PAST to PRESENT - new GOREWAD MONSTERS mini-review!

 My order of new Gorewad Monsters arrived from the insanely talented IronHaus Productions the other day so I thought it was time for a mini-review on these crazy little rubber figures!

Gorewad Monsters are exactly what you would envision upon hearing the name, they're gruesome, vile and downright creepy, but thats why we love them!
Roughly sized at 1" tall and cast from a bouncy, durable rubber. Gorewads are in available various colours, the latest figures figures are cast in a unique and fun 'colourbomb' style, which is a mix of 2 or more different colours.

Packaging for Gorewad Monsters is your standard, bagged w/ header card, but the artwork is crisp and vibrant and made form a sturdy card paper. 

There have been multiple releases of Gorewad Monsters in 2012 by IronHaus Productions and Eric Nilla totalling over 16 figures. This latest instalment I believe are from the 4th set, and is made up of 3 new figures which will set you back $14 USD per 3-pack. These are in random colours, and could be solids, clears or the new colourbomb!

From left to right: Archeopteryx, Crotchy the inappropriate Martian & the dreaded Cancer Bat.

 These guys are really great fun, and full of personality! They're jam packed full of detail for 1" tall figures, and have a very nice feel to them, not unlike Monster In My Pocket or GPK Minikins.

Let's have a bit of a closer look at each of the new figures on offer.

Archeopteryx - 

This figure is deceptively clever. At first it looks like the head is adorning the Raptor as a trophy, much like Hercules does with his lion, but then you realise its actually the other way around and a feathered velociraptor is munching on some poor schmucks head! The details in the feathers and scaly textures of the Dino head are spot-on, I would love to see this figure custom painted. 

Crotchy - 

Crotchy the inappropriate martian is a cheeky little figure that has some really nice details such as wrinkly, saggy skin, beady eyes and some razor-sharp chompers, as well as being a bit emaciated with his ribcage and spine exposed... creepy and cute! He's getting a bit grabby with himself, which adds somewhat to the charm of this figure. One of a kind. :)

Cancer Bat - 

Lastly we have my favourite of the 3 new Gorewads, the dreaded Cancer Bat! This guy is AWESOME and is really the stand out for me in this wave. He's a rabid looking bat character with his almost crystallised wings and an bulbous mass of tumours for a body. Neat! I dig the facial expression with sinister grin, this figure has it all as far as Im concerned.

So, there you have it, another great wave of figures to add to the ever growing army of Gorewad Monsters! So far I gotta say I'm really enjoying this line. :)

If you're looking to grab some for yourself, head over to IronHaus Pros Store and pick yourself up some!

You never know what neat surprises you might mind there, and theres usually a deal going where if you spend over a certain amount you qualify for a freebie so check out Jimmy's blog at IronHaus Productions for any news.

WIll be doing another update on this line in the near future, with a checklist on each figure thats been made so far in this fun little indie line of bite-sized  freaks. 

MM.

PRESENT - OctoberToys Cyber Monday G.I.T.D OMFG Series 2 & Walking Dead comic exclusive figures available NOW!!

For Cyber Monday OctoberToys have just released GITD OMFG Series 2 figures, as well as The Walking Dead comic exclusive blue figures and are available NOW!

How good are these? I've been waiting ages for this set, it was one of my favourite form S1.

GITD sets are available for $10 USD a pop, a great price for 5 carded figures!

These amazing 2" carded 'The Walking Dead' comic blue figures are exclusive to Octobertoys and are available in three 2-packs.

Rick & Walker Mini  Set  for $15 USD

 Carl & Walker Mini Figure Set for $15 USD

Negan & Walker Mini Figure Set for $15 USD

As an added bonus, if you order all three sets at the same time, you can get them at the special price of $33 USD (a huge $12 USD saving!)

As if that wasn't enough added incentive, OctoberToys are added a FREE grey or purple Toy Break Announcer figure with every order placed on Cyber Monday! (just add which colour you'd like in the notes when you place an order with them)

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the OctoberToys Shop and pick yourself up some before they're all gone!

Don't say I didn't warn you. :)

(Note: ALL photos courtesy of OctoberToys.com)

FUTURE - 'Mystical Warriors Of The Ring' 3 new colours + Tembo Jiwe reveal!

After the successful initial release of Mystical Warriors Of The Ring (MWOTR) PVC sets in Candy Apple Red & Flesh, Fantastic Plastic Toys are steamrolling ahead with their second wave of colours about to hit online stores soon!

