January 28, 2017

Late To the Party! Eric Nilla X Deadly Delivery Drop!

Hey, guys and gals,  my apologies on this one, as I really meant to be more punctual on this one, but yesterday became too much of a tornado of other events to allow me to jump on the computer.  Nevertheless, it looks like luck is on our side this time.

With positive vibes generated by amazing independent still kickin' it in the keshi community, we had the Gorewads announcement from Ironhaus Productions just a few days ago and yesterday evening, Eric Nilla released a drop of mega proportions.

The first part of it being new bouncy-rubber variants to the Critter, with one set being a colorful glow-in-the-dark set and the other being a thermal cat capsule set.  As much as I think a bouncy glow-in-the-dark Critter may be, there's some primal instinct, maybe the fact I've been on the Internet way too long, some cosmic pull from the kitteh Critters.  Is the the bonus cat capsules, the mini-figures, or the stickers?  I don't know, but I feel some mighty strong witchcraft with this one.

The second part is the first ever collaboration with Deadly Delivery, producing this ominous golden totem head.  It was excellently advertised as the final treasure for a certain adventurer, before the whole temple came crashing down.  So if you're into that sort of risk, I would implore you investing in this gold.

The last part is a collection of nearly-impossible-to-find mini-figures, now in easier-to-find bootleg variants in a much more reasonable price than what you can expect to find them for in the secondary market.  This portion of the drop may strike some collectors in a not so positive way, but I feel there is an argument for their acceptance.  They are neither replicating the originals color ways or value.  They are distinctively reproduced and not ashamed to flaunt it.  I feel they are a good alternative to collectors who love these sculpts, feel they need these sculpts, but for one reason or another, never checked it off their bucket list.  Now, in a way, they can.  Just don't hurt their feelings too much about their collections being "not entirely" complete.

The best part of the news is that, from the moment I am writing all this, all of these are still in stock to some regard.  I imagine they won't be for much longer, but at least I made it in before the bell rang.  Do yourself a solid and check out the link below, and snag up anything you like, while you can.

http://ericnilla.storenvy.com/collections/272314-ericnilla-customs

January 25, 2017

Ironhaus Productions Announces New Wave of Gorewads!

You know me, whenever I share anything negative or depressing, I'm quick to bury it in something a bit more uplifting.  And with that, I am excited to share that one of my favorite independent artists Ironhaus Productions is coming out with another wave of Gorewards!

And all I can say is 'Good, because the last wave sold out in minutes!'

But that's exactly what happens with in the independent toy scene.  When certain studios gather enough of a crowd and create a large enough fan base, and they love each other very much...  they... sell... out... quickly...  and...

Revealed to come out sometime next week, I'll make sure to update you with more exact information when I find it.  However, if it's anything like last time, you won't want to rely on me to get you to the front of the line.  Follow Jimmy on Instagram and check out his website regularly for more updates.

UPDATE:  Release date has been announced to be 2/10/17.

https://www.instagram.com/ironhaus_jimmy/
http://ironhauspro.bigcartel.com/

January 24, 2017

October Toys Calls It a Day!

Wow, guys, this one really sucks.  I mean, we all saw it coming, but it doesn't make it any better.  2016 started really strong for the company, but then there was a something of a wall and things sort of froze.  Matched with various shows and events cropping up, there seemed to be something writing on the wall when it comes to October Toys and late yesterday they released a letter confirming that they are exploring new adventures outside the October Toys brand.

The more I think about it, the more the idea of a future without October Toys leaves a rain cloud over my head.  It was their community that really cemented my interest back into keshi mini-figures years ago.  It was their forum I joined first and it was their Toy Break show that taught me the world-wide cast of amazing artists.  It was their OTMFG toy line that I gravitated to first, with a small, digestible, release schedule, checklist information, and a trading forum to really get my mind acclimated to everything.  Certainly, their forum has been inactive for quite some time and their releases have come too few and far between, but this brand was certainly without a doubt my trampoline back into things.

