Kaijufornia Vol. 2 Recap

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by collectingtoyz (@collectingtoyz)

Kaijufornia Vol.2 took place on September 27th, 2025 at Bear Cave CCG in Northridge, CA. We were in So Cal and decided to check it out while we were down there. We were unable to attend last year's show. It was a chill event with a small group of local toy makers such as The Beast is Back, Uh-Oh Toys, Secret Handshake Toys and more. If you are in So Cal, this is a show that you should attend. Easy to get what you want with minimal crowds and lines. No date has been announced for next year yet but we will keep you posted when we find out. In the meantime, check out our pics above for a slideshow of what you missed. 

DesignerCon Announces Partnerships With eBay, NTWRK, and VeVe Collectibles for 2022

The Largest Art & Toy Convention In the US Comes In Strong With Title Sponsors eBay, NTWRK, And VeVe Collectibles
Tickets on Sale July 15th 

CONVENTION DATES 
November 18 - 20, 2022 

Anaheim Convention Center
800 W. Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92802
 

DesignerCon has amassed a hugely impressive following over its 17 years of existence. Now, in 2022, DesignerCon is returning to the Anaheim Convention Center, bringing all new content and fan-favorite artists. With three epic partners, the show is reaching wider audiences, elevating the experience for existing enthusiasts and bringing new ones to the wonderful works of art toys and collectibles!

Tickets are on sale July 15th, and can be purchased at http://www.designercon.com

Joe Ledbetter's "Road Trip" Sculpture

Joe Ledbetter will be releasing his "Road Trip" Sculpture that's been in the works for a while now. It stands over 16" tall. It's large, heavy and solid resin. Limited to 100 pieces. This will go on sale Tuesday, May 10th at 9am Pacific in Joe's Store HERE for $450. Free shipping worldwide.

Designer Con 2021 Recap

Designer Con 2021 had their own virtual con during the summer but they also had their in-person event held at the Anaheim Convention Center in November. There were still a good amount of exhibitors, artists etc... in attendance. Overall with how things have been regarding the health and safety protocols, the show was held and it was a solid event despite a lot of uncertainty with traveling and covid. Looking forward to all the shows that can be safely attended this year. Here's a link to our DCon Photos HERE. Enjoy!

DesignerCon 2021 This Weekend!

DesignerCon 2021 is back this weekend starting Friday, November 12th for VIP Ticket Holders and into the weekend. This is one of the first conventions to slowly come back after the pandemic shut down pretty much everything for over a year. Attendees and Vendors will still have to mask up and show proof of vaccination or a negative covid test. More details can be found on their website HERE. 

DesignerCon 2020 This Weekend

 

DESIGNERCON RETURNS NOVEMBER 13TH - 15TH FOR THE MOST AMBITIOUS CON OF 2020!

New Partnership With Popshop Live App Will Bring Vendors’ Storefronts And Artists Live to Viewers’ Screens, While Allowing Them to Skip the Lines And Avoid the Crowds

In spite of the unusual presentation, attendees can expect many of the traditions they’ve come to love. Every year, DesignerCon organizes events and aesthetics around an important pop-culture theme, and 2020 is no different. For this edition of DCON, the expo celebrates the 35th anniversary of Back to the Future—a franchise more timely than ever IN 2020.

 

CONVENTION DATES

November 13 - 15, 2020

Since its founding in 2005, DesignerCon has grown into the largest designer toy and art convention in the United States. With COVID-19 disrupting the global event industry, founder Ben Goretsky remains determined to continue expanding—this time into the digital realm. For its 2020 edition, DesignerCon will broadcast and sell to thousands of attendees on Popshop Live, a groundbreaking platform at the forefront of streaming commerce. 

Companies that have already signed up for the innovative approach to the convention include Japan’s MEDICOM (with DesignerCon being their only US convention), Toy Cube, and 3D Retro. Participating artists include Valfre, Joel Ledbetter, Luke Chueh, and Jorge R. Guiterrez, to name a few. his year’s set of DCON exclusive Be@rbricks will be designed by Jermaine Rogers, Louis De Guzman, Valfre, Alex Pardee, and Greg Mike. Tickets will go on sale in October, and DesignerCon will be hosted live on the Popshop Live app from November 13 to 15th, 2020.  

