RAMPAGE TOYS in BALLARD!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Prior to the Christmas Holiday RAMPAGE TOYS were unveiled en Masse at MONSTER Art and Clothing in beautiful downtown Ballard. This super cool shop stocks a ton of fantastic art - all creations of local (to the greater Seattle area) artists. Stop in (5000 20th Avenue Northwest) or check out the website (www.monsterartandclothing.com), and get yourself some RAMPAGE TOYS!!! Don't delay - the first edition of RAMPAGE is a limited run (numbering about 40 total), and they are selling like hotcakes!!!

Motivated by popular demand, the characters that are RAMPAGE TOYS will begin to develop personalities, and you'll learn all about them right here on the RAMPAGE blog. I'll cover a couple toys in a series of posts over the coming weeks. So, without further ado:

B-Scotty: This timid fellah has a soft side - but he'll still eat you! (a little at a time... if you let him...) B-Scotty weighs in at a massive 12.3 ounces; where DOES he put it all... so fit and healthy. WATCH OUT! He's gonna bite your little toe! Truth is, B-Scotty comes from a small town in Southern Italy, but has recently moved to Rome where he rents a nice hollowed out bust. He speaks Italian and a little german - this helps him handle all the tourists. His favorite movie is "Attack of the killer Tomatoes," and his favorite food is kittens - which he finda a plenty on the streets of Rome.

CUPCAKE: Sweet as can be, and full of chocolatey goodness, Cupcake is perhaps the star of the RAMPAGE series. With his razor sharp teeth and 15 ounce mass (he's a bit hefty.... but he IS snack food after all!) he can easily overwhelm unsuspecting infant mice, which just so happen to be his prefered dietary staple! Cupcake was born and raised by a family of Vanilla cupcakes, who shunned him and sent him out to face the world alone after realizing his ingredients would just never been like theirs... He now roams the streets of Seattle searching for something to make his life more complete. What is it? Will he ever find it? Will he even be happy if or when he does?....

Stay tuned for more RAMPAGE TOYS profiles and a Christmas Custom Munny! YAY TOYS!!!!

DC Universe Classics - Giganta

This will probably be my last review for 2009 so why not go out with the biggest action figure Mattel has given us in the DC Universe Classics line up so far.  The wave 8 collect and connect action figure - Giganta.

I was really looking forward to this figure.  I was a big fan of the Superfriends cartoon back in the day and I really would like to see all the Legion of Doom members get released sooner or later.  Giganta is well Gigantic.

Towering over the 6 inch Wonder Woman figure as well as wave 3's Solomon Grundy, Giganta stands at an impressive 10 inches tall. 

Giganta is not really complex as far as her costume goes but because she is so big, it allows for the little details to come out more. 

The paint job is great, especially in the hair.  Different shades and a darker wash highlight her hairstyle really well.  The face is also perfect.  A great determined expression and also quite beautiful.  There are no paint issues what so ever on this figure. 

Giganta sort of comes with an accessory but really, this is a Gentleman Ghost accessory and that is the very tiny action figure of The Atom.

Giganta's articulation is pretty good but actually not as articulate as some of the smaller female action figures.  For starters, the head can move but is limited due to the hair sculpt.  Not a big deal.  We've seen this issue with most female figures with the exception of maybe Harley and Catwoman.  But joints missing in action on Giganta are the abdominal joint and the waist joint.  Instead we have gotten a swivel joint at the chest.  Also a little different are the hip joints.  They are ball joints instead of the usual multi-moving hip joints we've see on most DCUC action figures.  Not sure if this has anything to do with the fact that my Giganta's legs are fairly loose and i find it difficult sometimes to get her to stand. 

Overall, Giganta is a GREAT Collect and Connect action figure.  She is huge, beautiful and a great Wonder Woman villain/LOD member to fill out your collection. 

Sculpt/Design - 10, Paint - 10, Accessories - 5, Articulation - 7, Fun - 9

Since Giganta is a CnC action figure, you technically have to buy the entire set DCUC wave 8 set to put her together.  You can however sometimes find someone selling her on eBay without the other action figures.  So follow the links below if you're looking to get you're very own DCUC Giganta action figure.

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics Giganta action figure on eBay, click here

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics wave 8 action figures on eBay, click here

Day 139: Artist's Special #4 - Keith Haring

Fourth in our artist-inspired series - Keith Haring...

Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s. Haring achieved his first public attention with chalk drawings in the subways of New York. His bold lines, vivid colors, and active figures carry strong messages of life and unity.

By expressing concepts of birth, death, love, sex and war, Haring's imagery has become a widely recognized visual language of the 20th century.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Haring toy!

Find out what's our next toy on our Facebook page!

Day 138: Artist's Special #3 - Kazimir Malevich

Third in our artist-inspired series - Kazimir Malevich...

Kazimir Malevich was a Russian painter and art theoretician of Polish descent, pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the Avant-garde Suprematist movement.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Malevich toy!

Warhol, Lichtenstien, Haring? Find out who's next in the Artist's series on our Facebook page!

Day 137: Artist's Special #2 - Piet Mondrian

Second in our artist-inspired series - Piet Mondrian...

Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter. He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism. This consisted of white ground, upon which was painted a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the three primary colours.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Mondrian toy!

