New he-men from epay...

Moss man (I got the soft and hard head versions in a two for one sale.)

And Dragstor minus his rip chord, but I may have it in my he man stash.

I still have more to go on this collection, but I am not in a big hurry to get them all.

Just one of the things that keep me amused for now.

Masters of the universe was past my generation but my cousins had them and I worked on

This kind of character art for years. I dig moss man but isn't he another version of beast man?

I think my fave is Grizzlor so far. Again I don't know all of them yet and sometimes I watched the

Cartoon after school, but they put me to sleep sometimes and I dont remember most of them,

But I have time to learn.

November 2014 flea market finds

I found a matchbox cow truck to go along with my matchbox bird dog truck.

I found a Jane West Marx figure... I have always seen her at flea markets with her hands missing, but this one had them and I bundled her with Jean Luc Piccard (he goes with my new kiss alive megos) I got them both for 8 bucks.

I bought a few other vintage matchbox cars and a vintage light up blow mold Santa to display at my shoppe for Christmas. I heard some great stories and Sharon got some plants and signed up to get organic produce delivered to us every two weeks.

The sun was out and next time I won't forget sunscreen. Hopefully rain will come someday soon, but since it did not rain this November we had a nice day at the flea.

Get your grandma outta here!

This holiday season is going to be full of food. To stay on track and eat sensible I rewarded myself early with some Kiss dolls! (Action figures? ...I think these are more like dolls) these are made by figures toy company to look like the old 8 inch Mego figures like batman and superman from the 70s. They never made the 8 inch Kiss version (they were made by Mego but were made from 12 inch figures from that time like sonny and Cher and captain and tennile) I remember when the Kiss figures came out I borrowed some change from my moms purse and used my allowance to get my Ace Frehley doll which I still own. I took it to school for show and tell and 3 other friends obviously had the same idea and at show and tell we had all four present. I was told to keep it in my desk which I didn't and when the teacher told me to put it away or lose it I slammed it into my desk and broke his knee (which remains that way today). I was into Kiss for awhile by the time they came out and what I really wanted was an 8 inch version of the figures with the suits from the "Alive" double live lp. I always liked the look of the band in the early days because that's when they sacred the world with how they looked. If you wore a Kiss shirt at school you had to own it. Many kids got tormented for being Kiss fans. Kiss fans looked out for other Kiss fans though. The way you found out more about them was by magazines you got at the liquor of grocery store. The records made you use your imagination what a Kiss concert would be like. I remember tv shows like "the land of hype and glory" the awesome Paul Lynde Halloween special and staying up all nite to watch Don Kirshner's Rock concert at slumber parties and seeing the tv commercial for the upcoming "Alive 2" which after it came out we got the first Kiss megos. All these years later I do admit I really like these new toys and finally in the Alive outfits. This time they really look like all four of them and me being an artist the detail in the makeup design is one of the biggest things that made me want to draw. The records had tales of the promised land ahead which was being old enough to get into trouble. Those records still bring me back to my old room. I love to collect toys still. I love the hunt for them even more. If you do too then you understand. It's not always a nostalgia thing. Occasionally I buy a new toy or figure but honestly I don't have the room for them (or the wallet) anymore. I am thankful I have the things I do, but most importantly I have my dog and let's not forget my lovely wife who owns half of it all. This guy is grateful!

Holy Bat Toys!

I am a Batman fan. I like most versions of bob Kane's main man. I dig the old tv show although too much of it can cause color camp overload. I dig Burton's bat as well. I have wanted a carded burton batman for a long time and got one last week for ten bucks. The Hykari toys are based off of Japanese toys and the paint jobs and treatments are just so cool I could not resist them. I will say that turtles are not really my generations toys, but for a few weekends long ago I worked on the original turtles sculpting the legs and the April figure for a toy sculpting company so I do dig those toys. I also worked for years doing a kids clothing line that I developed characters for toys as well which is why I like action figures like Masters of the universe too. My buddies and I skipped school a lot and watched Heman while getting Irie often so I remember that cartoon and thundercats. (The sculpting place worked on thundercats too). I have always wanted to shop for toys in Japan and last week I got the two hikari toys as my imaginary vacation. I added a few other bat toys I got a awhile back too...

Hello toy fans! Let's get it started!

October 13, 2014 Monday

I am always aware that life is short and toys and inspiration comes and goes. In case it all gets away from me this spot will be there to remember... I always hunt for toys any place I am. Grocery store, gas station, mega store, flea market, record shop, thrift store etc... I have different hunt moods. Sometimes I look for the vintage toys from a specific era (60's 70's and 80's in my mind are the prime years for toys.) I also look for records, art books, guitars and "smalls" (little things of interst that fit in your hand). Some times I look for something funny. Sometimes I look for something unwanted or uncool (sometimes it's hip to be square...ask Huey Lewis he's got the news). Here goes...

Got this Star Trek next gen ship at What we call The Lttle Flea in Old Torrance which is a once a month ritual for our family. Had a Star Wars Tie Pilot inside. Still has lights and sound too. Seven bucks? Yep.

Got this at La Luz De Jesus in Hollywood to custom paint with glow glitter years ago. I showed it in an art show years ago too....

Got this from my wife's cousin two years go for Christmas...I think they were from warner shop.

Got these long ago at LaLuz... They are after Japanese Kaiju I think. They were sold in "blind boxes" which means you don't know what you get until you open them. They are based off of art by peter bagge, Gary panter, rockin jellybean and Jim woodring all some of the best modern artists going today. This is in my living room for years now.