toy

First American-Made Kendama

January 16, 2013 By Steve Brown

Kendama Co just released their new project. They have been hand turning out kendamas in Colorado for months now. Each Kendama is turned from cherry wood harvested in the Appalachian Mountains.

There is lots of controversy around “the first US made dama”. Lemme weigh in my 2 cents. Yes kendamas have been made in America. PAW, random kid in Georgia, Up Town Joe, some guy in Florida, and a guy from Woodturner Magazine. The point is that this is the first mass production of hand turned kendamas that are available to the public. The first full American kendama brand. Everything else is in China. Sweets, Shinzhu, Tribute, and every other Dama brand from America. So as far as the first American kendama I say Kendama Co takes it.

It’s been a dream to have American Kendamas for a long time now. Big ups to Kendama Co for making the push

Holiday Kendama / Bilboquet Video

January 10, 2013 By Steve Brown

The Kengarden gives us some more wood-on-wood action with this great kendama & bilboquet video.

I’m now officially freshly bummed about my dogs eating my awesome custom bolero that I had made by the guys at The Unit all those years ago. (Anyone know what happened to them? Can’t even find them online anymore.) It was amazing. Had my name carved in the decoration and everything. Now a Google search can’t even find them anymore. Anyone know where I can get a good bolero or drum-style bilboquet?

The Pill by Terra Kendama Available For Pre-Order

December 22, 2012 By Steve Brown

Terra Kendama has opened a limited number of The Pill for pre-order on their website. Pre-orders will begin shipping on December 28th, and you can preorder the Natural Beechwood, Blue Beechwood, and Cherry Wood.

Sponsor News – Rotofugi Releases Abominable Mini Marshall

December 20, 2012 By Steve Brown

Our friends at Rotofugi have just broken the Cute-O-Meter with this new vinyl toy designed by 64 Colors…the Abominable Mini Marshall. Is it even possible to get any cuter than a mini yeti marshmallow man? Seriously?

Following the adage that smaller=cuter, we’ve teamed up with Squibbles Ink and taken the popular Marshall character by 64 Colors and created a new, tinier version: Mini Marshall! Standing just over 2 inches tall, Mini Marshall has a much smaller footprint than his older sibling. To kick off the Mini Marshall line we’re coming out of the gates with a new design by 64 Colors just in time to celebrate winter and all things snowy, Abominable Marshall!

Marshall was a little boy who enjoyed watching TV and eating marshmallows…lots of marshmallows! One day he ate so many…POOF!…he turned into one…True Story!

Please enjoy this special limited edition mini-sized Abominable Marshall…The Wild Boy of the Snows!

Please note: Toasted Marshall shown for size reference only and is NOT included. Thanks!

Sponsor News – Rotofugi Releases New Dredge Figure

December 13, 2012 By Steve Brown

Our friends at Rotofugi have just announced the release of a new colorway of the Dredge, a vinyl figure designed by Chicago artist Brian Morris and produced by squibbles ink + rotofugi.

Only $60 gets you this amazingly creepy 8″ vinyl figure to full up your shelf and creep out your friends. The last release of a Dredge was two years ago, so snap this one up quick before it’s gone! Available only at Rotofugi.com.

Vannen x Triple Crown of YoYo Watch

December 4, 2012 By Steve Brown

Vannen has teamed up with the Triple Crown of YoYo to release a very limited matte grey watch, featuring their contest mascot designed by Chris Ryniak. Limited to only 50 pieces, this is one of the smallest runs of a Vannen watch ever produced and sure to disappear quickly.

The Triple Crown of YoYo is one of the largest professional yoyo contests in the United States, drawing World and National champions from the US, Mexico, Japan, Philippines, and more. Hosted by Millennium Park in Chicago, the event has drawn more than 10,000 people to watch the best yoyo players in the world compete for cash, prizes, and amazing trophies featuring the Triple Crown Monster vinyl figures, produced by Squibbles Ink + Rotofugi.

The Triple Crown of YoYo Watch features a matte grey band and body, with face art of the Triple Crown Monster created by Chris Ryniak. With special engraving on the back and crown, this watch is a minimalistic piece that gets right to the point….three-headed monsters are pretty damn cool.

Available Wednesday, December 5th 2012, only online at www.TripleCrownYoYo.com. All orders placed on the release date will ship in time for Christmas delivery.

Sponsor News – Roto-A-Matic Helper Dragon Figures @ Rotofugi

December 2, 2012 By Steve Brown

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.

Toy – Amazing Documentary from Grant Johnson

December 2, 2012 By André Boulay

“Toy” is a documentary starring Anthony Rojas. We teamed up together in another great short, this time to tell the perspective of what yo-yoing is, and how is is seen through the eyes of a champion. The film goes to show the artistic side of a common toy, which is often overlooked or not understood by the normal spectator.

– Grant Johnson

Duncan Toys Announces Marvel & DC Comics YoYos

December 1, 2012 By Steve Brown

Duncan Toys has announced the upcoming release of several limited edition ProYo yoyos featuring The Avengers, Batman, Superman, and Spiderman! These will be available in limited quantities at Walgreens in December. Retail should be around $6.