GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS...

The bad news, I didn't win an Oscar again this year.

The good news, YOU COULD!

Crush DIY vinyls are now available! See the Buy Me link in the right hand column to get your very own...and show us what you've got - creatively;)

Send pictures of your original painted version of CRUSH to neptoonstudios@gmail.com

The artist with the most creative and best executed CRUSH will be the WINNER of this one of a kind, signed CRUSH OSCAR!!! And will be featured on the Neptoon's blog for all to enjoy.

The winner will be announced - May 1st 2008 ~ Good luck!

PRICE CORRECTION...

We've received our final numbers from our project manager and distributor, and it appears our earlier price was incorrect.

The good news is - the price for our CRUSH vinyl is actually $29.99 and not $74.99 as earlier advertised.

$29.99 !!!

MERRY X-MAS TO ME...

Our portion of the vinyl shipment finally arrives on Christmas Eve Day.

MERRY "CRUSH"MAS...

Well our Vinyl Toy site is finally up - Check it out!!!

~CLICK~

PRESS RELEASE...

Stage 7...

WHERE FOR ART THOU...

We had TONS of problems with the colors on our last vinyl. not only did we have a record breaking number of spraypads but we found out much too late that the figure should've been broken down into 7 seperate sections as opposed to our original 3.

PMS#'s are a tricky thing to calculate when your working on a monitor. the variation from our actual pantone color guide to the monitor to the photoshop eyedropper are staggering to say the least. there is no way that i know how to get the colors perfect and in the end you just have to go with your gut and hope the thing comes back from china looking half decent - and without lead - HA.

Harratio Weinerski aka Harry is the next vinyl in Neptoon's Monstrocity High collection.

WTF...

Q: Hey loser! Where the hell is that CRUSH vinyl you promised me?

A: Our factory in China thought it would be funny not to make them.

sooo, here are the ALL NEW AND EXTRA SUPER wax pics of CRUSH from our NEW factory that totally won't quit on us yo.

SEPARATION ANXIETY...

One thing you should expect when you set out to make your own vinyl toy is that there will, with out question, be set backs.

"Separation" turned out to be one of our biggest set backs. In order to paint the vinyl the "spray pads" (CRUSH has over a hundred) must lay flat. The more bumps, the more chance of overspray. Our original had 3 separations - the head, torso and legs - BIG PROBLEM.

This time around CRUSH will be separated into 7 sections - head, brow, arms, torso, waist and legs. This will help tremendously in the final look of the paint.

"CRUSH"ED TO PIECES...

Separation pics of the "NEW" new Crush vinyl - color to come soon. I know, long time coming...but it'll be worth it I promise. ;)

NEW CRUSH COLOR...

Here are the new CRUSH colors from our factory in China - this time they nailed it ;)

NEW TOYS...

A BIG thanks to VINYL ABUSE for the plug on our NEW Monstrocity High vinyl.

Harry Wienerski...

Here's a very ruff redesign of Harry. My original design had far too many cheats to actually work well in 3D space. There are still a few cheats in this design I need to work out but it's definitely getting closer and is more in line with CRUSH's design as well.

We hope to start the sculpt soon;)

Crush Vinyls on Route...

Unpainted vinyls are headed our way for approvals:)

Raw Vinyl...

Here's a great shot of Eric's work space. Cool to see his WIP on Buzz and Harriet as well.

Here are the latest pics.

RAW VINYL CRUSH, right. We will be getting 50 units in RAW WHITE with unprinted boxes for those interested in customizing;)

CRUSH IN MOCK-UP BOX, middle. The new box is being design now and will feature a larger viewing window.

PRIMED CRUSH IN BLISTER PACK, left
Next stage - Now that we've given our approval on the raw vinyl we should be expecting our PAINT MASTER.

New Box

Here's the newest version of the CRUSH box.

Bigger window -- better colour

and hopefully everyone's names spelled right.

Black Backed Blister Pack...

Say that 5 times fast.

We decided to put the CRUSH blanks in a black blister pack so that it'll POP OUT when its sitting in the stores.

Prof. Inkbottom...

Another Monstrocity High rough.

Prof. Inkbottom teaches, you guessed it, penmanship.

Crush Press...

Thanks to fine folks over at Vinyl Abuse for the nod.

Fresh Out Da Box...