Pollock, Matisse, Malevich? Find out who's next in the Artist's series on our Facebook page!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Fantastic Toys. Thank you all for visiting my blog and making comments. I wish the best for you and your family in 2010. I'm looking forward to the New Year and creating some fresh product. I'm already working on some new plush characters for Spring and Easter. Have a safe and fun holiday , see you next year!

DC Universe Classics Wave 13 Preview

Rumors of the DC Universe Classics wave 13 line up have been around for a while and finally we pictures of what this new wave of action figures will look like.  This wave has a heavy Teen Titans influence which may or may not appeal to you.  Lets take a look at the line up:

The first figure is the Blue Beetle.  Yes we had a Blue Beetle in Wave 7  but this figure is the Jaime Reyes version of the character.

Next Up - The Blue Devil

Here is the first action figure of the set with a variant: Negative Man

The next action figure also has a variant.  This is one of the more common Wonder Woman villans, Cheetah.  This is the modern version:

And here is the Cheetah variant in her "Superfriends" costume:

Next up is Wonder Girl aka Donna Troy:

And finally we have Superboy in his 90's look.

And the Collect and Connect action figure for wave 13 with be the Teen Titan Villian, Trigon.

So there you have it.  Your DC Universe Classics wave 13 line up.  Be sure to check out the polls on the left side of your screen and tell us what you think of this new line up.

DC Universe Classics - Two-Face (Gotham City 5 Pack)

Today's review will be the final action figure from the Wal-Mart Exclusive Gotham City 5 pack which was released a couple months back.  Two-Face.

Now this of course, is a repainted figure of the previously released Two-Face from Mattel's DC Superheroes toy line which was released back in the fall of 2007. 

There is one small difference between the two sculps.  The sculpt of Two-Face's left hand (the scared one) is different.

The face sculpt itself is exactly the same.  Obvously the paint job is much different.  The original DCSH Two-Face looks to be painted with a was to bring out the details of the scars but the GC5 Two-Face's skin is just painted in one shade of green.  A tad dissapointing.  Even the hair was not painted as nicely. 

Here is a close up of the hands sculpt below.  DCSH Two-Face has a deformed sculpted hand with scarring and the Gotham City 5 Two-Face just has a standard sculpted hand, most likely a re-used part with no scarring at all.

Ive touched on the paint job a bit but overall Two-Face has got a clean paint job, it just lacks detail compared to the DCSH Two-Face.  The face looks good but some shading and a dark wash would have really brought out the detail in the face more. 

Here is a side by side comparison of the two action figures.  Two-Face's articulation is of course the same as the DCSH version.  He generally has all the usual joints as an other DCUC action figures with the exception of an abdominal joint. 

As for accessories, Gotham City Two-Face does not come with anything at all, compared to DCSH Two-Face who came with a pretty cool Tommy Gun.  One major disappointment with the Gotham City 5 pack is that only one of the 5 figures comes with an accessory (Catwoman)

Overall Gotham City Two-Face is a good action figure but compared to Mattel's DC Superheroes Two-Face, it falls a bit short.  No accessories and an inferior paint job compared to the original sculpt places Gotham City Two-Face in 2nd place between the two figures.  If you only get one of the two, i would definitely suggest the original

Sculpt/Design - 7, Paint - 7, Articulation - 8, Accessories - 0, Fun -7

Both Two-Face action figures can be found on eBay.  GC Two-Face can usually be found sold loose or in the 5 pack on eBay.  DCSH Two-Face may be a bit harder to find since that action figure is two years old now. 

To find Mattel's DC Superheroes or DC Universe Two-Face action figures on eBay, click here

To find Mattel's DC Universe Classics Gotham City 5 pack on eBay, click here.

Day 136: Artist's Special #1 - Pablo Picasso

Over the next few days, I'll be posting a series of artist-inspired toys as a tribute to the artists I admire. Today, I present you the great Spanish artist Pablo Picasso...

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He is one of the most recognized figures in 20th-century art. He is best known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles embodied in his work. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), his portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Picasso toy!

Mondrian, Miro, or Dali? Find out what's next in the Artist's series on our Facebook Fan page!

Day 135: Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is the fourth book in the Little Miss series, a series of 42 books by Roger Hargreaves, creator of the Mr. Men series of 48 children's books. After Hargreaves' death in 1988, his son, Adam Hargreaves, began writing and illustrating new stories involving the Mr. Men and Little Miss characters, including the creation of ten new characters, four of which were inspired by work Roger Hargreaves had produced before his death.

Download the PDF file here and make your own Little Miss Sunshine toy!

Find out what's the next toy by visiting our Facebook Fan page.

Day 131 - 134: The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in June 1967. Recorded over a 129-day period beginning in December 1966, Sgt. Pepper sees the band exploring further the experimentation of their previous album, Revolver (1966). Making use of orchestras, hired musicians and innovative production techniques, the album incorporates elements of genres such as music hall, jazz, rock and roll, western classical and traditional Indian music; its lyrics deal particularly with themes of childhood and everyday life. Sgt. Pepper is a loose concept album that sees The Beatles performing as the fictitious band of the album's title. The cover art, depicting the band posing in front of a collage of famous individuals, has itself been widely acclaimed and imitated.

In 2003, the album was placed at number 1 in the Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.


John


Paul


George


Ringo

Download the free PDF files and make your own Sgt. Pepper's toys here!

Check out our Yellow Submarine version of the Beatles too!