Beth is co-owner of Hero Design Studio (with her husband Mark), a truly talented artist, a style diva, and one of my favoritest gal pals. AND… today is her birthday! Going back to the artist part, when she isn’t dealing me the best in vinyl crack, she’s grinding out gig posters, clever cards, and some pretty awesome art prints. I’m gonna highlight my favorites below and you should absolutely buy one or two or three or all of them! It’s her birthday remember, and money is the best present evar!

Get Well Soon Greeting Card – $4.00 each /$12 for 4-pack

Who likes pills? Pills are awesome, and these get well soon cards are classic and cute, if not to the point. 5″ x 5″ Three color silkscreened greeting card printed on100# Cover Cougar Bright White. Includes a frosted transparent vellum envelope and is enclosed in a resealable poly bag for protection. Limited Edition.

Birthday Cards – $4.00 each/$12 for 4-pack

Once again, simple and to the point, but absolutely awesome. I bought my two dads the “Happy Fucking Birthday” cards, and pops loved them. the card stock reminds me of a yummy chocolate cupcake too! 5″ x 5″ One color silkscreened greeting card printed on 113# cover Gmund Treasury in Tradition. It is a beautiful metallic, shimmery, chocolate brown paper with a matte black inside. Limited edition. Includes a frosted transparent vellum envelope and is enclosed in a resealable poly bag for protection. Limited Edition.

Raccoon Artprint – $20

This raccoon artprint glows in the freaking dark! I shouldn’t have to pimp this print anymore, because it GLOWS in the DARK! 16″ x 20″ Four color silkscreen, printed on 100# cover, French Dur-O-Tone Paper in Steel Gray. Signed and numbered edition of 100. The raccoon’s eyes, the stars and the moon all glow in the dark.

Owl Greeting Cards – $4 each/ $12 for 4-pack

Beth was rocking Owls before the hipsters got a hold of them and said they were cool. In fact: Beth said “Owls fucking rock” and everyone else listened up. for realz. 5″ x 5″ Three color silkscreened greeting card printed on 100# Cover Cougar Bright White. Includes a frosted transparent vellum envelope and is enclosed in a resealable poly bag for protection. Limited Edition.

Grizzly Bear – Chicago, IL / 07.19.09 / Pitchfork Music Festival - $25
You really have to see this poster to know why I love it. behind the thumbprint is menagerie of spirographs, offset just enough to show that awesome hand screenprinted style that makes poster shops like Hero design stand out from the Kinko’s poseurs.  16″ x 20″ Four color silkscreen, printed on 100# Cover Cougar Bright White. Signed and numbered edition of 150.

While these may be my favorite, there is a butt-load (indeed) of posters, art prints, and greeting cards on the Hero Design Studio webstore. They also rock on on Etsy, and GigPosters.  Beth and Mark are an awesome team, I’m glad to have friends/dealers like them.

Just to recap, its Beth’s birthday.. and yer gonna buy some of her stuff right? Good.

p.s. – any time of the year is a good time for buying posters, you don’t just have to wait for a birthday.

Goddammit. Every time I say no more Dunnys, Kidrobot drops a hot new lineup. Officially Launching September 10th, is the Kidrobot Dunny Series 2009!
Artists in this series include Amanda Visell, Andrew Bell, Amy Ruppel, Brandt Peters, Dalek, Devilrobots, Gary Taxali, Mori Chack, Huck Gee, Jeremyville, Kozik, Kronk, Luke Chueh, Mad, Pon, MR. Shane Jessup, Shawnimal, SupaKitch, Travis Cain, and Thomas Han.

Your chance to snap up the whole set comes a day early when you hit up an Official Trading Party the night before, at a Kidrobot store, or official retailer.

If you live in Buffalo, or Western NY, then your shop to go to is Hero Design Studio and Boutique. Even if you live in the good ole Canada, come on down to  93 Allen st, in Buffalo, NY, for a crazy night of toy unleashment. Trade new toys, old toys, con Mark, get conned by me, and win sweet prizes from Mark and Beth.  Last year, I nabbed the entire Series 5 in one night, and I only made one little kid cry.

The party starts at six, and ends around 9 or so. If you live elsewhere, scroll to the bottom to find the location for an Official Trading Party near you.

Matt Groening teams up once again with Kidrobot to release his less mainstream, but just as awesome, Futurama characters in to vinyl. 12 three inch characters, two blindboxes, $8.99 (or something like that) at Hero Design studio and other Kidrobot retailers. Like right now. Mark and Beth totally let me get in after hours and get a peak at em, and I scooped up a few to start a collection I plan on finishing. I was really waiting for this series, well that and the new series of Futurama on Fox…. can’t wait for that either.

Burgers and Fries, Heartburn, OH MY!

