Winners Micro-story Contest ::: 5th edition

Once again, thank you to all those who participated: this includes all of you who have given ideas, the Blogs that have collaborated with us, those who have written on your own personal blogs and of course those who have “tweeted” about it. We love reading your stories and see where you can go with just a simple presentation of an illustration. Some day we will do a book with all the micro-stories that you have offered in the different editions we've gone through. :]

In total we have recieved almost 100 proposals on 7 different blogs, 5 spanish and 2 foreign. You can see them all on the list of stories and winners that we've uploaded on our web. [only in spanish]

As for our winners, these are the decisions:

- Acuatica: Eolo, the wind catcher, written on Solo pienso en camiestas.
- Flánagan: For the name “Bluby Birdo”, written on Raza Becaria.

As well as the 2 winners previously mentioned, to every one we will send a surprise pack of 4 new articles of our new Characters that we will bring up next week, there are more prizes to give out that you can see in our list of stories and winners:

- 2 winners per Blogs will take home a surprise t-shirt each.
- Prizes to the best Blogs: we will give out to Viste Adecuadamente and to Raza Becaria a pack of surprise articles each for being the first and second blogs with the most ideas out of all those who participated.
- Twitter Prizes: a surprise tee shirt to Jlau628 and another to Sunsioneta.
- Secondary Blog Prizes: a surprise tee shirt to Mameluco, another to Prosopopeya divagante, and another to I told you so!!. By the way, you must read those blogs =P

We're having some difficulties in finding all the blogs that wrote about our contest, because they didn't linked to the article on this blog. There is still a tee shirt to hand out. If you wrote about it, please leave a comment.

We will be in contact with you all via e-mail sometime during this week, or if not during the next week, although you can take a look at all the winners in the aforementioned list of stories and winners.

And for all those who participated but did not win, don't worry because there are presents for all:

- Proposed ideas: 25% discount coupon. It will be published on the blog you participated with. Tomorrow we'll make 'em and we will send them to the each of the bloggers, so then can after publish it on their respective blog.
- Twitter: 25% discount coupon. All those who weren't winners, we will send you a personalized coupon by a Direct Message. Be on the look out!
- Secondary Blog prizes: 50% discount coupon. We will send the personalized coupon via your blogs to those who did not win.

If you are one of the previously mentioned and do not receive one in the next few days, please contact us because there's a slight chance that we either forget to include you or our messages have somehow ended up in the dreaded Spam folder. It's just that neither Google nor Microsoft nor Yahoo care about us ;]

Thank you to all and until the next contest!

Microstories Contest - 5th edition

As usual in these dates, new Characters births are taking place at Tolky Monkys, and we need your help to put them a name and create a story for one of them.

From October 12th till 22nd of the same month, you may propose your ideas in several blogs. This blue being of the image hasn´t got neither name or story, only a provisional one (you can find it out in our front page site). Each one of you may propose a name and a short story, no longer than 250 words per comment. Remember that it´s a M-I-C-R-O-S-T-O-R-Y. The number of comments per each person is not limited but the quantity of the total ideas to be received is limited up to 300 comments for the whole participants blogs, so you better be quick.

The blogs where you would be able to participate from today October 12th are:

- Cottonable [English]
- I love your t-shirt [English]
- Oink el rellano [Spanish]
- Raza Becaria - Blog de La Sexta [Spanish]
- Si, lo se [Spanish]
- Solo pienso en camisetas [Spanish]
- T-shirts Around the Internet [English]
- Viste Adecuadamente [Spanish]

On Thursday 22nd the contest will be closed and among all the received proposals we will choose:

• The best name
• The best story

For each winner, there will be a pack of 4 Tolky Monkys items to choose among the new collection to be released on October 2009. Besides, in each blog and store, we´ll choose among all the participants 2 people that will win a surprise t-shirt or polo shirt.

View rules and prizes of the contest.
View an sample story for the Character.

And if this wouldn´t be enough, in this edition you can also win prizes just for spreading the word about the contest. How? Very easy:

Do you write a blog? In that case you can talk about the Tolky Monkys´ Contest before October 19th. In the post you´ll have to make pingback to this post, link to their our web [www.tolkymonkys.com] and invite to participate any of the participant Blogs. 4 t-shirts will be drafted among all those bloggers.
Do you have a Twitter? You just have to ReTwitt this sentence before October 19th: “@Tolky_Monkys Microstories Contest. Propose short stories for a new Character and get t-shirts FOR FREE ::::: RT this and win t-shirts”. If you do this, you will enter in the draw of another 2 t-shirts.
Do you have both blog and Twitter? Even better. You´ll have double possibilities of getting a prize ;]

We hope you enjoy!!

