Urban Toyfare are a new online UK vinyl toy store. They've only been around for a few days but they've got a really good mix of mini figures, blind boxes, rare, customised and diy toys. If you want somewhere you can get MADL's, dunnys, teddy troops and all sorts of other toys all under one site thet this great online store is definitely worth a visit.

Tags: urban toyfare, dunny, madl, teddy trooper, vinyl toy, urban vinyl
Categories: out and about, vinyl toys

Just spent 4 days relaxing in London before everyone goes wedding crazy. Finally visited Kid Robot London and Play Lounge. Bought a couple of Dunnys, a King Ken and a few other toys. Also bought a really nice EBOY print from Play Lounge featuring NYC. If you're ever in London and you have a vinyl toy fetish I'd recommend a visit to these two fantastic stores.

Also be sure to check out the larger Forbidden Planet. They have a good selection of KR toys and things like Qees (all at quite low prices, also they sell unboxed figures if you're desperate to complete a collection but don't mind an already open toy).

Tags: kid robot, play lounge, dunny, king ken, eboy, london, vinyl toy
Categories: out and about, vinyl toys

Since starting my screenprinting course I've learnt thath Hereford (the place I've lived in for the last 5 years) has a pretty decent art scene. I've always liked wandering around the city art gallery/museum, not least because they have a real bee hive inside and a 2 headed calf but also because they have exhibitions from the local art college graduates.

My wife was in the city center last week and told me about some authorised graffiti that's appeared on the high street that I should probably go check out. Hereford had a bad fire about 6 months ago that gutted a number of buildings. While they rebuild they've fenced off a number of buildings on the highstreet and to brighten it all up they've invited a number of local artists to decorate the fences.

Here's some photos of my favourite pieces/ You can see more photos at the following blogs

http://illustrationjester.blogspot.com/2011/03/decorating-hereford.html

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Illustration-Jester/182071035149133

http://joekillustration.tumblr.com/post/4022356953/a-whole-load-of-artists-and-illustrators-got

 

Tags: hereford, graffiti, street art
Categories: artwork, inspiration, out and about

Storyteller, illustrator, apparel designer, animator, art director, and once again, painter, Alex Pardee unveils his first acrylic on wood paintings on January 8th at Corey Helford Gallery.

Born in 1976, Alex Pardee is a pioneer in trans-media artistry, whose unique style and aesthetic covers many platforms. His projects include everything from animation, such as the 3D animated web series Chadum, to his work with filmmaker Zack Snyder in creating original artwork for the upcoming film, Sucker Punch.

Like James Jean, Shepard Fairey and other cross-media artists, the multi-talented Pardee divides his time in diverse interests. But after three years of planning and near misses in scheduling, Corey Helford Gallery are proud to present Alex's "Vertigo: A Decade of Hunting Nightmares" - a full exhibition, not of his wonderful ink and watercolor works, but of his wonderful paintings.

As always, advance online previews can be requested at jch@coreyhelfordgallery.com. And be sure to check out Alex's website for the show at www.vertiparker.com.

Tags: alex pardee, corey helford gallery, exhibition
Categories: artwork, out and about

i've just spent a rainy day doing some christmas shopping in manchester. this means that i've been able to go to my favourite toy store, the richard goodall gallery. if you're in manchester and you want to spend some money on some vinyl (the kind you don't play) or some giclee or screen prints then this 2 floor gallery store in the northern quarter is definitely worth a visit.

if you don't know where it is just get onto oldham street heading out of the city center. keep walking until you go past forbidden planet and then do a left. it's opposite the back of the multistory car park. the address is 59 Thomas St Manchester England M4 1NA UK

if you've ever been to kidrobot in San Francisco then you'll understand how much better it is to look through the display cabinets to see what each figure looks like. in the richard goodall gallery they normally have the complete series blind box figures in their display cabinets so you can see these figures up close. one other thing i love about this place is that they actually sell some of them as open box figures which is a godsend if you're trying to complete a particular series. not only do they sell most if not all of the current kidrobot range (including all the 8" dunnys), they also sell a lot of the more interesting rarer toys downstairs, things like the wwr figures by ashley wood, a lot of the michael lau figures and occasionally some of the gama go figures and some original sketches by tim biskup (the death bot will be mine).

in addition to their large range of vinyl (believe me they have a lot of stuff here that wasn't actually in the new york kidrobot store last time i went) they also sell limited edition prints from some amazing artists. my favourite ones have to be the aaron horkey music posters, these giclee prints are simply amazing
but it doesn't stop there, they also sell a good range of books and magazines covering the whole low brow art scene including back issues of juxtapoz and various toy related books and if you're tired they also sell cushions, my favourite ones have to be the tara mcpherson ones.

all in all this place is definitely worth a visit but if you're nowhere near manchester you can visit their website here.

Tags: richard goodall gallery, tim biskup, munny, dunny, qee, vinyl toy, michael lua, ahsley wood, aaron horkey, tara mcpherson, gama go, deathbot, manchester, toy store
Categories: artwork, out and about, useful links, vinyl toys