I'm not having to constantly refer to them and print out pages and pages of them in my sketchbooks/research folders...

Toys are Evil blog: http://toysrevil.blogspot.com/
basically all the recent and freshest news on "executive toys" you could need... want to know what limited editions runs people are making? or want to see sneak peeks from your fave designers... well here is the best place, because 9 out of 10 times... you cant afford them... (Ashely Wood's WWR Bertie.. goin for approx $250... WHY!?)

Computer Arts: http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials
I also spend a tonne of my free time looking at tutorials, not on how to achieve specific styles but techniques... I recently joined the tutsplus network for a month jsut to have access to their archive of tutorials and resources... anyway... before that I used to buy computer/digital art mags almost religiously... luckily they now post the majority of their tutorials on their websites.. and in particular I found these tutorials, of which two I shall definitely be abusing in this coming year....

how to digitally sculpt a vinyl figure : http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/3d__and__animation/digitally_sculpt_a_vinyl_character

how to ACTUALLY sculpt a vinyl figure : http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/cast_a_designer_toy
(luckily my girlfriend has most of the knowledge and equipment to do this too)

I'm also very interested in character, hence my previous posts and why i like all the toys featured in the links here... I've been playin with Illustrator to try improve some of my own creations by following some of these tutorials...
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/2d__and__photoshop/14_brilliant_character_design_tutorials

and I dont know if any of you know of this technology yet... but its gonna be freakin awesome when it kicks off... (a link to Sam Buxton's love of technology here too)
http://www.computerarts.co.uk/tutorials/new_media/work_with_augmented_reality
this almost feels like it could be the next step in the video game industry or even toy/board game industry...





with almost every household having access to a computer and the internet.. all else that is needed is a webcam and.. hey presto... your own augmented reality...






although its a fairly new technology... it was only a matter of time....



other places to look at and dream about buying toys:

Richard Goodall Gallery (Manchester) @ http://www.richardgoodallgallery.com/rggstore/index.php

KidRobot @ http://kidrobot.com/

Urban Retro @ http://www.urbanretro.co.uk/designer-vinyl-toys-figures.html

My Plastic Heart @ http://www.myplasticheart.com

Vinyl Pulse @ http://www.vinylpulse.com/


Some of my fave artists so far:

Joe Ledbetter @ http://www.joeledbetter.com/mainpage.html

Ashley Wood @ http://www.threeaonline.com/ and http://www.bambalandstore.com/

Jon Burgerman @ http://www.jonburgerman.com/Shop/

Flying Fortress @ http://www.teddytroops.net/
(for my own reference : http://flying-fortress.blogspot.com/search/label/Teddy%20Troops)