ToyCyte: Toy Culture Collected

Baby Eater Belt Buckles from Cypher13

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

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Alright I’ll just say it before someone else does: belt buckles are the new canvas. With buckles by Amanda Visell and Bwana Spoons, one on the way from Anna Chambers and let’s face it, you know Kozik’s going to get in on this action, there’s never been a better reason to draw some attention to [...]

Action Marketing Group’s Munny Contest

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

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Action Marketing Group prominently announces on their splash page that they “have never outgrown their experimental phase,” and to that end, they’re doing something with custom toys. I’m not sure I 100% understand the correlation between Munnys and marketing, but that hasn’t stopped me from reporting an interesting toy story before. I found out about [...]

SOFT&FURRY Customs For Sale

Thursday, October 9, 2008

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It’s time to give SOFT&FURRY another bump. One of the most truly collaborative group custom shows of the year has some pieces left. While I’m still surly that someone got to both of the Toko pieces before me, check the online shop for available customs by sketchBot, Dookie-Poo, Markham Maes, Cypher13, Adam Haynes, Zeptonn, Galaxy [...]

SOFT&FURRY Goes Soft and Furry

Thursday, September 25, 2008

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I miss blogging about these guys, so here’s a late-breaking post. As spotted on JoyEngine, Josh Holland’s Furries had a bit of a local walkabout the other day. This is great, and I especially like the pic where they are posing in front of a flyer reminding you to register to vote. Cypher13 promises more [...]

Cypher13 Presents SOFT&FURRY

Friday, September 12, 2008

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I'm sure this is going to sound a little, uh, bromantic, but I totally love these guys. Taking head and chest hair DNA into consideration, I think Todd Berger might be my brother for real. TeeBee is one third of Cypher13, the design collective (comprised of Todd, Alex Henry and Lucian Foehr) responsible for one of my favorite blogs, JoyEngine. Their latest project, SOFT&FURRY™, is a global DIY collab. I've been watching the simply shaped woodland creatures evolve into colorful customs from around the world. ToyCyte has covered S&F™ since its onset, but for further insight, I went straight to Cypher13.

Cypher13 for Manifest Hope

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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Between SOFT&FURRY [tagged], the Manifest Hope Project and day jobs, the Cypher13 crew keeps a tight schedule. Todd “TeeBee” Berger took a few minutes to send me some snaps of what they’re working on for Manifest Hope. Their contribution is a collaborative effort between Todd, Alex Henry, Lucian Foehr, Kristian Kluver and Kurt Barbee. The [...]

Urban Art for Obama

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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If you were to go back in time (even just a few years) and ask yourself to imagine urban and street artists so passionately applying themselves to a US presidential campaign, could you? In less than a week, corresponding with the Democratic National Convention, Denver, Colorado’s Andenken Gallery will host Manifest Hope, a unique event [...]

SOFT&FURRY Begins Domestic Partnership

Thursday, August 7, 2008

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Can’t fault a writer for going for gossip gold with the headline…but seriously. Following the shipment of LOOFT, DOO and GROOND to 15 international artists and customizers, the Cypher13 crew are turning their hand-made blank figures loose on domestic shores. Round 1 includes: Adam Haynes – stickfort.com (Bend, Oregon) Celeste Prevost – designis-fine.com (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Dave Franzese – [...]

SOFT&FURRY Sneak Peeks: Looft, Doo and Groond

Monday, July 28, 2008

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SOFT&FURRY Sneak Peeks: Looft, Doo and Groond

With just one week left to go on the SOFT&FURRY logo design competition [blogged], the guys of cypher13 have dropped some more toy teasers on one of my favorite webzines, JoyEngine. Above and below are some proto images of LOOFT, DOO and GROOND, the cast of SOFT&FURRY: all handmade and hand-cast in-house by cypher13. At [...]

SOFT&FURRY Designer Toy Competition by Cypher13

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

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It’s not too late to get involved with the mystery design contest that is SOFT&FURRY. Cypher13 is getting ready to drop something soft and furry. The design trio behind JoyEngine just posted the preview below on their blog. The premise behind SOFT&FURRY™ is to elicit participation in an alternative logo design competition. The winning logo [...]