Limited edition of 500: the 9” designer vinyl toy inspired by the iconic album cover art to ‘The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo’ comes to fans from local Chicago toy and collectible shop.

(Chicago, IL – January 11th 2024) – Long-standing American weirdo band Mr. Bungle along with their record label Ipecac Recordings, have partnered with Chicago-based collectible shop, Toy de Jour to bring fans ‘Beelzebunny’; a 9” tall designer vinyl figure that brings the band’s latest album cover to life. The Beelzebunny figure was designed by contemporary pop artist and vintage toy nerd, Steve Seeley, based on the recent album art by Junko Mizuno. Sculpted in virtual reality by Chicago-based toy designer DoomCo Designs. The final product, produced by Toy de Jour, is set to be released next week on Monday, the 15th at noon Central on the shop’s website: www.toydejour.com.

The vinyl figure, while posed on a static base, actually has two points of articulation; the gloved right hand (that just happens to be holding an egg as an insider nod to a Mr. Bungle song from their self-titled album), can be rotated a full 360 degrees, and the large skull head is affixed to the body on a ball-joint, giving the head a full range of motion – a point of articulation that is unheard of within designer vinyl toys.

The figure is based on the pop-art style of Steve Seeley, mixing the perfect blend of cartoony and perverse, a style he’s become known for in the art scene in the last two decades. “When we got the okay from the band to come back with some ideas, we knew that Steve was the person we wanted to work with on this. And he absolutely nailed it. His design not only brought the album cover art to life, but also gave that unsettling feeling that came by mixing something safe and familiar as the cartoony base & body with the dark tones of the bunny skull.” Sam Wells (husband-half of Toy de Jour)

“As anyone who knows us could tell you, we’ve been huge fans of Mr. Bungle for as long as we’ve had ears, so when the idea of doing our first vinyl toy came up, it was obvious to us who we wanted to work with. This whole experience has been a dream come true getting to work with the band and with close friends like Steve (Seeley) and Kent (owner, DoomCo Designs).” Liz McArthur (wife-half of Toy de Jour)

“We have had offers in the past to partner with people to create various collectibles but this one felt right in our wheelhouse. In celebration of the band’s recent output, bringing the decades old Easter Bunny to life makes complete sense.” Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle member/co-owner Ipecac Recordings)

“We think this will be a cool collectible that diehard Bungle fans can place on their desk at work, on their bookcase at home or near their turntable and record collection. Partnering with Steve
and Kent and the fabulous Liz and Sam from the Toy de Jour shop in Chicago made the process easy and the outcome is very cool.” Greg Werckman (co-owner Ipecac Recordings) The Beelzebunny vinyl figure will be available for shipping or in-store pick up, but all orders will be placed through Toy de Jour’s website at www.toydejour.com and limit 2 per customer until sold out.

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BEELZEBUNNY and all related imagery are trademarks of Mr. Bungle and are used with permission. © 2024 Mr. Bungle. All Rights Reserved. Licensed by Ipecac Recordings & Mr. Bungle.

MR. BUNGLE is an old band formed in Northern California a long time ago that continues to confuse people.

IPECAC RECORDINGS began releasing stuff in April of 1999. Explore the Ipecac world at www.ipecac.com

TOY de JOUR owners Sam Wells and Liz McArthur’s irreverent sense of humor is reflected in their store slogan, “Vintage, Toys, Arts & Farts” as well as their whole business model. For the past decade in addition to an incredible array of vintage toys and collectibles, Toy de Jour showcases independent custom toy-artists, toy-themed art shows and more! For more info on Toy de Jour, visit. www.toydejour.com/about

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