Tuesday, December 18, 2007

TOYPUNKS WORLD PREMIERE RECAP: 12/7/07 BALTIMORE + HAMBURG!

On December 7th, designer vinyl shop, Atomic Pop, in Baltimore, MD, hosted one of the premiere screenings of Toypunks Volume 1 and the turnout was awesome. The film also premiered in Hamburg Germany on the same day. Benn and Rachel, Atomic Pop's owners, also run the venerable Atomic Books in Baltimore. They were great hosts. It was awesome for us to hang out for the night, watch the film, and to catch up with old friends. Early copies of the DVD were for sale as well as these wild vinyl prints that Atomic Pop had created. A massive shout out goes to everyone who attended and said hello! Also, thanks very much to talented Baltimore-based writer Raven Baker and the Baltimore City Paper for running this story the week of the event. http://citypaper.com/arts/story.asp?id=14936


The opening moments of toypunks projected on the far wall.....















With a full bar located in Atomic's spacious back room, the afterparty went down in the store. It was a blast.
Below, toypunks' Kovalsky catches up with Emily Devan who recently penned a great interview with Osaka- based punk band, Balzac, for Purple Sky magazine. Balzac is featured in toypunks and we're big supporters of the band's work in music, fashion and toys. It's cool to see them getting more English-language coverage.





















Here's a shot of two super solid amigos and toypunks contributors: Will Sulima (additional photography) and David Manganaro (promotional art). Dave keeps the look sincere while Wild Willy brings the mischief!


And here are a few rad toys that we put on display that night. A special thanks goes to Isaac Ramos, a star of the toypunks film and a great friend who was in attendance that evening. Isaac loaned his Kid Hunter vinyl (far left) for the display. Created by Bounty Hunter brand, who's a major focus of toypunks Volume 1, the Kid Hunter is considered the world's first designer vinyl toy.





Attendees look over the display of Japanese vinyl toys and original art created for toypunks by Mike Giant and Dave Manganaro. Also in this shot you'll see Oliver of Shop Gentei in the blue cap. It was good to see Oliver and the Gentei crew. Shop Gentei is hands down one of the most well-curated streetwear shops in the US. If you're ever in the Baltimore or Washington DC area, hit this spot!



Here's a look at the original toypunks mascot drawing that was on display in Baltimore. This was hand-drawn by Mike Giant, who we were blessed to hire as illustrator for our logo and character mascot. Mike is one of the best line artists on Earth. Until you flip this piece over to see the marker bleed, it is impossible to tell it was drawn with a sharpie by human hands. Unreal!


Tony Pence of Celebrated Summer kept the fun going by playing some choice cuts. Celebrated Summer is a fresh record store and Tony is a good dude. Tony's band, Deep Sleep, contributed a song to the toypunks soundtrack. They rock. Also pictured here is Chris, an avid Balzac collector and massive Go Nagai enthusiast. Awesome.
Meanwhile, in Hamburg, Germany, toypunks Volume 1 gets its European debut. Armin Stroemmer of Shocker Europe hosted this event at the 3001 theater. While we would have loved to attend that night but could not, Armin says that it was a tremendous success and that everyone had a great time.


This is the poster created for the event which was hung around the city. Looking good.
The theater before the show......




Toypunks takes the big screen. Kozik in Deutchland! So rad.





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