ToyCyte: Toy Culture Collected

LA’s Munky King will be presenting its first group show of 2009 with their DIY Pushers Show, based on the popular ‘Pusher’ figure by Thomas Han, released in a blank DIY form back in August. The show is scheduled to include a huge array of top-notch artists, including (but not limited to) Joe Shea, Nathan Spoor, Elizabeth Ito, Marka27, Kii Arens, Racecar13, Axis, Brandt Peters, Dave Pressler, Paintmonster, Luke Cheuh, Blinky, Lana Crooks, Codak, Urban Medium, Moe Radke, Angry Woebots, Thomas Han, Nanami Cowdroy, Craig Barker, Ray Brown, Zoso, Peekaboo, Foox, Miss Mindy, Yoskay Yamamoto, Tako-Mon, Mari Inukai, Scott Belcastro, The Pizz, Dave Bondi, Antikillers, Cj Metzger, La Pride, Kiyoshi Nakazawa, Jesse Hernandez, Jim Mahfood, Retna, Plex Lowery, SANO, Le Merde, Ruel Brown, Martin Ontiveros & Lark Pien.

The show will start at 7 PM, Thursday, March 26th, but the previews are scarce, leading me to believe that Munky King has threatened all participating artists with death and dismemberment if they showed off their customs pre-show. Since when do our beloved artists not totally pimp out their customs blog-style?

Well, Lark Pien does not disappoint. We’ll see if Lark’s thumbs remain attached to the body from whence they came after revealing this great little crow-bat guy. And the always incredible J. Shea provides this heavily reconstructed, insane skelemonster.

And it’s way too hard to believe that Paintmonster’s crazy rabbit was EVER a Pusher, but the blog details the long and detailed process of turning one toy into something completely transformed. That’s some serious dedication.

Come on, artists! Send in your custom Pusher photos. You’re makin’ this awesome show look like a ghost town.