Cartoon Madness 3: Toyland

There's an interesting new art exhibit set to premiere at the Alcove Gallery here in town. It's called Cartoon Madness 3: Toyland, and it looks to be something worth checking out:

30 plus artists bring toys back to life...a event based on the ongoing memories and fascination with toys and childhood imagery. Expect to see some of the brain children from Cartoon Network and Adult Swimmers, along with a healthy repast of the country's best illustrators and painters. This show not only will launch you into the future but will take you down the retros of retrograde.

I'd check out the show just to see what the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim folks come up with. Also, I was fortunate enough to meet the curator of the Alcove Gallery at ACE; his name is Chris Warner and he's actually a fan of vinyl toys. He's interested in showcasing vinyl art toys in the gallery, as well as getting together with local enthusiasts to customize figures, prmote the hobby, and maybe even develop some new product. This is definitely someone I'd like to get to know better.

The exhibit will be held on Friday, March 7. Click here for more information.

ACE: Custom Mini Munnys

One of the biggest sellers at the booth was the new Mini Munny. A lot of people bought one just because they were cute, others because they wanted to try their hand at customizing one. The Con held a custom Munny contest, with several of the attending artists trying their hand at creating new works of art.

Derrick with Urban Medium customizing his Munny

Derrick's finished piece.

"Killer" by Ethan Van Sciver

Munny Mobile by Francesco Fracavalli

"Lobo" by Kevin Stokes

"Hero Bear" by Mike Kunkle

Don Cook's cousin customizing her Munny

ACE: Sket-One

Blue Monday was lucky enough to host Sket-One for the release of his new Ripple figure. In between panels and other functions, Sket signed Ripples, sketched and greeted his fans.

Sket was a great guy, genuinely appreciative of the support he received from his fans. Even though we were happy to be a part of the launch of his latest figure, Sket thanked us for promoting his appearance and helping to make the launch a success. Definitely a class act.




Sket meeting his fans



Sign those figures

Some of Sket's merchandise

Another satisfied fan!

Ripples on parade!

Atlanta Comics Expo

As I mentioned in previous posts, a couple of friends and I were going to have a booth at the Atlanta Comics Expo. For three days, the "Blue Monday" crew had a great time selling vinyl items to a very eager and appreciative crowd. I'm happy to say the response to our booth was overwhelming. It's pretty obvious that Atlanta needs a vinyl store. Hopefully, Blue Monday will be able to fill that need.




The Blue Monday booth



More vinyly goodness



Jeffrey rockin' a sale



Shannon being...Shannon.



Happy customers!



A Stormtrooper and his latest purchase.

ACE Update: Sket One

Holy Shit.

That's all I can manage to say, with news this big. As I mentioned in my last post, the Blue Monday team will be manning a booth at this year's ACE Convention here in Atlanta. There's already a ton of vinyl-related events scheduled, but this bit of news is HUGE:

Sket One's new Ripple figure will be released during ACE at the Blue Monday booth!!! Limited to only 500 pieces, the OG Vanilla figure will be selling for $44.99, and Sket will be on hand to sign.

This is freaking huge, people.

Like I said before, mark your calendars.

ACE 2008 Is A Go!

Happy New Year! I'm pleased to say that I'm getting 2008 off to a great start! Once again, the Blue Monday team will be manning a booth at this year's ACE Convention in February (this time for sure). The table's been bought, the merchandise is being bought, and plans are being made. Not only will we be there, but Urban Medium will have a booth as well, as will Sket One! Even better, Kidrobot will be on hand to host a custom Munny auction to benefit Reading is Fundamental.

This could very well be the year that vinyl takes hold in Atlanta.

Mark your calendars for ACE - February 8 - 10, 2008.

Dragon-Con Disappointment

It looks like we won't be having a table at this year's Dragon-Con. Long story short, a number of factors needed to come together in order for the project to move forward...and they didn't. I'm disappointed, but what can you do. Hopefully, we'll be able to put something together for next year's ACE.

A Blue Monday is Coming

Some friends and I are taking another small step towards developing an urban vinyl presence in Atlanta. We're forming an online company called Blue Monday, through which we hope to build enough of a presence in the industry (as well as raise enough capital) that we can eventually open a brick and mortar location here in Atlanta.

We're planning to man a booth at this year's Dragon-Con over Labor Day weekend. Between now and then, we'll be developing a website as well as establishing accounts with major wholesalers.

I'll post more updates as they become available.

The Vader Project

Starting today and going through Memorial Day, Star Wars Celebration IV is a huge fan show being held in Los Angeles. One of the highlights of the show is The Vader Project, an art exhibit featuring 70 1:1 replicas of Darth Vader's helmet, customized by some of today's hottest artists. There's a good write-up of the exhibit here at Vinyl Pulse, complete with pictures:

One of the artists participating in the exhibit is Atlanta's own Derick from Urban Medium:

I had occasion to meet Derick and check out his studio last year. He was a nice guy, obviously very talented.

Atlanta Comics Expo

There was a small comics book convention in town this past weekend. Atlanta Comics Expo is being billed as a sister convention to Dragon-Con, the huge con held in town every Labor Day weekend.

It was a pretty good time. Rosario Dawson was there promoting her new comic book. So was John Wesley Shipp, from the old Flash t.v. series. Tara McPherson was also there, promoting her new figure. A couple of friends of mine from out west had a booth and were selling vinyl figures, apparel and books. The booth did a fair amount of business, which was good, as we were hoping to create a presence for urban vinyl at these cons. Until this year, there hasn't been any presence whatsoever. Hopefully, these initial efforts will grow into something larger.