IN THE AIR TONIGHT

Time to fly so may miss a day of
posting. Next stop, Tony Nowak's
place to see about a jacket.
Then some meetings, but mostly
time off, so I may even have interesting
blog posts this time. Maybe.
Our Glitter Ice-Bats have arrived
which means they're now shipping!

TICKETS PLEASE

Still working out other details and info
for Uglycon NYC this December but
we did decide to make the hand mades
available through a raffle. Tickets will
be given out at a certain point
and the numbers will be called
after a certain cut off hour
which we'll have figured out soon.
If your number is called, you can
either pass or purchase one of
the hand made plush dolls.
I hope that sounds reasonable, as
NYC is a wonderful city but can
get very cold and hazardous
at night like any other place
in December.

NOSTALGIA

Sun-Min and I were discussing why I
may have been going more for
Kakuranger stuff lately. Is it because
I truly love these older designs, or
do these items bring back the
good ole days? (1994).
When Mina was born I bought
tons of toys put out that year,
knowing I would think back on 2007
as my ultimate good ole days,
so I am preparing for nostalgia!


I would say stuff like Star Wars,
Simpsons, Life in Hell, Thundercats,
and a few others may be ultimate
nostalgia for me. Maybe I grab
up that Boba Fett because of
some sort of connection to
childhood way back.
And many Sentai collectors
pick up the current year's
stuff no matter what, so
that could be the same thing.
Nothing wrong with that.


But it's also nice to live in an
age where creative people are
making up completely new stuff
not stemming from nostalgia.
In the US, it used to be whatever you
could find at the big stores,
for the most part. That was it.
Maybe resin kits at hobby shops.
Although, Kaiju might be
nostalgic for you if you were
born in Japan. Yeah but
these are rad! We like Gargamel.

UGLYCON TOKYO GUEST STARS

Uglycon Tokyo will feature Uglydoll themed
works from several of our favorite artists based
in Japan. We can hardly wait to post
the list, and will do so in August or
September. Now WE can't wait to go!
Hope you like. We promise many
pics posted the next day on this
blog but I bet those who are
able to go will beat us to it.

DISCLAIMER

The hardest part of the race is starting, so
the best thing to do is start running as
soon as they set up the sign the day before.
That way, you can take breaks, go have lunch,
or take a bus to the finish line and get there
minutes before all the runners do. Or walk.
The bus is always way off in the horizon
and never pulls up to the stop unless you
see it from across the street.


So the above pretty much sums up this blog.
A week from now I will bag on cheaters,
but I just told you to cheat at the next race.
And if you're a bus driver, you're really
mad at me right about now. Aha but
please don't take anything here seriously or
get mad at what I write. The truth is, I can't post
99% of what I do all day, as it's all work to be
released years from now. I even have an agreement
with publishers forbidding me from sharing.
I will do some sort of "what do you really do all day/
hour by hour" blog post soon, but even then,
I have to hide all the work. Well, most of it.
So I post about what else I did that day.
That's usually nothing. And I don't want
to show you the poopy diapers. So
that leaves the robots which cross
our door step, the few times I can
take a break, and my thoughts on
this and that. But it's all just jokes.
Please stop by and say hi at
the next Comic-con, NY or SD,
or Toy Fair or Uglycon. Then if I
make you mad, be offended for sure,
because that's the real live dealio.
Hey, my old building had no
parking for cars but did have this Flintstones
cover for 4 bikes, and they were ALL rusted.
So you can get a feel for the kind of daily life I lead.


Last year, one of my professional artist pals
warned me not to post a blog, as
it would lead to others either hating
me or getting bored with our works.
But I wanted to do it to keep everyone
up to date on what we had coming
around the corner. Kinda like a
home away from home, as I thought
home might get bombarded with
a lot of posts from various age
groups and send everything to
the wind. I have to wait on why
I had to leave the original
boards, but I'll put it in the book someday.
You'll be able to pick it up
for cheap in the paperback romance
and mystery rack at Kroger
one of these days.
Oh and everyone ages 1 to 200 RULE!
But you know what I mean in general.
It's hard to mix together.


Oh and I believe we are alien hybrids
created by the Anunnaki to
mine for gold, currently ruled by
shape shifting reptile Aliens who
are trying to spray us with
chemtrails so that we don't wake
up on December 23rd, 2012.
I figured I'd make that clear so
any other post after would
seem more mild.
I truly thank you all for checking
in and for showing so much support
for the silly things we make. We
are always looking forward to seeing
you at the various shows, and feel
quite sad about missing SDCC.
See you soon, and thanks for reading!


