5 best blog posts

Before I became a finalist for the 2nd Philippine Blog Awards, I was asked to submit what I thought were my five (5) best blog entries from April 2007 to April 2008.

Hmmmmm.

If you check out my sidebar on the right, you'll see that I have a list of favorite posts which I have entitled "The Best of Bearbrick Love" – and it has thirty-two entries! And I was to choose only five!?

So I asked help from my friend, Jun, and after an hour of analysis, debate, and clicking through a year's worth of work, this was the list that we finally submitted to the committee. (Just click on a title below to read the entire post.)

1. Dreadful Dogs


2. Monkey Business


3. Electric Shock!



















4. Li'l Known Stories 'Bout Li'l Red Riding Hood



















5. VIP for Vuitton



















'8' is my lucky number but I hope '5' will suffice. Wish me luck! :-)

my series sixteen

Do I make it a point to collect every single Bearbrick of a series?

The answer is no. In the case of Series 16, I got all (see below) except one bear – the T19 Skateboard Bearbrick, a secret design. If you click here, you will see why I think it's not worth collecting.

Designer toys are very different from designer clothes. For toy collectors like me, a brand logo just ain't enough. :-)

Below, I've linked each of the bears to the sites of their designers or design inspirations so you can learn more about them.

Top row, left to right:

Basic (Letter B)
JellyBean (Jelly Belly)
Flag (Sweden)
Cute (Gachapin by Fuji TV)
SF/Science Fiction (D[di:])
Horror (Detroit Metal City - Johannes Krauser II)
Animal (Miura Jun)
Pattern (Crocodile)

Bottom row, left to right:

Artist (Kaeruotoko's Eagle Talon anime – Yoshida)
Artist (DJ Ozma)
Secret Artist (DJ Ozma – Nude Dancer)
Secret Cute (Mukku by Fuji TV)
Secret Artist (Kaeruotoko's Eagle Talon anime – Dr. Leonard)
Secret Pattern (Mint Designs)
Secret Horror (Detroit Metal City - Souichi Negishi)
Secret (Ed Banger Records)
Secret (Real Mad Hectic)

The Ed Banger Secret Bearbrick is my favorite. Which one is yours?

Info from www.fourxthree.com and the links above

the rare ramenz be@rbrick

If there is one bearbrick I own that I should keep inside a safe because it is so damn expensive, this is it – the Ramenz Bearbrick (named after the Japanese comedy duo). Unique and unpredictable, the design is well worth the money for me. According to Toysdorado, only 300 pieces were produced and distributed in Japan. And as afar as I know, only five of them surfaced on eBay.

It was created in collaboration with Ramenz's Katagiri Jin (left), the funny guy who co-starred with his silly sidekick Kobayashi Kentaro (right) in the now-famous youtube vids about Japanese traditions (sushi, green tea, chopsticks, origami, apology, and onigiri.). These two also appeared in the Japanese version of the Mac and PC television commercials.

I like creative types like Katagiri Jin – commercialism is always last on their minds. The Ramenz bear has no trademark, no signature, and no 'Made in Japan' in all caps. The only thing imprinted on it is Katagiri's wild imagination.

Truly a rare bear. :-)

Ramenz pic from www.twinkle-co.co.jp / Info from Wikipedia, www.metafilter.com, www.fourxthree.com, www.japannewbie.com

redefining the cute culture

Nice and naughty. Cute and creepy. That's Tokidoki.

See the Tokidoki Soccer Bearbrick (with fangs, and a pirate symbol on its chest). Spot the gentle-looking Japanese girl (with red horns and funky tattoos).

At the center, a cute-ified grim reaper offers a skull lollipop to the skull girl in pink. By the side, a devil boy cooks a hotdog in an open fire. (While devil girl listens to an iPod.)

What else? Flying candy bats. Bullet buddies. And red-hot chili peppers from hell.

Plus cute but thorny (ouch!) vinyl toys named Sandy, Bastardino (little bastard) and Sabochan. (Not for little kids, that for sure!)

Toy: Moofia's Mozarella, a machine gun-toting cow-girl.
Tote: A skull head vinyl charm decorates a colorful Le Sportsac bag.

It seems that with Tokidoki, cute has become more cutting edge. Simone Legno, the creative mind behind the extremely successful brand (above, left, at the Le Sportsac Store in Hawaii), says that "Tokidoki is a happy world. It is a cute, playful – pure yet provocative – and sophisticated world that I imagine, live in, and dream of."

From what I see, it's a place where the good, the bad, the feared, and the friendly live in harmony. Sounds like heaven to me. :-)

Catch Simone Legno at the Gaphika Manila 08, an International Multimedia Design Conference on September 20, 2008. Venue: SM Mall of Asia, Manila, Philippines

Info from Josh Spear, Star Bulletin, Wikipedia / Tokidoki art and product pics from Tokidoki, Nicknite, Strangeco