ThePeteToys: Chalky!

My first ever custom toy made way back in 2006:
[simpleviewer gallery_id="2"]
Chalky started out life as an 8-inch KidRobot Munny blank. I used blackboard paint and chalk (big surprise) and he really works as a blackboard! I still want to do a Munny that allows for dry-erase markers to be used on it :)

toys.thepete.com: End Life Crisis

toys.thepete.com: End Life Crisis, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

I designed this for the Mimoco DIY Vimobot contest. I didn't even place :( But I'm happy with the design nonetheless. I think I do pretty well with a few sharpies and some vinyl. :)

See, the idea of the contest was to create a design that would be used for one of their thumb drives. My thought was that the metal electrocution cap on this guy would be the cap of the USB so when you plugged ELC into your USB port, he'd look like he was all nervous about being plugged into your computer--like the 3 volts a USB port puts out was going to kill him.

I guess not everyone has the same sense of humor about capital
punishment that I do.

Check out more pics of my End Life Crisis piece, including progress shots and even some original sketches for this and other Vimobot designs, in the Flickrset for this project:

flickr.com/photos/thepete/sets/72157601673268083/

ThePeteToys: Stripe-B

Stripe-B Flickrset, originally uploaded by thepetecom.

As my long-timers know, one of my passions is custom toy design. I don't do it as much as I'd like, so I guess it ends up being a hobby thanks to that whole "pursuit of money" thing. But get me in a room with a blank DIY vinyl and a wad of Sharpie pens and I'm a happy, happy guy.

So, here's another piece from the archives--I finished it back in January of 2008.

"Stripe-B" started out life as a blank DIY Baby Qee Devil Toyer from Toy2R. He was created because I wanted a counterpart to Stripe-R whom you can see at the end of the photoset or you can check out Stripe-R's own photoset here: flickr.com/photos/thepete/sets/721576014 92854661/

ThePeteToy EyeRobot (in progress)

When I'm not blogging about politics and current events, I like to have FUN by designing custom toys. There's a great feeling of control you get from drawing on a white piece of pre-molded vinyl or plastic. It's a feeling you just don't get from everyday life.

You know, that feeling you can control anything at all, ever. :)

Above is a screencap of a Flickr photoset I just created featuring progress shots of a piece called "EyeRobot."

He started out life as a blank Egg Qee I picked up at the Giant Robot store here in Manhattan.

Not sure where I was coming from as the design developed in my head, but I started drawing and the first thing that came to me was that big eye.

He's basically done, but I have to apply a clear coat and then put him together.

See the pictures in my Flickr photoset here: http://flickr.com/…394893430/

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ThePeteToys: Daruma-Kun

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a bit of a Japanophile. So, naturally, Japanese themes pop up in my art, regardless of what it is. My novels often have Japanese elements in them and, likewise, my custom toy work does, too.

This piece is called "Daruma-Kun." It combines a couple of different elements. First, it takes a blank Baby Toyer Qee (the Toyers have a skull-head) and then adds the karate uniform (I should have gone with a yukata, a common robe, like a kimono). The head is my interpretation of a daruma.

A daruma is a Japanese doll (really just an oddly shaped, hollow ball) painted to look like the founder of Zen, a guy called Bodhidharma.

The eye-sockets are left blank until you are ready to make a wish. As you draw a pupil on the right eye you wish for something. Once your wish comes true, you fill in the left eye. Then, on the next New Years Eve you go to a shrine and set your daruma on fire as an offering to god(s) to prove you stuck with your wish.

Maybe "wish" is the wrong word. "Goal" is better.

Normally, daruma don't have arms and legs, so Daruma-Kun is a little different. Also, I won't be burning this one as he's made of vinyl and might be the messiest daruma at the shrine. There is a bit more to daruma rituals that you can check out at Wikipedia.org here: http://en.wikipedia.org/…iki/Daruma

I'm thinking about making more of these and selling them on eBay--I love the idea of things that help you stay true to your goals. I've seen that Japanese film and television productions will often have huge daruma around to symbolize a successful show or movie. I really dig that.

Anyway, so you can check out close ups of Daruma-Kun at my toy site: http://toys.thepete.com/
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ThePeteToy/Hack: The RoBunny USB hub+Flash drive

Here is another one of my custom DIY vinyl toy projects. This one is called the RoBunny and not only is he a toy, he's also a hack! He started out life as a blank DIY Baby Qee bunny from Toy2R. However, when I held my Ridata-brand flash drive and 2-port USB hub combo up to this guy's head I realized that I could hack him into a cybernetic toy. ^_^

Now he works great as a triple purpose accessory for my desk of gadgets! It's a toy, a USB thumb drive AND a 2-port USB hub! Pretty, cool, huh? OH yeah, he's also got an evil looking eye that lights up when he's plugged in, which I really think is cool.
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My Latest Blank...

Found this blank the other night at a weird store in east Hollywood called Soap Plant Wacko. It's an I,WZL blank that I've been wanting for about a year but they were sold out or too expensive at any of the online vendors I usually buy from. SPW had it for $6 because it was a display model. It is a little dirty, but once it's under a layer of Sharpie ink, it won't know the difference. ^_^

If anyone wants to see what I've done to other blank, DIY toys, check out my customs collection on Flickr, here: http://tinyurl.com/yte5x4
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