You probably already saw these on Kotaku and Vinyl Abuse, but because I love them, here they are again: CASTLE CRASHERS TOYS.
The artist decided to customize vinyl Teddy Troops figures. With the Troops’ faces smoothed over with Sculpey, they bear (hur!) an uncanny resemblance to the heroes of Castle Crashers. Aside from the Knights’ admirably strong brows, I think the renderings of the little pets are the best part.
No more toys! I insisted to myself last week. I was miserable. My bedroom, once spotless, is now cluttered with lidless boxes, each one full of tiny gashapon. I’d simply shelve the toys, but my shelves are already unhappily stacked with boxes full of Toy Collection 2006.
Poorhouse, meet my total lack of resolve. Because here they are, folks: ridiculously articulated figures from the Gyakuten Saiban series (including Ema Skye and Trucy, both from Apollo Justice).
Ema is my favorite. Forensic science is rad, and look how detailed her satchel is.
I can’t wait to get my hands on these, but no word yet on when, where, or how.
Don’t Panic, in association with Sony, has launched the LittleBigPlanet Character Creation Competition!
In this contest, entrants create designs for the game’s Sackboy and Sackgirl characters. To compete, simply download a Sackboy template, doodle on top of it, and submit! Not only will the prizewinner receive a PS3 and a copy of the game, he can also look forward to limited fame and moderate notoriety: the winning character design will be included in Sony’s UK marketing blitz.
Maybe more thrillingly, Vinyl Abuse has announced they will turn their own favorite entry into a limited-edition six-inch figure.
The top ten entries will be determined by user votes; from there, the winning entry will be decided by Don’t Panic’s judges. So even the artistically disinclined can participate in the competition by voting. The competition closes on August 4, so hurry!
Recent reconnoitering of the Rotofugi webstore turned up this gem. Erick Scarecrow’s Soopa Coin-Up Bros. figure 
is, essentially, an arcade cabinet with feet. And at US$30, it is blank and consummate for the stroke of your genius.
To accommodate the less artistic, of course, Soopa comes prepackaged with lots of stickers.
But prepare to be totally inspired! More than 30 gorgeous custom figures were exhibited at the “Soopa Show” (which coincided with New York Comic Con this past April). Most of those Soopa customs are truly works of art, to be sure, but Jude Buffum’s “Cock Blocker” is maybe the raddest:
Splendid! (The i am 8-bit curator already bought it.)
The Ninjatown cast of characters is already pretty diverse: there’s a Zombie Ninja, an Anti-Ninja, even a Baby Ninja. But what if you could design your own ninja? A Chef Ninja, a Bunny Ninja, a Ninja Librarian…?
Shawn Smith’s Plushform is a blank, customizable canvas, a DIY ‘plush’ toy that shares the Wee Ninja’s iconic silhouette. And at 20 bucks, he’s pretty cheap.
Plushform launches tonight, June 27, at Rotofugi in Chicago. For the event, artists from around the world have customized their own Plushform, which will be on exhibit in the store’s gallery space. If you live in or near Chicago, there’s really no excuse to not go.
Rotofugi Designer Toy Store and Gallery
1955 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago
June 27, 6-9 P.M. (CST)
Earlier:
We’ve been thrilled about Shawn Smith’s Ninjatown DS game ever since we first heard about it through the grapevine. Ninjatown is based on Shawnimal’s line of plush ninja toys.
To be sure, the pixelicious sprites do blocky justice to Shawn’s character art. But is the game any good?
Kotaku’s Leigh Alexander sat down for a hands-on preview of the game, and from her description, Ninjatown sounds like a real-time strategy based on the “tower defense” template, like PixelJunk Monsters and Desktop Tower Defense before it. (And yes, she says, it’s good.)
DS owners can expect to push shinobi this October.
We love the art of Nathan Jurevicus—the pride of our Scarygirl vinyl toy collection is our Tree Dweller figurine—and that’s why we can’t wait to play this gorgeous Scarygirl online Flash game based on Jurevicus’ art and characters. Australia-based developers Touch My Pixel expect the game to launch in three months. The preview video is absolutely beautiful.