Up for grabs will be the the 3 returning wave 1 figures (Kayin Kungaa, Widowmaker & Sheldon Sabre) in 3 new colours, sold in 3-packs as usual.

- Glow in the Dark $10 USD

- Pearlescent Blue $9 USD 

- Pearlescent Black $?

The Pearlescent  Black colour is MWOTR's first Retailer Exclusive, Jay's CD & Hobby and currently there has been no price pint set as far as I'm aware of but I think it's safe to say we can expect it to be around the $10 mark also.

Both the Pearlescent Blue & G.I.T.D figures will be available from TrueCast Studio Store so keep your eyes peeled for their release there very soon!

You can read more about this on the MWOTR blog, but remember I'll also be making regular updates regarding any MWOTR developments here on my blog too. 

~

Next exciting bit of news form MWOTR is their new giant character reveal, Tembo Jiwe the Elephant! Weighing in at 2.7" of PVC goodness, this will be MWOTR's third giant character including previous characters Goliath (was available in Resin) Kayin Kungaa (still available in PVC).

Tembo Jiwe will be making his exclusive debut at C2e2 2014 in (I believe, judging by these pics) Green, Yellow & Pearlescent Silver! No word on how much they will cost yet but I'll find out and post about it.

I can see two important tidbits in these pics that are a hint at what's to come, the larger Leo Corazon is pretty obvious (Wow!!) but can you see the other cool MWOTR accessory? I wonder what that could be...

 On another note, If anyone is planning on going to C2e2 and doesn't mind, please let me know as I'd love to get my hands on him. (I'd be happy to cover the cost of course).

You can read more about Tembo Jiwe at the MWOTR blog.

PRESENT - OMFG Series 3 mini review!

Ok, it's about time I started covering these guys since I've been collecting them from Series 1, and Series 3 is already here! If you don't know what OMFG is, well.. it's time to come out from under that rock and get informed on the matter.

OMFG, which stands for Outlandish Mini Figure Guys, is a tribute to the classic toy lines of the 80's like Monster In My Pocket, M.U.S.C.L.E, or Bad eggz Bunch  and are about 2" tall and made from a firm PVC (slightly improved this time around). OMFG is created in a collaboration by community members of the OctoberToys Forum who all pitch in designs around once a year and they get voted on to determine the top 5 figures who scored the most votes. The great thing is, you don't have to be able to sculpt yourself and you can simply enter a 2D image of the figure you'd like to win, and if it's popular enough to win then George Gaspar of OctoberToys has kindly offered to sculpt the figure himself!

Once all 5 figures have been sculpted, they're sent off to the Onell Design factory in China where toy magic happens and we get our figures a few short months later!

Each series is campaigned on the Kickstarter website  where people can pledge a desired amount to back the project and receive the figures they want, the price for a 5 pack is $10 USD. The standard colour is a flesh however there are retailer exlusive colours abound, more on that in a future post very soon!

The Kickstarter campaign offers some incentives too, like the kickstarter exclusive Black colour (which is only available to backers via Kickstarter) or perhaps you'd like to order an OMFG T-shirt? Well, you can do that too.

There's also been some other goodies thrown in for good measure, such as a freebie flesh or black (depending which sets you pledged for) Zombie Pheyden figure that was available for people who backed over $25 on the S3 KS campaign, which was recurring too so the more sets you pledged the more free figures you got! 

Series 1 started mid 2001, S2 was mid 2012 and S3 the same for 2013.

Series 4 has already been voted on, the sculpts are currently being finalised and the Kickstarter Campaign should commence early next year by the looks of things.

Series 5 designs are being accepted NOW and can be found on the OctoberToys Forum so if you want to design a toy and see it made, then I suggest you head over there and submit a design!

Anyways, onto the S3 figures themselves!

BARBARIANAUT - Designed & sculpted by the infamous Charles Marsh
(MonsterForge)

I'll be honest, at first this figure didn't really appeal that much to me but he has grown on me heaps since having him in hand and seeing him in different colours. He's clearly a homage to MOTU, and he happens to be the first OMFG figure who is armed with a weapon and a shield to boot. I really dig the amount of detail on him, and I like that he adds a bit of Sci-Fi to OMFG, and can picture him battling aliens on distant planets (kind of like Prometheus X Conan) It also gives me a bit of a Metroid feel, which is very cool.
I rate this figure a solid 8.5/10.

PUGNACIOUS - Desinged by Bill Mackay (ZombieThor) & sculpted by George Gaspar.