Knowing my always expanding October Toys collection now has a limit, other things dawn on me.  Although I have a good whack at completing what mini-figures I have missed throughout the years, things that were in the tunnel for the company are going to be likely left down there.  The worst victim of this, I feel, would be Series 5 of OMFG, that found it's final designs but possibly nothing further.  Although I never fully got into the series, but I can't help but recognize their Skeleton Warriors brand will be leaving a lot of others in a similar situation.

The shows and conventions are changing, but with the baby on the way, there was a fantasy of flying out to the west coast with the young one in the coming years.  There certainly are others to attend, but a sad fact of yours truly never got a chance to attend a Designer Con, despite the handful of opportunities.  I suppose it's one of those things you take for granted, and regret not taking a more serious approach before it's gone.

But you know what, I think I just might be something of an animal of habit.  Maybe I reject change a little too much,  Maybe I like repetition a little too much, because as I think of it now, as a collector, I am very different to the one that got into all this years ago.  I've come from someone knowing absolutely nothing about anything but what I remember from growing up, to someone knowing maybe too much about keshi mini-figures and providing something of a resource for newbies getting into it.

As much as this might be just a change of clothes for the people in the company, I can't help feel there are large contributions to the keshi community that are now missing.  Thankfully there are so many amazing artists and production teams out there, small and large, that can tickle your keshi bone, but I'm not sure there will be one like October Toys, and I'm glad I was there for the time I was.

Well, 2017 hasn't started out that swell for keshi right now, but now that the band-aid was ripped off, let's look forward to a brighter and more positive year.  Who knows what will happen and who knows from who?  There is only one way to find out, and that's just to keep on keeping on.  Keep collecting.  Keep trading.  Keep checking out everything, and keep supporting your favorite artists out there.

http://octobertoys.com/new-adventures/

January 19, 2017

Electric Monarchy! Greeendayo! Toy Geeks: BTC!

Hey, everyone, welcome back to Keshi Drop!  I'm flying in here before the workload gets anymore huge and backed-up.  Hopefully nothing feels too old, because I feel a lot of great stuff is coming out or being worked on, and if I don't just share all the excitement now, it'll pass me by.

Firstly, on the docket, the crew at Electric Monarchy has been super busy.  Not only has Bukkake been announced to having a purple colorway variant called Purple Rain, but a select number of Pug Burger pictures of test pulls have surfaced over social media.  Another Bukkake is great news, and hopefully purple is the missing piece in a lot of collections out there, but the production news and updates of Pug Burger has me very curious.

Seeing this dude in physical form, while still not in-hand, seems a lot less menacing that I had first assumed.  That's what you get with me, if you haven't learned that already.  I get psyched up pretty easy and try to find little details about things.  I yank on some string I feel is crucial to the whole work, hoping the whole sweater comes undone and I've discovered some secret.  More often than not, I'm just wrong, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate this guy.  I just feel this guy, more than I expected, falls into the laps of fans and collectors of Madballs and all the keshi, resin, and vinyl mini-figures that have come out inspired by them.

Hey, that's completely cool and there is certainly a market for that.  In fact, I believe I had one or two Madballs growing up, phrasing?, but as cool as I remember it being, I don't think it resonated to me as much as other things, even despite how it feels like it should have in retrospect.  I remember it being a foam ball with paint applications, and after months of hard squishing, I think it sort of fell apart and I focused on other toys.  Other fans and collectors, I am sure, have different stories to tell, so I hope they give Pug Burger a chance to recapture some of that.  I certainly will be interested, even if it's not the wildly offensive and disgusting keshi of my dreams.

Another interesting piece I came across comes from Japan via Instragram.  I do apologize, I know very little about this piece, the people behind it, and any release information.  But I just wanted to share a look at something that caught my eye, and something I really do what to know more about.  From username Greeendayo on Instagram, this Tiger Mask mini-figure looks gorgeous.  It's a very well done piece indeed, with stout stature and chubby proportions, the piece looks brilliant and fierce standing on it's own.  Fans of Mystical Warriors of the Ring, as well as just Kinnikuman in general, need to look this guy up and see what's happening with this guy.  From what I am surmising his the artist's blog, I am reading that this guy is coming out for the 2017 Winter Festival, but I could easily be wrong about that.  I Really enjoy this guy in both muscle flesh tone and black.  If anyone has any more information about this mini-figure or even just the artist or company involved or release info, please leave me a comment or email me.  Thanks!

