I need sleep...

Damn, yo...been a minute since an update. I'm hurting as a motherfuck, but I really wanted to let y'all know what was up.

Well, I got in at almost 4AM last night (this morning?). Then right back up for work around 8. As usual: toy shit. It's a monstrous schedule, but most every Wednesday night, I find myself at the master's lab. Matt Walker. Chooch extraordinaire. TDF for life. My wild, wild west whitey n**ga.

This man, like Matt Doughty before him, makes shit happen. And his motivation is infectious. Without him, you likely wouldn't be reading this. There wouldn't be a Gin Gin. So every Wednesday, with no hesitation, I take a nap under my desk at work, Costanza-style. Around 8, I schlep about an hour straight to the lab, get my grub on, and meet Walker around 10. Then, into the wee hours, we make shit happen.

And that's exactly what's going on right now. Shit happening. The FINAL METAL GIN GIN FIGURES ARE IN. Production. They're being processed down at the lab as I type this. Acid etching, priming, sanding, stickers being cut. It's on now. Packaging is undergoing final tweaks. Shit is lovely!

And I'm ready to pass the fuck out!

Anyway, on top of the production figures, I'm working on my entry into Troy Stith's Kaiju For Japan, a great little way we can get together as Japanese toy enthusiasts and try to raise some money for those hit hardest by the Tohoku quake and tsunami.

I'm not revealing much about it now, but stay tuned...there will be hot shit!

And one more little tidbit...remember "baby Gin Gin"? That's what Joshb calls the deformed M.U.S.C.L.E.-style Gin Gin figure I had prototyped before. Well, for the longest time, elite CAD modeler, Mike de Coninck and I have been wondering about getting quick, dirty prototypes done by Shapeways, a company that encourages CAD modelers to "lease" their designs to consumers on the site by having the company print the ones they like in a variety of materials. Interesting concept...I guess. I mean, I kinda don't care, but it is what it is. As far as we're concerned, it's a fairly cheap way to get your prototypes done.

Well, compare this baby Gin Gin with the "chiisai" pics I posted at the beginning of the month:



Ain't too bad.

Almost as good as what my prototypers came up with...but then again, we're just talking hardware at this point. See, Shapeways just prints shit out for people. My prototyper goes dimensions beyond that, with layers upon layers of post-processing available. Through their efforts, a simple printout can transcend even the quality of the original STL file you supply them with! Heh...and naturally, they charge a good ten times more...but I guess it's not entirely fair to compare a professional toy prototyping company that's worked with the likes of Hasbro to a company that just churns out raw 3D prints for consumers. I mean, what you get from Shapeways isn't actually *usable* in any realistic molding process: they don't clean up the print layer lines, let alone do gloss coating, resin-casting, wet-sanding, etc...

So what's good about 'em? Well, that baby Gin Gin cost me a little over $13! Yes, thirteen fucking dollars, US. Ya kinda can't fuck with that. It's inspired me to work on some more M.U.S.C.L.E.-style figures and see what kind of shit I can come up with. I mean, if prototyping them is THAT ridiculously cheap, why the fuck not, y'knowmsayin? The only thing you gotta watch your back about is size. Shapeways charges strictly by volume of your part. Baby Gin Gin is only around 5 cubic centimeters...but parts for average-sized toys can get massive quick.

Oh, last thing before I forget--the Unicron stands are sold out AGAIN! Thanks to all who ordered them; y'all should have 'em by now. They actually sold out a couple weeks ago and I've already started taking preorders for the third batch, which was ordered early this week. So...same rules as before:

"So if you want a stand, you have a couple options right now: 1) you can contact me and pay for a stand now, which would *guarantee* one from the next wave, and it would be shipped immediately upon receiving them from our distributor (in a month or so), or 2) you can simply watch the blog for my announcement of the next wave's arrival, and just place your order then. Either way is fine me, so go with whatever makes sense for you"

Thanks again, y'all!