This photo just in from Alan Shaffer,
the official Ugly photographer.
Look at that HUGE guy walking
around on the lower left!
What WAS that?

SUPER BEN STRIKES AGAIN

I already have a fake WW1 MKVII
gas mask bag from ebay but this one is
the kinda harder to get official
Indy 4 version available in Japan.
It has that strange little string on
the side, and an alien skull
image on the inside.
I'm going down to see Tony Nowak
to get measured in LA this week too,
so if you thought the above photo was nerdy,
that's nothing. Pics by Friday night. Oh boy.


AHA! I have been trying to get
these exact items since 1994.
The cheapo Kakurager toys from
Popy. I had always seen them in
magazines but could never find
them at the used toy shops in
Japan once I made it over there.
Thanks to Super Ben for the
Otaku hook up.

GOOD NEWS

Uh oh. I can't say who, but someone asked me not to
wave to Sun-Min from outside of our new
building if I see her in the window from the street
because "people might think it's strange."
I kinda automatically replied the way I usually would,
that if they think a guy waving is strange,
then that's their problem, and that I have over
800 monsters in my closet.
#7 on my top 10 list of things I want to teach Mina
is to never care about what other
people think is odd or strange.
Caring about how others feel is good.
But the strange thing, no way Ho Zay.
And what IS strange, anyway?
Normal is something we created.
It isn't a natural state or norm found in the wild.
Actually, normal is wearing face paint and
grass skirts! So maybe it's time to get naked.
Anyway, you can't warn me about strange
when the trash can outside says
"good news" on it.



Also there was a comment that I
am against wearing suits. It was from
anonymous, so I can reply here.
I may buy THIS ONE someday.
Yes, it's an Otaku suit. Nobody will know though.
I think I wore one on this blog in 2007?
I might have said something bad about suits?
I can't remember. I probably said something
about ties. Those are like illuminati leashes to me.
But what I truly meant way back was I can't
stand SUITS. As in the guys in the tee shirts
and shorts at the major animation, toy, licensing,
and other various studios who want to ruin
something just to make a mark on it, in an
effort to keep/save/advance their career.
Now that said, they HAVE to make their mark.
It's their job. What if we go in and say:
Here's ABC and they just say "ok" and
make it as is? Then what value did that
highly paid official of that company
bring to the table? And when I said suit,
I didn't mean someone with a good job
who wears a suit. Nope.
And it's WHAT you bring to projects
that seperates you from the suits,
in my opinion. I see suits and non-suits
working in the same company, sitting
next to each other, all the time.


I work with editors every day.
One of my editors is the biggest of
the big shots at the #1 top publisher
in the world. But she's no suit, and
she hates 'em more than I do.
And she would never suggest the following:
"Boys won't want something with "doll" in the title
Why don't we make Babo a cat with
long hair? And throw in skateboards!
Kids these day love skateboards. They
should battle with cards too.!"
No no no.
So there it is. Probably a total
flip flop from what I said before.

GLITTER

Yet another item meant for
SDCC and just missed by a hair.
Thanks customs, we love you.
So now it is an intheyellow.com
Exclusive, 50 pcs.
He looks very sparkly
in different lighting. I'll take
more pics soon. Always a good idea
to release a pricey item the day
everyone comes back from SDCC.
Wait, why does everyone outside
my window have a torch?
You can see
Deep Freeze Ice-Bat here.

PROTOICE

The top photo is of the old prototype
Ice-Bat before his head could move around.
His eyes were sculpted, but the black line
wasn't coming out right, so we changed
to what is often called pad printing as
seen in stage 2. The stage 3 prototypes
were at SDCC until right about now
and stage 4 will be production.
We need to improve Wedgehead's
arm color.

SUSHI KING

Don't tell the in laws but I don't like the sushi
in Korea at all. Most places use these sorta
other types of fish not found at Sushi restaurants
in Japan or in the US. No idea what they are
called as nobody will tell me. But they're
white in color. Ah but that all changed
yesterday. This place is the real deal
and has become my favorite Sushi
joint in the world. They have a
location in Seoul and this second
one in Suwon.


This guy was a true Sushi King, and
knew what he was doing.


The actual restaurant had that certain
smell you detect in the better
Sushi restaurants in Japan.
This photo is scratch and sniff
so check it out.