And my final piece of news and excitement today is a new toy show happening on YouTube.  It's called Toy Geeks: Behind the Counter, and although it's new, a lot seems very familiar if you've been around the American toy world in the last few years.  It's curiously starring a good chuck of the Toy Break crew, which might naturally lead into some behind the scenes speculation, but that's nowhere I want to go or worry about.  That sort of stuff tends to happen when it comes with teams and crews of all sorts, so there's no need to pry into personal matters and whatnot.  I'm just glad the toy scene is still reaching out and creating excitement with their fans.  Episode 1 of the show was quite entertaining, if not a little shorter than I expected, but production levels were distinctively improved.  I would suggest you follow the link below, give it a watch, and subscribe for further volumes.  Granted there wasn't any keshi on the show, but that's where we come in.  We gotta' make our voices heard and have them ogle at all sorts of keshi mini-figures, and with George right there, I'm sure it wouldn't be much of a difficult coup.

Okay, that's all for me today!  Thanks a lot of dropping by and reading my words.  Sorry this is more or less a check-out-the-cool-things-I-found update, but this might be a trend in the following months until I know I can hit up the computer reliably.  I hope that's cool, but if it's not, you furiously huck your mini-figures through my windows.  A part of me won't even mind.

http://www.electricmonarchy.com/
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/gantzfan2007
http://toygeeks.com/

January 10, 2017

Super7 Reveals Street Fighter M.U.S.C.L.E. Drop!

What's going on, everyone, and welcome back to the old drop blog.  I don't want to get too hyped up, but there is a lot of stuff bubbling under the surface when it comes to keshi stuff.  I feel there will be a lot to ramble about very soon, which will be really great.  I've been really wanting to hit a good natural stride lately.  Like, you know, blasting out the words in a natural flow that doesn't take me too long to think about and edit, and I think updates like certainly get me in that mood.

Keshi champions of 2016 and coming out early this new year swinging, looking to level out all the competition.  Super7 is red hot, despite all rotten veg I could sling their way.  It started with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, then Alien, and now it's the classic fighting video game franchise, Street Fighter.  Everything they are touching is turning into G.O.L.D, and that couldn't be more exciting and awesome for anyone else but us.

Adding on to their previous successes, Street Fighter M.U.S.C.L.E. will be seeing the light of day January 11th 2017 on the Super7 webstore, and I have to say, maybe more than the previous series they've produced, this one looks the best and has me the most excited.  Sure, I enjoyed watching both He-Man and Alien, but I don't think I could accurately guess hour many countless hours I've spent smashing controller buttons to Street Fighter, and seeing how well these mini-figures turned out is even better.  I love the proportions and how stubby arms and fists are, just like classic Kinnikuman, and there is no confusing who is who.  If you're a fan of the video game, I am willing to bet you're into it.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!  Just to quickly reiterate for those who missed it, I may be a little ghostly in the next few months, and scroll down for more details about that, but when something big happens, expect to hear my point of view on it.  \Do also make sure you read from other bloggers and forum members too, just so you're fully educated on every possible angle.  And of course, for more official information, please visit the link below.

http://super7store.com/

January 1, 2017

Happy New Years + Life Update!

Welcome back,everyone, to Ye Ole Drop once again, and a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Reflecting on 2016, I can't wait for 2017.  The sooner we can forget this string of movie star and musician deaths, the political disemboweling, and wonky weather patterns the better!  On the whole, however, keshi has been pretty damn good this year!  The news of Kinkeshi coming back was a walk-off home-run out of the blue.  Super7's continued interest in crossing movie and video game franchises with small rubber figures is a plus, and talented independent artists around the world delivered more excellently than before.

