Friday, June 28, 2013

Store is LIVE!


Go to the Toyfinity Store now to get your Mordles!

Drop tonight! THE MORDLES ARE HERE!

 AT LAST! The Mordles are here!

  At 9 pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday, June 28th, the Mordles go on sale in the Toyfinity store, ready to invade your collection.
You have two colors to choose from:
- Standard Edition Mordles ten pack (yellow with blue highlights) and included Manglor Egg! - $16
- Crawler Edition Mordles ten pack (blue with yellow highlights), which features the Zerak species (the one in the front of this picture).  - $12

Quantities will be limited to two of each edition per customer.

Additionally, today you will be treated to the public debut of the first-ever Mordles comic, featuring art by the legendary James Groman, who has worked on My Pet Monster, Madballs, Barnyard Commandos, Rotten Rex, and a number of other toylines. The comic will be available at the Comics link on Toyfinity.com.
Below, a preview:

 We've been waiting months to show you everything here and get some Mordles into your hands.
Toyfinity would like to thank all of the people who have shown support for this project along the way, with special thanks to Matt Doughty of Onell Design. Couldn't have done this without your support and wisdom.

The Mordlution is underway!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

You in Jersey? Shoot over to the House of Fun and get Mordles in person! Plus...bonus!

 So you like toys, eh?
If you are ever in the New Jersey area, one place you definitely want to visit is the House of Fun.
The above picture is just one section of the store. He has literally TONS of toys from vintage eras through today.

And he's one of the only brick-and-mortar locations where you can get MORDLES!

Right now, The House of Fun has a special preview item from an upcoming Mordles release that you can buy today if you go there in person. While you're there, pick up some other toys too! Tell Chris I sent ya!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Everything has shipped! and Mordle history - first modern test shot pics

100% of Club Mordle orders are out there in the world, so everyone should have them invading their mailboxes pretty soon.

Today, I'd like to show you the very first test shots I received of the brand-new tooling that creates the Mordles. When I obtained the rights, I thought for a while about what I wanted to give to the fans first. I thought about all-new Mordles and including the original "Ripsaw" Mordle as a bonus, but that would miss an important point: the people that love Mordles have never been able to get that many of them.  Most people who even had an interest in getting some might spend years tracking them down. How many people out there even have a set of all ten originals? Took me years to track down all of the RBT and Mordles, with Rockadile being the toughest of the Rocks and Bugs to acquire.

So, I consulted with Matt Doughty of Onell Design, and based on my passion for the originals, we decided to start with a full set of the vintage Mordles. Because none of the original RBT tooling still exists, it meant starting over again from scratch. My precious set of the original Mordles was sent to China for processing.
Now, I didn't want there to be any confusion with the originals, and I think we've succeeded there.
The plastic is completely different than the original release, and the additional paint apps add something I've always wanted on the Mordles. It also gives us the potential to make some really crazy Mordle colors - imagine tiger-striped Mordles! Or Mordles with eyes one color and toenails a different color...it costs more but we can literally do anything we want.
Additionally, I needed to get the original CBS markings off of the figures. This way you have as close to a perfectly clean Mordle as can be.

There's a lot of lead time involved with doing any project that involves tooling, molds, sculpting, factory production, and so on...I'll get into the full process in a future post.
Today, we focus on one aspect of that process. Once the factory has created your tooling, they get to a certain point and they are ready for your approval of what the tooling is supposed to make.
Whatever plastic is laying around in the machines (leftovers from another product made at the factory) is injected into your tooling so you can evaluate what it looks like.  This is called a test shot.
Sometimes you get crazy colors that you would never make the product in. My particular test shots are a kind of metallic red.

Enjoy the very first view I had of the Mordles when I opened the box on that day back in March and saw these guys spill out!
(shown with an Onell Design Crayboth for scale)

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Don't forget about the Glyos drop tonight!

If you are going to participate in the Glyos drop tonight, be sure to jump over there and read the last couple of updates first. Some new rules in effect for this drop to help things run smoothly.
We here at Toyfinity hope everything runs smoothly with this release. Get some figures for your Mordles to fight/be friends with!

