the unauthorized SPIKY collection ~ series no. 01

you know those toys that you find and immediately fall in love with? maybe print out a few and place them into your "to-do" pile, but every time you reach for it, there's a little voice in your head telling you that you're not ready for it yet? well, the SPIKY was one such toy. each time i went to build it, i felt that, "not yet" feeling. and then a few weeks ago i finally went for it and built PLAYTIME. 

it immediately became my favorite toy. just holding it in my hand brought an immense smile to my face. so elegant, so awesome! it also set off a mad search for any more i could find, yielding very little in the way of satisfaction (more on this later.) i did however, thanks to the generosity of greenelf, get my hands on the blank. so i started to think, why not make my own?

so i set out to customize this amazing toy, despite the fact that it's over 5 years old. the plain and simple being that i want more SPIKY in my collection. we all know how shin feels about his old toys, but i can't help but think that the world's a better place when there's more shin tanaka out there, condoned or not. i might be wrong here, and i'm certainly not suggesting these five will change anything other than the fact that they make me happy, but why not make more? why not spread the blank around this mad world of ours and raise a few smiles?

so i did, and i'm sharing them with you. i hope you like. 

i won't be making these available on a file sharing service, if only to honor shin's desire to keep things "limited" and "rare" but i will gladly email you the template[s] of your choice should you ask nicely. and all that i ask, in the spirit of shin's wishes, that you yourself don't distribute them. should you encounter someone wanting them (if i allow myself to think they're desirable) send your friends to me, and i'll pass them along.

peace, love, and of course, PAPER!

birthday post

today was was/is my birthday, depending on your time zone. 

i had grand designs on spending the entire day folding paper, i would build a ton of toys. the toughest question was what would i build on this day of days? caught up in the question, one thing led to another. a fire or two to put out, appointments and the such.


i found myself at the end of the day, relishing every second of my birthday, but building not one toy. i did organize a few files related to paper toys, but nothing to place on a shelf. through the organizing however, I came across a sweet little template that I'd forgotten about. One 5" x 7" sheet of paper later, and it was mine.


a simple enough toy, but in its finished state, a very remarkable one. i finished building it and looked at my watch. still a few minutes to go on my birthday, and if i was going to build one toy on this day of days, i don't think i could have picked a better one.

Shin Tanaka teams with Maqet

The Japanese artist, Shin Tanaka, is pure shogun. 

But it's his designs that'll cut you to the core. Growing up he developed a nasty habit of falling in love with sneakers he couldn't afford. So what did he do? He made them out of paper. Now he's world-wide, helping the likes of Nike and Adidas create the kicks that new generations of kids covet. But he's also relentless as a toy designer as well.

Shin has now teamed up with Maqet to release his Boxy. What had started as a paper toy, and then became a platform design for customization, is now taking its turn as a fully realized toy. Maqet's resemble ceramic, and are made with highly polished, eco-friendly materials. The Boxy comes in two sizes and four styles. Priced at $25 and $45.

You can find them HERE

re-posted w/ permission from Cluttermagazine.com

shin tanaka's latest, br. #17

we are now at 17. and counting..?

and there doesn't seem to be any sign of letting up. these most recent bears however, aren't variations of the previous edition. shin seems to find a pattern he likes and then moves on. 

HERE

shin tanaka's latest, br. #16

one more there for the taking...

shin's coming up with some interesting textures that give his bears a visual feel most paper toys only dream of having.  it looks simple, i'll give you that, but we both know it's not. otherwise we'd all be doing it. 

for a limited time only, so hurry on over HERE

the latest from Shin Tanaka

by my count, this is br. #15...

a cool departure from the patterned bears that have populated the series thus far. you can find it HERE

toy of the day • may 25th, 2011

the toy of the day for may 25, is...

boxy • by dyadic x shin tanaka

sometimes it takes another person's vision for a toy to become fully realized. don't get me wrong, shin is the master, and his template for boxy is fun and ingenious, but none of his designs even come close to what dyadic accomplished with his version. 

when i look at this custom i can't help but think that it's why the boxy template was created. as with most of shin's work, and especially the customs, finding them is difficult, but it's around, you just have to know where to look. 

you can also try your hand at your own design HERE and then navigate to "custom gallery."

new shin tanaka

i check shin's site almost daily, sometimes more just to make sure nothing slips by. but it was via facebook that his new toys came to my attention. see, facebook is good for something. he's calling them SSP...

these fit right in along with the rest of his toys. the textures are a carbon copy of the recent br. series and there's nothing new about the arms and legs or even the eyes. that being said i already want them all. i really dig the way shin plays with character putting just enough emotion into his pieces to allow the viewer to make up the rest of the story. what he reveals pales in comparison to what is hidden.

as of now [yup, just checked] these aren't available, but should you wish to keep your own vigilant look-out for SSP, you can do so HERE.

toy of the day • may 23rd, 2011

the toy of the day for may 23, is...

br. bear #9 • by shin tanaka

ah shin tanaka. his bears are cute, complicated yet straight forward to build. but just having it your hands makes you realize what a mastery of the medium shin possesses. 

want it? hurry, you never know how long his designs are available.

HERE

toy of the day • may 5th, 2011

the toy of the day for may 5, is...

armetty • by shin tanaka 

so sweet, so shin. a wonderful one-off that has me begging for more. as is the case with most of shin's toys, this is long gone, but finding it is not impossible.

the ancient shaman series #2 [shin tanaka]

these are the ancients. the shaman mystics of a world that existed a long time ago. 

this shaman ancient wrote the rules of the sky and of the water. this ancient shaman is the one all others looked to when the stars fell, expecting some kind of explanation. all they received in return was a knowing smile.

it still sucks in japan

just in case anyone's forgotten. and i do mean to harp on the subject, it's still important that we help however we can. one way is heading over to SHIN TANAKA'S SITE, download his bear and make a small contribution to the japan relief efforts via the red cross. it's too easy. except the bear, that's a little trickier. but your efforts will be appreciated by the many still struggling over there with the basics of life. and one of your shelves will get infinitely cooler.


there are other similar efforts going on, please get involved.

toy of the day • march 28th, 2011

the toy of the day for march 28, 2011 is...

baby spiky [animal] by shin tanaka.

this has to be one of the greatest papertoys out there. unfortunately, you have to really dig deep to find this guy, but more of shin's amazing work can be found HERE