As a part-time artist, I’ve always dreamed of having something I’ve created find itself included in a set of mini art toys. I came pretty close when I was included in Shin Tanaka’s awesome papercraft Spiky Baby series, but the real promised land is scoring a place in the Dunny lineup.

The Dunny might not have been the first customizable art toy, but along with the Munny, they exist at the core of most urban vinyl / art toy collections. I’ve even picked up a few myself, but I admit that I don’t have any special fondness for the ones that I have. Mostly because they haven’t let me rock one out myself. It’s always about me.

A Dunny toy resembles a bunny-ish cartoon creature, and series after series of these 3” toys are released in exactly the same shape (with a few exceptions) - but they all feature different decoration, as determined by a variety of different artists who transform the basic Dunny shape into different characters, patterns and objects. Take a look at the picture for an example of this.

They’re distributed in a ‘blind box’ fashion, which means that you don’t know WHICH toy you’ve gotten until you open the box, and with each Dunny and Munny series, there are between ten and fifteen different possibilities. Some of these are common, some of ‘em are really ugly, and a few are incredibly rare, packed in a ratio of one in every 64 boxes or one in every 128 boxes, and some even less. In the fifth and most recent Dunny series, 600 boxes (out of an undetermined total run) were stuffed with a Wonka-style ‘Golden Ticket’, which entitled the bearer to a super-limited figure by artist Huck Gee. It did not, however, entitle the bearer to take over KidRobot or take a ride in a completely unsupported glass elevator. This is proof that we live in a world where Golden Tickets have completely lost their meaning, and I don’t know if that’s a world I want to live in.

Here’s where things get messy. Dedicated blind box collectors will order entire cases of figures from the retailer to increase the odds of getting a figure that they really want. The cases are usually filled with a quantity of 24 figures. The extras are traded off, and though a case is expensive, it’s usually easier to obtain all of the toys in the set this way. As cases ordered from KidRobot were arriving from doorsteps, a shipping error made itself known.

A few extremely lucky (or unlucky, as the case may be) collectors were receiving cases that were packed full of these unusually rare Golden Ticket Huck Gee figures. Someone in a warehouse had messed up. On average, the rarity of these Golden Ticket figures from previous series has driven the price up to the $300 or more, so a case packed with 24 of them could pay for a college education. At a state school.

As blogger BelaResa reports, KidRobot didn’t respond to any customer service inquiries for a period of time, so she posted on the KidRobot forums, asking for advice on how to resolve the curious situation. And here’s where it gets really strange : KidRobot summarily deleted her posts, and any posts about the ‘leaked’ Golden Ticket figured, and banned her from visiting the forums, AND their website - a dedicated customer (as evidenced by her Flickr photostream, which is rife with KidRobot toys in quantities heretofore unseen), just completely blocked out without an explanation. I can state from personal experience that when you order from KidRobot, everything had better go completely right, because it’s absolutely unlikely that anyone will every respond to customer service inquiries sent to them, by phone, e-mail, post, blog, semaphore, or superintelligent dolphin messenger.

While there’s been no formal resolution to the faux pas over the past week or so, both in shipping and the rash decision to censor any and all talk of the mishap, they have let banned collectors back onto their website, and the Golden Ticket figures have made their way onto eBay. They’re selling in a predictable $200 range. I doubt we’ll ever see a formal statement regarding the mishap, because KidRobot operates in Top Secret Government Entity-like silence, but toys have leaked before their release dates in the past, and the universe has not imploded. You wouldn’t know that from looking at KidRobot’s reaction, though.

So, Dunny collectors - keep on buying those Dunnies and looking for your Golden Tickets. Redeem them fast, though, because KidRobot seems to have misplaced their supply of Huck Gee figures.

Ask most action figure enthusiasts what they collect and you’ll get a handful of standard answers regarding the core of their collection - admired superheroes and superheroines, movie or TV characters, or just things that look neat. Certainly, this is the core of my own collection as well - I’ll never pass up a good Batman, and I have a nearly complete collection of Muppets and Heroes figures, for no other reason than I like the places they came from. Lately, however, I’ve begun to look at the formal properties of my favorite action figures to identify aesthetic themes between them, intentional or accidental. I thank ToyGiants by the Fuchs brothers for this renaissance in my perspective.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m inadvertently collecting clear action figures. And I totally don’t mind.

