If you know Muttpop products, then you are familiar with the amazing design work of Gobi, Bill, and Mense. The 3 talented artists were our inspiration for creating Muttpop. When Jerry was showing me the amazing character designs Gobi, Bill, and Mense were doing for his various Lucha Libre comics I demanded that we find a way to make toys of those characters. As with all talented people, the 3 artists continue to grow in skill and imagination. So much so that they've decided to share some of their wild ideas via their newly dubbed site CATFISH DELUXE.

I had the pleasure of helping them out with the English on the website. It was really fun reading descriptions of the different universes... and even crazier to later see those universes realized in their beautiful illustrations. I recommend... no, I COMMAND you to check out their site! :-)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CATFISH DELUXE WEBSITE.

Fellow Muttpop artists: Gobi, Bill and Fabien have donned themselves the Catfish Deluxe and are doing a live art performance on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th at 6pm at the Angouleme International Comic Festival in France. Angouleme the biggest comic convention in Europe (think of it as the San Diego Comic-con in a castle!). Those lucky enough to attend can watch the character designers behind Tequila, El Panda, Red Demon, Dr. Destruction and King Katch work their doodling magic live and on stage. Sadly Jerry and I will not be there... but we're sure the Catfish Deluxe will put on a helluva show!

For more details and information CLICK HERE. Some teaser illustrations can be seen below!

Angus MacLane is a Pop Culture Jack-Of-All-Trades. By day he works as a Pixar Animator. By night he builds some of the coolest and cutest Lego figures inspired by favorite Pop Culture characters. The Flickr Photostream of his creations spans the gamut of all the things we loved as a kid: Star Wars, Transformers (the cool, original designs), Marvel & DC Superheroes, Mecha... and all in the spirit of creativity! The CubeDudes (as MacLane calls them) are some of the coolest figures I've seen made with Legos. MacLane uses 100% real Lego parts in their original colors. Every character is instantly recognizable and adorable. Some of my favorites are included below. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND checking out MacLane's Flickr Photostream for many more amazing CubeDudes!

COMBO is the collaborative art animation short by Blu & David Ellis. I posted about Blu's brilliant Muto piece about a year and a half ago (time flies!). David Ellis does his own form of "motion painting". When the two met up in Italy for the FAME festival, they decided to spend 10 days to paint, animate, and film the ambitious elements of COMBO. Although it's not as refined as Blu's MUTO animation, there's a rawness and spontaneity to COMBO. It's style is akin to improv jazz. Some bits may seem a little drawn out or unnecessary... but it regularly all comes together with its playfulness and creativity. I find these street art animations fascinating. It's like you're watching the shadows of ghost art. The real time process is excruciatingly repetitive... but when you see it on film everything comes alive to reveal a rich world of wet paint, bright colors, and the occasional bout of property damage.

Originally discovered via Street Level's Awesome Post!

Michael Jackson. You have and will continue to mean so much to generations of people. You defined what it meant to be a music icon. You taught us the full potential of a music video. You showed us that dancing can be cool. You made one of the finest examples of a Popular World Music.

Yeah, there was a time when the crotch grabbing during dances got out of hand (although it gave us an excuse to intersperse spazzy dance routines with our own crotch grabs amongst parents and elders!). We were bummed that you couldn't see that you were a naturally handsome dude the way that we all did. The fascination with Peter Pan and animals was a little weird, but we didn't care... because you were Michael FREAKIN' Jackson.

More than anything we all wished you could understand that we loved you for your music, performance, and humanity.

Thanks for the music. Thanks for the entertainment. Thanks for that awesome glove and swagger. You will be remembered as more than a talented human being. You will be remembered as a superhero. :-)

Here are a few of my favorite Michael Jackson bits:

SMOOTH CRIMINAL

REMEMBER THE TIME

THRILLER

MJ, PRINCE & JAMES BROWN

I just wanted to highlight some of the amazing Art Toys showcased in the latest Vinyl Pulse post by Luke Rook. Luke is owner of the Lulubell Toy Bodega. A little over six months ago, Luke moved out to Japan to both learn the Japanese language and immerse himself in Japanese underground toy culture.

I love the latest pics from Design Fest Vol. 29 in Tokyo. In addition to a variety of one-of-a-kind Itokin Park's Lucha Bear (my reason for diggin' that figure is obvious!) there's a bunch of beautiful vinyl and resin figures from artists I was unaware of.

Japanese Art Toy Culture is better known for the darker Kaiju monster stuff. But I tend to really dig the funkier cute stuff. I notice that my taste in toys is way "cuter" and "brighter" than what Jerry is drawn to; but we both really dig the Japanese toy scene.

At this point the Japanese Art Toy scene is smaller than the American one. Much of the vinyl done in Japanese is produced in a very garage/punk do-it-yourself environment. Despite that, there is usually a very high level of craftsmanship and quality that resonates from the final product.

I'm a big fan of figures whose personalities are inherent in the sculpt (as with our own Muttpop figures). There's a life and energy that can be imbued in a three dimensional sculpt that cannot be produced by paint or colored plastic. Most of the Japanese Art Toys seem to follow that same theory.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICS FROM TOKYO DESIGN FEST @ VINYLPULSE.COM