Doesn't look like much, but
man it was the best.


On the way back we caught a glimpse
of the dragon tram right by
the castle walls.


Almost 100% moved into the
new office. As we unpacked
the last box we both looked at
each other and said
"maybe New York City?"
I then reminded Sun-Min
of our 2 year lease and
unpacked the rest of the
Kaiju. Start spreading the news.

CAFE RODY

Cafe Rody in Tokyo put up
these giant Bossy Bear x Rody
images on the wall and had a
party for the release of the tee
shirt. I've never been to
cafe Rody but I really want to
go someday. As you can see,
it's far more magnificent than
any other themed restaurant.
Or at least it is NOW!
MORE INFO HERE!

2002 to 2008

We just found photos from very early 2002
during the move. Taken at the Giant Robot
store before they had that big center shelf.
So this was right when they first opened.
These are some of the first 100 Wage dolls,
Bee Fee, and the very first Target every
dropped off at GR. Kate Capshaw said
"I like Target!" when I was dropping these off.
His eye pupil looks huge!
The red tag on little Babo said:
"Downsized Babo".
Some trivia: See the middle Wage?
His head is very round. The earlier
ones had no pattern. The ones on
the side were from a pattern, so the
head matches the original production
Wage we released in 2003.
So now you see what we were trying to
capture with the new re-do Wage.


See the tags? I would print those out on
an old Epson. One side was a sticker, the
other just stiff paper. Held on with green
or blue ribbon bought at Longs Drugs.
I wonder where these are now.


For those not able to go down to SDCC,
here's a size comparison. Uma vs Jeero.


Thanks to Super Ben for the photos
of our SDCC booth.
That UFO thing on the top is the "o"
from the Ugly logo.


The cans have fancy names on them this year.
The rakes were too dangerous!

UGLY ACTION FIGURES

Don't call them urban vinyl!
These are loaded with an action feature.
Actually, the first series was supposed to
be revealed last Toy Fair and be released
today but we took too long with them.
They are much more squishy than the
Critterbox versions. Also 1/4th the size.
But they needed that semi-squishy feel,
like how real "vinyl" in mom and pop
toy shops used to feel. So I held things up.
Now they're good to go. Almost.


Uh but then we got very picky over packaging.
The goal was "under $9.00" but the
nicer paper and extra glue for high
quality blind boxes was making that
tricky, so we'll TRY for end of the year.
If not , then NY Comic-con for sure.
We can fly some in for Uglycon NYC
at Giant Robot New York this December too.
Oh and now the goal is $8.00.


Action waist twist! How's that for super
posable?! Much like Mothman, we went
for the totally insane approach and
put the mandatory line right in the
middle where everyone can see.
This series is based on the books,
so I had to capture that action stance.
Sorry about the vinyls and mini-vinyls
from 2005 being cut short before.
(Trivia: The Umas were based on those actual shapes,
and modeled off the same files.)


The light kind of shines through them if
you really try, and that's what was so tough to
get right. Most figures these days are
very stiff and solidy. Still some tweaks to
make but for the most part done,
and we hope you have as much
fun in the mud with these as we
did making them.

Oh and no insanity with these.
Only colors seen in plush get made into
action figures. Ok, so some insanity.
We're going to be kinda slow with
series 2 though. Just drawing those guys now.
Who should go in there? I think
it should be the newer guys.
Cars? Play sets? Or nothing
if everyone hates these.


Speaking of that, I will
remove posting moderation
restrictions. OK to flame,
why not. Just nothing
gross.

SLEEPY CHILLY

Yes indeed, the special Ugly we're
bringing to SDCC is the regular
color version of Sleepy Chilly Ice-Bat.
You've seen this color on the tags
found on the Uglycon versions,
and a few of you have written
to us asking why we never made
the version displayed on the tag.
Actually, this guy came first and
has been waiting in the warehouse
the whole time. 400 of him, so
should be plenty.
ADDED: There's about 7 drawings
or so at the Giant Robot booth,
to answer a question in another post.

SET UP

I've been getting updates from the
booth and set up is all done.
Check out the red display case
when you get there.
SDCC opens in 4 hours.
I wish I could be there.
For our first SDCC, we were
in the back corner. The 2
booths next to us never showed up
so we took over their space
on the second day.
Still have the trash cans!


Just added: Ugly ghost is at the booth.