Cause wearing a Tolky Monkys´ t-shirt is having very much style

Thank’s to Ignacio, a friend of us who not so far ago ordered some nice card cases, we get to know that DT, a magazine for men with very much style, has written about us this this month. What does this means? Very easy, Tolky Monkys is the brand that wears the man either from today or tomorrow ;]

In the article, which is quite small, they talk not only about Tolky Monkys but also about Naranjas Chinas, Lola Camisetas and the omnipresent Threadless, buuuuuuuuuuuut, we’re really proud that they chose one of our t-shirts to illustrate the article. Great! Isn´t it?

And of course, we would like to thank the person from DT magazine who included us in his article.

Tolky Monkys Illustration Contest - 2nd edition

One more time, and this the second [view some of the winner illustrations of the past edition], we are organizing the Tolky Monkys Illustration Contest in association with the "Arte y Diseño" magazine. Maybe you know it and if not, with this name you don´t need any explanations. You can visit either their site or blog to know them better.

The contest will be publish on numbers 116 and 117. The first one is available from now on. As in the last year, to participate in this contest you need a lot of imagination and illustration skills. You´ll have to visit our site, search the Character which inspires you most and make a version either in an existent situation or a new one. The images must be sent before August 5th via mail or by postal mail to the magazine ayd[at]mcediciones[dot]com or Pg. Sant Gervasi 16-20 Barcelona. Once the deadline for the reception of the illustrations is reached, a jury formed by Tolky Monkys and Arte y Diseño will choose the prizewinners.

To participate you must live either in Europe or America. The illustrations [maximum 3 per person], can be done using any artistic design technic, but must be sent in digital format, have a 300dpi resolution, maximum size of 50cm * 70cm or viceversa and being in CMYK. All the illustrations sent might be used by Tolky Monkys to carry out exhibitions or any other type of events. However, they won´t be used to be printed on t-shirts or any kind of format for its commercialization. This is important, cause in any case we want to take profit of this contest. We just want to have fun with all of you ;]

And what is more important, the prizes. There will be different categories and in each one, there will be several winners. Besides, there will be several accesits that will be given following undetermined criterias, so don´t try to understand them.

1] BEST TECHNIC: A Tolky Monkys´ pack to choose by the winners among the items available at the site in the moment that we publish the results. 3 winners.

- 1st prize..: 6 items.
- 2nd prize: 4 items.
- 3rd prize: 2 items.

2] THE FUNNIEST: A Tolky Monkys´ pack to choose by the winners among the items available at the site in the moment that we publish the results. 2 winners.

- 1st prize..: 4 items.
- 2nd prize: 2 items.

3] ACCESITS: Give away of 5 surprise t-shirts among all the participants. 5 winners. One t-shirt per each.

Find out all the Tolky Monkys Characters
Visit the Tolky Monkys Store
Visit Arte y Diseño Blog
Download the news of the contest in the magazine [spanish]
View some of the winners of the 1st edition at the Flickr

We sponsor the Spanish Freestyle Slalom Series

A month ago, in Tolky Monkys we decided to carry out a new adventure; to sponsor a sport. But not any sport. Soccer and basketball would have been secure bets and though we had offers of several big and recognized clubs we´re not going to mention, we decided to begin with a less-known sport here in Spain, the Freestyle Slalom. Don´t you know it? You better hurry up cause very soon will be a fashion. Freestyle Slalom is a discipline of skating in which participants have to get round cones in all the imaginable ways. As we think that a video is better than a few words, here you have a reference:

Battle Barcelona 2008 from roller.inside on Vimeo.

Like any other sport, it has either amateur or professional branch. Here in Spain, the professional side is carried out in the Freestyle Slalom Battle and guess what?you'll have to feel lucky cause next weekend, April 25th and 26th, is going to take place the Madrid edition. People of the whole world is registered and they will compete into the different phases of the competition where "at last only one will be alive". In each phase, they´ll show the judges, the audition and the rest of the challengers the stunts and turns up they´re able to do. And in this sport as in Highlander, in the end "ther can be only one".

For this edition, our collaboration has gone beyond the contribution awards for the winners: t-shirts and hoodies for the best. We´ve also designed the poster that advertises the event and it have been sticked all over the city.
For those of you that skates and have any interest in this sport or you just want to have a different weekend, don´t hesitate and come cause despite the main competition, they´ve organized a jumping competition and a skate session in the afternoon.

