FREE SHIPPING

Hooked on Chibis is glad to announce FREE (first class) SHIPPING for the entire month of December. Shop for gifts or spend your holiday money any time between now and Dec 31st and your shipping is free no matter how much you order (or where you live)! Just enter the coupon code HOLIDAYFREESHIP. We're still offering free wrapping as well.

PLEASE ORDER BEFORE DECEMBER 20TH IF YOU NEED YOUR ITEM(S) BY CHRISTMAS

So what are you waiting for? Come visit our Etsy store!

Note: If you need Priority or Overnight shipping e-mail us and we'll work something out with you.

Holiday Commissions

Hey fans. It's hard to believe it but Christmas *IS* coming up. We're restocking the dolls we've already designed, but if you want a commission in time for Christmas, now is the time to tell us (since we need to design through trial and error and go color shopping). Commission cut-off will either be November 15th or once we get about 10 or so, whichever comes first.We prefer our orders come in through our Etsy store, but e-mailing us at hookedonchibis@gmail.com also works.

Also please bookmark our shop and check in often. We'll be posting new listings, including our hackey sacks and keychains.

... *thud*

So, that con season was CRAZYPANTS. Crazy. In the pants. But, we all lived, so there's that!

For those just tuning in, here is a quick breakdown of all the places that Hooked on Chibis! appeared in 2011.

The Doctors were, of course, at all of the cons concurrently.

In January, Matt and Jenn went to Arisia in Boston, MA. We're planning to return in 2012 and this time we'll be there all weekend, because it was way too awesome to only be there for one day.

In February, Matt, Jenn, and the 8-bits went to two cons: Genericon in Troy, NY and Queen City Kamikaze in Manchester, NH. We're already signed up for Genericon 2012 and as soon as we're able, we'll be signing up for QC Kamikaze again (it'll be our third year there, and their third year as a con!!).

The Black Mage had been practicing his Blizzaga, so you can thank him for all that snow this winter.

Then in March, we took most of the month off to build up for the coming con storm, but we did pay a visit to Conbust in Northampton, MA. Because this con is only a few minutes from home, the table was staffed at various times by Jenn, Casey, Liz the Random Encounter, and Matt (Biz was up at school in NH, so we couldn't complete the set). We also met our new friends and fellow-artists Sean of NickelPUNK, Matt of Mattman: Dinosaur Hunter, and Auston, game developer and the guy who brought us Bosses Forever.

April saw CHIBIS EVERYWHERE. We did four yes four cons in April. First, Jenn and Casey went to UBCon in Buffalo, NY, where we met the incomparable Nigel Sade, experienced Tim Horton's for the first time, and practiced salsa dancing in our hotel room while eating potato salad and drinking wine. Because that's how we roll. Then a week later, Jenn and Matt went to Tora-Con in Rochester, NY, which is only 30 minutes away from Buffalo and made all that driving feel very silly. Yes, we drove home from Buffalo, only to drive back out to Rochester 4 days later. Trust us, it had to be done.

Then on Easter weekend, Jenn and Casey flew to Seattle for Sakura-Con while Matt held down the fort at Anime Boston (our fourth year at AB!). We learned some valuable lessons that weekend about how to split the party, how to get all the dolls to faraway cons, and how to set up in only 4 feet of space O_o

We all needed healing by the time April was over.

May was pretty quiet while we all collapsed from April's adventures, but it got crazy again at the end, when we went to Anime Central in Chicago. Jenn took the train out, Casey flew there, and they both rode the train home again; Casey fell in love with jetBlue and Jenn spent the whole train ride (both ways) going OMG IM ON A TRAIN THIS WINS. (Also, the day they returned was Jenn's birthday, which she got to spend almost all of on the train!!) The girls debuted their Plusle and Minun gijinka at this con as well - and since Biz was visiting her brother who lives nearby, she paid us a visit as well.

Two sassy vintage stewardesses. This pic was actually taken at Otakon, by Adorkable Photography.

 Then, only two days after getting home from ACen, Jenn got on a plane and flew to California for Fanime, in San Jose. She stayed with her aunt (Jenn's from everyplace, remember?), met up with old friends, saw plenty of familiar faces among the artists - and got to meet Colette, one of our first fans ever!

Wait, we have fans?!