It’s not an especially difficult collection to amass, since many, many action figure lines already incorporate the ‘clear’ action figure into their ranks, usually to represent ‘invisible’, ‘hologram’ or ‘ghost’ characters. These clear figures are almost always variants on existing, solid characters, and usually reuse the same expensive mold that the full-color version of the character utilizes. To add to the financial appeal of clear figures, the manufacturer doesn’t even have to pay for paint applications on most of these, and they can still be sold as completely different figures. It’s a racket, I tells ya!

Generally, the unpainted surface of these clear figures reveals the hidden beauty of the toy sculpt, which is often lost under imprecise paint or small manufacturing flaws. Seeing the pure shape of the figure as the light plays across and through it is a quiet kind of acknowledgment that there’s actually some artistry and skill underneath these bulging muscles and voluminous capes. The inner joints are revealed, pins and hinges laid bare, and plastic seams made obvious - but there’s something beautiful about them.

I envision my army of clear figures assembled in a display, creating a striking, unusual and ghostly community of the intangible and unseen. The following is a basic overview of translucent and clear action figures, for any of you figure collectors aspiring towards elevating your collections to another level. An artfully assembled collection of aesthetically unified figures can potentially offset and validate the blatant nerdiness of your Mighty Avengers shelf.

Hasbro’s Star Wars line has incorporated a number of blue-tinted ‘holographic’ figures, as they’re displayed via interstellar communications in the ol’ Star world. These include Darth Vader, General Grievous, Ki-Adi Mundi, Plo Koon, Count Dooku, Yoda, Darth Maul, Princess Leia and of course, the original holographic evil head, The Emperor. In addition to this, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan also appear in ‘spirit’ form, as they did at the end of Return of the Jedi during the Ewok free-for-all.

Mezco’s recent Heroes line has incorporated clear variations of both Claude (the Invisible Man) and Peter Petrelli (who learns how to become invisible from him). The Hellboy 2 line features a SDCC exclusive ‘Supernova’ Liz Sherman, whose clear form is tinted blue and orange, and their Hellboy Comic line had a rare, translucent ‘Ghost of Lobster Johnson’ figure.

Palisades Toys’ Muppets line included an ‘Invisible Spray Fozzie’ and an ‘Invisible Beaker’, which both reference actual events from the TV show. Playmates’ Star Trek line had a spinoff series of ‘Transporter’ figures, which were half-painted representations of the main Enterprise crew, with their nether-halves partially phased out, as if being disintegrated and reassembled on a molecular level.

Of course, the Fantastic Four’s Invisible Woman has myriad clear action figures, from the 12” scale movie figure down to 5” scale. Additionally, ToyBiz’ first modern Fantastic Four line of toys included an invisible Super Skrull, ‘cause he rolls that way sometimes. Similarly, Vision from the original Marvel Legends line had a translucent, ‘Phasing’ variant.

Violet from Pixar’s film ‘The Incredibles’ also shared this invisibility superpower, and the Disney Store exclusive figure of her reflected this, in both painted and unpainted forms, conveniently packaged together.

There are also ‘Stealth Mode’ Predators from various companies, also, and McFarlane Toys’ line of HALO figures features an ‘invisible’ Camo Master Chief figure. In the future, everyone just goes invisible instead of wearing those tacky grey-and-green-splotches. Even the old ‘The Shadow’ line of movie toys had an ‘Ambush Shadow’ among the line, which also used invisibility as a cover for ambushin’.

DC Direct recently released a clear Martian Manhunter figure in their Justice line, since the Manhunter’s powers involve invisibility, as well as phasing through solid objects, changing shape, telepathy, super-strength, great peripheral vision and perfect toenails. A clear Manhunter also appears in Mattel’s Justice League line, and a pellucid Blue Beetle figure was also released into DC Direct’s ‘First Appearances’ line, to represent his stealth invisibility powers.

Of course, one can’t forget The Lord of the Rings from ToyBiz, in which Frodo, Bilbo and Gollum all tried out invisibility via magic ring and were captured as such in action figure form.

NECA’s Castlevania line is based on a video game in which the main character, Simon Belmont, can temporarily become invisible when he finds the right power-up, and so it is with their action figure line.

So, while this is certainly not a complete list of every see-through action figure, it’s a good start, and it’s an interesting reflection on just how often the clear ‘gimmick’ is used. You might be especially interested in figures that are red, or figures that are mostly white.

Regardless, I’m a total sucker for it.

