Rachel Heller

Rad vintage figurines make visitors wax nostalgic.

See also:
*5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week
*Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A.

Nothing says happy holidays to a nerd like a shelf full of vintage action figures in Santa caps.

That's the sight that greets customers outside Curry House in West Los Angeles, drawing gasps and nostalgic smiles from passersby who peer into the display window outside the restaurant. In a large glass case, the usual faux-food spread has been cleared aside to make way for more than 120 late-80s and early-90s figurines, arms raised in yuletide glee. And atop their plastic and metal heads sit more than 120 tiny, red-and-white felt Santa caps handcrafted by Curry House assistant manager Hiroichi Echizen and his wife, Yoshiko.

There are characters from Street Fighter, Power Rangers, Dragon Ball, Gundam, Transformers, Godzilla and Kamen Rider, and even a bulky Arnold Schwarzenegger figurine from Last Action Hero. Marge Simpson, perched in the front row with her family, sports a modified hat that hugs her blue beehive. Ninja Turtles crony Usagi Yojimbo has paper carrots taped to his cap's brim.

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Liz Ohanesian

Mikie Graham at Toy Art Gallery for the opening of his show "The Zombie Art Project"

Remember Playmobil toys? Those tiny, plastic people that were a part of so many childhood games of make-believe have made a grown up comeback at Toy Art Gallery. This time, though, they appear as zombies.

San Francisco-based artist Mikie Graham has brought Zombie Art Project, his series of gory, customized Playmobil figures, to the Melrose Avenue designer toy shop, starting with an opening on Saturday night. It's the second incarnation of his successful series and his first solo show in Los Angeles. Graham has turned the Playmobil figures into famed director George Romero, the heroic trio from Shaun of the Dead and dozens of other characters.

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Amanda Lewis

Does this bunny look happy? Or like he's hanging from a noose?

First came the birds. Gallery owner and guerrilla street artist David Browne covered the city's telephone wires with whimsical plywood "berds," as he called them, in 2008. Then came the celebrity heads, encased in giant arrows; the bicycling robbers; the foam letters adorned with mustaches; the tiny glow-in-the-dark plastic bears; the sparkling ruby red heels; and the stuffed animals that appear to be wearing pink blindfolds.

Driving around town, you keep getting the feeling something is watching you. You peer out your windshield and see a teddy bear dangling in the air, uncanny, staring down at you. A puff of magic illuminates your daily commute, and then the light turns green.

"Is it raining fairy tales?" you wonder. Or are power lines the latest temporary venue for street artists to share their work, until someone from the city comes with a ladder and ruins all the fun?

"[Power lines] always looked a little sad ... like there's something missing on them," artist Manny Castro says. "It's like finding a shelf with nothing on it. ... It just needed a little razzle dazzle."

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Liz Ohanesian

See also: "Bwana Spoons Takes on Kenner's Star Wars Toys in Spoonful of Star Wars"

Saturday night marked the opening of "TxB" at Toy Art Gallery on Melrose, a new show putting together Portland-based painter Bwana Spoons with Japanese toy sculptor T9G. The show also marked the introduction of TxB toys, a collaboration between Bwana Spoons and T9G, produced by TAG and featuring three unusual figures -- Marty, Killer and Globby.

The show features playful monsters, or kaiju, often frolicking in beach settings. There were paintings, including a mural, and Bwana Spoons even brought the latest issue of his zine, Sleep It Off, but the focus was definitely on the toys.

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Tanja Stark

David Bowie mannequin by Tanja Stark

There's no shortage of toys and merchandise based on celebrities floating around the Internet, but some are a bit more unusual than others. In the designer toy and art toy world, artists turn recognizable figures into vinyl characters and mash them up with other pop culture references into amazing sculpts. Inspired by a recent trip to Melrose Avenue shop Toy Art Gallery, here's a smattering of toys that go far beyond the classic celebrity Barbies.

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Liz Ohanesian

Paul Kaiju with his kaiju Boss Carrion

Melrose Avenue was abuzz Saturday evening with anticipation for the opening of Paul Kaiju's "Paulyvinyl State of Mind" at Toy Art Gallery. The San Diego-based artist is a hot name on the designer-toy circuit, but this was his first solo show in Los Angeles. Collectors had been showing up at the store since that afternoon to secure tickets to purchase Kaiju's work. By 6:30 p.m., the line was thick, but the work was still kept largely under wraps. TAG's windows remained draped until the opening reception began a half-hour later.

Kaiju is not his original name -- it's based on the name for the group of Japanese monsters that have captivated movie audiences since the second half of the 20th century. Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan are all kaiju. In the toy world, kaiju remain popular subjects. Inspired by the frightening yet whimsical characters, artists produce their own figures made from vinyl, resin and other materials.

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Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. A world record. Thanks to Debbie Reynolds.

Who knew Debbie Reynolds was the gatekeeper of all things Hollywood? And who knew that Debbie Reynolds had anything to do with Star Wars ? (Okay, okay, aside from the fact that her daughter starred in it... that's coincidental.)

And who knew that anything from Star Wars: Episode IV was even available to collect anymore? I would have thought all the Star Wars geeks... er, enthusiasts in the world had eaten up everything left from the original shoot at this point. Not so, my friends.

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Shannon Cottrell

Inside a hotel room at the Hot Wheels Convention

The 25th Annual Hot Wheels Collectors Convention, held last weekend at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott, was a convention like no other we have attended. There were a few of the typical activities-- autograph signings, a custom car contest, games for the kids-- but the real action took place off the convention floor.

Throughout the hotel, Hot Wheels enthusiasts had turned their hotel rooms into galleries. Display cases filled with tiny toy cars lined beds and dresser tops. That's where we spotted a Hot Wheel that costs more than a Tesla Roadster. Check out a few of the rare finds we saw.

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Shannon Cottrell

"Spoonful of Star Wars" at DesignerCon

Before Bwana Spoons was commissioned by Dov Kelemer and Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys to paint the Kenner Star Wars toys, he had a 60-piece collection of the action figures released between the late-1970s and early-1980s. During the course of the project, the collection shot up to 150 action figures. Only a few, though, he had owned since his own youth.

"Only a small handful were from my childhood," he says. "When I first moved from home, I took this little Flintstones bucket with me. It had a handful of Star Wars figures, some Micronauts, and some Smurfs. From there i started hunting flea markets and thrift stores (pre-bay)."

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Weekend of Horrors Convention

L.A. is weird. You can fight it or go with it. What do you think folks in our Calendar section would say? Here are seven hints:

7. The Underground Rebel Bingo Club
Fri., May 13, 10:00pm, secret location
"We can't tell you anything about this Bingo Club. That's because the organizers won't really tell us anything about this Bingo Club. The details are under wraps. That's right, top-secret bingo." -- Ali Trachta

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