June was almost quiet. We knew that AX was looming on the horizon, so we tried to keep things to a minimum while we frantically made every doll ever, but over Father's Day weekend, there were two cons we just couldn't pass up - so we split the party again, sending Matt and Biz to Tampa, FL for MetroCon, and Casey with her friend Merissa to Anime Mid-Atlantic in Chesapeake, VA. (Jenn had to work, and the 8-bits were still in school, so they held down the fort at home.)

JULY WAS INSANE YOU GUYS. First, Matt and Jenn went to Anime Expo in Los Angeles, which was huge and we had such a good time that we're already booked to be there in 2012! Then after we got back from AX, we had 3 days to get everything down to Hartford for ConnectiCon, which was the only con of 2011 to feature all four of us at one point or another! Even the 8-bits were there, and they had a great time in the game room and seeing all the cosplays. Then we had two weeks to find more chibis, and then Jenn and Casey drove down to Baltimore for Otakon, where we met more fellow-artists, saw a bunch of old friends, and sweated our wigs off from the heat. (Casey actually looked, at one point, like such a tuckered-out little Plusle that I wanted to put her in a Pokeball and get her to Nurse Joy!)

Jenn got pictures of her Darkrai gijinka, by the same awesome photographer who took that Plusle and Minun picture up there.

For our last hurrah, in August we went to RamenCon, a first-year con in northwest Indiana that Jenn just couldn't miss. We stayed with family, visited with even more family, made awesome friends with the artists and con staff, and had a great time chasing the 8-bits around while they did the scavenger hunt. Jenn and her younger 8-bit played in the Chopstick Challenge, where they had to build structures using only chopsticks (Matthew had to build a Duplo pyramid; Jenn had to assemble a Bionicle), and that was a crazy time indeed. The best news was, RamenCon's first-year attendance was 1083. You read that right, ONE THOUSAND EIGHTY THREE. This is one hot, tasty con, people.

Sixteen cons later, Jenn's still alive. And she still has hands.

We're home now, putting the chibis into their homes for the winter, which is not as easy as it sounds. The black mage keeps heading to the freezer for more practice, Dr. McCoy won't stop raiding the medicine cabinets, and the electric pokemon recently found where we keep the batteries O_o But we're winding down from traveling, winding up for the holidays - and best of all, we're almost unpacked!!

And finally, if you're keeping count, that's sixteen cons we did this year, thirteen of which Jenn was personally at. Whew!

 -- Jenn

Con Calendar Updated

As promised, the Con Calendar page is updated!  And don't forget, we're going to be at Anime Central in 10 days!

-Matt

Go To ALL THE CONS!!!

What a crazy time it has been.  So, I think I'm finally ready to announce a few plans.  We will be going to the following conventions:

Fanime, May 27-30 in San Jose, CA

MetroCon, June 17-19 in Tampa, FL

Anime Mid-Atlantic, June 17-19 in Chesapeake, VA

AnimeExpo, July 1-4 in Los Angeles, CA

ConnectiCon, July 8-10 in Hartford, CT

Otakon, July 29-31 in Baltimore, MD

Phew, that's a lot.  But, it is critical to our mission of dolls all over the USA!  So come by, say hi, buy dolls.  The Con Calendar Page will be updated very soon to reflect all these conventions, plus who will be staffing them.

-Matt

Where Does The Time Go?

I tell you, that's what I want to know.  We've been super busy lately, going to conventions (ConBust, UBCon, and Tora-Con) while prepping for others (AnimeCentral, AnimeBoston, SakuraCon) and trying to get into still others (shhh, not tellin!).

So this has meant that none of us has been posting here!  But this doesn't mean that we aren't thinking about stuff to say, or are giving up on communicating with our fans (and trying to get even more people to follow us once we figure out something to say!).

We'll be looking to change that going forward, because we do (usually) enjoy each convention, and we would love to share our thoughts and experiences with everyone.

I will say that next week I hope to have some big news for our fans about where we'll be this summer, and I hope to have Jenn and Casey posting more about their travels.  While I love conventions (and I had a blast at Tora-Con), those two are by far much more experienced with cosplay and anime and everything else.  Poor Elizabeth is still stuck up at college (and so busy she has to pass on AnimeBoston which she loves going to), but she'll be with us a whole lot more come June, and we're looking forward to that (more hands to make dolls!)

