Ultrus Bog - Blue Velvet Star Crusher

I am grody, I am gross, I am a virus, a spore growing on the surface of all the pretty things. I am small now but growing voraciously. I am hungry. Grody Shogun is me. I am an artist and a toy making machine. I have giving up any sense of normalcy, in it's place I live and breath only to produce. I survive on the info passed down to me from the masters living and working in the sofubi world. I am a sponge soaking up any little bit I can. I do this for you and for I do this for us. We must cherish the old ways and do all we can to keep them alive. This is my apprenticeship, I take it very seriously. My masters are all around me. I honor them in my work. I begin humble and my pricing will reflect that. As I grow and my skills sharpen I will to charge what the those before me charge. This is my bowing to you, the toy fan, the oddball, the lover of randomness, the collector. I work within this rich community of craftsmen and artisans. This living bivouac nourishes me gives me the strengthSkinner is a self-taught artist from Sacramento, California who has meticulously crafted a balance of extraordinary mural work, mighty powerful wall to wall installations and a prolific commercial career. Influenced by 80’s pop culture, human struggle, myths and violence dungeons and dragons and the heavy metal gods, Skinner’s mind is one full of mayhem fueled by a calculated chaos. His work has been shown all over the Universe at places like the museum of graphic design in Breta, Netherlands, Japan, Illustrative festival in Berlin, Germany, France and the states from LA to New York and in between..recently participating in the epic suggestivism show at the Grand Central Arts Center. His most recent solo exhibit entitled The Fear You May Know reigned at the White Walls Gallery in San Francisco in the summer of 2010. Skinner’s work has made known in various publications including Blisss, Juxtapoz, Hi Fructose and Beautiful/Decay. - from theartofskinner.comA designer toy store…In Arizona?!? Are you nuts? Yes, I am nuts but that's not the point. I moved to Taiwan in 97' and it didn't take me too long to get lost into toys. It started off simple - this little skull figure from Hot Dog Toys called Hallowteens. That was pretty much that. Oh sure, at first only bought little figures, but it wasn't long before I realized I'd spent several hundreds of dollars on $5 toys. Fast forward a couple years. I ended up getting shipwrecked back home in Tucson. I thought it would be over but it wasn't long before I was spending $50 bucks at a time on .50 cent Homies. There were tons of trips to Wacko in LA, Toy Tokyo in NY, and all types of random websites. While that was all fine and dandy I wanted more… my needs just weren't getting met. I had to take matters into my own hands. This has really been a labor of love. I geek out on this stuff probably more than you do. ~Luke Rook