BOSSY BEAR X RODY IS ON

Just as everyone is getting in their
cars to drive down to SDCC, we
bring news of the Bossy Bear x
Rody shirts now available online
at INTHEYELLOW.COM
Stuff I want always comes out
the minute I get on a plane.
So this is kinda like that.
HUGE thanks to INTHEYELLOW
in Japan! We've been huge fans
of Rody, so this is a real treat.
The shirt comes in white, gray,
and black. Bossy comes in
Mine, Now, and Hurry up.
HERE'S THE LINKS:
BLACK SHIRT
GREY
WHITE


ADDED: The large may indeed be a USA medium as these
are "Japan sizes" but more info on that very soon.

SEE YOU ON PREVIEW NIGHT

They've left home and are on
their way. Set up is hours from now.
This is our last post until after SDCC
has come to a close. Then we'll
post everything after everyone
there has had a good look see.
Just wait till you see the action feature.
Oh man, it's beyond nonsensical.
Is the whole show sold out?
Have fun! We wish we could go.
SDCC!
We'll have Ugly drawings over at the Giant Robot booth
and this year the Ugly booth is all the way
over in space #3344.
Right by the real trash cans!

AW COME ON!

SLOW BUT GOOD?
Slow, as in slow shipping?
Or a slow, boring read?
And good as in the book is in
good condition???
Dang, man this doesn't help.
I thought Amazon reviews were
supposed to reflect the actual contents
of the book, not how fast something
ships or what condition it arrives in.
So our star count is down now.
At least say the book stinks, so I
don't feel so bad.
CHECK IT
EDIT: You rock and you know who you are!

MOVIN RIGHT ALONG

Moved pretty much 24-7 all weekend
to our new place across the street.
We put most of our toys in storage but
somehow the office is still filled with
robots and kaiju. This is one of them.
Add Mr. Whale here to Go-Onger
robot and you get G9. Or as I call
him, aw geeeez!


His wings make sure you can't lean
him into a corner. Nope, he's a
space taker!
Oh and if you can't go to SDCC,
check back here when
preview night opens.
I wont spoil the whole
thing. Just a little.

DARKER

I was drawing this when I noticed the full moon
outside, and that reminded me of Batman.
Oh no! Korea doesn't get the Dark Knight
until August. Please don't post spoilers.
I won't read the comments for a while.
The new soundtrack is fantastic, and the
first movie was incredible.


I may run to the theatre when
I get off the plane at LAX
next week and sit through it
all day over and over.



Even the toys stare you down.

ALL SMALL, WE ALL ARE SMALL

The larger photos were making a lot
of trouble on giant robot's front page
so it's back to business as usual.
Our clear with gold spray Chupacabras have arrived,
which means shops have them now or will soon.
Not related to the above, we're revealing an all new
"under $10.00" project at SDCC this year.
Very early versions will be shown, as the more recent pass
needs to stay with us here so we can keep working on them.
Now if I can just get the packaging done so
these can be ready for the end of the year.
We'll try!

gone

nope!

nope

gone

don't mess with a good thing?

yikes, too big

sorry

2 bad

THE small PICTURE

can't do larger photos, as this
blog is linked to another site with
size restrictions.

STRESS FREE!

SDCC:
Our Uglydoll team is excited to see everyone next week out at the
San Diego Comic-Con in booth #3344. They'll be bringing out our
Uglydoll Kaiju collection, new Uglydoll tees and books and a very 'cool'
plush...hey our booth is double as Ugly this year so stop by if you
can...between the bathrooms and the hamburgers.

Actually, we don't have any SDCC
exclusives this year at all.
Well, we never did.
The 3 guys pictured above will be available on
our web store at uglydolls.com
right after SDCC closes, and Intheyellow.com
will have a few after SDCC is over.
And like the years before, the
very special plush we bring will be
in full supply.

DESIGNER TOYS 2.0

There was a message board post asking the question:
"What is the state of the "designer toy union?""
I think Eric Nakamura's blog summed it up
perfectly when he posted random post-sdcc
boxes marked" "designer toys".
Anyway, here was my response:

For me, it was all about the years leading up to SDCC 2005.
Bigshottoyworks will know what I mean.
Giant Robot, Zakka (long live Toshiki!), CUBE WORKS, 360Toygroup, Mori Chack, Kozik, Super 7, Devilrobots, DEHARA, Mad Barbarians, Toy Tokyo, Critterbox, Circus Punks, Sony Capsule, Sony Creative and Sony's Vanimal Zoo, Lau, So, Baseman, Biskup, Fowler's Monsterism Volumes, Jarvis, Groovision, Nathan's work with Flying Cat, Strangeco, Joe, and that Toy Fair party up at Lev's place, which was the peak moment and will be in the movie.
Did I forget someone? Many? I'm sure I did. I'm much older now.
You can see it in my work. Zzzzz.