So anyway, this weekend I'm going to AnimeBoston, Casey and Jenn are going to SakuraCon (a bit of a homecoming for Jenn, she lived in Seattle for years), and then afterwards, if we're not dead, more coming here!

As always, we love hearing from folks either here, on Facebook, through Etsy, on LiveJournal, or whatever.  If you have ideas for blog topics, let us know!

-Matt

Now You're Adorable, April Fools!

Hey all! Thanks for entering the "It's Not Easy Being Green" contest. We'd like to congratulate DevilDuckie831! She's won an Elphaba plushie. We must admit, it's a very very appropriate winner. XD

Our next contest will be centered around April Fool's Day, and who better to prank than the biggest baddies we know? For the next contest we want to chibi-tize evil villains, ugly mutants and characters who never smile. Comment on this blog entry and challenge us to find the cute in someone vile, menacing, or super-serious.

Some designs we've already conquered: Gendo, Sephiroth, Khan, Orochimaru, Rorschach
 
-CaseyChu

Con Schedule Update 2!

Okay, so I just updated out Con Schedule page quite a bit!  I removed everything that has already occurred, and then added: ConBust, UBCon, Tora-Con, Anime Boston, and AnimeNEXT.  We're still working on attending even more conventions so stay tuned!

-Matt

Ode to Magic Wings: Best "Company" Trip Ever

Right between where Jenn lives and where I (Casey) live is a butterfly conservatory called Magic Wings. They put the word Magic in the title and somehow I still wasn't ready for the experience I was about to have. It was ignorant of me to think that these people didn't know their own power well enough to just lay it out on the sign.

This place is like, what it must feel like to... man I can't even think of a metaphor. Here, look at this butterfly.

Don't you feel better already? I do

We went to Magic Wings to take pictures of dolls that had a nature theme to them. There are multiple rooms, each of them beautiful, and they allow us to let the chibis go on "adventures."

Link went to save the princess Zelda

Totoro and I waited for a bus.

When the bus never showed I decided to lie down and let Totoro chill on my stomach. From that bench I could see hundred of butterflies fluttering around above me. The greenhouse was in the 80's, so it was warm enough to help all my muscles relax. I was at peace with the universe.

When I finally got back up again, I walked around a bit more. When you're walking you have to watch your feet because there very well might be a butterfly right on the floor. While I was ooking down there, I found this guy.

Internet, meet Randy

I decided this guy's name was Randy and he was going to be my friend. I knelt down to take a picture, but I was using Jenn's iPhone and I had to get really close. He got spooked and fluttered and landed on my hand!

Randy is the chillest butterfly in all of existence. He just hung out on anything we put him near.

Appa got to wake up and smell the butterflies

He even tried to get Jenn to take a break and enjoy his company.

Randy... not too aware of personal bubbles

In addition to butterflies, there are little quails running around. The Chocoborg attempted to assimilate them.

You blend poorly, Chocoborg

And there are clear butterflies there are well. I didn't even know nature DID that.

Damn nature, you crazy. Doctor Manhattan, however, finds your molecules to be beautiful.

I wish I could have taken all of you with me. If you ever find yourself in western Massachusetts, go experience this place. It'll melt every possible bad, uncomfortable or negative thing out of you.

Even Tonberry went light on the POINKS that day

The check out our other picture from our visits, visit our Deviant Art

Genericon 2011 Post-con Debriefing, Wrap-up, and Review: Friday

First, a bit of information about the con. 

Genericon 2011 was held Feb 11-13 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (heretofore referred to as “RPI”) in Troy, NY. For those unfamiliar with New York State, Troy is just outside Albany (the state capital), about an hour north of NYC, straight up the Hudson River. This was its 24^th year; it was our first year in attendance. For reference, we live approximately a 2-hour drive from Troy, so this was an easy con for us to reach (i.e., we didn’t have to scour the Internet for plane, bus, and/or train deals).

Helpful map of Troy, NY, circa 1861. Image shamelessly yoinked from The Cultural Historian's blog.

In a welcome change of events, this was NOT a homecoming con for Jenn. It was, however, a bit of a homecoming for Matt, who lived outside Albany for 2 years and worked in the area for 3 years.

