Inaugural Event – Assembly Required

Inaugural 2019 Event

On February 16 & 17, 2019, *Assembly Required: The Asheville Designer Toy Expo, premiered in Asheville, NC.

As the adopted home town of the organizer and creator Matthew J. Casale (MJC), Matthew chose Asheville as the destination of the event because he saw a shared sensibility between the pop/deviant art culture of the movement, and Asheville’s culture.

With the help of, and advice from, artists working and living in the South East, such as Brad Rader (Battle Babies) and Jason Kinsey (FigureFETTish), the purpose of this event was to shine a light on a subculture that previously had little direct exposure in the region.

The event brought together some of the most talented designer, bootleg and art toy makers in today’s artistic movement. And was excitedly embraced by artists and attendees alike.

2019 Artist Announcements

https://feond.bigcartel.com/category/toys

https://www.instagram.com/spiritditch_toyco/

https://www.instagram.com/throwaway_toyz/

https://www.instagram.com/falseidolstoys

https://www.instagram.com/remakesplethora

2019 Artist Announcements

Sponsors

600 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806

https://morganscomics.com/

Feel free to join our “Nerd Sanctuary” family♥

Immerse yourself in wall to wall geekiness–Toys, Vinyl, Board & Card Games, Video Games & Consoles as well as a wide selection of Comics, Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks in our home of edgy, artistic Haywood Road in West Asheville. Guided by our Ambassador, a lifelong weirdo/geeky kindred spirit who has been with the shop since its beginning 3 years ago and has been blessed to become the first (outside of marriage) female comic book store owner in WNC. We offer fantastic discounts across the store for all comic subscriptions holding 3 or more titles & we pride ourselves on providing a warm, welcoming, all-inclusive, nerd bonding/ community building environment with a wide variety of fun events.

Bringing Nerds Together. That is What We Do.

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https://www.ashevillefm.org/

Asheville FM is a volunteer-based, grassroots community radio station. We want to hear music, news, and the unusual all produced right here in our neck of the woods. We want to hear sounds from around the world, discerned and distilled just for us by our neighbors. We want to help make connections between diverse groups and support the local economy of ideas.

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538 N Main St, Hendersonville, NC 28792
https://www.facebook.com/pinballplayers/

Over 50 Pinaball machines and Video Games to play for one low price! $10.00 per person to play all machines, all day. The Appalachian Pinball Museum has a collection of both vintage & contemporary pinball machines as well as video games. Open from 1 to 6 p.m. Monday and closed Tuesday. It’s open from 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 1 to 6 p.m. Sun. Opportunities for private parties are available from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Sundays and Mondays.

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ZaPow features approximately one hundred artists from all over the United States of America. We focus exclusively on illustration, narrative and pop culture art. We do not exhibit abstract, non-objective, traditional landscapes, still life or utilitarian craft. There is always new amazing art to see at ZaPow! Our group shows change and we bring in one to two new artists each month. When you buy art at ZaPow, you take it with you or we can ship it for you. We will happily ship art to anywhere in the world. We fill that empty spot with new art immediately.

Getting Around

Schedule

Friday, February 15, 2019
7pm-9pm

Kick off the weekend’s events at the opening of the *Assembly Required Group show, which will run for a month at ZaPow Gallery! Meet the event organizers and the artists. Get a sneak peek at what you will see at the expo this weekend!

Saturday, February 16, 2019
11am-6pm

Highland Brewing Company
12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 200, Asheville, North Carolina 28803

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys & girls… The Chocolate Room…”

If you want to view paradise, doors open at 11am sharp! Join us to ring in our inaugural designer, bootleg, art toy expo, *Assembly Required. Experience a room contagious with creativity; childhood inspiration, transmogrified into pop-art collectibles the world may have never seen before. And quite honestly, may never again. Seriously. These hand made “toys” are created in such limited runs, you may very well not see them again. So be sure to grab up the *Assembly Required exclusives before they’re gone!

We at *Assembly Required believe that creating art is a visceral experience, involving a variety of sensory input. The large role music plays in our lives goes sometimes unnoticed. But our experiences – our lives – do have a soundtrack. And creating the soundtrack to this experience is none other than Asheville FM’s, Cousin TL. Whether you’re walking through the Artist Alley downstairs, or playing video games upstairs at the *Assembly Arcade, Cousin TL is guaranteed to funk your head up…

**Appalachian Pinball Museum**,
538 N Main St, Hendersonville, NC 28792

“Say again?” …”We have a T–Rex!”

You heard right, folks! The *Assembly Arcade, presented and sponsored by the one and only Appalachian Pinball Museum, in Hendersonville, NC! APM has been gracious enough to donate a little corner of nostalgia to your experience. The sounds, music and pixels you have come to love throughout your life, can be found right here. Grab a beer, grab a toy, and try to grab high score on some arcade classics.

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WHAM BAM PUPPET SLAM
vs.
GEEKTASTIC NERDLESQUE!

7:30pm-9pm

Sly Grog Lounge
271 Haywood St, Asheville, NC 28801

Did you think we were done? Wrong! *Assembly Required has teamed up with TOYBOX, America’s Favorite Cartoon Witch®, for the WHAM BAM PUPPET SLAM and GEEKTASTIC NERDLESQUE! What’s better than Asheville’s own adult short form puppetry variety show? Well, how about a geeky burlesque revue showcase!? Yup. “Whether you’re crazy for Cortanta or have a Boba fettish, Geektastic has something for everypony”. Present your ticket stub from the expo, and get $5 off at the door.

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Sunday, February 17, 2019
11am-4pm

Highland Brewing Company
12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 200, Asheville, North Carolina 28803

“And that’s all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair. And I don’t need one other thing except my dog…”

Did you get everything you wanted out of day one? Or maybe you walked away, and then kicked yourself for not picking up that Bobafoot!?! Were the astoni-spiring effigies seared into your retina, so that you couldn’t close your eyes that night, without seeing the stun-whelming artistry that danced before your eyes the day previous? Well, in order to UNSEE what you have seen, see it a second time! Com’on back! Hair of the dog, ya know?

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SUCK LECTURE
1pm

We go out with a BANG on our last day, with the irrefutable Godfather of bootleg action figures, The Sucklordhimself as he lectures us on the deviance that is SUCKADELIC! Will the lecture be called Art Actualization Thru Creative Action Figure Bootlegging? Maybe not. He’ll call it what ever he wants.

Unlike the burlesque show, this one won’t be for the kiddies.

Inaugural 2019 Event