Thanks Hudson!

Yesterday I got a package in the mail from Hudson Entertainment. It was to show their appreciation for me being such a fan of their games, and for taking part in a 2-part feature about my toy customization, Bonk and Bomberman Munny vinyl toys. Total Hudson fanboy, right here.

Sweet T-shirt, and game too. Bomberman Land 2 was reviewed pretty good.

Hudson Art with Albert Art: Part 2

The second half of my interview with with Hudson Entertainment went online a week or so ago. Hudson Art with Albert Art: Part 2 The conclusion of our Q&A with Albert and the scoop on how he made Bomberman! In it, I talk a little more about my process, and how I got started.

I honestly still can't believe Hudson actually cared to spotlight my humble vinyl toys. I'm totally grateful for the plug!

Be sure to check it out!

related: Hudson Art with Albert Art: Part 1

Hudson Entertainment features Bonk and Bomberman Toys

Hudson Art with Albert Art -- Marketing people love me long time.

These days it's easy for Fan artists to come under fire for violating trademarks. We all remember the cease and desist order from Epic games sent to the Gears of War Munny creator Emilio Lopez, back in early 2007. His fantastic character themed after the popular shooter was an instant fan favorite online, featuring professional packaging that easily could have been sold in stores. As a gift to his cousin who was a fan of Epic's title, Lopez probably never thought that he'd be greeted by a threatening letter from the lawyers at Hunton & Williams. Knowing of this seemingly intimidating and risky situation that might have happened to me, I still went ahead and attempted to create toys based on my own favorite video game characters -- Bonk, Megaman, and Bomberman.

Who would I piss off? Hudson, Capcom or maybe even both? I certainly hoped not, so in the interest of keeping my ass out of hot water, I created these toys without the professional presentation (logos, and all) that made the Gear of War Munny so convincing. They still turned out pretty kick ass though.

Flash forward several months to March 2008. Who would have thought that the custom toy creations I've made would be embraced by Hudson Entertainment itself. HUDSON! The long time video game publisher asked me to participate in a Q & A after seeing my Bonk and Bomberman toys online at 1UP.com and Tomopop. Gladly I accepted, because these toys definitely deserve to be recognized by Hudson. Artists such as I, are doing the Marketing folks a great service by giving their products free advertising, even though that wasn't my intention when I created these toys. Bonk and Bomberman are awesome characters that I wanted to have on my shelf, but I couldn't find any toys based on them, so I made them myself. And it caught Hudson's attention. Why sue, when you can have your cake and eat it too?

In a two part Feature series on HudsonEntertainment.com, I talk about my process, and expand on my life as a long time Hudson gamer. Part 1 went online today, while part 2 will go live sometime next week. Definitely check it out!!!

I especially love the little thumbnail icon of Bonk Hudson made. It makes the Toy look so official.

My Custom Munny Bomberman Toy Continues to Delight Fans Online

So I posted my Bomberman toy on rez2cool.blogspot.com just prior to the end of 2007. Since then it has found its way to numerous websites like any good viral spread of information online should be. Sites like Plastic and Plush, and Saki Wrote What?!, have been very kind in featuring my toy, also adding their own thoughts on the Munny custom. But one of the coolest plugs I've received comes from TOMOPOP, collectible toy culture. It was a complete surprise to me having thought that the toy would remain in the archives on my blogspot site, never to be seen again after a month. But Bomberman all of a sudden resurfaced today and I like it VERY much! Apparently, so do the folks at TOMOPOP. I'm happy the toy put a smile on their face!

For those new to any of my blogs, I dabble in Vinyl toy customizing outside of my profession as an Animator, when I'm not blogging and/or writing articles. I love making stuff people can enjoy looking at, and so far, Gamers and people in general have loved my Munny's.

Cheers to Bomberman! Thanks TOMOPOP!

Related: Check out TOMOPOP if you're a fan of Vinyl toys, this site is for you! And check out my Bonk Munny on Kotaku.

Albert Art Bomberman Custom Munny Toy

Albert Art (albertart.net) Custom MUNNY - Bomberman
One more Vinyl for 2007, because some toys you just can't find in stores.
So here it is. My last vinyl toy of the year. A hand-painted "Bomberman-themed" custom Kidrobot MUNNY, with Super Sculpey additions. After several months of on-again, and off-again work, I finally reached a point to where I could say it was finished. And I think it looks pretty darn good!
Like the other MUNNY's I've done, Hudson Soft's Bomberman seems like a perfect fit for the combination of big-head, small-body MUNNY design. He's basically a great character to make into a toy, like Bonk and Megaman were. I'm a huge fan of the Bomberman franchise (excluding Bomberman Act Zero), having played it on the Turbo Duo, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, and now the Xbox 360. Bomberman is definitely one of my favorite games, and I consider it one of the best multi-player games in gaming history. Not an exaggeration. This year Bomberman proved that he can thrive on the Xbox live arcade with great success. If you've played it, you could vote for Bomberman Live for the Best Multiplayer Game for 2007 Game of the Year Awards on 1UP.com...
How could you not enjoy Bomberman? This MUNNY is to show my unending enthusiasm for the game!


Using Super Sculpey, I started off with shaping the head, then the shoes, then the belt. The massive head took a while to shape. I cut off the MUNNY's ears and placed thick layers of sculpey onto the existing vinyl. To balance out the head, I made Bomberman big shoes so that he wouldn't topple over. My sculpting tools included a cylindrical bottle to use as a roller, a kitchen knife, a cheese peeler, and well, that's it. Very simple, nothing special.
I mixed the colors of acrylic paint myself, and after much trial and error, I settled for these colors. They aren't exact to the characters colors from the videogames; The colors are slightly lighter. The cost of making a MUNNY mostly comes from the Super Sculpey, paints, and the MUNNY itself.


I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. There were times where I thought the head would break in half under the pressure of the boiling, but in the end it worked. I feel like a veteran MUNNY maker.
So what's next for this toy maker? Well, Since I have been doing videogame-themed characters, I think I'll do some original designs next on not only MUNNY, but other Vinyl as well. So stay tuned for those in 2008! I'm also heading to LA for the holidays, and I'm hoping to checkout some Vinyl stores in the area as well as Beyond Ultraman @ the Pasadena Museum of California Art. I love SoCal. If it's one thing I'd like to accomplish, it would be to someday exhibit my custom gaming MUNNY's offline!
I know many people traffic this site to learn more about customizing Vinyl toys. Thanks for visiting, and if you have any comments, or questions, be sure to leave one!
Here are a few helpful links to my past posts regarding Vinyl toys. Happy Holidays!
Priming, and Boiling MUNNY
Megaman Custom MUNNY
Bonk Custom MUNNY
BAX Bear Release Party
Do you Digg Bomberman?