This con was also the first time that we brought the 8-bits. They had previously attended two cons – Bakuretsu Con 2006 and Anime Boston 2007 – but both of those conventions were before we began the doll business, so we were there only as cosplayers/attendees. They grumbled a bit at the prospect of helping haul things around each day, but then, they’re tween boys – if they didn’t grumble, I’d be worried ;-)

Traveling to the con was an interesting exercise in logistics. This winter has been the first time that we’ve really had to contend with car space. In previous years, we’ve been able to use Jenn’s SUV (or Jenn’s mom’s SUV) to drive things around, so packing in a bunch of dolls, display cages, luggage, etc. wasn’t really a problem. Even the first year of tabling ever, when Jenn and Elizabeth took the subway into Boston with all their gear, the girls had less merch to haul and knew how to pack light. However, since Jenn’s SUV went on strike at the end of 2010, we had to use Plan B: Matt’s 4-door sedan.

Pictured: what Jenn's car going on strike might look like.

This was marginally okay for Arisia, as we had fewer dolls prepared at that time and the 8-bits, while traveling with us across the state, did not actually have to come to the con with us. By the time Genericon rolled around, we realized that we had to fit another 100 or so plushies, as well as a weekend’s worth of both clothes AND entertainment for everyone, as well as the 8-bits’ school gear since we’d be picking them up from school and then just leaving. At a summer con this wouldn’t have been as much of an issue, but in February, when everyone’s wearing sweaters and snow pants and big bulky coats, the suitcases fill up a lot faster!

With the help of some vacuum-the-air-out space-saving bags, we were able to compress the plushies down quite far (something I’m sure they didn’t really appreciate, but they survived it with no ill effect), but the car was still very, very full. And because no trip is complete without some kind of logistical curveball, when we picked the 8-bits up from school, Matthew had … wait for it … snowshoes with him. (They fit, but barely.)

Pictured: what Matthew's snowshoes might look like, if they were blue instead of red,

and if we had put them on some stranger's furniture.

The drive out was uneventful, and checking into the hotel went smoothly (once we figured out how to GET INTO the hotel’s parking lot, which was harder than you’d think). After unloading into the room, stretching out from the car ride, and getting Appa into his cosplay, we headed over to campus to get set up.

Settling into Genericon was a bit of a misadventure, but it seemed to be a result of lots of people coming to the con who weren’t actually familiar with the campus and hadn’t oriented themselves prior to arrival. (In fairness, neither had we, but Jenn works at UMass and three of us attended there, so we’re all very, very used to college-campus logistics like parking and internal roads.)As a result, there were lots of people trying to enter the wrong buildings, entering the right buildings from the wrong direction, and asking questions of whatever staff member they could grab hold of … which seemed to only add to the chaos of setting up the con. After a brief bit of wandering the campus center because Jenn apparently can’t read a map, we located the Artists’ Alley and got checked in.

Because no one ever gets tired of seeing Appa in cosplay, here he is again.

We were only open for 2-1/2 hours on Friday night, but it was the busiest time we saw all weekend as far as traffic went. The two people who had pre-ordered plushies from us both checked in before we even had our display set up completely – these were some excited customers! Thanks again to both of you, it was fun to make Ginji (GetBackers) and Kaoru (Ouran High) ^_^ The 8-bits loved the high-energy atmosphere of that first evening, they instantly made friends with our table neighbor, and by the time we got back to the hotel room with dinner, we were ready for sleep!

Hmm, this got long. I’ll make subsequent posts about Saturday and Sunday. Hey, more blogging, right? ^^;

"It's Not Easy Being Green" Contest

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! We just did the drawing and we're pleased to announce that hearmesnark has won a Roiben plushie. This is gonna be one gorgeous plushie ^_^

With Saint Patrick's Day coming up, we're announcing the It's Not Easy Being Green contest. Tell us about your favorite characters with green hair, green skin or green outfits and you'll be entered for a chance to win them. Winner announced March 18^th. 

Some suggestions to get you thinking green: 

Mion            Higurashi

Toph            Avatar: The Last Airbnder

Jade             Mortal Kombat

Beast Boy    Teen

CC              Code Geass

Joker           Batman

Piccolo        Dragon Ball Z

Yotsuba      Yotsuba&!

