Gothic Toys R Us

It's been more than half a decade since I explored the darker side of me. The "hardcore/emo" stuff isn't really my scene anymore. I've gone from wearing band t-shirts and listening to bands like Thursday to sporting a clean, GQ-like wardrobe while rocking out to Michael Buble.

Despite this shift in taste, my friend Patrick, his roommate, and I took a trip to New York City to visit the 2007 MF Toys Show. This art exhibit features hand-crafted toys that sport a gothic, Halloween theme.

I, surprisingly, did not bring my dSLR with me, fearing that I would have to lug it around all day. I wish I did as the exhibits were all pretty neat to look at...

One of my favorite exhibits, created by Patrick's friend Nikki, were similar to that of ships in a bottle. Replace the ships with sculpted dolls about the size of an index finger. These dolls' eyes, made out of marbles, were big and gloomy. I hesitate to use the word "innocent" in fear of being chastised as creepy...but this further expressed their sadness of being trapped in a bottle.

Among other admittedly weird toys on display include a gruesome-looking rocker with his genitals on full display, cotton human eyeballs (which made me think of the Visine commercials), and a Darth Maul stuffed animal.