Fast Food – 4 mini posters designed/printed by Mark Brickey @ Hero Design Studio

Mark Brickey is a poster artist,  co-owner of Hero Design Studio, and lover of fast food. If you have any plans to bargain with Mark, try greasing the wheel with an order of McD’s fries. These four mini poster prints depict the four corners of American cuisine: pop, burger, soft serve, and fries. À la carte prints are 8″ x 10″ Four/Five color silkscreen, printed on 100# Cover Cougar Bright White. Signed and limited edition. Priced individually $10 dollars, or go for a valued sized four-up 16″ x 20″ print featuring each design for $25 dollars each.

**All proceeds go directly to Mark Brickey so that he may continue to afford to eat Junk Food. Just one print purchase can feed him for one afternoon. Please, think of the Brickey.

Support America today! Go online or stop by in person:

Hero Design Studio
93 Allen St
Buffalo, NY 14202

“Joe Ledbetter”

This special series of 3-inch Dunnys dropped Thursday and are already sold out on Kidrobot. Not to fear as Hero and Sound has a nice stock of em for sale. I’d really get on these quick though, they’re endangered for a reason. Since these are a special release, price is $8.99 a piece, but totally worth it. Every Dunny comes with an accessory or breaks the mold someway. Stop by Hero and Sound at 93 Allen St in Buffalo and get your fix!

Animal instincts are sharper than ever in the limited edition hyper series, Dunny Endangered! Featuring 15 designs (and 2 chases) by 13 incredible artists, this ultra-fierce series will disappear soon…Contributing artists include Amanda Visell, Aya Kakeda, Elizabeth Berdann, Chuckboy, Frank Kozik, Jeremyville, Joe Ledbetter, Kronk, Michelle Valigura, Mr. Shane Jessup, Sket One, Tad Carpenter, Triclops Studio and Touma.

Its good to see Hero finally getting some KidRobot love for being the awesomest toy shop in the WNY area. Coming tomorrow, Hero will have a stupid limited (can’t say, its so small) amount of 8″ Tree Huggr Dunny’s AWOL editions by Kronk for sale. No presales, no holds, no multiples, just be there at Noon, Thursday , April 9th at Hero (93 Allen St)  with money ($75 bucks). These will not be available at Official KidRobot Stores, just loyal shops like Hero.

If you don’t live in the Buffalo, NY area, then check out these other places that the Kronk will show up at. Just remember, with 500 made, these will be gone fast.

Attention everybody in the Western New York Area! Every so often, Kidrobot sponsors DIY decorating parties and picks stores all over the country to host them. Hero Design Studio, since they be the baddest toy shop in WNY, was picked to throw a party. Sunday, April 19, from 12-5pm, stop in (you might wanna reserve a spot, more details below) and get a free Mini Munny mobile to customize and decorate however you want. Mark and Beth will supply decorating materials, but you are more than welcome to bring your own.

Hero’s Mini Munny Mobile Decorating party
Hero Design Studio + Boutique
93 Allen Street, Buffalo NY
Sunday, April 19, 12-5pm.
Ages 10 + up.

Due to the fact that Hero is a very small store, we are going to offer signup lists for the Mini Munny Mobile decorating party, for those that wish to reserve a spot for themselves. Please call 716-858-4376, email, or come by Hero to sign up for you spot(s). Sign up is NOT required, so please feek free to come by at any point during the day.

We will accept reservations every hour from 12p-3pm. 4pm-5pm will be an open hour for people to come by, put together the final details of their customs, pick up their finished pieces if they left them to dry, etc.

If you do not wish to sign up on the list, any open spots will be at a first come, first server basis, and you can always reserve a spot for later int he day if we are full when you come by.

We will be supplying art supplies, but feel free to bring your own as well.  Your finished custom is yours to take. Free Munnys will be limited to one per customer.

John and I will be there most of the day hanging with Mark and Beth and helping out, so come on out and hang with the coolest toy lovers in WNY!

If you don’t live anywhere near us, but still want to customize a Munny, check this list for a shop near you!

Despite my predilection for all things vinyl (and probably -), I have a soft side for designer plush. It seems that 2009 is the year for the medium to really take off, and fleece is the textile of choice. Hero Design on 93 Allen St. have caught the trend and brought some of the softlines to their store…

Read the rest of this entry »

*Note: While yes, St. Patrick’s Day is Tuesday, people in the Buffalo rock out the Sunday before with a parade and massive public drinking bingefest. This is the telling of events on Sunday.

I’m never up for the St. Paddy’s Day Celebration Drunktardathon. The parade passes by and I’m fast asleep, not waking till 4-5pm. When I finally rustle, it’s to a wasteland Elmwood Village, pillaged and plundered by fratboys and orange skinned women. The trashing is so bad and ridiculous that last year someone busted Hero and Sound’s front window and made off with a buttload of Labbits. Because of that, I pledged to help Mark and Beth “guard the fort” this year… to brave the muffin tops and sidewalk peeings, and have a little bit of fun in the process.

Read the rest of this entry »