Oh havnt you heard? anything outside of London can no longer be classed as Britian- its called no mans land now instead.

Damn- Im not getting any funnier.....

From Mark Nagata's Blog (http://toykarma.blogspot.com/):

"After 2 years since the first, ground breaking show, this September 5th, 2009, Toy Karma, the Kaiju and Japanese art toy show returns to Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago ! I am honored to once again be curating this show. This show features a staggering 68+, gathering of artists, designers and customizers , the largest gathering ever for this type of show ! I dare not single out any one artist, so look at the list and I am sure you will recognized familiar names, but we wanted to make sure we also had up and coming artists, too. Check out Rotofugi's web site and forum for more updates, we will also have the Toy Karma web site updated in a few days as well... Exclusive toys and artists attending will be posted in the weeks to come ... ! I will be there for the opening and look forward to seeing all the cool Kaiju art !!"

[Note: the link provided for Max Toy Co in the first post of this thread is incorrect. Not sure where it was intended to point, but It should be http://www.maxtoyco.com/main.htm ]

If all goes according to plan, I'll be there!

Great! Looking forward to meeting you and anyone else planning to go.

yes! i really hope i can come up for this

that artist / company list is insane!

dizzy... faint... drool...

Holy POO!

Oh my...

Wow better start saving the duckets now for some of those event exclusives!

Hmmm... I wonder how bad the train from Albany to Chicago is to try and go... can I survive two 16 hour train rides in a weekend?

For a show like this, how does it work? Is there a big opening event, and then the art and customs are just left there for the time, or do the artists and such hang around for the duration of the show? My main motivation for going would be that I'd really like to meet Mark Nagata, and this is pretty much the closest to the East coast he ever gets.

To meet Mark, or any of the other artists, you would need to be there for the opening night. The art, customs, etc., stay for the week or so of the show. But the artists who come would usually only be there for the opening.

Hmm... that would make it significantly harder. Stupid school!

OK, so I figured out that I actually just cannot read a calender. The 5th is Labor Day weekend, and we have the 7th off from school, so it could totally work taking the train from Albany. Roto seems to be pretty close to Union Station, so can anyone local recommend a place to stay for the night around there, and maybe what else there is to do during the day? How do people get around in Chicago? Taxis? Subways?

Fuck taxis. The "El" (elevated train) is famous man, that transit system rules. HOWEVER you'd need to take a bus to get to Roto, but the CTA is, generally, pretty reliable. I say just bus it from where ever you are. You'd probably take a train somewhere, than a bus. Not a big deal. I never do cabs in any city I visit, though, but that's just how I was raised.

There are some threads in "Paradise Garage" about hotels. Getting excited, I'm going to move back to Chicago about 4 days before this, it's gonna be a wild week for me.

Updates! the fun never stops!

I really want to have a meet up before Toy Karma 2. What would be the best place in or near Ukranian Village (Where Roto is) to do this? Of course we could all meet up afterwards. Either way.

I was planning on being at Roto ~5 to actually wait to get into the gallery.

There's lots of places not TOO far to hit/meet. Depends what type of place everyone wants to go to. This place isn't CRAZY far and I can actually take a passenger or 2. It's a bar/hot dog stand, has killer food, super laid back hole-in-the-wall joint.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/alexis-bar-and-grill-chicago

I was thinking about getting there earlier to make sure I can score some exlusive action, but since I haven't seen the exclusives yet I may hold back. Depends how bad I might want something. Anyway, AFTER is a no-can-do for me, wife is gonna go to some god damned indie rock show, friggin hippster! I'll have baby-duty. I'm also FAIRLY open that weekend, but I have family coming into town too so it's a bit up in that air for me.

I think lunch might be a better time, than go wait it up nerd-style at Roto? Those who went last year, what was the line like? Should we anticipate the same?

I'm trying to figure out how to get some of East Coasters there... we're stuck on deciding to take the train or fly. Either way I'm hoping/planning on being there before the start of the show.

I've had TONS of luck with Priceline lately. They got the name your own price deal, I'll low ball the hell out of them and get in sometimes. Problem is, is you get no choice in time, and if the deal is accepted you HAVE TO PAY, no "oh I changed my mind" you gotta do it. So you can get a round trip flight for $100, but it might leave at 5am or 11pm or some garbage. But I'm mega-cheap so I don't care.

I think a hot dog place would be best, considering it'll be cheap and close to Roto. Alexis is cool by me.

the only question is vegi's? The thing said they make Gyros, but usually they make the veggies on the same grill as meat.

Either way I'm totally down for that. I'm just looking forward to meeting some people. Including some fellow Chicago SB'ers.

I'm sorry to say, if there's veggies, I'm sorry, I don't think ANY hot dog joint can help in Chicago, not any reputable one at least. 1 big grill, lots of meat and some fryers, and they fry meat too when you consider pizza puffs.

I'm open to suggestion, I haven't been in Roto's area for a long time, since I moved, and than it was just to get Polish food and go get Western wear. I don't drink, but know some do and so that's why I thought Alexi's was cool, dogs and liquor.

oh yeah, Alexi's sounds great. And I agree, I just never know everyone's eating habits. I'll eat animal all day long.

If you want to meet up real close I'd recommend the patio at Cleo's. Literally just down the street from us, the food is good and beverages are reasonably priced. There are even a couple options for vegetarians.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/cleos-bar-and-grill-chicago

As for exclusives....we'll start posting images on the Toy Karma blog relatively soon. This weekend if I can make time.

http://toykarma.rotofugi.com

Looking forward to meeting those of you we haven't already met!

I'm cool with whatever anyone else wants really. I love Alexis, but understand if non-locals want something closer due to public transportation and/or a veggie option, so whatever.

Also if you're hitting Chicago, pizza's always a good option if anyone wants.