Today is the last day to purchase VIP Tickets but you can purchase all tickets HERE.

Plastik Surgery Handbook Level 2

Artist Lunartik just released their latest Plastik Surgery Handbook Level 2. Have you ever wanted to make your own toys? You can with a step by step process of the Plastik Surgery Handbook Level 1 & Level 2.

 If you just want to purchase just Leve1 1 or Level 2 of the Plastik Surgery Handbook you can here for £10.00 each for the E-book versions or you can purchase both handbooks here for £18.00. You can also purchase a hard copy of Level 1 HERE for £13.00.

Who's Ready for Designer Con 2019?

Designer Con 2019 is literally right around the corner. Next weekend November 22-24th, Designer Con will be taking place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. There will many different events happening as well as tons of exclusives and releases from artists, companies and so much more. Below is some of what will be taking place next weekend at Designer Con.

Wolfgang Gray Edition

Joe Ledbetter recently released the Gray Edition of Wolfgang or B&W if you prefer. You can purchase this straight from Mr. Ledbetter himself HERE for $220 + Shipping.

Shi-Shi the Tiny Guardian Collectible Figure Kickstarter

There's 10 days left to back Shi-Shi the Tiny Guardian Collectible Figure on Kickstarter. This project is already fully funded but if you were still thinking about backing this amazing project you don't have too many days left. They have awesome blind boxes, sofubi (Japanese soft vinyl figure) and resin figures. We just back this project as well as we've been meaning too before SDCC when the campaign started. Go HERE for more info on Shi-Shi.

Five Points Festival Early Bird Tickets On Sale Now!

Five Points Festival announced that their Early Bird Tickets are now on sale! Get your discounted tickets for Five Points Festival in NYC at the Brooklyn Expo Center June 1-2, 2019 HERE. Tickets on-site will be more expensive.

DesignerCon 2018 Recap!

DesignerCon has come and gone. Still trying to figure out the best way to sum up this year's DCon besides HUGE lol. As you all know DesignerCon moved from Pasadena to Anaheim this year and the venue which is the Anaheim Convention Center made it possible to expand DesignerCon greatly. A lot of artists and companies that were not able to secure a booth in previous years were able to get one this year. DCon was HUGE this year. There was a lot of space between aisles which also meant a lot of space between the rows of exhibitors. It also meant you can look at both sides of the aisle to view the booth's items and so you have more walking to do lol. Planning which booth to hit up this year was very important as the one problem was there was no aisle numbers or booth numbers so sometimes looking for a certain booth you can get lost and end up somewhere else.

This year they had a few mini art shows within the show. They had a huge dinosaur and Jurassic Park vehicles as part of their Jurassic Park 25th Anniversary Art Show. There was also the Shard Dunny 2 Show which featured custom Shard Dunnys from various artists. There was a lot of things going on within the show. Different artists and companies released exclusive items at certain times each day etc... You really had to be selective as artists and companies are very spread out.

Saturday Morning by Funko was pretty busy starting on VIP night. They sold FunkO's Cereal, Cereal Bowls and T-Shirts. Wasn't sure how it was going to pan out but they had a corner spot and a big area to hold their line. Great booth display and Mike Becker was there throughout the show. You could get his autograph or picture taken. They also had cereal taste testing area.

There were a lot of artists and companies that came out from other countries such as Japan etc... Long lines were formed for companies like Refreshment Toy, RealxHead, Goccodo, Skulltoys, Punk Drunkers etc... each day. Other companies and artists that were back this year was Paul Kaiju, MVH, Splurrt, The Sour Lemon, Clutter, Rampage Toys, Touma, Kidrobot, Super7, Unbox Industries, 1000Toys, Lulubell Toys, Bwana Spoons, Gargamel, Cometdebris, Max Toy Co and many many more.