Another figure that I was initially quite disappointed in, but again I've warmed to him over time (even though he still ranks at the bottom of this series for me personally). Much like Barbarianaut, Pugnacoius (who was originally named Puggernaut) is a shout-out to the MOTU series, and blends the head of a Pug dog with that of a MOTU warrior. Meh.

I know there are a LOT of Pug fans out there, but I'm more into larger breeds. If it had a wolf head, than I would be all over this figure.

Still, it ahs nice elements and has been sculpted nicely!

I rate this figure a wavering 6/10.

Dr. Decay - Designed by Jonathan Wojcik (Bogleech) & sculpted by george Gaspar.

Next, we have my favourite OMFG, not only for S3 but of all time. there's something about this figure that really does it for me, it might be that its cute and creepy and got the balance just right. Or it could be that he's a Mushroom, which Im rather partial too (they make great characters apparently). The skeleton blending with the fungus looks really great, and the details under his feet or under his hat really killed it and made this figure easily my favourite so far. I rate it at a staggering 9.5/10!

Ten-Can - Designed by Richard Brown & Nikolas Sardos, and sculpted be Bryan Fulk (Ed Gein)

Ten-Can is a another creepy/cute character, and although its not entirely an original idea (is anything, anymore?) he turned out really nicely. 

The design itself was rather simple but it actually works at this scale and Bryan was able to sculpt some nice details into him like his boot (wow!) and even the botchy metal plates that secure the makeshift peg-leg into place underneath the trash can. He has two tentacles that have burst thru the can and protruding from either side, two misshaped eyes & some funky stuff spilling out.

I rank this guy at an average 7.5/10.

Fruit Punch - Designed by Scott Tolleson and sculpted by George Gaspar

Lastly, we have the smallest meber of the group, Pruit Punch, which as his name would suggest is a Juice box (or Prima for us Aussies) blended with a Boxer, hence the punch. I really adore this figure, and his diminutive stature only adds to that appeal. His face is awesome, although it kind of looked a bit better in the design, which happened to have started out as a Milk carton initially. Fruit Punch also drawed in the S3 vote offs but came out on top, the little champion he is. Im all the more happy for it. :)

I give this guy a well-deserved 8.5/10.

ZOMBIE PHEYDEN - Designed by Matt Doughty (Onell Design) & George Gaspar, sculpted by George Gaspar.

Officially Zombie Pheyden is an OTMFG not OMFG, however his release coincided with that of S3, and exclusive Kickstarter black Zombie Pheydens were offered as freebie rewards for backers. He's also made of the exact same materials so it seemed fitting to include him in my review. Im not that into Glyos myself (though I can see why everyone loves them) but this is the Pheyden character form the Onell Glyos Universe, however here he's been infected with a zombie virus! I've learned to eat my words with these figures, as at first I wasn't that interested in this guy. At first.

I rate this guy at a comfortable 8/10.

So there you have it, thats my take on Series 3 OMFG.

All Flesh sets, S1-3 are available via the OctoberToys shop for $10 USD a pop, however at the time of writing this S1 is apparently out of stock.

I will be posting regarding the availability of Series 3 retailer exclusives shortly, so make sure to check back for more S3 OMFG info soon.

Ten-Can out on a leisurely stroll..

Barbarianaut surveys a foreign land.

PRESENT to FUTURE - My 1st Silicone mould & Resin casting!

Just wanted to do a quick post showing off my first ever Silicone mould & Resin casting that I made in a night class the other day. I was surprised that it turned out pretty good, but I plan on making the leap to casting with Urethane rubber which is a lot harder to work with.

I chose to mould a Ten-Perr pewter Viking from Norway, since I love those guys and you don't see many of them anymore. It did bleed a bit in the mould, and I had to clean the figure by removing the flashing, and I also sanded his seam line a bit in some areas where it was more pronounced.

Here's some pics!

In 2014 I will be casting as much as time allows, between sculpting and other stuff on the horizon. 

I am planning on getting set up with a Pressure Pot so I can do better quality castings, and in rubber too.

Can't wait!

PRESENT - MUTANTS by IronHaus Productions X Imperfecz toys REVIEW!

IronHaus Productions has teamed up with Imperfecz Toys and released a brand-spanking-new line of rubber mini-figures simply called 'MUTANTS'.
Cast in the same soft rubber we all know and expect from Indie Mini-Figures we've seen in the past from IronMask & Eric Nilla, and feel much like M.I.M.P do. The figures themselves range from about 1.5" - 2.5" although most are about the 1.75" range. The standard flesh colours have a nice novel twist in that theres a large degree of variation in the tones, from a pale creamy tone all the way to a more tanned, bronzy tone. Genius!