Then the big media companies came through SDCC 2005 with promises of
one's own TV show, and something happened. A few giants became distracted.
Around the same time, thats when "it" caught on....
hey all I need is $3000.00 and I can make a toy or set up a web store.
Was that a bad thing? Nope, not 100%... just a thing that happened.
A lot of good came from it too.
But then some decided to plant a flag and claim that they were the movement.
Which could be an ok thing? So it became up to them to steer it, and their fans had no idea that the real movement was going the other way over there...
and it still is to this day and doing great.
Not to be found on this board much, but over there and doing great!

The State of the Toy Union is STRONG!
But do you know about it? Are you sure?

When they were taking our photos at the Pasadena show with Gary, Tim, Mark, Sun-Min and the rest of us last year, I could feel something. Not quite a period but more of a question mark. What now?
Many think they have the answer to that. Some do?
We'll see.

All hail to Gargamel, Mark Nagata, Intheyellow and the other guys making Kaiju.
There's always been Kaiju and Yokai, and there always will be.
That's a different category. But those guys are doing some mind blowing work in that category. Wow.
Kaws and Murakami are are different category too. For me.

As for me, I never made a designer toy, so I don't count.

KIMCHI, BUT NOT TODAY

Look what Sun-Min made!
I needed that.
They're both for me, too.
Everyone else is having sea
weed and tofu tonight.
That's what I had last night.
10Q!

MAZINGA

Mazinga came before Darth Vader.
In the early 70's, Mattel brought
this and a few others over to
the USA under the banner of
Shogun Warriors. But I had
this one. Two of them! One
was my sisters. Mazinga
was the start for me.

iDIED

Noooooooo!
Now Sun-Min's iphone is bricked.
We even did the full on tech smarty
restarts, resets, and memory zapping
total re-dos. Both iphones dead.
OK so we're in Korea and can't get
a signal, and maybe a signal is
needed to complete the 2.0 update
and not lock the phones up, but
where's the warning? And the place
I stay when I am in LA out by the water
gets ZERO phone reception.
So what now?
Even with no reception, we both
use our phones to handle emails
without having to sit at the computer
all day. That's gone now.

WILDWOLF

Found Wild Wolf, the Korean version of
Geki Wolf, at E-Mart today.
Is there a US version? I don't think so.
This guy was my favorite 2007
Sentai item. No missing paint!


Korean Gekitouja.
He has the lights in his
fists, unlike the US version.


I like the Korean boxes more than I do the original
Japanese ones. Yay.


Hey and you know how in Raiders of
the Lost Ark, Indy's hat was all wacky
looking, like it was alive or something?
Especially when he's chasing Marion
in that basket and drinking.
Hats don't do that. Not even fedoras.
Since I was little, I used to think they put a wire
in there to make the brim do that,
but uh uh. It's easier than that.


I figured out how they did it.
Or rather, the Indy Otaku
figured it out and now I know.
Do I dare post the secret? Uh I dunno.

iRIP

My iphone died today. All was fine before.
Never had a problem.
Then I did the 2.0 update, with the whole
mobile-me dealio and it just shows
the Apple logo on black. That's it.
Now it won't even turn off! I have to wait
for the battery to die. Even when I
restart, it stops at the apple screen
and freezes. 100 tries exactly, same thing.
But I need a phone. So do I get
the new iphone?

POPY!

Ban Dai makes the DX toys and Popy makes the
cheapo lesser expensive versions. I like both.
I've had my eye on this Popy Red shogunzord
for 15 years and it looks like Super Ben may
make dreams come true once again.
I was on the look-out for this at Mandarake
and now we find a brand new-ish looking one.
Wow, fingers crossed.

KEEPINITREAL

There's a rumor that fake Uglys have
been showing up at K-Mart and Sears.
If you see them, please snap a photo.
My worst fear is that stolen cargo
ends up at mass market.
It happens. But I suspect fakes.
We once found Wage and Ox
Cat toy fakes at Pet Co!
If you see them there,
please send photos of them
on the shelf to:
uglydolls@me.com
Hopefully this is just a
funny story and not true.
I suspect they are the really
bad fakes we found in
China in 2005.
The smelly ones.