Everything goes on sale at 9:30 pm EST tonight!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Club Mordle store closes tomorrow! Next up - general public release on June 28th!

Hello Mordle fans!

Just a reminder - the club store closes tomorrow at 9 pm EST, so if you haven't gotten your order in, time is running out.
Every order made through 1:30 pm Saturday has shipped out to you guys - with anyone who ordered after that going out on Monday.

Next up, the general release of Mordles occurs on Friday June 28th. If you love the Mordles, tell your friends so they can get some Mordles on the 28th. It's been great enjoying the various pics of the Mordles in your households and the kind words about the guys. I've always wished Mordles were easier to get - and now they are!

Club Members should look for an e-mail next week with some details about club business. Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek at a future Mordle colorway, seen after you logged in to Club Mordle!

Question for everyone: would you want an option to purchase the Manglor egg separately?
If so, let me know in the comments section.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Shipping madness!

Shipping hit the Toyfinity HQ pretty hard this week!

 Even my canine buddy got in on the act! He's a great supervisor.
 Stuffing a box full of Crawler Editions with headers!
The team hard at work.
 Did anyone ever think they'd see a guitar case full of Mordles?!?
(I know, it's not a guitar case. But that's how I carry it around the house)

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The teaser that started it all (sorta)

At the Glyos booth, NYCC 2012, fans were treated to the above strange image hanging on the wall, quietly. And now, Mordles are about to hit the postal service, on the move to your houses.
Even though that was the first time that the public saw Mordles were returning, it had been in the works for a number of months at that point.

More to come...

Monday, June 17, 2013

Terrorantula strikes!

Terrorantula is hungry!
He's waiting for the 28th so the general public can feed him Mordles once again, and hoping that Club members choose to feed him as well.
Can you help a starving Terrorantula?

Club Mordle memberships closed! Club Mordle store open!

The time has finally arrived!

Club Mordle memberships have closed, and the Club Mordle store is now open for business.
All members were e-mailed at the e-mail address they provided through PayPal.
If you didn't receive an e-mail, let me know!
I hope you enjoy the preview of the future edition shown there, and you should receive shipping notices as the Mordles go out this week.
Thanks so much for your support! And look for more fun Mordle content this week and next week.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

All-new RBT Commerical by OrangeSlime.com

Get hyped up for the impending opening in a mere few hours of the Club Mordle store!
Check out this incredible commercial for Rocks and Bugs and Things, created by Orange Slime!
Orange Slime is a fantastic site focusing on vintage toylines and other oddities from the last few decades of pop culture.
Check them out today!







Saturday, June 15, 2013

Toy Memories - RBT schematics!





 If you guys haven't already been over there, Toy Memories is a fantastic site for information on classic toylines. Blueprints for classic RBT, Robo Force, and much, much more!

Mike, who runs Toy Memories, has been a fantastic resource in my work with bringing back these classic Ideal lines, so check out his work today!

Friday, June 14, 2013

CLUB MORDLE - Final details!

 
CLUB MORDLE DETAILS!
PURPOSE: Club Mordle guarantees you the chance to purchase at least ONE of each and every release-version MORDLES action figure, set, and accessory!

HOW IT WORKS: Toyfinity Toys plans to release a number of different colored sets of Mordles and related products in 2013.
The first release is JUNE 2013.
To join Club Mordle, go to the Toyfinity store and purchase the Club Mordle membership. The cost of membership is only $10 in 2013! You'll be provided a special membership packet in your Mordles product order that will evoke memories of the classic fan club kits of days gone by. There are no toy-based products included in the Club Mordle kit.
Members will also have the opportunity to vote on a future Mordle colorway, and potentially receive other exclusive information and offers.

