Over the past few years, Undoboy has been at the helm of a myriad of awesome projects. From designing various members of the mimobot family to collaborating on killer wall decals, this virtuoso of artistic and toymaking talent has more or less remained on the tip of our tongues. While the Malaysian born artist’s website has been displaying doses of design dexterity for quite some time now, one thing has been sorely lacking from his homepage … an online store chock full of goodies ripe for the purchasing. Thankfully, all of that has changed and Undoboy has seen the light by adding commerce to his content. His new online goodie shop features some of his most cherished creations, from the aforementioned bots and wall decals to his wonderful collection of Super Bastard boxes. If you’re looking to add some flash or just some fun to your personal space, we recommend checking it out.

Most artists are as individual as snowflakes; it’s a pretty safe bet that no two creative talents - given a blank canvas - will come up with the same thing. That’s exactly what makes Schaffas so magical. These “gentle and un-aspiring creatures of great mystery,” that more or less resemble one of your cuspids, were sent out by Sam Barratt and Chris Edser at Screamdance to their art friends all over the world, giving them carte blanche to decorate these bizarrely sculpted little guys at their own artistic whim. The result is a family of eighty distinct characters that reflect the genius and personality of their creators.

If you’d like to ‘Meet the Schaffas’ first hand, they’ll be on display at the Urban Cow Gallery in Adelaide until the end of June. Word has it, after their exhibition is over, the individual characters will be on sale with proceeds going to Close The Gap, a campaign that aims towards closing the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Related: Puppy Love: Miami

Artoyz, the French magazine and website that both covers and sells products within the designer toy market, recently announced a new branch of its company: Artoyz Originals. This division will focus solely on the development and creation of designer toys by international artists, with the first series to be launched in June. This set, known as the Elements Prologue, is based around the four elements (Earth, Air, Wind, Fire, and according to Captain Planet, Heart). They were created by Easy Hey, a member of the Delkographik collective studio and rendered by Gregos. The sets will vary from each other in color and transparency. Two vinyl figures based on this series will be released in July, and Artoyz has many more sets in the works to be released late this year.

Look at him. Look at your freeloading baby, with his onesie and his carefree drooling. It’s about time someone devised a way to make him pull his weight around here. Or at least give him the impression that he’s doing something productive. Atypyk introduces a working vacuum cleaner on which your child can ride while you clean. Your baby just might grow up with the subtly green notion that cars should clean up after themselves, and that’s something you can’t get with a Hoover.

We fell in love with the original Speakerdog — Ben the Illustrator’s creation that starts out as a piece of standard letter paper and with a few folds, turns into an adorable puppy — and now, there’s even more to love. From postcards to vinyl toys, you can enjoy Spearkdog in a variety of mediums. Via a series of frameable posters, you can follow Speakerdog’s adventures as he travels the world. Or you can show off your support for the cartoonish canine with four button collections. And, if you really can’t live without having your best friend by you day and night, Ben is offering a line of softies which make it easier to take your puppy friend for a walk. Although, if you’re at this point, you may want to pull back on the Speakerdog reins. People are starting to talk.

The Japanese have a penchant for creating unique characters. They’ve more or less made brand mascots into an art form — just ask anyone who has become addicted to Pokemon or Hello Kitty. When MoMA announced that they’d be releasing their Destination Japan product collection, it seemed only natural that it have its own brand identity creature. Thanks to toy designer and retailer Kidrobot (along with Japanese design studio Devilrobots) they now have Mochi. Not only is Mochi a welcomed addition to the kawaii (cute) mascots menagerie, but eager collectors are already lusting after him (her? it?). The limited edition Mochi toy can be purchased at the MoMA store along with tons of other Eastern-inspired products. Get yours now!

Today is Cinco de Mayo, and not only are we guzzling margaritas faster than Mexico smashed that French army, we are also gearing up to judge the entries of the Tokidoki Mimobot contest. If you’ve yet try your hand at winning some of Mimoco’s finest flash drives, now is the time to read up and get busy. A word of warning: If your short story, poem, etc. happens to closely mirror any of the themes present in the previous entries, you may be disqualified, so put some emphasis on keeping it fresh. Another word of warning: There’s a chance we may be terribly hungover and/or still drunk by the time we choose our champs this evening, so, y’know … no big words, please.

Do you like Mimobots? How about Tokidoki? How about winning free goods from Tokidoki, Mimoco, and JoshSpear.com? Thought so. All you need to do is submit a story in the comment section of our Tokidoki Mimobot Contest post telling us what you think these little buggers are up to together. A monkey boy, a pirate, and an Italian chef — they look like trouble to us. Haikus, stories, lyrics, epic poems — all accepted entries. We’re choosing winners on May 5. Go, go, go!