DADDYO

Being a dad is pretty great.
It makes you not care so much about
a lot of things, like how many more moles
you have than you did last year.
Mina is brilliant, and I am very proud
of her. She draws squiggly lines
better than anyone I know, and
she lives with no fear.
I don't think we're supposed
to grow up. I think that
smile is supposed to be
there all the time, but we
let outside forces convince
us to shape our face and
thoughts otherwise.
Happy 13 months Mina.
Daddy loves you always.


But do I love Apple's new
ME MAC thing? I want to!
Come on! Worky work!
I keep getting stuck
on this Little bony image.
I don't want a new iphone
this year. Holding out for
a hacked 3rd generation
Japanese version with
video chat.


Correct, while working I wear an
actual Indiana Jones hat.
Not like a real real one but
the same guy made mine.
Because every project is
an adventure? Crickets.
Thanks for taking that pic.

TOODEE

On the hard bound version of
Uglyguide to the Uglyverse,
you can see more of TooDee,
Abima, and even a back alley.
But not for long, apparently.
It seems the library binding
versions are all gone.
Personally, I like the original
better because you get all those
bad drawings on the inside
flaps for half the price.
Mina is 13 months old today
meaning it's time to reveal
that there's a secret code
in the books.

MOBILE ME OH MY

Lots of work not getting done as I try
to figure out how to switch everything
to Apple's new Mobile Me thingy wingy.
That and customs doesn't want to
release our stuff because I'm not
really supposed to live here.
Uh but I don't. I live in the USA.
I just stay here sometimes, well
within the limits of my visa. See?
In the meantime, getting ready for
SDCC even though I can't go.
Our warehouse is out of series 2
little uglys and the new ones have
been slow to get here, so there's
that to deal with today too.


So instead I'll just take photos
of my second favorite robot,
Dai Shogun. One was sent to
me by mistake in place of something
else, and I've decided to adopt him.
Made in 1994, this guy is a monkey,
crane, frog, wolf, and bear rolled
up into one to fight giant Yokai.
I think this was the first true
"second robo" in a sentai series.
These days you're lucky
if they stop at 4 or 5.


In the old days, there were no
images on the back of the box,
but they included a sort of
label insert telling you
what each guy did.
Up soon, the USA versions,
if customs will let them through.
Come on!

GHOST IN THE COOKIE

Our samples of Babo Kaiju in solid blue
came in today, which means your
local shop should have them this week
or very soon, depending on how
fast they ship out. Intheyellow
orders probably went out already.
I know we had many emails asking
when this guy would ship. Sorry for
not being able to get back to each
of you but I hope this helps.
They are on the way!
Here's Haunted Babo next to him.
With any of our Kaiju, if you ever
get a caved in head, which can
happen in the hot summer when
shipped in a small box, simply
hold a hot blow dryer to that spot
and presto, it pops back into
shape every time.
Made in Japan!

GOOD BAD WORSE ROCKS

It's almost moving day. We're
finally opening up the new
Korea office across the street.
So in preparation, toys from
the vault get sent over early.


Muteki Shogun in 4 grades, from
factory sealed with mint toy to box
used as lunch box with bite marks
on toy. But we love them all, as each
one has a special story behind it.
It's the story that matters.


Sticker sheet intact!
Mina is bound to find these and apply them
to her window someday, but until then
it's all mine.


Case fresh Ohblocker.
Ohblocker is considered by some
to be the most hideous Sentai
robo of all time, but it's one of
my favorites. While my
collection narrows itself to only
Kakuranger, this one stays.
Sticker sheet still mint and
attached to inside of box lid!
When Mina's old enough,
I'll find this turned into
a sand box. But until then,
it's all mine.


But what's mine is hers.

CALENDARAMA

It's bad to toot your own horn.
So they say.
But mine isn't really a horn.
It's more like a used bike
siren from a pawn shop.
So toot toot!
The Ugly Calendar is #3 beating out
2 different calendars of a well known
cat. This may be some sort of fluke
and by the time you read this those
may have run us over like a truck
filled with big box restock.
But for right now, it feels great
to be #3 having said no to
those who promised us #1
in exchange for our you know what.
So thank you.


But I just use that as an excuse to
follow with what I am really proud of.
That being one of my brother's many
incredible animations.
Laszlo is the real deal.

