Welcome

The new look Cheeky Monkeys website is finally here! Here you can find out what's happening in our shop - and there is a lot coming up this year. From visits by local authors to another one of our famous Lego building competitions there is a lot to look forward to as the summer gets closer.

You can also peruse our stacked shelves from the comfort of your own home. We have crammed our online shop with as much as we can to offer you the variety and quality that you would find in our Rottingdean shop. Much like our seafront shop, more lines are always being added so do keep checking back for the latest addition to our wares.

Of course we are always looking out for you and try to offer the finest toys and games and still stay as competitive as we can. Throughout April our exclusive Cheeky Monkeys Party Box is on hire for a phenomenal 50% off exclusively through BrightonandHoveOffertheBest.com! (http://brightonandhove.offersthebest.com/shoplocal/promopreview/1373) Snap up this fantastic offer before the first day of May to enjoy a stress-free children's party full of fun and games for half the price. There is also an exclusive 10% off code for all of our friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter which is valid until the end of the month.

We would not be here today if it was not for you and your opinion is important to us. Let us know what you think of our new website so that we can make it as good as it could possibly be. 'Like' us on Facebook, give us a 'Tweet' or tell us about it in our Rottingdean seafront shop. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you for supporting your local businesses!

Friday Freezing

The first week of July is over. Schoolkids and teachers alike can cross one more day off the calendar as the long awaited Summer Holidays get closer. For a lucky few today is that day. So how will you be spending the long days? 

Here at Cheeky Monkeys we're preparing for the best summer yet. More pocket money lines are in place and things are coming along nicely for the grand summer window display. Blue Lego and green felt (which, incidentally I'm currently shrouded in. How foolish of me to wear a t-shirt on the 8th of July...) will set the scene beautifully. Next Friday the theme will be announced and we can all look forward to getting involved.

In the meantime the window has been updated to depict a kind of seaside coat of arms. I took a few photos to give you an idea. Unfortunately the glass is highly reflective. This meant that most of the pictures were essentially my reflection in a bright green poncho. Still, I think it looks good. You'll just have to come on down to Rottingdean to see how it really looks. 

As I was rejigging the window I found that there are still quite a few Lego scenes which haven't been reclaimed yet. I take this to be a good sign - winners were keen to bring them in, to put them on display but a month after I said they could take them back they are still here. The Cheeky Monkeys window is THE place to be seen. While I rearranged the displays a young lad came in and offered to look after these displays for me. I politely declined the offer, although I might have to keep an eye out for him in the future. This boy knew a thing or two about business and how to sell. I won't share any of his tips here but they were inspired. 

We've also been busy planning Cheeky Monkeys videos. I tried to include one in this post, but I have literally spent the day waiting for it to upload. They are available to view in the shop, so do please swing by and ask to watch them. I'd love some feedback. If you can't make it I will put some up as soon as. Hopefully those ones will be a bit smoother. 


Thanks once again for reading and have a brilliant weekend,


Marco


Cheeky Monkeys
26 High Street
Rottingdean
East Sussex
BN2 7HR


01273 302644
www.cheeky-monkeys.me.uk

Summer Ahoy!

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't quite kept my promise of a regular blog which will give in an insight to how an independent toy shop works. This could be taken as a good sign. After all the LEGO Seaside Competition was a huge success. Entries came in from right here in Rottingdean, as far as Cardiff and from all over East Sussex. One lucky girl won a trip to LEGOLand in Windsor, a local boy won some brilliant LEGO sets and I've been asked about the next one.  Watch this space.

I've also been working out how to introduce my Pick'n'Mix toy selection. If it works for sweets, surely it can work for other things too. Choose a bag and fill it with as much or little as you like - from Yo-Yos to Costume Items; Finger Puppets to Modelling Clay and produce the ultimate, tailor-made gift. The selection will expand over the summer holidays, and hopefully I'll be able to introduce this system onto the website so that those of you who can't visit this fantastic little shop can still benefit from it. On the website there are already suggestions of the kind of thing I'm getting at (http://cheekymonkeys.bigcartel.com/). 

While I'm on the subject of the website you can see a number of the entries from the LEGO competition on there, and don't forget that there's a cheeky 10% discount code hiding on there somewhere which WILL disappear this Friday, 8th July 2011. 

I will be updating this blog regularly, especially as the summer is fast approaching and there are so many good things happening to Cheeky Monkeys. I won't give too much away now but let's just say I've spent all morning trying to work out how many grey LEGO bricks I'll need for... well, you'll see. 