Site mainstay Scott Rench (aka Yosoh) was one of the proud winners of the UNKL UniPo-By-You contest, and his piece is finally for sale. The Chicago-based ceramic artist and illustrator was chosen from more than 400 entries. He would like to build an artist co-op if he won the lottery, likes to eat melted cheese and sugar, and is one of my favorite pals. Congrats Scott! Go buy yours now at rotofugi for a whopping $7.95, and support independent artists.

Our friends at Friends With You are being super productive lately. Their “Tickle Party” made us giggle a few weeks ago, and now they’re getting ready to launch a new line of toys at the end of the month called Wish Come True only in Europe (gosh darn it) and through renowned art book publisher Die Gestalten. The gimmick behind this collection of nine handheld playthings is that they all come with heavy, rounded bottoms and bell chimes, which means you just might be forced to give up your new toy to your 3-year-old nephew — in fact, it’s supposed to be safe for kids older than 18 months — when he comes to visit. I love each character’s simple but sweet design, but in general, I love anything that encourages you to be a kid again. Friends With You are taking designer toys back to their original roots and it’s quite a commendable effort.

I’m feeling a little (see also: a lot) braindead today, and being a totally sucker for weird-looking toys, checking out the new Mostrini site did nothing but perpetuate my mental vacation. These super cute, super fun handmade toys and pins would make great Valentine’s gifts if you’re looking for something a little quirky an not in the least sappy. No pricing info, though, so you’ll have to shoot them and email if you’re interested in adopting one of these endearingly unfortunate looking dolls.

Inevitably, it starts like this: You walk into a storefront, studio or house. The store is run by men in plaid shirts and sneakers; the studio is ran by men in plaid shirts, sneakers, and glasses; the house is full of art prints, sneakers, and people who look like they belong in a studio/storefront. There are shelves in these places, and on the shelves are toys. They are not toys for boys (or girls) — they have not been made to battle each other, or buried in a sandbox, or forced to kiss Barbie — these are man-toys (wo/man- toys), and they represent something entirely different, refreshingly new, and disgustingly addicting.

The vinyl toy movement (also referred to as the art toy movement; sometimes referred to as the urban vinyl movement) has been creeping through the US for years now, but only recently has it reached such gratifying levels of familiarity. At the head of this movement (or more accurately; at one of it’s many heads, each of which are covered in eyeballs and separately designed by artists the world over) is STRANGEco, a company founded in 2002 by college chums Jim Crawford and Gregory Blum.

Joshspear.com: When, how, and why was STRANGEco founded?

Jim Crawford: STRANGEco was founded in 2002 by myself (Jim Crawford) and Gregory Blum. We’ve known each other for a long time; we were college roommates, which goes back quite a ways now (gulp!). (Read More…)

It’s about time that the rumors about a new Tristan Eaton Dunny coughed up something tangible, and now — after almost two years of speculation — we can finally say that an actual Dunny (designed by the actual co-creator of Dunny and founder of Thunderdog Studios, Tristan Eaton), will be released in the middle of January. The gas-masked, 8-inch Tag Team Dunny comes in either pink or black, and will be accompanied by his own Fatcap mini assistant in a matching color. Two signings for the new Dunny will go down in New York and Miami, respectively; head here if for more deets on either event.

Beastieland may sound like an amusement park dedicated to three forty-something white rappers from New York City, but it actually has nothing to do about fighting for your right to party. Beastieland is a comic world, created by Pittsburgh based illustrator Jan Descartes, where Beasties live in perfect disharmony with their irresponsible animal friends who just plain don't give a hoot, creating general havoc and hilarity around the town. What kind of havoc you ask? Only you know for sure, because it's your sick mind that's behind the story. Beastieland's story arc is determined by readers who send in suggestions; making for a truly interactive and gleefully outrageous comic experience. If your urge to control plot doesn't stop at the comic you can set up your own Beastieland at home by purchasing your own stuffed versions of the characters at their Etsy Store.

Word just landed that Bearbrick is doing a collab with Fossil — which is, well, interesting — but word also just landed that a more exciting example of art toy teamwork has recently hit the shelves. The Japanese version of Daft Punk’s latest album, ALIVE, is selling on Sold Out as an exclusive collette & Sold Out box set. Accompanied by two Daft Punk-y Bearbricks (that are not in their underwear or covered in sharpie, but do represent Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel de Homem Christo), the set might just represent the best holiday present for the music/toy junkie in your life ever. You can grab one for just under $73 here, but be sure to jump on it fast - the set was produced in a limited run of 3000, and somehow I get the feeling that Daft Punk has a few more fans than that.

Via High Snobiety