Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Signing Sunday 1-3pm at Giant Robot booth 1729. Mari Inukai and the exclusive GID Nekomitaina. It’s $100 and you get an 8×10 print free with purchase or while supplies last.
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GR: Did you grow up with Army Men? Jim A: Yeah I grew up with army men. As a kid I set them all up then I’d get rocks and destroy the battlefield. The ones the dog chewed up were the injured soldiers. GR: Explain how you came up with the idea of skateboarders in the Classic Army Men style? Jim A: I saw what was already out there & I thought how cool it would be to make them based off of the old school toy soldiers that I grew up with. Keep them simple & cheap, but they had to look cool & realistic. I saw other things out there and they were sort of corny. They didn’t look realistic – the characters had mohawks & the moves looked awkward. GR: Are you a sculptor and or skateboarder? Are the original sculpts that tiny? Jim A: I am a graphic designer & an old school skateboarder, my son AJ he skates all the time. He helped me design the final designs & got me up to date on the moves that they should be doing. Hence I named ‘em after my son AJ – AJ’s Original Toy Boarders. The original sculpts are just a tad larger than the final product – this way you can get a little more detailed. GR: Was this easy to get done from your idea to complete product? Jim A: No it wasn’t easy. I wasn’t familiar with the process of making moulds , but I had a friend teach me the process. Also we wanted to get each skater to balance on his board so that they would stand upright. There was always some tweaking involved so that we could maintain the style –yet keep them balanced. GR: How did you pick their poses out of an almost an infinite amount of things that a skater does! Jim A: We originally had more designs for the first series. We found out that some were not possible with a 2 part mould. Also like mentioned before we wanted them all to be able to pose upright on their board so kick flips and certain moves just weren’t gonna work. GR: Are the boarders any particular rider? Jim A: No, no boarder in particular, just based off of my son & his friends that skate. We wanted them to have style so we based their clothing off of what kids are wearing today. Within the skateboard culture there are all sorts of styles so we wanted to cover a wide range. GR: What’s next? Jim A: Series II Skate is DONE & in the Mould Process as we speak !! We are really stoked on this series –in it there is a Girl, we had lots of demands for a girl skater. Also we put a filmer in there – you know the friend that is following behind the rider with the death lens. Series 1 Snowboard is currently being designed & after that...
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Luke Rook has always been a friend to Giant Robot. He began his recent career in toys by opening Lulubell Toy Bodega in Arizona and soon moved to Japan where his career turned. From being a “toy buyer” he’s now a toy maker. In this podcast, Luke Rook explains some of the mysteries of the Japanese toy making scene. In a matter of a few years after moving, he’s unlocked the “system” of striking up vinyl figures from serious mom and pops factories. One of the greatest facets of Luke is his sheer honesty and frankness which is shaping a new sub genre of “kaiju”. He still calls himself an apprentice, but that’ll change soon enough. Here’s a link to the podcast.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Giant Robot’s Annual Toy and Gift Donation Drive for Aviva Family and Children’s Services NOW – December 13, 2011 Giant Robot 2015 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 478-1819 GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025 gr2.net (310) 445-9276 It’s easier to help someone than it is to ask for help. Here’s a chance for you to work out your giving/receiving muscles – drop off some donated items at Giant Robot 2 for Aviva Family and Children’s Services! They do good things all year long, and they’re probably like everyone else right now, working really hard to try to make resources last and keep spirits up. In exchange we’ll give you a 25% off GR coupon good through January 31st 2012. Here’s Aviva’s wish list for the holidays: Makeup/lotions/body splashes Baby and toddler clothes Radios or alarm clock radios Diaper bags and baby supplies Target gift cards Diaries/Journals Ipod Shuffle/MP3 Player iTunes gift cards Handheld video games Wallets for teen boys & girls Watches for teen boys and girls Action figures Arts and craft kits Cologne and perfume Dolls – baby and Barbies (all ethnicities) Learning toys (baby to primary grades) Lego’s/K’Nex type building toys Sports balls – basketballs, soccer Cars – Hot Wheels, remote control cars Wrapping paper and gift bags always needed too. Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based company based on Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with shops and galleries in Los Angeles as well as an online equivalent. Eric Nakamura Giant Robot Owner/Publisher eric@giantrobot.com (310) 479-7311
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This will probably get the support to be something for sale soon. Yes, it’s a Macross transforming LEGO figure! It’s up for support votes at LEGO’s CUUSOO site – the crowd sourcing idea platform.
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More photos below