toasted yoshi.

2 new shirts on sale via crazy dog:


buy here.
you'll notice that they removed the toads i had in the original design (possibly for color count) that made this design look like a toadstool school field trip. i like the way this turned out.


buy here
and i have always held this design near and dear to my heart. this is the first design i had made where i really felt i had seen the idea in my head turn into a decent sketch, and then translated it into decent vector art. i am very pleased to see this finally on sale.

i have 2 more designs coming up for sale in the next 2 weeks at a couple different "limited time" sites, so check back!

back in the habit?

if there's on quirk anyone knows about me, it's my love of transformers. (the autobot symbol tattooed on my shoulder is a dead giveaway)

anyone who knows me from 5 years ago knows me as a rabid fan.

3 years ago, an intense collector.

today?

for those not in the loop, today is the street date that they allow stores to sell the transformers 2 movie figures. after a night of playing risk at a friends, i hit up the local wal-mart an hour and a half past the street date.

there were new figures galore, enough that i would have contemplated fasting for 2 weeks to fill my cart right then and there to go on a bliss-filled transformation bender 3 years ago.

today, i circled back and forth, putting figures in and out of my cart and ultimately left with nothing.

the $1.99 iced coffee i went home with ended up being far less satisfying than breaking into a transformers package with my keys and quickly undoing all the packing work some chinese laborer had done months prior, and then sitting down and fiddling with the toy for a few hours.

so, while the allure is gone when i'm staring down the toy aisle; there's something to be said about the satisfaction of buyer's rejoice.

i'm going to go and be old in the corner now. keep the punks and hippies off my lawn.

norris v. transformers

i've had a lazy labor day afternoon awaiting a visit to my parent's place for cheddarwursts and cheesedip.

so i decided to piece this video, transformers starring chuck norris, together for poops and heehaws.



i was very surprised to see the referral videos that come up after the initial video is done, i had no idea that so many transformers fans have envisioned a universe where shape shifting robots and chuck norris lived side by side.

i am an addict

i have a history of being a habitual collector.

it started after i got into the beast wars transformers cartoon long after watching cartoons was socially acceptable, and let me state it here; anyone who says beast wars wasn't real transformers or dismisses it has either never seen it or is a complete idiot. beast wars saved the line and had the best story lines to date.

at any rate, i started buying toys, and now, over 10 years later, I have 9 tubs at home filled with transformers from all generations and our tiny bedroom walls look like a toy store stocked with packaged transformers.

after my wife and i got a dvd player late in the game, i started my viewing with clerks, and tht snowballed into a 300+ dvd collection.

yesterday morning, i stopped into a gas station and happened upon some mountain dew bottles that i had seen on the national ad. turns out they're kinda cool, kitschy and trendy in a good way.



i have found that i will collect anything and everything. i blame it all on being a straight edge punk rock teenager (not the vegan bastardization that was amended in the 90's) and to this day i don't drink smoke or do drugs. it seems, instead, i collect arbitrary things. i suppose the beer would have cost me more over the years anyways.

regardless, like a college kid, i now have a collection of bottles started. though mine aren't lined up above my bed, i have them mixed in amongst the transformers and family guy figures adorning my work desk.

righteous robo roundup.

as a huge transformers fan, i've always been keen on robots of all sorts.

i decided to run through some vector designs i'd made over the past 2.5 years and was actually suprised at their numbers.

here they all are, titles and explanations after the images. and if you like any of these, they are all for sale currently.



#1 a radom sketch of a robot "peeing" on a fire hydrant like a dog. this was done prior to the transformer movie's polarizing scene of bumblebee doing the same thing. this was one of the first pieces of vector art that i completed from sketch to screen. i created it as a possible threadless design; but i blogged about it as a work in progress and it wasn't well recieved so i shelved it.

#2 this guy is my favorite and he made it into my personal portfolio. toastor! he made his rounds through threadless

i was very pleased with the execution, especially since this was the first sketch to screen vector i shared with the masses. this little guy also has a backstory:

"TOASTOR
'I will butter the charred chassis of my enemies... then sprinkle fresh cinnamon on their remains!'
Toastor is the maniacal leader of the evil Appliance Defiance squad. In battle, his strategies are unmatched, leaving many of the Utensil Defense soldiers sent to the dishwasher of doom. After burning one too many slices of toast, society tossed him aside. After emerging from an alleyway trashcan, he amassed an army of the disposed, and ever since, the "Appliance Defiance" has been taking over the world... one kitchen at a time."

#3 here's a design titled "seekers" showcasing the 3 generation one transformers jets making up the team by the same name. i wanted to place their sihouettes against a very vintage looking sun design. never did anything else with this one.

#4 a transforming ipod. modeled after soundwave, one of the more popular generation one transformers that changed into a tape deck, i thought this was a novel idea... but wait a few years, and it exists. as big a fan of transformers as i am, i had to hold back on an overly expensive mp3 player, when i already have an ipod stuffed with 6,000+ songs

#5 "rock monster" this guy also ran his threadless course:

just an abstract idea i had that i wanted to see come to life. this was the first time i played with swatches (for the smoke and fire) and got the swawtches to work well.

#6 and lastly, "back burner" another soldier in the appliance defiance. i had fun making him, but after toastor scored so low on threadless, i decided against adding him to the competition. he has his own story as well:
"Back Burner
The once proud stovetop oven cooked thousands of family meals. After his owner's house sold to a young couple, they opted for a "less drab" color scheme in the house and tossed him to the back curb. It was there that Back Burner met Toastor and joined the ranks of the Appliance Defiance. The muscle of the group, he remains quiet and stoic, and loyal to Toastor's cause. He has been known to overkill "innovative" appliance's, like refrigerators with LCD screens, during raids; a rage issue Toastor secretly hopes he never has to reign in."

so there is my vector robot collection (paling in comparison to my plastic robot army, taking up real estate in 9 large tubs in my closet).

again, these are all for sale, if anyone loves robots as much as i do, let me know.