Where: C/ Catorce olivas [Polideportivo Francisco Fernández Ochoa] View at Google Maps.
When: Saturday April 25 and 26 from 10:30am till 3:30pm. [Saturday afternoon at Retiro park - Madrid]

Visit official site of the Slalom Series competition

Now, with Skype, you can talk with Tolky Monkys

We´re really happy. Several days ago we activated a new functionality in our site. It´s a little bit silly but we think is useful. What we´ve done is to implement a Skype button in the Contact page. The idea is that all of you that have a problem or a doubt related with the on-line store, might solve it at the moment.
Its use is very easy. There are two buttons. The first one is the "Call me" button. If you click on this one, you´ll do a phone call to our Skype account. The second one is the "Status" button. It indicates whether we are connected or not. If we´re not available you will read "Desconectado" and if on the contrary, we´re available, you´ll read "Conectado". We´re usually connected in normal office schedule here in Spain. This is, from 09:00 till 14:00 and from 16:00 till 19:00.

The most important issue is that this service is only for issues related with the on-line store. This means that through it, you can solve your doubts and problems you could have before, during and after making the order. We bother to recognize, but we aren´t perfect =), so maybe appears an incovenient, but the important thing is that now is easier and quicker to solve it. You´ll only have to visit our contact page and call us. Just install Skype in your computer, it´s FREE, and click on the "Call me" button. Easy, isn´t it?. A few examples in which you can use this tool:

BEFORE MAKING AN ORDER: You want to buy one of our Characters in t-shirts, hoodies, posters or polo shirts, but you have doubts before, is your first time or any issue related with the order process is not clear enough. Maybe the shipping costs. Just click "Call me".

DURING THE ORDER PROCESS: The site has failed while you were completing the order form or you have accessed Paypal and you don´t know how to pay with Credit Card. Just click "Call me".

AFTER MAKING THE ORDER: And of course, is also useful for all of you that have made an order and have had any issue. For example, the order takes too much to get to your address or the size or maybe you want a refund. Once again, just click "Call me".

So, before keeping with the doubt, call us and we´ll solve your issues for sure. We speak either english or spanish.

See you!

Great opening party!!

As we announced several weeks ago, we have a new studio. Now we are in a bigger and nicer one. Using a set expression, apparently ordinary: "Size minds". Our Characters are now more comfortable, t-shirts, polo shirts, hoodies and the rest of the stuff very well ordered and even we have plenty of space. Unbelievable!!

For those who haven´t been working in a hide-out, this might means little, but for us is the third studio and in this one we are really comfortable. We have three rooms and when people come to visit us we have to go with them to show the whole office. Is not a palace, but for people from humble birth like us, 60m2 seems to be giant. And in order to let you see by yourself, we are arranging an opening party to which all of you are invited. You can come alone or with more people, with friends, special friends or the first unknown person you cross in the street, in bicycle or flying... What matters is that you come. There will be nuts, soft drinks, beer, music and the Tolky Monkys Team.

Besides, every person that comes to visit the new studio will take advantage of very special prices: t-shirts 1*15€ and 2*25€, polo shirts per 20€ and hoodies and sweatshirts per 30€. And if you come with a Tolky Monkys´ garment, we´ll give you one of our exclusive new metro wallets.

Address: C/ Montera 9 - 2º Local 5
Date and time: Friday April 3th from 17:00 till 21:30

View location at Google Maps.

WE HOPE YOU COME!!

Microstories Contest - At last, the winners...

First of all, we want to thank everybody for participating. This includes all the readers that have written ideas, the collaborating blogs, the bloggers that have talked about the contest at their personal blogs and those of you who have twitted.

The total amount of proposals have been 15o in 9 different blogs. You can have a look at our site for the whole list of stories and winners. Besides, we have counted 27 people that have twitted and 17 personal blogs in which you have posted about the contest.

About the winners, this are our decissions:

- Hombre Revenido: Story of Duble Nuble, written at Raza Becaria
- Airikkala: Name of "Eggeater Mucus and Blind Mucus", written at Raza Becaria.

These two winners will win each of them a Tolky Monkys pack composed of 4 items to choose among the catalogue that will be released on April. Besides, there are a bunch of prizes to give away. You can have a look at the list of the stories and winners to see all the winners:

- 2 winners per blog that will get a surprise t-shirt each.
- Prizes best Blogs: We will give "Oink el Rellano" and "Viste Adecuadamente" a Tolky Monkys pack as they have been the first and second blog with more ideas among all the collaborating blogs.
- Twitter Prizes: A surprise t-shirt for mega_zoi, teeconnoisseur, adrianmanc y _Elu.
- Premios Blogs Secundarios: A surprise t-shirt for Talamaska, OFGMS, Zurmis y Thunderfrogs.

We´ll contact all of you via mail during the next two weeks.

