Butanohana Chibull Ningen
Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category
WiShY wAsHy
June 30th, 2011 by Corey A. Edwards
Garamon Green
June 28th, 2011 by Corey A. Edwards
Mäusepiep the … Mouse
June 8th, 2011 by Corey A. Edwards
(part of a series on the advertising character toys of German shoe maker Salamander AG)
Mäusepiep the Mouse.
Being unfamiliar with German beyond movies and a few chance meetings, I can only assume “Mäusepiep” is pronounced similar to “Mousie peep” which has some disturbing implications if one is, like myself, immature enough to move past the more obvious and palatable thought that the “piep” stands for the sound the little critter might make as opposed to the stain and stench he leaves behind.
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Igelmann the Hedgehog
June 3rd, 2011 by Corey A. Edwards
(part of a series on the advertising character toys of German shoe maker Salamander AG)
Igelmann the Hedgehog.
Igelmann the Hedgehog is the third in a series of vinyl toys I’ve been profiling from German shoe company, Salamander AG.
Igelmann – is there any more inauspicious of a name? It even seems short a letter: for weeks I’ve misread it as “Ingelmann.” Having now realized it lacks the letter “n” that my eyes first imagined, my onomatopoeic mind now envisions Igelmann as a rather squirmy, wiggly character … but no matter.
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Lurchi the Salamander
May 29th, 2011 by Corey A. Edwards
(part of a series on the advertising character toys of German shoe maker Salamander AG)
Lurchi the Fire Salamander.
Allow me to introduce (at least to my blog) Lurchi, the fire salamander and main advertising character for the German shoe company Salamander AG (get it? get it?).
Introduced in 1937 as a way to distract children during their parent’s potentially protracted perusal of the proprieters products (cough), Lurchi is the alpha dog of a motley crew of animal characters whose tales are told in small booklets entitled “Lurchi’s Abenteuer” (Lurchi’s Adventure); humorous, sometimes moralistic tales written in simple rhyming couplets for a target audience of primary-school children.
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Unkerich the Toad
May 24th, 2011 by Corey A. Edwards
(part of a series on the advertising character toys of German shoe maker Salamander AG)
Unkerich shows off his maker’s mark
Meet Unkerich, the yellow-bellied toad and shoe shiller for German shoe company Salamander AG.
Part of a cast of six characters introduced in 1937, ostensibly to entertain the children of fussy, adult shoe shoppers, Unkerich is said to be the “strong man” of the group as well as a gastronome and, if Wikipedia can be trusted, also a bit of a maladroit.
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It Came From Taiwan (via Bend, OR)
March 8th, 2011 by Corey A. Edwards
I recently scored this fantastic walking toy from a good toy buddy during a Japanese Toy Freak-Out Weekend in San Francisco.
Now you, too, can know the fear of its spindly, trundling legs and flashing, evil bug eyes.
Beware!
The Case(s) of Renewed Interest
September 21st, 2010 by Corey A. Edwards
Kanegon
March 13th, 2010 by Corey A. Edwards
So it turned out that the neighbor severed my cable while planting a tree.
He was nice enough to leave the cable ends protruding from the earth like giant, errant whiskers but otherwise said nothing.
He’s in construction, natch.
Namegon
March 1st, 2010 by Corey A. Edwards
Namegon
A giant snail. What’s cooler than that?
My picture of it, that’s what.
Aboras
February 28th, 2010 by Corey A. Edwards
Aboras
One of the last toys I ever bought, the Bandai, B-Club reissue of the Bullmark Aboras was long sought.
Something about this toy’s whimsical grin (at least on one side, the other side of his face is rather unfriendly, as if the sculptor was of two moods during the process … or just inept) has always pleased me to no end.
The toy has spent the last few months perched on a living room stereo speaker (the only figure toy in evidence in my home proper) in the hope that it would inspire me.
It has. I hope you like the results as much as I do – more of the same is on the way.
Hidden Valet
December 2nd, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
Nostalgic Heroes “Tetsujin 26”
I wonder – was he riding that bike or does he just maintain it?
If the former, then how does he get around the deck support? Was he assembled down there?
Mebbe there’s another egress …
Peek-A-Boo
November 30th, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
Bandai “Hanejiro”
This was a very simple set-up, as I’m sure you can imagine: A basic head-on with lots off diffuse light on my subject, then a simple two-part layer of the wall and a slight mask of the window to insert the toy.
So simple I almost felt like I was cheating.
For a final effect, I cut out a large section of the top window, which I applied to Hanejiro via a clipping mask, then brought said layer’s opacity down until the toy looked like it was behind the window.
A little bit of stenciling to include my sig and: voila.
I may like this shot best of the three I did this weekend even thought it was so danged easy: the unexpected, goofy charm of Hanejiro’s face up in the window … it perfectly embodies my attitude and aim when making these ridiculous pics …
Bleach
November 29th, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
End of the Tunnel
November 29th, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
Somehow … back at it.
November 24th, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
B-Club “Daigoro”
The next thing you know I’m paging through old backgrounds and snapping pictures of a toy, my mind awhirl with projects, themes, and other forms of sheer pointlessness.
It’s this kind of stuff that “holds me back” and ensures that I’ll never “make it.”
But you know what? I don’t really care anymore. They’re just too fun to make.
(my daughter says he needs a package)
Whip Out Those Pocketbooks
November 22nd, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
It’s that time again: the fourth annual Corey’s Head Toy Calendar is now available.
17″x11″ this full-color guide to the seasons features “artwork” by yours truly and is printed on actual paper using some kind of ink! What an amazing world!
Due to a lack of time, this year’s calendar features one new picture and eleven other, gloriously ancient (yet previously unpublished) images of toys I paid waaaay too much for back when I had a different life.
Come one, come all and snatch yerself up a calendar before Cafepress decides I’m breaking some kind of copyright law or another and yanks my product.
All proceeds (1 miserable buck per calendar) go to yours truly.
Hotcha!
Chiburu Chiburu Chiburu (no pepsi: coke)
October 25th, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
X-ray
September 30th, 2009 by Corey A. Edwards
Here’s a neat little chunk of javascript (click the pic!) I discovered recently (and by that I mean on the net, not by writing it).
This is an admittedly lame use of it, given all the ideas learning of it has generated in me. My daughter and I are in the middle of a project together using said script in a far more creative way that I will reveal here as soon as it is complete.
The script is marketed as a magnifier, not as an x-ray. I like it better as an x-ray. Or whatever it is I have it doing here.
Stay tuned!
