DKE Toys at SDCC 2018 – CON STUFF – No Toys 4 Us by Mr Blank Toys
We’ve all be grieving the loss of Toys R Us, but no one as much as this poor, sad, out of work Giraffe. Mr Blank Toys in his SDCC debut brings No Toys 4 Us. Hand cast and painted 3.75” scale carded figure. Numbered edition of 40 pieces. $65
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Mr Blank Toys Links
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WWW: www.mrblankisdead.com
IG: www.instagram.com/muxblank
FB: www.facebook.com/mrblanktoys
FB: www.facebook.com/muxblank
E: blankbooking@gmail.com
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“No Toys For Us” PRESS RELEASE
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When I heard that Toys-R-Us was closing down, the first things I thought of was: “Oh No, What’s going to become of Geoffrey the Giraffe?” because Big Corporations never think of the little guys, the ones effected most by their mismanagement. I imagined Geoffrey might not be able to handle going from being number one in the hearts and minds of millions of toy loving children young and old… to suddenly losing everything. Jobless, penniless, and forced to the streets, destined to become a junkie sleeping in the dumpster behind the liquidated boarded-up toy store, flying a sign off the freeway exit, hitchhiking to the next town. Poor Geoffrey! Now I’ve certainly spent some time down on my luck and transient as an artist, so I could sympathize with Geoffrey’s plight. I’ve slept on stranger’s couches or lived out of a nearly broke down school bus touring the southeast USA as a traveling performance artist. I’ve had to eat at soup kitchens and do street busking performance art, gas jugging, and sign-flying for money. I’ve hitchhiked to New Orleans and survived off of selling street art and collecting tips… wanderlust certainly flows in my blood. Sideshow freaks, street performers, and musicians are my best friends, and I know some pretty crazy homeless people too! So this figure is dedicated to all those struggling, chewed up and spit out by the system, listless and wandering…
At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to make the figure in a way that would fully get my idea across. I pulled out a shitty giraffe kids-meal toy, trying to figure out how to make it work, but it didn’t. When my eye caught sight of the Star Wars “Watto” figure (Star Wars Episode I, Hasbro 1998) I instantly knew that was the direction I had to take. I chopped up some “Count Dooku” legs (The Clone Wars Collection, Hasbro 2009) and stuck them to the bottom of the Watto body, then with a bunch of small detailed sculpting, and some arms from a “Mercenary Cpl. Lyle Wainfleet” figure (James Cameron’s Avatar, Mattel 2009). I ended up with a long-necked grumpy-faced giraffe figure in denim vest and dirty pants, who looked like he had seen some pretty rough days! Then with the addition of a simple cardboard sign that reads “Will Werk 4 Toys” it was a perfectly Hobo looking Geoffrey the Street Giraffe! Or simply titled: “No Toys 4 Us”. Limited edition, carded 4″ resin bootleg art toy figure.
The figure marks the sad end of an era for kids and toy collectors, yet a hopeful beginning for me. This is the beginnings of my own toy making endeavors. This will be the first solid run of figures (40 pcs.) that I’ve done to date, and they have already been signed on to be a “2018 San Diego Comic Con Exclusive” released with DKE Toys (a major distributor who’s worked with the biggest artists and collectors in the bootleg art toy scene, and has regular booths at the best designer toy conventions in the USA).
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BIO
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(See Bio on my website here: http://mrblankisdead.com/mr-blank-toys)
Mr Blank Toys produces limited edition Designer and Bootleg Art-Toy figures since November 2017.
For as long as I can remember I’ve used pieces of barbie dolls, broken electronic toys, baby doll heads, and other pre-existing toys in my own art and performances. So making self-produced customized bootleg art figures and designer toys wasn’t much of a stretch for me. Whether creating physical or performance based art, I maintain the goal to always create the highest quality of work with as little means necessary, wowing the audience with something they’ve never heard or seen before.
In toy making I remain true to my process by doing everything myself – handmade, hand painted, hand poured and designed using my own twisted commentary on the entertainment culture that shaped and inspired me growing up in the 80s and 90s, mixing multiple pop-culture references into my own abstract concepts. As I continue to develop my sculpting, molding, and casting skills further I rely heavily on my own artistic experience, techniques, and abilities… not so much on bootlegged parts from Star Wars or G.I.Joe toys, although that definitely adds to the fun as well!
Looking toward the future, I have begun designing my own series of collectable designer art-toy figures based on original characters and storylines I’ve developed and performed on stage at festivals, bars, galleries, and even street corners while traveling in a converted skoolie bus. Currently I have many prototypes in development and have had figures featured on “Toy Geeks- Behind The Counter” (S2E07 published March 27th 2018). 
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