Toy Art Gallery opened 'Karoshi' on Friday evening, featuring the wild, inventive, and refreshingly askew sofubi stylings of two gaijin, Grody Shogun and Velocitron, making their toy dreams a thriving reality. The pair have been working overtime risking Karoshi --Japanese for death by overworking, on a large number of pieces including original creations from both artists and collaborative mashups. The mashups juxtapose Velocitron's visceral aesthetic with its spine tingling intensity and Grody's easy-going, happy go lucky characters.

The show includes numerous custom painted one-off pieces as well as small-run editions, a few of which sold-out before I took these shots. There's plenty of goodness left including a few of Grody's yellow TAG edition Monsters, one of which I couldn't resist. Plus, word is that the boys are cranking on follow-on editions of the sold-out figures. While neither artist was able to make the trip from Japan, they did the next best -- a live video Skype connection. In addition to chatting with collectors, the partners in crime also made customs on the spot with suggestions from the audience. Very cool.

Catalan artist Quim Tarrida made his first trip to the USA from Barcelona for Friday evening's opening of 'If you Blink, You'll Miss it' @ Toy Art Gallery on Melrose. The exhibition features Tarrida's toy-like sculptures done in ceramic and for the larger pieces such as the giant 'The Soldier' (above) and the TAG produced 'Monkey Knows', in fiberglass. The work has an innocent look about it with a darker core, as the artist's intent in part, is to convey the subliminal and persuasive power of play things. As a nice touch, the work is displayed in style with a bubble themed installation that covers the interior and flows out onto the gallery's exterior.

KaNO dropped his OG Dragon King (Kuso Vinyl) at Munky King on Black Friday. He signed and doodled for fans. Clad in blue, the 8" figure is limited to 250 pieces and is available at Munky King now for $65 and will soon be available at your favorite toy spot. Also, for you AP seekers kaNO will drop his supply tonight @ 8 pm. Check it out -- one of the best releases of 2011, kaNO's signature tribute to the martial arts icon.

On Saturday, Munky King released the original edition of Yoskay Yamamoto's 'Screaming for the Sunrise' vinyl figure at its Melrose location. Yoskay was on-hand to sign and sketch for collectors. He also showed several sweet small paintings. Based on the original painting, the OG edition is limited to 700 pieces and is available at munkyking.com for $95. Also, Look for it at your favorite toy spot shortly.

New Bay Area tech startup Dekko pulled back the curtains on a wild, hard to succinctly describe, yet mesmerizing new mobile phone app during the opening of Huck's 11/10 show at Toy Art Gallery. The as yet unreleased app leverages software technology originally developed for cruise missile guidance and the iPhone camera to enable Huck's 3d characters to roam around the real world. The characters magically move naturally around and over objects in the physical environment, on the fly. Seeing a demo video in which the monkey like character scrambles up the face of a tent-fold brochure on a desk was eye opening. 3d edge detection from a single camera powered by a mobile CPU? Apparently so. Due for release in the new year, Dekko seems poised to change how people perceive and interact with virtual characters. It's only fitting, that Huck is on the cutting edge of this new entertainment experience. Learn more at Dekko.co.

Huck Gee opened '11/10', a retrospective tour de force of his brilliant custom toy visions, @ TAG on Thursday to a large crowd. Huck has single handedly created the market for limited-edition hand-made customs. While we've often marveled at his creativity, skill, and longevity over countless releases, his work is best appreciated here, shown as a collective, evolved whole. The centerpiece of the show is without a doubt the herd of custom, hand-sculpted and hand rotocast elephants complete with munny world riders/gunners/procession. As nice as the four smaller pieces are, the massive alpha dog is heads and shoulders above. Speaking of show stoppers, 11/10 marked the debut of a series of extremely limited giant Skullhead sculptures realized in fiberglass, produced by TAG. Several color editions will follow the OG white. Sales of customs, the new art book, and the exclusive Red Kabuki and Kitsune Dunny 2-pack were brisk. If you missed the opening, there's still a small stock of books, Dunnys and show apparel remaining. Don't miss Friday's signing from 6 to 8 pm. It all ends Sunday, don't miss out.

For DCon, Munky King unleashed a dual dose of Yoskay Yamamoto's 'Screaming for the Sunrise'. First up was the shiny metallic red DCon exclusive limited to 20 pieces with a retail of $200. Closing things out, MK offered a tantalizing glimpse of the future with the unveiling of the upcoming OG production edition, based on the painting. Very cool. Look for it on 11.19.11.

Doktor A made the trans-Atlantic trip for the second year in a row to attend DCon. His newest vinyl creation made the trip as well, in proto form. Chester Runcorn is currently in production from Kuso Vinyl. The tripedal wonder is shown here in two colorways.

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DCon_Doktor_As_Chester_Runcorn.zip (644 KB)

Designer Con 2011 drew a strong crowd eager to get in to check out the toy exclusives, art and more. Here's a quick look at the show -- some artists, booths and the Suckathon, blogged on site.

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Gary Baseman was joined by Toby, the Keeper of Secrets, one of his Magi, and his lovely mother for a signing of the new 'Toby's Secret Society' minis at Kidrobot Los Angeles on Thursday Evening. The new minis are quite nice. Our favorite has to be the wee, cat-like and nameless Toby's Disciple. The event drew a crowd eager to pickup the new toys and to get a sketch, many of which were done on unfolded blind-boxes.