While everyone else was waiting for the S7 RxH lottery emails, Pete and I (along with Chris Kohler’s lady Amanda) were lining up outside Johnson Motors and the Bispop Gallery in Pasadena. When we arrived we were shocked to find we were first in line – fuuuccccccck – first in line! But as it turned out, two other liner-uppers were hidden around the corner, lining up for the Mixi-Bang Circus Punks show that was going off simultaneously. As a result of a line merge we then became 3rd , 4th and 5th respectively. We ended up waiting 7.5 hours, but for the most part the day passed pretty quickly. Pete brought along a skateboard, so I entertained myself with forays down the alley, and pathetic attempts to pose tricks I could once do. Many hours were spent drooling over the Pollard handpaints, and working out who would get which one. As it turned out, my two first choices were also the same two choices of the guys in front of me – arrrghh! But hey, they got there first, so all good. The line stayed close to about 10 or 12 people for most of the day, but swelled by twilight. Various Skullbrainers showed up through out the day, and it’s always rad to meet people in person.

The only real downer was some Drama BS, which resulted in my being pulled aside by one guy when Amanda returned to the line with a friend – despite my assurances that her friend wasn’t buying a toy, I was told the line was pissed. After confronting the issue I found that no one was pissed, apart from the one guy who had pulled me aside. It is kind of annoying being accused of shit like that though, especially given certain other circumstances going on.

I guess the other downer was that the stuff was so cool, that each of the three of us bought a hand-painted, which meant we couldn’t score one for Glenn. Sorry Glenn – but after such a long wait, and all the line hassle, a toy reward was most definitely in order.

Anyway, all was well when we all scored a cool handpaint, and had a beer and a circus punk browse next door at Mixi-Bang. Man, the Circus Punk show was super crowded , and packed with toy celebs – these guys LOVE their punks! I’m not a huge fan – but there were some pretty rad custom punks in there. A large bunch of us also won (or were given) a CP gift pack, comprising vinyl pouch with mini-punk plus stickers. Nice!

By days end we were wiped though. So I’m flagging as I write this. So, instead I’ll let the pics below do the talking (all photos courtesy of TurtleGod - Cheers!):

The line began here:




RFSO:


WARNING: Line boredom causes simulated toy sex, and also causes skate assisted suicide attempts:


Night Falls, and Tim appears with Steveo:


while the excitement builds:



So, WTF did the Pollards look like?











And look what we spied? The latest Tim created Kaiju-for-Grow-Ups protos, and they look like the best of the series so far:

awsome story and pics! which one did u score?

Anyone pick up that Doragamel?

You can't really see it too well, but its on the bottom row second from left.

The orange one, and the blue with purple spray were my first choices, but the two early birds scored those.

were you still there when mark ryden showed up and started doing sketches for people?
he did a couple of circus punks, shit looked bad ass when he was done. expect to see them up on ebay soon, i would say

sorry glenn, by the time i made it to the counter there were only 2 pollards left. both of them were custom clear pollards. one had a mini pollard in it, the other was the clear with a bunch of paper stuffed inside it. the price tag on them didnt justify buying them. the one with the mini was $450

i had someone already try to flip it to me while i was doing a sketch for him. keep in mind the majority of them were only $250, so dont get raped in the aftermarket. [/list]

no, we needed to get out of there and chill out. I am so amazed by the crowd that CP draws, I mean, its not even vinyl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for the Doragamel, it was probably the sweetest piece there - and kind of a tough choice when there is only one available per person. Price was good too, $150. A friend of someone behind us scored this one.

That Doragamel is sweet. Wish I could have been there. I should have called out sick.

the biskup wonderwall dude is (IMO) his best toy yet.

These new Pollards are indeed smaller than the handpainted's scored at SDCC.

I saw the Punk that Ryden worked on.....INSANE. But from what I understand, it was for someone he knew.

damn thanks for the pics man, I am really diggin that new kaiju for growups figure, it will be the first in that series that I will need to have one of. hopefully an upainted GID.

Great story, great pictures, EXCELLENT HOODIE, but those bapes have to go!

but Mark, I loooooooooooove those Bapes - those are the Rasta pair from a few years ago - they get so much love most places I go as well. Everytime I look down its like a color explosion - mind u, while I skated in them, they were also kind of distracting!

that kaiju for grown up is nice. It looks strange.

thanks for the pics carl!

amazing toys abound

i really like the new kaiju for grownups and that doragamel... sigh!

Wow, thanks for the pics! Looks like a fantastic night. I wish I could have been there. The pollards look great. And I'm really lovin' the new Biskup kaiju sculpt. Better than any of the others in the series so far.

The Kaiju for Grow Ups looks OK, just wary of the WW overdose on colour/clear combos (Toy2R deja vu!)

Was the Doragamel a custom paint over one of the aluminium versions or just silver spray? . . . looks schweet either way!

oh your right that Doragamel is the silver flake version, I was trying to figure out why it looked kinda clear, I am a dumbass!!

Awesome!

Thanks for the photos, it's cool to get a glimpse of what us folks in fly-over-land never get to see.

Those new figures are on my "have to have" list. The pollards, while nice, were getting a little stale. But these new ones...I'd willing to shell out some $$$ for a custom painted version of one of these.

It was real nice meeting fellow Skullbrainers at the party. I got a chance to chat with Carl and Turtlegod for a bit. I guess you guys split soon after the CP show began. I was there for most of the night but did not see you after the Bisbop line.

Glad everyone (mostly) scored their wants!
I had my hands on the Pregnant Red Pollard (with mini yellow inside). I was so close to purchasing it but the price tag was a bit high so I opted out. Seriously cool figure but I would have liked the 250.00 price tag way better!

Hey wizeguy, great meeting you too and all the other skullbrainers -- ouister, el maz, henry.

The pregnant pollard was sweet!!! But pricey. Someone bought it though and I'll bet they don't regret it. Nice pix of it floating around on kr forum.

As for regrets, I catch myself thinking about that custom dragamel way too much

You're still thinking about the Dragamel too? I don't regret my Pollard, I'm just greedy and want both.
Nice to meet everybody.
ACH Rocks!

I woulda grabbed that Dragamel over all others...

Nah, it totally sucked

no one in their right mind would want it

and Ouister - nice to meet u too dude - and glad u r getting into ACH - they are my new favorite band!