Follow us here, on Twitter (cheekymonkeysbn) or on Facebook, just search for Cheeky Monkeys Rottingdean for up to the minute progress. 

Speak to you soon, 

Marco

Cheeky Monkeys

26 High Street

Rottingdean

East Sussex

BN2 7HR

01273 302644

info@cheeky-monkeys.me.uk

www.cheeky-monkeys.me.uk

Window Wonderland Part V

As days have turned into weeks time has slipped away. I have not been able to update this story of my project as often as I would had liked. This does not mean to say that a half-built LEGO seagull is sitting somewhere in Brighton gathering dust. Oh no. I am pleased to say that the sculpture is complete and is presently standing proudly in the window of Cheeky Monkeys in Rottingdean.

In my last entry I mentioned how I needed to build up the body without making it over complicated. Hinges, base plates, train tracks and all. I found that keeping the body hollow would be the best solution. If I concentrated on getting the outer shape right, then I shouldn't need to worry about the direction the bricks would have to go inside. This would also resolve the issue of depleting stocks of LEGO. Two pieces of track were the solution.

The tracks are slightly curved which adds a good shape to the bird. At the end of each piece are four studs, two on either side. This meant that I could build each wing separately and attach it to the main body with hinges.

This seagull was practically life size. I really did not expect it to be that big, but I was pleased that it had worked out that way. The next, and final step to the project would be the legs.

A seagull's leg are long skinny things. I needed to build an effective pair which would be strong enough to support what I had created. Although the body was hollow, the head and breast was solid. The tail countered the weight, but a few tests showed me that the front was too heavy. I lost count of the number of times I had to rebuild the beak.

I tried a few types of legs. Two solid towers of yellow bricks, which looked ridiculous. Pirate rigging (if you ever had Captain Redbeard's ship, you know what I'm talking about...) would look good, and be a nod the nautical nature of the bird. Unfortunately there was no way I could make it strong enough to hold this LEGO beast. In the end I found four black supports, possibly from the space train track, and stood the bird on them. While they were just a means to support the bird, they did the trick and looked subtle enough to stay. This left me the option to build a skinny pair of legs out of the smallest yellow pieces I could find - Minifigure heads. And two yellow goblets for the knee joints. Brilliant. 

And there you have it. A lifetime goal completed and it really wasn't as difficult as I thought. With a couple of hours over a few days, some imagination and a lot of optimism it can be done. I hope it will inspire others to give it a go. Which is why I have launched the LEGO building competition in the shop. I challenge everyone to build something seaside related entirely out of LEGO throughout April 2011. Anyone from age 5 can get involved and there will be prizes up for grabs.

For more info find Cheeky Monkeys on Facebook and Twitter:

Facebook: Cheeky Monkeys Rottingdean

Twitter: CheekyMonkeysBN

Or e mail info@cheeky-monkeys.me.uk for more information.

www.cheeky-monkeys.me.uk

Window Wonderland Part IV

A fresh day and an opportunity to cast fresh eyes over the Cuboid King of the Seaside Skies. If I was going to put this LEGO seagull in my shop window it would have to look good. I was trying to build a reputation here. 

While I decided how to progress with the sculpture, I added more bricks to the breast. Before long, a crisis presented itself. The white bricks were definitely running out. I had found that the larger bricks gave the best effect when it came creating a spherical effect, particularly on something this size. For the time being I would have to settle for long, skinny, one stud posts. Not ideal, but they'll do. I'd have to consult eBay at some point. In the meantime I should focus my energies on the rest of the seagull's body. 

If I constructed the body cleverly, perhaps I could preserve some white bricks and complete the breast later. The seagull, in its standing pose, would have its grey wings at its side. And surely there's some black in there too. I set about building the back. Using white pieces.  

A key technique I discovered was that by keeping everything symmetrical the build becomes easier. When I built the head, for example, I completed one side of the face and then copied it, brick for brick on the opposite side. On top of these two sides I built the rest of the head. The body, being more complicated would require me to build out, down and around, but the brick-to-brick technique would still be put to use. I would start with the spine, as it were, and build off from that.

To get the angles right for the back and tail I used a special piece of LEGO which would be familiar to anyone who had ever built a set that contained a cabin. Above nearly every steering wheel/control panel in a LEGO vehicle there would be a hatch that could open up. Under this hatch you could place your Minifigure into the driving seat. Using three of these hatches I found the perfect means to creating the angles I wanted. 

