I'll be at San Diego Comic Con, now through Sunday, on behalf of Reckless, promoting my good friend Mike Sutfin's new release. We'll also be filming for Toypunks Vol. 2 from Wednesday through Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones, so if you spot me in the teeming masses of Spidermen, families and fans, say what's up! Though I'll be away from the raddest French bulldog on the planet for a few days, someone has to hold it down back in B-more.

My good friend Isaac Ramos, who has an incomparable sense of humor, gave me this drawing recently. Thank you, Isaac!

Playpal Plastics, 1971, United States.

One of the best scores from my trip to Tokyo in November was this Norakuro vinyl from 1969. Made by Marusan toy company, the piece is a beautiful example of classic Japanese vinyl in terms of volume and kineticism. The figure's sculptor, though I'm not sure of his name, was pure radness. (Please write to me at justin@toypunks.com if you know who sculpted this piece. If he is still with us, I'd love to interview him for the Toypunks films.)

<i>Norakuro</i> was a comic strip created by artist Suiho Tagawa (pictured) in 1931. The eponymous character was a soldier in Japan's Imperial Army -- the strip itself a pro-military ode that chronicled Norakuro's ("Black Stray's") comical rise through the ranks in his battallion, the mokenrentai, or "Savage Dogs." He was the only black dog in his unit, and it's easy to see why so many people relate to this underdog image.

His travels and exploits were beloved in Japan, and today there's a Norakuro museum in Tokyo. I do have to wonder, however,  if Mr. Tagawa -- after all of history's offerings, both deplorable and wondrous -- ever thought that his stray would wander into the welcoming hands of a writer in Baltimore, Md. some 79 years later. I'm glad that he did.

This is one of my favorite toys, a gift from my friend Dan Swierdsiol. www.hiphopdan.com. Thank you so much, Dan.