Our friends at Rotofugi have announce the December colorway of their Helper Dragon figures…Army Man Green! This nifty art toy is the perfect gift this holiday season for that friend who has everything…everything except a weird cyclops dragon toy made from an old blow-molding toy machine in Chicago.

For December 2012 we’ve taken inspiration from the classic plastic Army Man and made the Helper Dragon the same shade of green. Put a Helper Dragon under (or on) the tree this year!

Designed and sculpted by Tim Biskup, the Helper Dragon is the very first Roto-a-Matic figure. Made in a vintage Mold-a-Rama machine that we’ve rehabbed and renamed the Roto-a-Matic, the Helper Dragon is 4.5 inches of blow-molded polyethylene art! Each figure comes with it’s own Certificate of Authenticity indicating the name of the figure, name of the artist, date of manufacture and color.

About the Roto-a-Matic

The Roto-a-Matic™ began it’s life as a vintage Mold-a-Rama* machine, invented in the mid-1950’s by Tike Miller, formerly of Quincy, Illinois. If you are lucky enough to have lived in the few midwest states (as well as some parts of California and Florida) where Mold-a-Rama machines have been operating for the past 40-plus years you have probably seen one at a zoo or a museum making souvenir animals, dinosaurs and the like.

Our machine once lived in the Los Angeles Zoo where it last made kangaroos, but was retired after decades of service. We have lovingly rehabbed this machine, re-christening it The Roto-a-Matic™. Then we asked some of our artist and toy designer friends to make new sculpts for the machine so it now makes art “toys” instead of zoo souvenirs, but the spirit is still the same…visit us in Chicago, put in your token and see your toy made right before your eyes! There’s nothing better than the feel of the warm plastic as you reach into the bin to pull out your newly made treasure. We sincerely hope you enjoy this figure as much as we have enjoyed making it possible.

For more information please visit the Roto-a-Matic Project Blog at http://roto-a-matic.com.