Zoro            One Piece

And plenty of green Pokemon

Wishing we could make every con

Hey all.  I've been exchanging emails with a few conventions recently trying to get details on them in order to figure out where we should be going.  I wish we could go to every convention, but for assorted reasons we obviously can't.  One convention we'll be missing is Jaycon which is down in Elizabethtown, PA.  But the folks I talked to were very nice, and we'd like to help them get the word out about their convention.  So click on the link here in this post, or you can click on the banner on the right side of the page and check them out.  If you live anywhere near them you should go!

-Matt

Con Schedule Update!

Hello all, Matt here.  So, in doing planning for conventions and which ones to attend, and the logistics of said attendance, I found something very interesting.  Jenn had managed to save up enough Delta Skymiles to qualify for a free airline ticket to Seattle from Boston (and back too!)  Conveniently, Seattle is where Sakura-Con is being held.  So, figuring that this was just too perfect to pass up, we booked Jenn on a flight to Seattle for that weekend, which means we're officially going to Sakura-Con!  (Well, Jenn is anyway, we're trying to see if we can send Casey too, but to my knowledge she does not have any secret hidden cache of airline miles.)  I've updated the Con Calendar page to reflect this.  Jenn also filled out the AA application for PortConMaine, so we're trying to get into their alley as well.

One bizarre story about trying to plan for going to these conventions:

In working on going to Anime Central I was looking at airline flights.  I found flights from Boston to Chicago for ~$270, and flights from Boston to Milwaukee for ~$150.  The really screwy thing was this: the flight from Boston to Milwaukee goes through Chicago.  It's even the same exact aircraft for each flight on the leg between Boston and Chicago.  So, you can go farther for less money on the same aircraft.  That just seems really off to me, but what do I know (other than apparently the airline industry has some wacky pricing practices).

January Winner and Valentine Contest

Momma Mira, congrats on winning our Pokemon contest! Swablu's wings are going to be an adorable challenge, and will fit in great with our new selection of Pokemon dolls.


Pokemon are really one of our most beloved doll collections. February is the month of love, and we at Hooked on Chibis wanna hear more about the characters you love. From now til 11:59pm EST on February 14th, reply to this entry with your favorite fictional fling and you'll be entered for the chance to win them in chibi form! Don't feel the need to limit yourself to anime/cartoons/video game characters either. Have a crush on Nathan Fillion's Mal character? We don't blame you, and we'd be happy to make him if you win. Winner announced February 15th (while we eat delicious clearance candy).

~Casey-Chu

Wait, it's February already?

That was fast. O_o

So, first, an update on Arisia – it was a lot of fun! We were only there for one day, and I was a little whacked out on pain medication due to a sinus infection, but we still had a good time. Matt and I spent Saturday meeting con-goers, selling chibis, talking with a couple of our fans (WE HAVE FANS!!! ^_^ Thanks for helping us feel loved) and complaining about the freezing temperature outside. (We’d had to walk about ¼ mile to the convention from our parking spot, which wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t been in a pirate cosplay and/or if I hadn’t been so far in pain that breathing cold air caused my whole face to burn)

We also met Shaenon Garrity! At the request of an Arisia fan (THANKS FAN!) we reached out to Shaenon to get permission to make dolls of her webcomic characters … and now, she sells our chibis in her store ^_^

We also debuted our credit card processing system, courtesy of SquareUp. It was a little odd to learn, since we couldn’t really test it out pre-con without charging something ^^; but our first credit-card customer was very patient, we got through with no problems, and it really is freakishly easy to do! So it’s official – we’ll be accepting major credit cards at all our conventions!

We’ll definitely be returning to Arisia next year. It was a lot of fun and I was sad that we hadn’t come for the whole weekend. Hopefully Arisia wants to have us back ^_^

Next, an update on the chibi scene in general. We’re getting ready for two cons this month: Genericon in Troy, NY on Feb 11-13, and Queen City Kamikaze on Feb 19. As part of the prep, I’ve been working on some new designs – especially new Pokemon designs, though I have some sci-fi and game designs as well – and we’ve been experimenting with our shelving to come up with the optimal shopping experience.

And that’s the news for now. Watch this space, though, we’ll be posting the winner of our January contest very shortly!