I'm not one for Year End Awards or much reflection.  My focus is always on the forward.  What's next?  What's the next chapter?  How can this evolve and continue?  How can we keep surprising people?  What companies will come and what companies will go?  How will this community transform?  And that's why I am excited to see what a new year will bring, however, I do have a bit of update of sorts to announce with everyone.

Last December, I was quite absent.  It wasn't just holidays or the shopping rush or even the lack of keshi news, drops, happenings, and all that.  In fact, there was a quite a lot that fell through my fingers, so I hope in that regard you have a collection of bookmarked blogs and websites to capture every corner for you collection.  I am truly sorry for those who masochistically visited too often to find too little, but I am afraid I am powerless to a huge change in my life.

Without anymore fiddling around, at the joint-crackling age of 32, Crazy Uncle SpiderEarth is having a baby.  Actually, I don't have a huddle of spider eggs on me particularly, but my girlfriend does, and it's been a head rush, to say the least.   It's something we've always discussed, but nothing we ever thought we were capable of doing.  She's a normal human woman.  I'm a giant puking spider.  Things just weren't in the cards, or so we thought, so we were going to live our happy lives with tiny dogs, mini-figures, and loud rude music, but I suppose you should never rely on the nevers or always in life.  As small of a chance as something is, give it enough time and that one percent will happen.

So, as I have been wanting to jump on and talk keshi mini-figures, my mind has been completely elsewhere, but that's not to say this a permanent state of mind now.  Right now, in these early stages, we are making sure the homestead is ready and comfortable for our new addition due this summer, but I think it will plateau out eventually.  Eventually everything will be in order and my mind can dial it back some.  I think this first stage will be the most dramatic.

It's still so wild to think about, but I couldn't be happier for my girlfriend, myself, and our new transforming family.  She's been such a wonderful rock for me.  There have been numerous times I've frantically written some garbage and had her look it over, just so one pair of sensible eyes give it a once over before I have to answer the Internet for my transgressions.  She's been the cool, collected, mind reassuring me to continue on doing things as raw and uncompromising as I first intended.  She's been the secret force behind the Keshi Drop, keeping me from editing out things I have grown to have second thoughts about, 3am in the morning in my underwear.  She's also been a blank slate when it comes to reviewing a mini-figure.  Where I may have clouded my judgment with enthusiasm or nostalgia, she has offered opinions from a new point of view.  And on another special occasion, she's helped me execute my more manic plans by being my model for the photo I took for Electric Monarchy's Bukkake.  Is that how babies are made?  She's been a such a great source of support, intelligence, and character, I am very grateful to be voyaging on this new adventure with her, but let me make one thing perfectly clear, just so there is no confusion with my plans for the future...

Keshi Drop is going nowhere.  I am still going to be right here, being rude, being weird, and getting too wrapped up and involved in every keshi conspiracy that comes our way.  There will just be a new member of the team.  Will the baby enjoy keshi?  Will it be a keshi purist or someone more reasonable?  Will he or she want to express themselves in text and ramble about toys?

Stay tuned.

Much love, everyone.  Thank you, from the bottom of my spider heart, for another fun year.  I am extremely sorry I have been ghostly recently, but I won't always be.  Things will return to normal.  Until then, I want to thank everyone who ever visited the site, read an article, dropped a comment, sent me an email, hit me up on Instagram and followed my exploits there.  I've said it before, but I first started this site, selfishly just for myself, just so I had my own corner of the web to talk to myself about toys and crap, but I wasn't allowed to be alone for very long.  My thoughts and opinions weren't weird and off-base enough, and before I knew it, I have made friends in almost every time zone, all shared in the love of keshi weirdness.  It's wilder than wild, and I am truly fortunate.  Even when I look at my bank account and I can't pull enough scratch for every drop I want, I would prefer this sort of fortune.  You guys have made this so special for me and I can't wait to see where it goes in the coming years.

Thank you all very much.