Archive for August, 2008Brooklyn artist and creator of the Obama Action Figure, Jason Feinberg was featured in Denver’s Rocky Mountain News during the Democratic National Convention. Check it out… Artists Join the Crush of Street Peddlers Offering SouvenirsBy Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News | Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Alyssa Zeller holds an Obama action figure for sale on the 16th Street Mall on Monday. More than 680 people applied for peddler’s licenses for the week of the Democratic convention. More than 680 people applied for peddler’s licenses to sell their wares during the DNC this week, according to the city of Denver, compared to 80 during last year’s World Series. Some of the vendors are artists and entrepreneurs who designed their souvenirs themselves. Here are profiles of three: * Jason Feinberg designed and sold whimsical action figures like Che Guevara, Beethoven and Malcolm X for three years as a sideline while he worked as a English as a second language teacher. Then Barack Obama changed his life. Feinberg, who founded Jailbreak Toys, started churning out the Barack Obama figure as soon as the Illinois Senator won the Iowa caucus this January. The $13 doll turned into an immediate hit, and soon Jailbreak was supplying the toy to Urban Outfitters, Borders and selling it online. Feinberg brought 5,000 of the dolls with him from his home in Brooklyn to Denver, where he and his girlfriend, Alyssa Zeller, are selling them in a cart across the street from Writer’s Square. The dolls sold well enough to allow him to quit his teaching job in June and devote himself full time to the business. “I often think how strange it is to have my fortune tied to someone I’ve never met,” said Feinberg, 31. Feinberg is donating $1 to the Obama campaign for every doll that Jailbreak sells – until Jailbreak hits the campaign contribution limit of $2,300. Jailbreak also makes a McCain action figure, but only because one of his retail clients said it couldn’t sell the Obama doll without providing bipartisan balance. Feinberg has no plans to set up shop at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul next week, however. “It just wouldn’t feel right,” he said. 
This is the sexiest breakdown you’ll ever see of an election overview. This hilarious animation by GOOD magazine even makes John look good decent better. Not only that, but Barack has a ‘fro, which is very becoming on him, and the animators make Ohio look like Tawny Kitaen (for those of you born a bit later in life, they make Ohio look hotter than Eva Mendes after a lengthy jog in August.) Brilliant creators Chris Weller and Max Joseph get down and dirty with the facts on Election 2008-get in on the action! 
At Jailbreak Toys, we celebrate genius on the daily with our evolutionary action figures of distinction. Today, we’d like to recognize the genius behind the YouTube Hit (1,784,593 views to date) Barack Roll. The artist behind this video has taken an almost painful Rick Astley song from 1987, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” and revamped it, with the help of Barack Obama, into a millenial classic. His name is Hugh Matkin and he is a great, great man.  Every superhero deserves to be captured in action figure form, and Obama is no exception. Even measuring in at only 6 inches, this mini powerhouse makes you wanna shout, “Yes We Can!” In the world of toys, this little guy is undoubtedly the superstar of the hour. The Obama Action Figure brings hope to any desktop, window sill, bookshelf, toy bin, and dashboard. Barack is the man, and we want to make him President of the United States, so a portion of the proceeds from every sale of the Obama Action Figure at JailbreakToys.com goes straight to his campaign fund. TOYS FOR CHANGE!
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