With this long shape in place from the bottom of the neck to the tip of the tail, I could start working on the wings. As I rooted through my carrier bag of grey pieces a fresh problem dawned on me. Most of the LEGO sets I had apparently weren't predominantly grey. I was looking at a lot of little Technic parts, larger panels and the tracks to a certain Space-age monorail. Still, I could make this work. There were quite a few LEGO hinges in the mix. I could place these strategically and attach some panels and, hopefully, this would give my seagull wings. Simple as that.


Bigger than I expected...



But things were going to get more confusing. As I attached the hinges and smaller parts of the track it suddenly dawned on me that I would have to start building upside down. What's more, as the 'spine' got heavier it would dip below the angle I wanted. This was easy enough to rectify by connecting longer pieces of LEGO across the underside. What this now meant was that I had a new direction I had to build in. I decided then that the body would have to be hollow. There was going to be no way I could make a solid bird with LEGO going in all directions. I don't think my brain could take it.



Perhaps most frustrating of all was that every time I held the sculpture upside down, or on its side, the beak would drop off. Still, it brought to my attention the ineffectiveness of the beak I had created. Using a couple of yellow pieces I added the vicious hook to its tip. Another step in the right direction. The seagull was certainly taking shape.

Three more hours spent and that's got to be enough for now. Next, I'll be working on getting the wings right. I will not be defeated.

Watch this space...

  

Window Wonderland Part III

Day 3. The task was set. I was going to bring a seagull to Brighton made entirely out of LEGO. Brilliant.

The head was completed. Perhaps the eye was a bit too big and the beak a little too pointed, but hey, I'm no pro. Surely if I told people it was a seagull's head they'd have to believe me. More's the point I didn't want to get bogged down ironing out imperfections. I'd never progress. The head, in my mind, was fine. Onwards and upwards as they say. Or downwards might be more accurate. I had to work out how to create a neck that would be strong enough to hold this head.

I perused the Internet for ideas and more techniques to note down in my mental guide to becoming a LEGO artist. Or something like that. In between looking at pictures of seagulls and sculptures I came across a clever way of creating support inside a hollow structure. Now don't judge me here, I am but a humble shop keeper. To the engineers of the world this would be textbook. I could create a hollow frame and connect the opposite sides with longer pieces of LEGO. This would add strength to the sculpture and save on the limited number of white bricks.

Fuelled with inspiration, I started to build the neck. The shape of this part would dictate the stance of the whole bird. It would have to be a standing seagull for many reasons beyond the practicality of displaying a bird in flight made out of LEGO. I would need to consider the shape and the angles involved. A long, straight neck; A curved breast; A straight back which would point down. This would be difficult. I very nearly put the head - now with a bit of a growth - aside, never to be spoken of again. But I'd convinced myself that I could do it. With a case of white bricks and pieces of various LEGO flying machines from the 1990's I would complete this thing.

I puzzled and clicked, gradually widening the shape in my merry way. The outside was white and neat enough. The inside was a mish-mash of some white and predominantly red (for added effect) LEGO. I had found that rhythm again but then I had to stop. I had thoroughly confused myself. I could see that this beast was going to have a square body. I would let a few forgivable oddities slide but a cuboid seagull would not be one of them. I decided to stop before I went too far. What I finished with that evening was a dwindling selection of white bricks and something that looked uncannily like a cross between a stork and an albino flat-fish.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? I just don't know...

Still, I would not be defeated...

Window Wonerland Part II

I needed to create something eye-catching for the window of my toy shop (http://www.cheeky-monkeys.me.uk/). LEGO was the material of choice, but the subject still remained unclear. Surrounded by the best part of three decades worth of plastic bricks I decided that I should start practicing techniques.

One thing that has always impressed me with LEGO sculptures is the artist's ability to create something that appears spherical out square bricks. If I was going to complete this project, surely that would have be a technique I would need to get savvy with. So with a lot of optimism and a (very) basic idea of how pixels work I clicked together some bricks. After a few confusing moments and rebuilds I worked out a pattern. Soon I was holding something that resembled a handful of square bricks that were trying to pass themselves off as a ball. What's more, they weren't too bad at the charade. I was quietly impressed.  

As I held the 'ball' and inspiration struck. All it needed was two black dots for eyes...



Head Shot



After a few hours of experimenting with shapes and features, I ended up with what I thought looked quite a bit like a seagull's head. A local icon and image synominous with the seaside. This would be the perfect sculpture. Granted, the head I had created could easily be called 'generic' at best. Or perhaps mistaken for a baby stork but the idea was there. And surely that's what counts.

Pleased with my efforts and that I had finally found my muse, I called it a night and wondered how on earth I could build the rest of this bird.



Check back in a couple of days and I'll let you know how it goes...