 -- Jenn

Appa, meet the Internet. Internet, meet Appa.

Oh hai guyz, what’s going on in this thread? ^_^

I’m guessing that most of the people who read our blog are at least peripherally aware of what an Appa is. To clarify for those that might not: Appa is a 10-ton, 6-legged flying bison who is featured on the Nickelodeon show “Avatar: the Last Airbender”. This show is a family favorite; we watched it when it was airing originally, we did cosplay for it at Anime Boston 2007 (two weeks before our wedding, which is why we didn't shave our little Aang like we had for the previous Halloween, or dye Zuko's or Azula's hair), and the 8-bits were even in an episode of Nickelodeon magazine for being seen in their Aang and Zuko costumes. (we’re nerds, but I can still be a proud mom, so there.)

In the back: Biz as Azula; Jenn as Katara; Matt as Sokka.

In the front: the 8-bits as Aang and Zuko.

On the right: some Toph cosplayer who thought we were awesome.

Back in 2008, one of my friends gave me a plushie Appa for Christmas. It was a completely unexpected gift – not because it was an odd thing to pick for me, but because this particular friend was not one of my otaku/sci-fi/parent friends, so there was no reason at all for him to have even HEARD of the show, let alone associate me with it, let alone know the character names well enough to pick this one out. But there it is, and here we are.

Appa at a young age.

I’m a side sleeper, so despite being well into my 30s, I still sleep with stuffed animals. (Yeah, they make special body-pillows and fancy support mechanisms for grown-ups, but why would I spend all that money on some fancy contraption when a stuffed animal will serve me just as well?). Appa is the perfect size for that, so in addition to being awesome around the house, he also travels with me everywhere. This includes conventions, where he serves as a “booth bison.”

(I have a picture to go here, but will have to upload it later today. Sorry!)

His first con was Anime Boston 2008. He was still fairly clean then, and if I’d been of a mind, I could have sold him for a lot of money, about 50 times. NO, CON, MY BISON. YOU CANNOT HAS.

This was Appa’s cosplay for AB 2010. As I get busier, I have less time to make costumes for myself, but tossing together something for Appa is easy, satisfying, and usually adorable.

Recently, I’ve been working on developing chibis for webcomic artist Shaenon Garrity, and one of her strips is called Skin Horse. It deals with a group of government agents and genetically-altered beings, and one of the leads is a sort of Frankenzombie, and it’s a fantastic read. But the first “strip” really caught my attention:

After I got done sobbing over the memory of the Velveteen Rabbit (THAT BUNNY WAS SO DEDICATED ;_;) and then sharing my misery with Casey (WHY DID THE KID GET SICK JENN ;_;), I went to go snuggle with Appa … and I remembered the art that Casey had commissioned for us, from a friend, as a Christmas present this year.

Casey had said, “It’s about time you guys had a family portrait with Appa in it.”

So congratulations, Appa, you’re real now!

 -- Jenn

Who's That Pokemon?! January Contest

Hey everyone. First off, let me say how much we love these contests. You guys give us great insight, and we totally listen. Look, here's proof!

Presenting our new Yotsuba doll! Equipped with four pigtails and characteristic ^ ^ face, she's sure to brighten anyone's day.

We need more ideas though, this time within the Pokemon realm. We've already designed plenty of Pokemon dolls, but there are still many we haven't gotten to yet. That is why this month, our contest is a completely open poll asking you to choose which Pokemon you wanna see us make next. You can pick any Pokemon, but we ask that you remember the shapes we use. We can make circular and snowman shapes, but that's it. With that in mind, we suggest you not choose Magikarp XD

We have already designed:
Buneary
Charmander
Chikorita
Chimchar
Cyndaquil
Darkrai
Eevee
Espeon
Flareon
Glaceon
Leafeon
Mew
Minun
Mudkip
Pikachu
Piplup
Plusle
Primape
Psyduck
Shaymin
Squirtle
Togepi
Togetic
Turtwig
Umbreon
Vaporeon
Vulpix
Weavile

So, barring the Pokemon we've already designed, who would you like us to make next? You can only vote once, but your vote enters you into a drawing to win a free doll (with free shipping) of the Pokemon you chose! Contest ends January 31st.