UGLYCON NYC

Uglycon NYC will open December 6th
and be held at the world famous
Giant Robot New York. You
can find the address here at
WWW.GRNY.NET
A huge thanks to Giant Robot!
Sun-Min and I will do our best
to make this years Uglycon
safe, sane, and FUN!
Handmades, limited run Uglys,
costumed Uglys on the subway,
paintings, prints, drawings,
and something totally new.

UGLYCON TOKYO

There will indeed be handmades at
Uglycon Tokyo and at Uglycon NYC
which opens soon after at Giant Robot's
NYC location. As for Uglycon Tokyo,
we'll also have special Uglys in editions
of 100 and 25, paintings, drawings,
prints, and some Ugly art by our favorite
artists in Japan! More news on that soon.
Oh and it opens in the morning.
That's better, right?
Hope to see you there October 10th!
The show is here:
http://www.stitch.jp/shopmap/index.html
They will take phone orders
(international ok), when they
open that day. Online sales start later
that week, but hard to say when exactly.
We will confirm the Uglycon NYC
dates any minute now too.


Reading the post above, I can see where
Spam Boy is coming from. It's all
about phone orders and stuff,
things to buy, get get get.
But what he fails to realize
is that if we post info about
our shows or anything else
without this sort of info,
we get 10000 emails
asking for those details,
so there it is from the get-go.

APE ESCAPE

My first time in a Bathing Ape store.
This is the one in Shibuya behind Parco.
I bought a shirt for my father in law,
a shirt with stars all over it for Sun-Min,
and this Sponge Bob...wait what?
But you should see the Bape x Nintendo
DS lite. It's amazing. It's expensive.


Who lives in a purple cammo
pineapple under the sea?


Go-Onger add ons and a 3rd head.
Just add the whale and presto!

Yeah I changed my mind, they CAN'T be related!
No way right?

PINK ARM

I just smashed my toe on a solid wood door.
Bleeding. Will the nail fall off? No.
My toes are terminators.
Come with me if you want a toe.
You know, it may not be about the toys
after all. I think I have a deep association with
Muteki Shogun because of the connection
with what was going on in LA at the time.
It was 1994 and the world was a
different place. We had the internet,
but it was green and black.
I deeply miss Yaohan plaza
on Alameda. Pony toy was
a dream come true back then.


My first Muteki Shogun came from
my dad who had to call up an old
business acquaintance in Tokyo to get it.
Muteki Shogun came out in 1994 but
my dad's last business trip
to Japan was in 1984 or 1985,
so it must have been awkward.
"Hey, remember me from years ago? No?
Yeah well can you pick something up for me?"
There was no ebay or Rinkya back then.
Muteki Shogun reminds me
of times when daddy-o did indeed go the distance
for his kids.
All other nonsense aside, that's pretty bad ass.
Thanks dad.

SDCC 2008 BOOTH 3344

Our booth is across from the food!!!
July 23rd (preview night) through July 27th,
please do stop by the Ugly booth at the
2008 San Diego Comic-con!
Our booth is far far away from the
designer toy area this time so that
we could provide more space.
If you've seen photos of our
toy fair booth, that's what we're
talking about this time.
We are at booth 3344.


Can't say what we'll have there but
but I can say that it's a super special guy
and it's $30.00. Only one version this year.


Also stop by the both or our web store for
Haunted Babo, Solid Green Wage Kaiju
and Solid Orange Wage Kaiju.
Also check out the Giant Robot booth
for a small selection of original sketches
from one of our upcoming publishing
projects for 2010. These are the only
ones we will make available, so
do stop by and check out how
shaky my hand really is!


The sad news is that Sun-Min and I
can not attend.
Sun-Min needs a medical treatment
on that exact weekend
and I will stay with her.
Nothing serious and all is well but it's the
only time we can do it.
We will miss you but I will
work on being in the booth via
iChat if I can.
Oh and the raffle prizes at the
Ugly booth this year are the
best ones ever. I want them too!
But they are for you.
So sad! My screen accurate
costume goes to waste. Until next time.
I was going as "We are going to die!"
We will see you there next year for
sure and at the NYCC 100%.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Uh for the Ugly Calendar.
Our samples are on the way via Fedex,
which means if you live in SF, you may
be able to find these at the Chronicle
store now, maybe maybe.
The release date is July 30th, so really
they could show up at your local store
any day now.


Stickers included to mark the days
you're too lazy to fill in all on your own.