Crush prototype 1 looks sweeter that we could've imagine - pictures do it no justice. Crush 2 is in China being cloned as we speak and we should see some samples shortly.

Made In China...

Here are the first shots of the wax before the vinyl mold is made. Our Neptoon Studios logo is present in the inset on his back - SWEETNESS.

Erick Scarecrow at ESC-TOY LTD. is the project manager and is kickin' some serious arse, making it all run super smooth.

We're hoping to bring the finished CRUSH VINYL to the NY comic-con in Feb...we'll see.

Yow! Crush gots a blister!

Here's what Crush'll be nestled in when you take him out of his box.

We like this picture, 'cause as Todd says,

"That's what real toys come in."

Keep watching here to find out how to get your own real Crush.

Monstrocity High Students...

Harry Weinerski

CRUSH production mold ...

Erick Scarecrow of ESC Toys just sent these fresh pics from a secret location in China...

The PRODUCTION MOLDS of CRUSH.

These metal forms are filled with a vinyl powder, sealed, and spun quickly in a heating unit.

Centrifugal force causes the powder to stick to the sides of the molds, filling every nook and cranny.

CRUSH's Torso

Head and Feet

Once the vinyl is cooled, the molds are opened and the parts are ready for the next step.

We should have new pics soon!

CRUSH Update: Raw Vinyl...

These are some very cool shots of the raw vinyl from our factory in China. As you can see he is hollow and the head will still be removable. So for those of you who were wondering if he could be filled with jams, jellies and assorted marmalades...you have your answer.

Thumbnails...

I like to do character thumbnails on the back of business cards - lets me focus on the overall shapes without getting wrapped up in all the details.

Shady Characters...

Here's one of the pieces I'm putting in for the SHADY CHARACTERS show that my buddyJared Deal is putting on at the Live With Animals gallery in NYC at the end of July.
Because most of my color work is created digitally, I've included the original ruff and the clean without color to go along side the finished art.

Also, Jared will be unveiling Neptoon's first vinyl - CRUSH - from our concept series Monstrocity High.

below originated at cartoon brew

"Shady Characters" is an art show that opens Friday, July 28th, at the 'Live with Animals' Gallery (210 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211; entrance to the gallery on Metropolitan). Opening reception is from 6-9pm. The show, curated by Jared Deal, is "simply a tribute to all of the creepers and tweakers, outcasts and outlaws, and freaks and geeks, we encounter daily." Participating artists include Deanna Marsigliese, Clio Chiang, Steve Lambe, Gabe Swarr, Rex Hackelberg, Anna Chambers, Mark Ackland, Todd Kauffman, Joel Trussell, Bobby Chiu, Martin Wittig, Aaron Augenblick, Phil Rynda, Peter Browngardt, Danny Kimanyen, Randy Ramos, Garnet Syberg-Olsen, Jamie Mason, Chris George, Eric Nocella, Dino Alberto, Jason Levesque, Tim Shankweiler, Eric Brown, Mark Pecoraro, Pat Pakula, Kevin Schmid, Kaori Hamura, Richard Mather, Rod Filbrandt, and Deal himself. Stay tuned to Jared's blog for additional details.

Neptoon's 1st Vinyl - Work In Progress...

Jared and Garnet introduced me and Mark to master sculpter Eric Nocella Diaz. After seeing his work on their vinyl - BUZZ - we knew we'd found our guy.

CRUSH is one of the main characters in our concept series "Monstrocity High" and Neptoon Studios 1st vinyl "toy". I use the term toy lightly - we see it more as an interesting and fun way of building a potential audience and industry awareness - blah blah blah.

CRUSH will be unveiled Friday, July 28th, at the 'Live with Animals' Gallery (210 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211; entrance to the gallery on Metropolitan). Opening reception is from 6-9pm. The show, curated by Jared Deal.

The process has been really wild - fun to see our creation pop off the page. I'll be posting work in progress pics - so check back soon.

CRUSH Vinyl - WIP...

Stage 5A - Crush's head. My 2D drawing had tons of cheats in it and we had to make a few compromises because not everything will translate unless it has a solid form.

Eric has been super easy to work with and we've been able to make suggestions every step of the way.

Stage 3 - the rough layout is finished - at this point CRUSH has no fine facial details but all the main body parts have been roughed and assembled.

My partner in crime, Mark Thornton has started roughing out box designs.