THE SPECIFICS: Mordles love to hatch in groups! But sometimes, they hatch all by themselves.
As such, a release may consist of one single Mordle figure, Mordles with special accessories or Glyos items, or multiple packs of Mordles in special colorways or designs.
The cost for each Mordles product will vary depending on what is included in the product - number of Mordles, paint decos, and so on.
Unlike other subscriptions, Toyfinity Toys is NOT locking you into purchasing product blindly or guaranteeing sales to Toyfinity in advance.
Here's how it will work:
- Purchase the Club Mordle membership.
- Toyfinity Toys will announce a product release, listing the items for sale in the specific release.
- Club Mordle members will be provided a link to the Club Mordle store. The store opens midnight June 17th EST (i.e. Sunday-into-Monday). It closes on June 23rd at 9 pm EST.
- Members will be allowed to make ONE and ONLY ONE purchase from the store during this time. You do not have to purchase every item! But you cannot update quantities once you check out. You are guaranteed to be allowed to purchase at least one of every item in the store, sometimes more as quantities allow. Limits will be listed.
- No product will be held for Club Mordle members beyond June 23rd when the store closes.

The first wave consists of six editions, released two per month starting in June 2013.
The first two editions are:
Standard Edition Mordles (yellow with blue highlights) ten pack, including a special bonus item to be revealed when Club Members log-in to the store starting June 17th - $16
Crawler Edition Mordles (blue with yellow highlights) ten pack - $12

Prepare for the eternal battle of Rocks, Bugs, and Things to begin again! The Mordles are on the move! 
See you at the store on Monday!

Big Glyos release tonight!

Make sure you hop on over to the Glyos Transmission Weblog tonight at 9:30 pm EST for a fantastic assortment of figures, including the long-awaited return of STANDARD PHEYDEN!
It's a great time to start a Glyos collection if you haven't already - or to augment an existing one.

After all, Mordles need someone to eat...

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Welcome to Toyfinity!

It's about time Toyfinity had a blog, isn't it?
Welcome one and all to the primary place to get your information about Toyfinity. What is Toyfinity?

Toyfinity is primarily three things - an archive; a toy production company; and a concept of toy interrelation and development.
The archive is located here. There you will find an ever-growing gallery of your favorite toylines of the past and present, in an easy-to-digest format.
Primarily maintained by Charlie Parry of the Parry Game Preserve, there are hundreds of great photos of different toys on the site currently, with many more to come.

Toyfinity the production company is the current rights holder of the classic properties ROCKS AND BUGS AND THINGS (now known as Mordles), ROBO FORCE, and MANGLORS.
You can purchase items created by Toyfinity at our official store.
We have aggressive plans over the next year to bring you some great toys and related materials that we hope you enjoy. Mordles begin with a direct reproduction of the cult-classic figures, with some surprises along the way. Later this year, Robo Force returns in an all-new Glyos compatible format. And on the horizon, the Manglors await...

Toyfinity the concept describes the relationship between every toy line that has ever been created. Did you know that the genesis of the modern action figure can be derived from an unlikely source - Barbie? Why do some action figure lines such as the first years of Transformers have figures that are wildly out of scale to each other? Why was it so easy to find action figures in the 80s at retail and nearly impossible now? All of these things are interrelated in ways that are not easily discerned.
We'll delve into this concept more from time to time here at Toyfinity, both on the blog and in the archive.

Toyfinity is primarily three people - myself, Charlie Parry, and Mike Hart.
Our mission statement is clear:
- provide a really strong archive for you to find toy information.
- make kick-ass toy products that the major companies just aren't making these days.
- and most of all, try to put some fun back into collecting with properties that are fresh.

At this time, I'd like to acknowledge some of the people who made all of this possible:
- my partners in the project, Mike and Charlie.
- Mike of Toymemories.com for his support and guidance in the process.
- my brother Michael. If not for his obsession with Mordles over the childhood years, this never could have happened.
- everyone who has offered any support to the project over the last year. It is much appreciated.
- my friends and family in toys, movies and life
- and most especially, my great friend Matt Doughty. This could never have happened without you. Your guidance and friendship is a true inspiration.

Check back tomorrow for the definitive information on Club Mordle before memberships close Sunday!