And for those of you that haven´t get any prize, there are discount coupons for everyone:

- Proposed ideas: Coupon 25% off. It will be published at the blog where you participated. Tomorrow we´ll create it and we´ll send to bloggers of each blog.
- Twitter: Coupon 25% off. We´ll send you a direct message through Twitter with your personal coupon. Pay attention!
- Secondary Blogs: Coupon 50% off. We´ll send you a personal coupon through your blog.

If any of you don´t receive the coupon in the next two days, please write us cause maybe we haven´t taken you into account.

Thanks a lot!! See you in the next contest!!

Microstories Contest: Coupons for everyone

To give you a little push and to encourage to launch that story you have in mind but we know you ashamed because you dont know if it’s going to be good enough, we have decided we are going to give away coupons to ALL participants, without lotteries, just to leave an idea:

• If you had propose a story or you do it: Coupon 25% off.
• If you spread the word of the contest through Twitter: Coupon 25% off.
• If you write at your blog a post announcing the contest and linking to the Tolky Monkys web page: Coupon 50% off.

Coupons will be delivered when winners have been published. These coupons are not accumulative and will be valid only once. If you write several proposals, only one coupon will be delivered. It may be used in all our products: boys t-shirts, girls t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts, polo shirts and posters.

This can not be more attractive. Don´t wait to have the perfect story and make your proposal for once, what really matters is to laugh a while and to enjoy the paranoia that we all have. Surely then the story is better than you think.

Blogs where you may participate are:

- Hide your Arms [english]
- I love your t-shirt [english]
- Oink el rellano [spanish]
- Raza Becaria - Blog de La Sexta [spanish]
- Shirtspotting [german]
- Si, lo se [spanish]
- Solo pienso en camisetas [spanish]
- Tee Junction [english]
- Viste Adecuadamente [spanish]

Remember that the contest will be closed on March 12th at the blogs and March 14th in stores.

Read rules and prizes of the contest.
Read Character story and name of example.
View store list to participate.

Latest news Microstories Contest and an explanation

We are now in the fifth day of the contest and everything is running perfect. We are very close to the 100 ideas for the whole blogs included, either for name or story. If you want to participate, you have till March 12th through blogs and March 14th through the stores.

The blogs where you can participate are:

- Hide your Arms [English]
- I love your t-shirt [English]
- Oink el rellano [Spanish]
- Raza Becaria - Blog de La Sexta [Spanish]
- Shirtspotting [German]
- Si, lo se [Spanish]
- Solo pienso en camisetas [Spanish]
- Tee Junction [English]
- Viste Adecuadamente [Spanish]

Besides, we´re really happy because people are talking very much about the contest through their personal blogs and twitters. For those of you who wants to have much more chances to win FREE T-SHIRTS, till March 10th you can write in your personal Blogs linking to the post of the contest in our Blog or in your Twitter. Remember that we´ll draw 4 t-shirts among the first ones and another 4 t-shirts among the second ones. Read the complete info on how to participate in the previous post.

And now the explanation: If any of you writes in your blog about the contest, one of the things you must do is a "pingback" from your post to our post of the contest. Making pingback is just create a link to the post. Nothing more. We know the word "pingback" has created a few confussions. We´re really freaks. ;]

Read rules and prizes of the contest.
Read Character story and name of example.
View store list to participate.

The Great Character Exodus

After a year in our current office, we searched for another nest where to mint our Characters. This is the third office that we have and it’s nice to remember the size of all of them: the first one was only 20m2, 45m2 counted the second one and the last one will be 60m2. At the moment we have no room left for the many times dreamed ring of “sumo”, but everything comes. Just with this kind of changes is when you look back and start to remember the most important moments you go through with this adventure like ours and then you get melancholic. In fact, while we write this post, “we bring tears to one size”.

We are not going too far, we move from 32 Montera Street to the number 9 (same street). So the moving will not be so heavy, although we have to move a bunch of Characters. The new studio, besides some luxury amenities such as entry phone and nice and clean restrooms, it has also three separate rooms. A whole new “mansion” from our point of view. At the entrance, the biggest room, in which we are going to work. Even though it has inside windows there’s daylight to spare, so we find it much more comfortable. The next room is exactly the opposite, no daylight or windows at all, so this one is fantastic to set up our warehouse. The third and last one, which will be used as warehouse, meeting room and dinning room/kitchen.

We think it will take us a couple of weeks to settle down for good, but as soon as we put the corks (small chalkboards), the shelves and once we had counted the Characters to ensure that it is not missing not even one, we’ll organise a party to which all of you are invited. Of course, we are going to have refreshments and peanuts to spare, besides good company and conversation.