Also, there are other colours available too as seen in the image above, with some rare chase figures thrown in to keep things interesting! 

Mutants is shaping up to be a very neat line of figures indeed.

How the full set comes come packaged. 
Note: If you order the full set like I did, then
you will receive the entire set of 10 Mutants in 
various tones of flesh, as well as the Hunter figure.

The Hunter, complete in packaging.

First, lets have a closer look at the Hunter figure. This guy looks badass and ready to take down some mutants! Armed with a surgically attached forearm blade & armour plating, boots, spiked gauntlet... This guy isnt messing around! No Mutant Hunter is complete without a gas mask, no doubt to stave off the infection as he cleaves his way through the mutated masses.

It feels a lot like a M.U.S.C.L.E figure, however I do believe it is an original sculpt and not a kitbash (but I may be wrong). 

This guy looks amazing, and the photos do not do him justice.

The Mutants in their various flesh tones; an idea rarely seen in mini-figures and yet adds a lot of appeal as oppose to the standard flesh colour. I haven't seen this done since Oodles: Coochy Coodles back in the 80's!

Currently there are 10 different Mutant figures & 1 Hunter figure to collect.

Lets have a look at each mutant in a bit more detail.

GODO - A freakish looking Mutant who has a rather pouty looking mouth in its torso, and holding a decapitated head with what looks like an eye peering out of the mouth. Freaky but awesome!

CARAES - An abortion looking fetus Mutant that reminds me of the parasitic Kuato from Total Recall, minus his helpless host. Not my favourite so the Hunter can waste him first.

FOSSILUS - I really like this character a lot! He's got heaps of detail, and the skull helmet really gives it a wasteland Mutant feel, like they're trying to be resourceful and making armour/weapons from scrap.

MUKOU- One of the smaller Mutants, he appears to be an elemental made of crystalline or rock.. It could even be slime or muk, as the name somewhat suggests.

SEWERSTEIN- A stabd out favourite for me, half turtle, half cyborg complete with cybernetic enhancements and a metallic face plate much like Kano from Mortal Kombat. His scales and shell look fantastic!

TRONCO- An interesting Mutant who is mostly comprised of a upper torso, decapitated for good measure and with eyeballs for breasts. Usual, run-of-the-mill Mutant stuff really. Very cool figure!

BRACHAENG- May have a difficult name to pronounce, but this Mutant isn't hard to like! Easily the tallest & largest of the Mutants, he reminds me somewhat of a Necromorph from Dead Space. Creepy!

JANUS- Is a bit like Blemmyea meets Frankenstein, and has irregular asymmetry that makes him stand out from the others Mutants in a good way. He's quite beefy too.

BLEMZINGER- Is as the name suggests, Blemmyea but with a twist; his left arm is a mutated snake creature!

With a cool stance and sinister expression, he may be on the short side but he looks like he packs a punch.

DUNKING- The most solid character on being a smidgen shorter than BracHaeng, Dunking is what we all feared.. that food would eventually grow teeth and bite back! Seriosuly, this walking donut with fangs ranks pretty high as a stand out figure for me personally. :)

The Mutants are available in various colours depending on how you buy them.

 Here's a breakdown of how they're available, and can be purchased at Imperfecz Toys Bigcartel Store NOW!

* The Hunter of the Mutants - $10.00 USD
Bagged and headed Hunter Figure in Flesh

* Mutants 3-Pack Blindbag - $20.00 USD3 random Mutant figures in random colours like Flesh, One-offs & other surprises. Its possible to pull a Hunter too, or even something else unexpected.. 

* Mutants 2-Pack selections - $15.00 USD(Pre-paired 2-packs of the Mutants cast in a flesh colour, here's the selections.
Pack 1 - Fossilus & Tronco
Pack 2 - janus & Godo
pack 3 - Mokou & BracHaeng
Pack 4 - Blemzinger & Sewerstein
Pack 5 - Dunkang & Caraes)

* Mutants Full 11 Figure Set - $60All 10 Mutants & Hunter making a total of 11 figures, carded and in various flesh tones.


I highly recommend picking up the full 11 figure set for $60, since it works out around $5.45 per figure which is practically unheard on this industry. And who wouldn't want a full set of figures I one foul swoop? It saves on chasing them around and remembering drop-dates, as well as saves cash on shipping!

GO! BUY!!

Looking forward to seeing where this line goes, needles to say I'll be keeping a close eye on any new developments and make updates here on my blog. :)