Here it is: an official picture of the Muttpop Series 3 BUD Chase Figure (as photographed by our very own Jerry Frissen). Based on the stat card included with every BUD Series 3 figure, you have a 2.3% chance of pulling one of the figures out of a BUD 3 Blind Box. So, out of a 1000 Series 3 Blind Boxes, there are only 23 Muttpop Chase figures. Nice! I feel special and very rare. It helps that he looks so darn spiffy. Oh yeah, and if you haven't figured it out yet, it's a Red Demon BUD!

Wondering what the Muttpop Series 3 BUD looks like? Jamungo is asking that we keep things super secret... but with some finagling, I got Jamungo to loosen their grip and allow us to slip out this teaser. I know, it's not the most explicit teaser. But if you know the cast of lively characters that Muttpop's produced as figures you should have a pretty good idea of what it's all referring to. This BUD will look might nice next to the Tequila BUD! By the way, any of you going to the Designer Con, this Saturday in Pasadena? Muttpop will be there. We may even have a few Muttpop Series 3 BUD on hand for those interested. We'll be right up front in Booth #45!

Rakin/Bass Production was an unknowing ambassador of Japanese Animation to the United States and Global consumer market. As the co-developers and financier of THUNDERCATS, SILVERHAWKS, and TIGERSHARKS during the mid-1980s, Rakin/Bass hired a team of animators in Japan to help develop and animate these syndicated shows. The key animation team producing these shows eventually formed Studio Ghibli under the tutelage of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki.

All three shows were an interesting mix of American and Japanese approaches to animation. The various characters depicted took a more American approach to proportion and emotive expression. The dynamic action and repeated animated sequences (such as Lion-O's sword growth and SilverHawk transformations) felt incredibly Japanese with it's dynamic mixture of melodramatic music and use of unconventional perspective in animated movement.

The formula was a basic one: create a group of characters based on a cool animal and exciting adjective (although 'tiger' as an adjective doomed TigerSharks show at inception!). ThunderCats is the first and most recognizable of the three series. SilverHawks never reached the fever-pitched reception of ThunderCats... but may have a more cult appeal these days (I attribute that to the swanky silver hairdos!). At 1 petty season of mediocrity, TigerSharks is dully remembered by a small handful of people.

As with any cartoon from the 1980s, all 3 series came with a slew of action figures. The ThunderCat action figures are easily the best of the bunch. Sculpts are large (a little bigger than the He-man figures). The construction and materials are of high quality. The SilverHawk figures didn't get the likenesses quite right but hide their flaws with the bling of chromed plastic. The TigerShark figures had a neat transformation trick but suffer from a cast of inferior character designs (a dolphin-nosed dude and "sexy" octopus lady!? Come on!).

Intros to all 3 series can be seen below:

THUNDERCATS

SILVERHAWKS

TIGERSHARKS

TIGERSHARK images taken from the Classic Articulation Blog.

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!

San Diego Comic-con is quickly creeping up on us (that was quick!). One of my favorite things to do at the con is purchase a beautiful hard-to-find toy or book at the convention. I took a few pictures of favorite toys I bought at the last years of SDCC. Below you'll find the Mahfood/Waxbean Studio Resin Smokedog figure, Junko Mizuno Dokuro-san plush, Mars-1 Observer SDCC 05 Black, Kozik Clear Ika Gilas with Pink Spray and Martin Ontiveros Ojo Rojo.

I believe I purchased the Mahfood Smokedog figure in 2003. When Jim Mahfood showed me the figure, I HAD to buy one. Sculptor Scott Wilkowski went above and beyond with this piece. It was all done from his garage. Limited to 150 pieces. The extra kicker was the mini-spray paint can that rattles when you shake it. Scott also did a beautiful resin of Brian Ralph's Cave-In protaganist. He has a real knack for capturing cartoony illustration styles in 3D form. I was so impressed with his work that he was the first sculptor I approached to sculpt Tequila. We had gone as far as him cashing in my check for initial payment on sculpting Tequila. Sadly, personal issues forced him to back out of the Tequila project and we ended up discovering another uber-talented sculptor named Monster5!

Looking back now, it is impossible for me to imagine anybody but Monster5 sculpting our first few figures. But we were SUPER close to going with Scott Wilkowski. I guess fate made sure we went with our man in Japan.

I purchased the Dokuro-san plush at Last Gasp for a Junko Mizuno signing in 2005. The plush came out in 2003 and despite scouring for it for almost a year, I hadn't found one. Fortunately I purchased it at SDCC and was able to have the box signed by its adorable creator, Junko Mizuno.

I bought the Mars-1 Observer during the 2005 Wednesday preview night from the Strangeco booth. That year was crazy! 48 pieces were available and nearly all of them were sold out during those first few hours of Preview Night. I recall debating my purchase. I thought the piece was beautiful but figured I had a few days to ponder my purchase. When I realized that pretty much all the other Strangeco SDCC exclusives were sold out... I decided I should play it safe and pick it up that night. Good thing I didn't wait!

Kozik Clear Ika Gilas with Pink spray is from the 2006 or 2007 SDCC (can't remember). I'm a big fan of Ika Gilas. I've owned about 90% of the ones that came out. My favorites are the black, chrome, and clear orange... but I must say that hot pink spray looks pretty cool. My only issue with it is the clear vinyl yellows over time.

The Martin Ontiveros Ojo Rojo was my favorite purchase from last years con (2008). I LOVE the Ojo Rojo design and sculpt and immediately fell in love with this bright colored version of the character. I wasn't initially too fond of the figure's cave-man skirt (I'm not keen on fabric clothing on plastic toys). But the wackiness of the skirt design won me over after a couple of weeks of having it on display.

So, what figure do I most look forward to buying at this year's Comic-con? It's too early to say.

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