We will give you more information from our headquarters. Here’s a pic of the main room.

We participate in "Si, lo se" 3rd birthday

Though is likely that many of you already know this blog, we´ll tell you to introduce it that "Si, lo se" is one of those blogs, a spanish one, that shows us every day peculiar and different products. And what´s the best? It doesn´t show only one each day, but a few, so you should visit it frecuently so you don´t get lost among the latest news they write about daily. We do ;]

It´s been three years since they began writing about all this stuff. We could say they´ve already grown up. And to celebrate it nothing better than a contest, one of those that we know you like much. They are going to give away different items, some Tolky Monkys´ Characters included, among those people who leave a comment letting them know which one is the "most original, odd and uncommon gift" someone can do, besides from a Tolky Monkys´ Character of course...

More info directly at their blog.

16 Characters designs at 10€ each!!

We are right now in the middle of the second part of the Resales. Now, you can find out up to 16 Character designs for t-shirts for only 10€ each: 8 boys t-shirts and 8 girls t-shirts among the catalogue. You can view eight of them in our front page [www.tolkymonkys.com/en/], but for the other 8 designs you should surf a little bit through our catalogue.

Remember that the 21st February we´ll remove these sales and all the Characters will return to the normal price. See you soon!!

Tolky Monkys illustration in Madrid centre

Here we send several pics of our last public project, a vinyl in a huge window of an office located in Calle Montera 32 `[Madrid]. In total 7 m2 of vinyl for the whole composition.

GENERAL VIEW
Maybe it doesn´t appear to be much work, but it took us almost one month and a half to design it, among other projects of course. And three days to mount it. Actually, this vynil was thought to be sticked on Christmas, you can see a few Christmas details indeed, though finally we didn´t manage to have it on time. How the idea emerged is very easy. We have the studio in Calle Montera, but without outside windows, but there´s an ad agency called Murray that maybe some of you know (www.holamurray.com). Talking among us, we thought it would be great to use their big huge window oriented to Calle Montera with some of our Characters, so we sent them a mail, without much hope that´s the truth, and it resulted that they liked the idea. Very nice people!! Soon afterwards we were having tea and chatting in their beautiful office about it. They wanted to have an illustration about Christmas, but not the typical image. Finally we focus it to wish a happy 2009 and it was a great idea. Other way it wouldn´t have made any sense, cause finally we stick it around the 15th of January. Buffff!!

In the composition, you can see Unai, the samurai monkey, fighting against the Fatty Noel Rabbit and its fearful criminals, the pirate octopi. We liked a lot the idea of representing Santa Claus as a fat and lazy rabbit with an evil face ;] Unai´s mission: To defend the one-off star that the selfish Noel Rabbit hasn´t got yet. But it won´t be easy. He will have to fight against a furious and hungry octopi horde. Will he manage to defende the one-off star? We don´t have much clear what we want to say with all this ;] The best is that you get your own conclussions.

Of course, you can pass by Calle Montera 32 and take a look to the window in the 1st floor. You will be able to see in person what we show here with a few pics. View address in Google Maps.

We hope you like it! See you soon!

RIGHT SIDE [You can read "Protect your stars. Enjoy 2009"]

LEFT SIDE

The Resales continue at Tolky Monkys!!

This February, Sally and Sally, the Resales twins, have decided to stay... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Of course, they aren´t going to fold their arms. They don´t get along with several Characters, so they are going to send them away of the warehouse.

For this reason, from 3rd February till 21st of the same month, they are going to "guillotine" literally the prices of some of them and they´ve let their prices in only 10€ each, either for boys t-shirts or girls t-shirts.

During this first week, till 12rd February, there will be 8 Characters at 10€: God of Eye, Abram, Arquimedes... and next week, till 21st, other 8 Characters will get their prices cut off. Pay attention!!

We have the most beautiful background for Twitter!!!

For those that don´t know, Tolky Monkys has its own Twitter. Of course any of our loyal friends can be our follower and be in touch of tips we write there, most of them pieces of nonsense, but as sometimes we don´t feel like writing a post or simply we want to let it know through other channel, so we write it there. We use it to announce what our Characters do, projects, new designs for t-shirts, hoodies, posters, etc. Lo utilizamos para anunciar cosas que hacen nuestros Personajes, nuevos diseños, proyectos, etc. Anyway, suscribe to our Twitter feeds if you are a Twitter member as well ;]

The fact is that you have the chance of uploading a customized image for the Twitter background, and so we did. We have filled it of little octopus or, as we say in spanish, "pulpillos". We hope you like it!! It´s nothing great, but it´s very nice. Isn´t it?