Anybody remember this breathless 2007 Coilhouse post about Dutch kinetic artist Theo Jansen and his awe-inspiring Strandbeests? Eeee! So incredible.

Animaris Geneticus Parvus

Jansen’s kinetic creatures have evolved quite a bit since then, and as of this month, the wonderful 3D printing company Shapeways has made a small version of Animaris Geneticus Parvus, available for purchase through their site.

These wee baby Beests, born from one of Jansen’s original behemoth windwalker designs, are “printed already assembled and [work] right after birth from the machine! No other production method can do this!” (Is 3D printing technology trippy, or what?) Apparently there are more Beests in development as well.

Watch and squee:

Today’s a big day! Coilhouse’s newest media experiment is ready for your delectation and appraisal.

From now through April 21, anyone, anywhere in the world with reasonable internet bandwidth will be able purchase DRM-free, high quality PDFs from the Coilhouse web store. This is the first time back issues of the magazine have been available in a digital format. Here it is: our brand-new PDF Shop.

For $5 USD a pop, you can download And Other Curiosities (01), Beauty Is A Choice (02), The “Hold My Gold” Issue (03), Onaim, Perantes, Rasonastos (04), and Let All the Children Boogie (05) as individual digital issues, or at a discount price of twenty bucks for all five. Also, should ye be feelin’ flush and generous, you’ll have the option to pay a bit more, because this is an important fund raising push for us.

Some thoughts:

As paper gourmands who have been touting the Magazine-As-Art-Object aspects of our production from the get-go, we know there’s nothing quite as scrumptious as holding a tangible, finite paper edition of Coilhouse in your hands.  We also realize that as we’ve continued to grow and evolve from a teeny wee indie publication to a somewhat less teeny (but still wee!) indie publication, there has consistently been more demand than supply of our limited run print issues as well as other merchandise, leaving a lot of forlorn readers crying out, “What do you mean it’s sold out ALREADY?!” And we must acknowledge, with regret, that our as-of-yet limited overseas distribution, combined with high international shipping costs, has made it prohibitively expensive for much of our global readership to afford copies of the Coilhouse print issues. We’re still working out these kinks as we go along. Thank you, comrades, for your continued understanding and kind suggestions on how we can improve.

Rest assured that we remain, first and foremost, resolutely committed to producing high quality print editions. But with your feedback, we’ve ascertained that high res PDFs are the best, most affordable solution we have currently for giving an ever-increasing readership access to our past print content. Depending on the success of this trial run digital sale, we may go in any number of directions: offering perennial PDF downloads, developing multimedia applications for smartphones and iPads, maybe even creating snazzy limited edition print digests for fellow diehard bibliophiles. Full disclosure: in recent weeks, we’ve been in multiple meetings with trusted mentors, friends, and publishers, discussing all of these possibilities, and more. SO EXCITING.

All proceeds from this initial three-week PDF sale will go directly back into the Coilhouse coffer. As previously mentioned, you’ll have the choice to purchase them at five bucks a pop, twenty for all five, or more if you can afford to and would like to further support our business. Every dollar you spend on them will help ensure that our upcoming Issue Six (currently being designed) is Coilhouse’s most lustrous, densely-packed and gorgeous production yet. Please know how grateful we are for the unflagging support of our beautiful and vibrant grassroots community. We’re still here, and still growing, because of you.

Once more, repeated for emphasis: this initial foray into PDF sales is a limited-time fund raising effort, so if you’re interested, don’t delay! GO GIT ‘EM.

Special thanks to art star Courtney Riot for designing the new shop, and Nicole, Ian, Jacquie, Whittles, Nyx, Steph, Slim and Audrey for countless hours of testing/support.

Artist Paul Komoda - whose Elephant Man sculpture, Syphilis lady bust, and ‘Blind Love’ illustration were previously featured on Coilhouse – recently sculpted King Thalidomidas, a new model resin kit available from Artist Proof Studio. King Thalidomidas is available for purchase, or you can enter in a contest to win this sculpture, or one of their many other gorgeously grotesque pieces, simply by commenting on the the Artist Proof blog. Details here.

Last week, we blogged about our wonderful Small-Business Advertisers. Today, we’d like to honor and give thanks to our five full-page advertisers from Issue 05. Thank you to Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, Fluevog Shoes, Frenzy Universe, Swatch and Zivity. Two learn more about the businesses that support us, and receive some discounts for Coilhouse readers, venture beyond the cut!

In this post, we’d like to introduce and honor the companies and artists participating in our Small-Business Advertising Program as of Issue 05. We’re not doing this because it’s part of the ad deal; in fact, our FAQ plainly states that advertising and editorial do not mix. We’re doing this because we’re genuinely awed and inspired by the incredible mix of people who’ve come forth to advertise in this magazine, and think you will be, too.

Through this program, we’ve discovered phenomenal new places to shop, found new places in our cities to explore, and even made new friends. Our list of advertisers has always been very eclectic, but as of Issue 05, with the help of our ad managers Samantha and Allie, this list exceeded anything we ever imagined.

