Designer Con (formerly Vinyl Toy Network) returned to Pasadena to mark the fifth year in a row of the convention that “smashes together collectible toys and designer apparel with urban, underground, and pop art.”  The show provides a venue for fans to meet their favorite artists and gives them the opportunity to participate in live events and purchase special edition toys to add to their collection.  This year’s festivities brought in a full house of attendees who snatched up the latest toys, gawked at new products, and battled the long autograph lines for the chance at going home with their favorite artist’s signature.

Some of the booths/sights that caught my eye and made my “Greatest Hits of Designer Con 2010” list were:

•    The Spoonful of Star Wars exhibit featured over 100 paintings of vintage Star Wars characters that stood next to the actual highly coveted figurines.  Each painting was a wacky interpretation of the figurine.  My favorite was the Han solo figurine wearing a long overcoat standing next to his painting that depicted a larger and plumper Han with text that read, “I think it’s time to cut the carbs.”

•    Decapitated Unicorns by Hi Tree created quite the stir.  They literally consisted of wall plaques with fuzzy unicorn heads attached to them.  The booth also sold decapitated unicorn rings, acorn ornaments and retractable tape measures that resembled trees.

•    Doktor A had a continuous line around him in the 3D Retro booth from 12-3pm as he signed his G.N.O.M.E. toys.  These guys were special editions that were limited to 100 pieces.  A fan explained to me that the G.N.O.M.E. was originally created to excavate the labyrinthine tunnel system for Retropolis’s underground pneumatic railway.

•    One booth had original Nintendo games that were transformed into monsters.  My favorites were the Super Mario Brothers that was modified to be Super Panda Cubs 3, complete with a panda hat on top, and another unidentifiable game that was painted blue and holding a chainsaw.  What a great way to utilize those old school games! We all know the vintage Nintendo games don’t work anymore unless you blow in them a hundred times before you attempt to play them.  Since nobody has the time or patience for that, why not turn them into works of art?

•    A LEGO building competition broke out in the center of the convention.  Six random people were selected from the audience to use exactly 2,503 LEGOS to build a giant Star Wars ship.  I watched the beginning of the contest as the strangers met and feverishly dumped out the pieces from the plastic bags and organized them into piles of similar types.  The next step was to grab the directions and then they were off!

•    Paper Monster sold a book where you could make “50 cool paper toys. Step 1- Pop out.  Step 2- Fold.  Step 3-glue.”  Origami monsters graced their display booth and were a hot commodity among the crowd.

•    Kid Robot toys were everywhere.  I liked the Yummy Donuts the best.  They were cute and made me hungry.

•    The Little Vampires by Rebecca Hicks were beyond adorable.  There was a sign next to them that read, “Own a Little Vampire $10 each.”  I thought about it but then decided I was running low on garlic so it might not be a good idea.

•    The DKE Toys booth was having a yard sale of toys.  There was a $1 bin of goodies, from which I snagged two Jim Henson monster figurines to sit on my home office desk.  The $5 bin was very popular and for $10 you could purchase a full box of McDonald’s Hot Wheels.  I heard a lot of wheeling and dealing going on between buyers and sellers and free Pirates of the Caribbean popcorn buckets were offered to those that made substantial purchases.

•    Dr. Sketchy was at it again and provided the crowd with a model in black and red tights that was leaning up against a ladder and forming various poses for the crowd to sketch.

•    The Super 7 booth had these fabulous Super Shogun Stormtroopers for sale.  The description read, “Star Wars meets Jumbo Machinders with this two-foot tall Japanese style figure-complete with laser blaster and Rocket Punch!  Limited Edition!”

•    Fat Rabbit Farm had t-shirts of overweight rabbit superheroes with crying carrots in the background.

•    Hello Maggot sold plush bandage and scabs and the booth also was selling a Designer Con exclusive Astroturf purse with dog poop and a flower on the “lawn.”

•    Retro Tags sold luggage tags that would surely make your suitcase unique as they featured classics like cassette tapes, PEZ dispensers, and Betty Boop.

•    Jesse Hernandez was autographing his many toys, including the Ozomahtli Dragatomi exclusive, which was flying off the shelves. We asked him to hold his favorite toy for a photo and he couldn’t decide and grabbed a bunch of them.

•    A guy with a massive box full of toys approached the booth of Joe Ledbetter and set them on the table, one-by-one and politely requested an autograph.  Joe set down his beer, grabbed his pen, and was a great sport as he signed them all.  I’m not sure how that guy was able to carry that box of toys.  When I found him it was sitting on the floor next to him but he didn’t have a dolly or any sort of cart and it really was that massive!

The above, of course, was just the tip of the iceberg.  Designer Con had over 90 booths in an arena of over 25,000 sq. feet full of art, custom shows, and live demonstrations!  From the intricate paintings to the most obscure toys, each artist proudly displayed their work and fans were more than happy to pay their respects.  I didn’t see many people in attendance that hadn’t purchased anything and those that missed out on the limited edition pieces were quite bummed.  Most of the exclusives were in limited quantities so I’d recommend getting in line early for Designer Con 2011!

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Dustin Downing.