Plugged In

Am sooooo loving this Be@rbrick USB... Not only it is a FUN way to save my Be@rbrick photos, am also happy that this ingenious 100% sized comes in this DARUMA style - one that I missed out on when the regular version first came out.

Taipei Toy Exhibition

A couple of days ago, I happened upon this really cool Toy Exhibition at Misukoshi A9 - in Taipei...  was actually walking home from a frustrating afternoon and came across the EVENTS POSTER - needless to say, my mood changed right away, and right there and then, I was on my way up to the 9th Floor of the A9 Building to take in the Exhibition....

Actually lots to see at this Exhibition....   cute vinyl toys from familiar brands such as the likes of QEE, Hot Toys, Astro Boy, CI Boys, etc...  plus Action figures of all sizes - LIFESIZE even!!!   Am one am not too familiar with, COSMI Toys.   Their goods are new to me...  seems they are trying to cut into the Be@rbrick/Qee market by producing an in between looking type figures - they run the gamut of Disney characters to Marvel & DC Comics Heroes....  They are cute, no doubt about that - just not too sure I need to get started on another collection... LOL!

ASTRO BOY, CI BOYS, Danny Chan's Killer Cat and more...

COSMI TOY COLLECTIONS

There was an IMPRESSIVE section of 12 inch Action Figure Vinyl Toys/Dolls....  from Military Figures to Manga ones; from Real Celebrities to Political Figures (Chairman Mao, Obama, Jay Chou, James Franco, etc); and of course, dolls from popular films such as Star Wars, Marvel Movies (Iron Man, Batman, etc), Scream, and even a few Jim Carrey movies such as Ace Ventura, Mask, and as The Joker....  These figures were made by various different companies...

Jim Carrey From The Mask, Ace Ventura, and as the Grinch!

BATMAN FIGURES

An added Mini Exhibition was on hand, as well.. located just the floor below with easy access escalator to take you there....  This one focuses on Anime/Manga Figures - in many different sizes....  such a GREAT Treat seeing all these UBER COOL, CUTE & FUN figures - of everyone's most loved Anime/Manga characters...

FOR COMPLETE PHOTOS PLS CLICK LINKS BELOW:

Exhibition 1

Exhibition 2

(Note: still working on UPOLOADING ALL THE PHOTOS  - Sorry!)

Hello Kitty X McDonalds

The fast food giant's current vinyl toy program brings back that world famous Kitty once more, Hello Kitty!   Not really a fave of mine to collect but i figured I would report for those who care to know...

There are also 4 styles of Hello Kitty plush offered - one for each week the program is running - starting this week...

New Gatchaman Premiums!

Yes folks, Family Mart - Taiwan, just unveiled one of their Summer 2012 Premium Promo offerings -   GATCHAMAN figures!  I could not be happier over this as Gatchaman remains to be one of my all time FAVE Anime shows, ever!....

I happen upon the promotional poster for it, while waiting for my friend Juliana for lunch...  went inside Family Mart to cool off, as it was just way too hot outside....  and there it was!!!  The whole gang all yours by collecting the points given from purchasing some selected drinks...  I knew I am in trouble once more.....  Fun Trouble, that is!!!   hahahahahaha.... 

As luck would have it, while strolling at Raohe Night Market the other nite - one of the booth vendor just happened to have a couple of sets left FOR SALE....  I snapped it right away, of course!!!   Forget collecting the points and taking chances on the Blind Boxes.... this was instant gratification..... hahahahahaha...

"Bird, Go!" - The Whole Gang!

Standing at an inch and a half tall and with movable legs and arms, too! 

Little Jinpei: Youngest Member of the Team!

Jo (#2) and Ryu, otherwise known as Tiny plans an attack.

Team Leader Ken, and electronics/demolition expert, Jun - the lone female member.

For More GATCHAMAN info: CLICK HERE!

Open-chang Turns 7!

Yes, Open-chang and his friends, this month, turns 7.... Fancy That!

Who would have thought that these cute little characters, definitely made and conceived in Taiwan, would turn out to be such a biiiiig hit Island wide... And beyond as I have seem Tourists from Japan, Korean and so on, hoard Open-chang items at various 7-11... Just recently, i came across a trio of JAL stewardesses ogling all the offerings at the 7-11 Song Shan Airport branch.,,

This month, to commemorate the cast of characters birth date, 7-11 issued so many items - both for sale and as Premium Giveaways.... All up there in the cute-o-meter!

And as am added bonus, a commemorative 7th Anniversary book/ magazine is issued.... Filled with so much info: Open-chang and company's history... All the In store promotional Premium goodies.. And the variety of products issued using the famous characters: stationaries, vinyl toys, phone accessories, mugs and bottles, plushies, and even their own brand of snacks and mineral water!

7th Anniversary Book with a Special Issued Fun Pen

Current Promotional Premiums: Colorful Folders and Fun Pens

So do not miss out on these cuties... Check out you nearest 7-11 shops in Taiwan or if living outside of Taiwan, get your connections to check them out for you... You too, will go Goo Goo Ga Ga for them, am sure!

DC Comics Catches Up...

In the wake of the super flooding of Marvel Collection Be@rbricks recently, DC Comics tries to catch up with a few releases of their own.. Not only is Batman from the new movie Dark Knight Rises becomes part of Series 24, Catwoman even enters the scene as one of the Secrets... To this am quite Happy...

And for extra measure, a retro Batman will soon debut.... plus the oh-so-cute Plastican, too....

UNICORNOs On Parade

For those of you who know me well, knows well enough how much am into tokidoki, as well... It is even worth mentioning that my love for Be@rbricks stemmed from my tokidoki collection... It's those damn cuuuute tokidoki Be@rbricks... But that's for another story...

For now,  I want to showcase the Unicornos as my first entry here that is not a Be@rbrick... But none-the-less, just as cute... And as collectible...  As I have mentioned in the title of the BLOG.: "and other VINYL Toys..."

PHOTO LEFT: Unicornos with a tokidoki Be@rbrick.

"The Unicornos were once simple little ponies that were out trotting and wandered into a magic waterfall. Passing through the waterfall, the ponies transformed into unicorns and found a hidden magical kingdom. The Unicornos live between the magic kingdom and our world."

These 2 1/2" bundle of joy mini-figures were sold as Blind Box Toys....  Released in the Spring of 2011,  there were 10 total in the initial offering....  8 Regular ones (Pogo, Metallo, Ritmo, Peperino, Mooka, Bellina, Stellina, & Dolce)  and 2 Special Secret ones (Prima Donna & Fumo) - sad to say, I have not been able to get these as of yet...  as well as a couple of XClusive ones made for events...  All are designed by Mr Tokidoki himself, Italian born, LA based artist, Simone Legno, of course!

The Regular 8 so far:

TOP ROW (L to R): Pogo, Metallo, Ritmo, Peperino (my FAVE!)

BOTTOM ROW (L to R): Mooka, Bellina, Stellina, Dolce

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