We invite you to explore beyond the cut, where a wondrous array of music, art, clothing, literature, graphic design, technology and sculpture await. There are absinthe cocktail recipes, a glitter-covered worm, skull jewelry for cats, weird paintings of cats, corsets, spats, photographs, magazines, records, dolls, monsters… and much, much more.

Support our advertisers this holiday season if you can, leave an encouraging comment about something you saw here that you liked, and spread the word. Without you guys, none of this would be possible. Thank you!

Via Slim –who says he was reminded of it when he read this piece by a mother defending her five-year-old son’s Daphne costume– comes this awesome sauce:

This poster can be purchased on the cheap, or downloaded for free at the Crimethinc site as part of their “Gender Subversion Kit”.

“Part poster, part zine, and made to be deployed in an endless number of environments, the Gender Subversion Kit is a 22″x14″ two-color poster on the outside and a line art illustrated gender-fuck coloring book road map for both kids and adults on the inside. Inspired by and adapted from the boys will be girls will be boys . . . coloring book by JT and Irit, we took the parts we loved the most, made a few small changes, and mass produced it on the cheap.”

What’s 26 inches long, weighs three pounds, and would be immensely fun to lube up and brandish menacingly at pumpkin-smashing, house-egging Halloween vandals, preferably while wearing a bloodstained chicken suit? Why, the World’s Largest Gummy Worm, that’s what!

The precocious online shop Vat19 is currently sold out of all five dual flavors of this 4000 calorie candy, but never fear– they’ll be back in stock very soon. Meantime, there’s always The World’s Largest Gummy Bear.

Last week, we announced a new line of fund-raising merchandise: a poster, a scarf, a mug, and an array of buttons. Even Issue 05 and our Inform Inspire Infect hoodie are back by popular demand, all to help us make Issue 06 a worthy successor to the bling-a-licious 05. A big THANK YOU to everyone who’s pillaged our store so far. The sale ends this Wednesday at midnight PST, so if you plan to load up on Coil-goods, dally not!

Here’s the haps, comrades. We’re halfway through production on Issue 06 of Coilhouse Magazine. In recent days, as we watch its aesthetic and themes begin to coalesce, our conference calls have gotten giddier than ever. As always, we’re aiming for maximum high gloss, high concept, high impact. However, Coilhouse remains a labor of love with marginal profit, and right now our funds are rather low. Why? Because the recently-produced Issue 05 cost us an arm and a leg. NO REGRETS. But its many frills (the holographic foil, the fold-out poster, the art postcards) have left us with depleted resources.

We don’t want to refrain from pulling out all of the stops for 06 in the same manner we did for 05, 04, 03. But to ensure we keep outdoing ourselves with each successive issue, it’s looking like we may need a little help from our friends. Are you willing and able? That’s where this new wave of Coilhouse merchandise comes in.

We’re introducing several new clothing designs and styles, as well as buttons, a mug, and a poster. Yum yum yum. As you can see, it’s all a bit retro sci-fi Constructivist space cadet-chic. That’s not a coincidence! The look and feel of these items dovetails nicely into Issue 06′s themes (as you’ll soon see). We’re also bringing back limited quantities of the beautiful black-on-black INFORM INSPIRE INFECT hoodie that sold out almost instantly a few months ago.

Additionally, now that we’ve mailed off all of the contributor and advertiser copies of Issue 05, we can sell the remaining stock to our readership. If you missed 05 the first time around, or still haven’t had any luck finding it in a store near you, now’s your chance.

This round of merch is Pre-Order: meaning, you buy it, we get it manufactured, and you get your shipment about 3 weeks from now. Pretty good deal, no? You get a lovely item that you can wear proudly, or sip hot toddies out of, or frame and hang on the wall, knowing you supported Coilhouse when we needed a boost. And we get to ensure that Issue 06 stays as badass n’ fancy as it wants to be.

Click through to check out all of the goodies. As always, thank you for your support of Coilhouse Magazine + Blog.

Brace yourselves, for a new batch of Coilhouse merch is about to appear on the horizon. Tomorrow’s merch release will see the return of an old favorite – the super-comfy Inform/Inspire/Infect unisex hoodie (modeled here and here by two stylish customers), plus some brand new items. Buttons crafted by the one and only Snarky McFuckbuttons, a beautiful 18×24 four-color poster with new Coilhouse art by Zoetica screenprinted by Mama’s Sauce, a hefty Inform/Inspire/Infect mug, a scarf, and much more await you here tomorrow.

In addition, we’re selling the last 150 copies of Issue 05 - our remaining stash before our Boogie Edition joins Issue 01-04′s status of being Sold Out Forever. We weren’t sure how many we’d have left after mailing out all the freebies to advertisers and contributors. Now that all issues have been mailed, we’re selling the remaining quantity to make room for Issue 06.

Speaking of Issue 06, this round of merch is going to help fund Issue 06 printing. With its many frills – the holographic foil, the fold-out poster, the art postcards – our recently-produced Issue 05 cost an arm and a leg, eating away at some of our budget for printing Issue 06. With this merch, we hope to raise enough money to make Issue 06 just as grand.

This round of merch will be Pre-Order: meaning, you buy it, we get it manufactured, and you get your shipment about 3 weeks from now. Stay tuned for the reveal of the new items tomorrow – live, in Technicolor!