TeXt Marks The Spot

I’ve been expounding the virtues of Letter Pressed for a while. Their Artist Series reads like a Who’s Who of the vinyl toy community: Joe Ledbetter, Jon Burgerman, Nathan Jurevicius, Bwana Spoons… In theory, every one of us should own something letterpressed. In practice, as with paint colors and Venetian blinds, you need to see a sample. While I want my words to convey the elegance of the paper and the clean, vibrant impression of the art, you need to touch these for yourself.

To that end, Letter Pressed’s Mark Begley provided one lucky ToyCyte reader with a pack of hand-numbered Cool It letterpressed cards by Le Merde. Check out the interview and contest.

In the fall of 2008, times were getting tough. There was hope, but it couldn’t come quick enough for many people. I couldn’t save anybody from a foreclosure, but I could partner up with a toy store from Taipei and a toy designer from Tokyo to make people laugh with a contest of truly lowbrow proportions.

I don’t typically go for potty humor, but I’m crazy about Touma’s Pooty figure. There’s something so absurd about a skunk off-gassing a vinyl fart cloud. Every time I look at them, they make me smile. To that extent, we’re giving away three of the figures in exchange for a laugh. The funniest comment will receive the rare all-black Pooty figure signed, dated and doodled as a collab between Touma, ToyCyte and Paradise Toy Land (who donated the figure for the global good of rebuilding the ozone layer one poot at a time). Two runners up will be awarded the standard pink (with grey) and standard blue (with purple) Pooty figures, also signed and dated by Touma. All figures are 8 inches tall, produced in China by Headlock Studio and feature articulation at the poot. Each one comes in a window box with a Paradise canvas tote bag.

Read the interview and comments and laugh your ass off.

Yes, I got strange looks, but then again, this is the Bay Area: anything goes. I took the Yeti to the voting booth. GAMA-GO ended up using these pictures in their newsblast, which was flattering.

It’s going to be a historic day today, and the Yeti departed his ice cave to find the local polling place to cast his ballot. It is a lesser-known fact, but owing to the cold climates and strain of bearing such heft as a bipedal creature, yetis can be prone to arthritis. As such, the Yeti is a staunch believer in universal healthcare without barring pre-existing conditions. The Yeti is a very misunderstood creature and feels that there should be equality for all, including other marginalized cryptids. He has not been happy with the way things have gone over the last eight years and has kept a low profile. The Yeti is hoping for change.