As a toy collector, I often find myself hungering to ensconce myself even deeper into the toy-niverse and become a toy creator. I think it’s the quiet dream of many artists who fall anywhere into the ‘pop surrealism’ genre to have a toy made of their own images or characters, but the road is long and difficult, and absolutely incomprehensible when it comes down to the technicalities of the manufacturing process. I know - I’ve tried.

I have sketchbooks full of ideas, and my hours of plumbing the seedy and / or non-English parts of the internet were only met with frustration, and I came away with no greater knowledge about how to get my toy designs made. I collect this stuff - wouldn’t it be neat if someone collected MY stuff? Isn’t my line of Monsters Sitting In Stylish Chairs vinyl toys worth something to someone?

Jesse Wroblewski has the answer, and it’s called Toy-Creator.com, and lo, it is a bright beacon of awesome sent down from the plastic heavens, guiding us through the previously labyrinthine mire of the toy process. Sure, I’ve never had any problem with the creative aspects, but when you start throwing money and math and overseas construction in there, my brain starts to close off and curl into a tight little angsty ball - more than usual. But a little less than when someone asks, ‘So, what are you doing with your life?’

Jesse presents two distinct kinds of toy creation in his series of six videos, each handsome and clear video running about eight to fourteen minutes long. I won’t hold the wacky backgrounds against him. Even if Jesse’s brand of creepo toys aren’t your thing, remember that the techniques and ideas that are discussed within can be applied to anything; action figures, statues, trinkets, geegaws, etcetera.

First, the general processes of craftily hand-producing your own toys at home is discussed, from prototype to finished product. Of course, these solitary methods are labor intensive and can only produce small amounts of product, but it’s far cheaper than mass production, you have total control of the process, and handmade things are pretty hot right now. While the video addressing handmade toys speaks of things in very general terms, offering hints but few specifics, the series of constantly updated links below each video is where the real money is. Jesse knows what he’s talking about, knows where to get the proper materials, and acknowledges that there are far more detailed resources out there that explore and exhaust the finer points of the artistic process, and so he points you towards them.

However, most of the video series places a heavy focus on exactly what to do with your toy ideas and products on a grand, mass-market level : how to get a company to pick up your idea or how to deal with the mass production process yourself, which overseas manufacturing plants are good to deal with and which ones speak English (which is less common than you’d think), how to buy licenses to make toys or have someone buy your licenses, how to market your toy to the world, and a general miasma of anecdotal wisdom gained from the very difficult process of making a collectible, interesting toy. Again, these all come with super-helpful links on every page, which Jesse strives to keep actively updated.

Because of this, the delivery of the info is ideally suited to the web. While some folks might be hesitant to drop a subscription fee to the website (which is currently around $40), we have Jesse’s assurance that everything will be kept live and updated for the foreseeable future. Don’t be put off by the stark, sales-pitch aesthetic of the introductory pages, because it’s much cleaner and slicker inside - and if you’re serious about getting any of your ideas into three dimension or into mass production, this collection of links alone is a great resource.

No, the site isn’t really designed for someone casually interested in throwing something together for fun; this is business, and it takes a serious investment of time and finances to get it started. If this doesn’t scare you, plunge in. It’s the first investment in a series of greater investments, and hopefully a first step towards becoming the creator of a collectible.

I’m usually a stingy buyer; price has a heavy weight when deciding whether I should pick an item up. Sure, it results in me getting a lot of junk because it’s cheap, but it’s my junk, and I wouldn’t have bought it unless it was cool. Then there’s items like this one, where I see it from across the way, make my beeline to it, and hold on to it until I reach the checkout. This, below, is a toy printing press.

I’ve got a soft spot for books, and printed material in general. I can tell a letterpress product versus a lithograph (note: the flyers in the hem box are, surprisingly, lithographic), and I’ve got boxes of letterpress blocks in my basement. The only thing is, I had yet to own a printing press. Full-sized presses are rather spendy, so, for now, I’ll have to stick with my toy printing press.

If it weren’t for toy printing presses, The Simpsons’ Springfield would never know that Todd Flanders smells, although later in the same episode the toy printing press is used to send an important message. For being a relatively functional manufacturing piece, it’s akin to a masculine Easy-Bake Oven; a symbol of future drudgery and industrial servitude, but in childhood it’s “Playing Daddy At Work”. Thousands of budding news editors released special editions of local news — so enormously local as to encompass the livingroom, kitchen, and the part of the back yard where the little sister and her friends are playing. There’s no doubt that the drive to own a tiny printing press springs from the same place that blogging does; however, writers had toy typewriters — the kid with a printing press is another entity altogether. I may be reading into it a bit, but as a freelance writer and blogger who typesets books from time to time, I think the subject may strike me a bit deep.