This year we took a lot of pictures. Normally we use both the iPhone and an actual camera lol but one of our photographers injured their hand prior to DCon which meant holding the camera to take pics was painful and uncomfortable. On the other hand, our handy dandy iPhones which are lightweight came to the rescue and we have about 1800 pictures or so to show you. Here's our link to our DCon 2018 Photo Album. There's definitely too many pictures to post here and since we have less time than usual, we didn't have time to watermark them which is also why we aren't posting them here. One thing we do ask is that if you want a picture to post or re-post elsewhere to contact us for permission or credit us when using them.

We left DCon pretty much poorer than when we arrived. There was so many awesome art and collectibles for sale that whatever we thought was enough $$ to spend this year was clearly not enough. Wanted so many more things but had to pick and choose. It sucks from a collectors standpoint for sure but when you have so many artists and companies bringing so much awesomeness all in one place you need to save as much money as you can. For those planning to attend to DCon next year. Plan ahead and save a lot of money. You're gonna need it.

To sum it all up, DCon was awesome this year! There were some things that they could improve on but overall we didn't encounter any major problems. Looking forward to next year! Enjoy the pictures!

DesignerCon 2018 is This Weekend in ANAHEIM

DesignerCon has moved to Anaheim, CA this year from Pasadena, CA. This weekend, November 16-18th at the Anaheim Convention Center, there will be Toys, Collectibles, ART, Apparel, Customs, Plush, Cereal, Panels, Signings and more. There will also be mini shows within DesignerCon. Artists and Companies from all over the world will have booths and will be selling exclusives. Your best bet for up to date exclusives is to go on Instagram and follow your favorite artist or company.

Junko Bear by Junko Mizuno and Scott Wilkowski

Junko Bear by Junko Mizuno and Scott Wilkowski are available now at Woot Bear HERE for $55 each.

Woot Bear SDCC 2018 Releases

Woot Bear will be releasing a few different releases at SDCC this year. You can find them at the Hyperactive Monkey Booth #5640. They will be released on Friday, July 20th at 12PM.

Can't make it to SDCC? Well on Saturday, July 21st at 12PM, there will be a special release at wootbear.com. 

EIMI TAKANO x PETER KATO's DONUT BUNNIE

Clutter will be releasing the first collaboration release of Eimi Takano x Peter Kato's Donut Bunnie resin figures. Donut Bunnie stands 6-inches tall. This first run is an edition of 25 and will cost $95 each. This will go on sale, today, Friday, April 27th at 12 Noon Eastern HERE.

Paul Komoda's Cthulhu "Nyarlathotep" Resin Model Kit

Gecco Corp. announced Paul Komoda's Cthulhu "Nyarlathotep" Non-Scale Resin Model Kit which can be pre-ordered from Gecco directly HERE for $229.99.

The Messenger Vinyl & Resin Figure Release

Munky King will be releasing The Messenger in both Vinyl and Resin on Friday, February 2nd at 3PM Pacific. The Messenger is designed by kaNO. Portions of the proceeds will go to support Know Your Rights Camp. The Messenger Clear Edition is made from resin and is limited to 50 pieces and will cost $200. You can purchase this HERE. The Messenger Black Edition is a vinyl figure and will be up for Pre-order for $50 HERE. They are both 6.5 inches tall.

Saving the Best for Last: DesignerCon 2017 Recap

DesignerCon 2017 has come and gone in a blink of an eye. This year was the biggest and most crowded that DCon has ever been. Maybe it was partly due to the holiday weekend but we can say a lot of collectors came out in full force from all over the world to attend and to pick up exclusives from their favorite company or artists.

This was also the last year that DesignerCon will be at the Pasadena Convention Center. DesignerCon has definitely grown and they still had artists & vendors on the waiting list to get a booth even though spaces were already filled. In all the years that we've been attending DesignerCon, it was never this crowded. Even towards the later hours of the show it was jammed packed. We were stuck in Hall C on Saturday shuffling down the aisles. It felt like SDCC.

Are You Ready For DesignerCon?

Are you ready for DesignerCon? DesignerCon will be held in exactly 3 weeks from this posting at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, CA on November 11-12 which is also Veteran's Day weekend. Check out the DesignerCon Highlight Video above which will give a a little glimpse of what goes on during DCon. This year, DCon is going full out with huge billboard signs in certain areas in Los Angeles and street banners in Pasadena.