My new printing press was made by Superior Marking Company (SMECo), of Chicago, sometime in the 1950s. Superior was known for manufacturing rubber stamps and other commercial marking equipment, but they also produced a number of toy rummer stamp kits, with the printing presses at the higher end of the toy line. SMECo produced several sizes of presses, but all worked on pretty much the same mechanical process. The large barrel in the center has rows of metal clips, into which custom rubber ‘cuts’ are inserted. the barrel is about seven inches around, setting the maximum length of the printed page. My press, unfortunately, has lost all but the top three inches of text and clips, which limits what can be printed, unless I track down replacements. A slip of paper about three inches wide is inserted into the front of the press, and the crank is turned. This process is actually simple and ingenious; as the barrel rolls, it turns an ‘inker’ roller to place a layer of ink on the raised letters, and when it reaches the lowest point it engages a rotating platen underneath that forces the paper against the raised letters, producing text. Once the letters are set, a little press like this could operate constantly until it ran out of ink or wore down the raised rubber surfaces. While mine (see also, also) has very simple text, other examples online show a wide variety of possible fonts, headers, and layout possible with a little press like these.

Superior wasn’t the only manufacturer of little printing presses. The designs varied from simple rotary presses like mine to miniaturized moving platen presses that operated like their full-sized commercial counterparts. Superior, it seems, was the most prolific of the toy printing press companies, although others have tried their hand at it over time, from Fisher Price in the 60s to Crayola in the 21st century. While this wasn’t a common toy, tin printers like mine show up quite often on eBay and other online stores at reasonable prices.

I’ve mentioned green ear, so it seems no surprise that I should bring up another toy side that’s easy to despise… The smell of teeny-tiny scented plastic dolls. Charmkins, to be precise.

Charmkins were made by Hasbro, Inc. in the 80’s, and like the original Polly Pocket made by Bluebird Toys (made at the end of the decade), the dolls were very small (at or under an inch). Unlike the Polly Pocket dolls, Charmkins were designed to be worn — and to smell. Sold as “scented jewelry playmates” each piece had a loop at the top of the head & a hole in the bottom so that it could be attached to a piece of jewelry (a necklace, hair ribbon, ring etc.), thus creating an endless array of accessories — or, in many cases, an endless array of plastic bits lost at home and in public places.

And they were scented.

I can only imagine the number of dogs who ate these little bits of scented plastic, unceremoniously dumping them in backyards throughout America.

Being too old to play with Charmkins when they debuted, I discovered them at a rummage sale last weekend. In a play case, properly known as the Charmkins Jewelry Carrying Case. I was intrigued enough to buy them. As predicted, not all the dolls or charms are with their original jewelry accessory, but I was able to identify each piece.

Brown-Eyed Susan (the first one) & her Ribbon Choker
Flower Godmother ChrysantheMum
Blossom
Petal Pusher
Half-An-Inchworm (no ID tag, but wears the pink key chain from Petal Pusher)
Sweet Bea and Honey Bee (no necklace)
Petal Pink Puppy & Ring
Morning Glory & her Bow-tie Barrette
Lily Belle
2 Lady Slippers
My Pixie Pony (who looks too much like Hasbro’s My Little Pony to be accidental)
Dragonweed Mail Order Charmkin
a pink picnic table (likely from the Whippoorwill Flower Mill play set)
and a pink chord with pendant clip

The Charmkins enjoyed the sweet smell of success, inspiring stickers, games, bedding, etc. — and, of course, The Charmkins Sniffy Adventure, a scratch-n-sniff book. They were even popular enough to spawn an animated Charmkins cartoon; just one episode.

Did I mention they were scented?

Having been stored together the past two decades, the scents are no longer distinguishable from one another, but each had it’s own scent.

The past two decades have not diminished their scent much. I think. Up until now I have had no experience with Charmkins. But thanks to my dedication to readers of this blog, my hands now smell of Charmkins.

And it’s not as charming as you might think, or, to you 20-somethings reading this, as you remember. In fact, I’ll go on record as saying the scent might be toxic; I have an enormous headache that I cannot get rid of. And I have to wonder just how smelly you were as a kid.

Ooh, ooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell?
Ooh, ooh that smell
The smell of Charmkins surrounds you.