Clutter Magazine - Issue 19: Punch You In The Face!

LOVE TOYS, LOVE CLUTTER

CLUTTERMAGAZINE.COM

ISSUE 19

FREE

FREE

Clutter 19 | 1

2 | Clutter 19

Adventure Kartel, Evenfall, Popbot, The Adventures of Isobelle Pascha, WWR Š Ashley Wood 2013. All rights reserved.

8 | Clutter 19

WELCOME

19

As you may have already noticed, this is a monumental issue for Clutter: in early celebration of our 10th anniversary next year, we've decided to make the magazine FREE! Hurrah, I hear you cry. As an industry, print is having a very tough time in this technological age; people read on screens, where news is instanteous, and not on paper, so to sustain a collectiable piece of literature we've had to find a new way to make it work. By making the magazine free, we can increase our distribution and circulation, and rely on the advertisements you see inside to cover the costs of production. We are dedicated to this industry and to helping sustain it for the future, so we thank you for once again picking up a copy and hope you will continue to join us on this exciting journey.

Peace, love & vinyl fumes, Miranda.

CONTENTS

ERICK SCARECROW

10

GARY HAM

28

44

MOST WANTED PART 2

56

NAGNAGNAG

36

DUST

3RD ANNUAL DESIGNER TOY AWARDS

16

MUTANT VINYL HARDCORE

48

TEAM

CONTRIBUTORS

SUBMISSIONS

CONTACT

Miranda O’Brien Editor-in-Chief miranda@cluttermagazine.com

Andy B Contributor kaijukorner.blogspot.com

Send review samples, toys, DVDs, etc. to:

info@cluttermagazine.com

Josh Kimberg Managing Editor josh@cluttermagazine.com

Erica Patterson Contributor erica@cluttermagazine.com

@cluttermagazine

Nick Curtis Associate Editor nickcurtis@cluttermagazine.com

Marc DeAngelis Contributor albotos.com

Clutter Media Group, 163 Main St, Beacon, NY, 12508 USA.

Nick Carroll Art Director nick@cluttermagazine.com

John Wicker Photography johnwickerphotography.com

CREW

CONTRIBUTE

Jason Ryule Tech jason@tradeincool.com Lana Crooks Gallery Director lana@cluttermagazine.com

We are always on the lookout for awesome new contributors and team members. To get involved please drop us a line to info@cluttermagazine.com with how and why you would like to be involved with what we do.

www.cluttermagazine.com

facebook.com/cluttermagazine (212) 255-2505

Thanks!

(mon - fri 10am - 6pm EST)

LEGAL The content of the magazine (articles, reviews, advertising, features) reflect the opinions of the respective contributor, and not necessarily those of the publisher. All copyrights/rights to images (photographs, design) writing, and likeness are property of the respective owners, we assume no ownership. All other material is owned and copyrighted by Clutter Media Group and Trade in Cool. Nothing may be reproduced in part or whole without prior written consent from Clutter Media Group.

Printed in the USA.

Clutter 19 | 9

Marc DeAngelis Erick Scarecrow

It started in 2002 when Erick Scarecrow was looking for a job: he was advised to try out for a pattern-making position at a toy company, who looked at his portfolio and had him create his own take on their existing branding. Eventually, Erick was hired as a toy designer, with his work appearing on the hangtags at stores like Toys "R" Us, Target, and Wal-Mart. Soon he was promoted to Art Director, but then a blessing in disguise occurred: he was laid off.

While unemployed, Erick started noticing Designer Toys and his interest was piqued, though it was at Kidrobot’s launch party where Erick’s career as a toy designer really started to take flight. Having experience in the toy industry, he was able to network with artists at the party and eventually helped them produce their own figures. He quickly realized he could turn his ideas into self-produced figures and founded his own toy design company.

Eight years later, with over 200 releases hitting the shelves of collectors, Erick Scarecrow has established a long-standing business that designs, produces, and sells collectible toys, as well as helps develop figures for outside designers and companies. Erick is much more than a toy designer: he’s a tried-and-true businessman who knows what makes collectors tick, how to pull off weekly toy drops, and how to plan for the future of his own company, ESC-Toy. 12 | Clutter 19

What were you into as a kid that got you where you are today?

I was really into superheroes. I collected comics but didn’t read them, I just liked the art. It started first with comics and then video games. I especially liked how different the Eastern [Japanese] games were.

Games like Pac-Man and Super Mario Bros. and so on have an Eastern frame of reference and it’s just so weird! That difference between Western pop culture and the East really opened me up, and it’s been inspiring me ever since.

I remember the first day I played Super Mario Bros.: it was on a Saturday morning and I will never forget hearing that music, having to step on the Goombas, and getting the mushrooms to grow bigger. You get the flower and you’re throwing fireballs. Who comes up with that?!?

What are your other inspirations? Family seems to be important to you.

Family is important, that’s something I’ve come to understand as of late. Inspiration-wise, I still look at a lot of stuff in terms of Eastern pop culture vs.

Western. And nature, I’m definitely into where I live, looking at birds and outdoors. I grew up in an apartment building, which I’m sure a lot of other people did. You don’t really see too many trees and wildlife, so I think that it’s really important to be connected to nature. You can get so much inspiration from it.

You strike me as someone who did a lot of doodling in his school notebooks. Did you always know you wanted to get into art?

Oh yeah, from way early on, since kindergarten, I drew in my notebooks. I drew more than I paid

attention in class. That was a good and bad thing.

I always felt out of place in class because of my creativity. I remember one time I had taken this English class before and I had explained that to my guidance counselor, but she didn’t listen. She said, “Just take it again and you’ll be able to get a higher grade because you already know it.” I was stubborn, so I argued, “No, I’m not gonna fucking take this class. Remove it from my schedule so I can leave early.” But she wouldn’t listen. I tried to tell my teacher, “Listen, I took your class already. You know I did. I’m not supposed to be here, so pretend I’m not here.” I took my desk, put it towards the window, and drew the whole fucking day. I turned English class into art class! I look back at it now and realize that I was immature, but I was a teenager. They eventually removed me from the class, which was fine. I think, high school, for me, was the best learning experience in terms of art because I got to meet other artists and experiment with different things. No Photoshop, no Illustrator, just an airbrush and Prismacolor markers.

It was a good time.

Are you formally trained in art or self-taught?

No, I’m not formally trained at all; I’m self-taught. I did go to Art College, but I dropped out, it was very conforming. I went to the School of Visual Arts & all due respect to them – Keith Haring went there. You have all these badasses that came from there, but everyone’s experience is different. I don’t know what he learned there, but I soon realized that it wasn’t for me. I remember a professor pulling me to the side one day and saying, “You know, I see you and you’re the type that’s going to have to knock down doors to get what you want. You’re not supposed to be here.” And I looked at her and said, “You think so?” She said, “You’re different from these other students. Look, you see me? I’m just a teacher. I’m not a professor, I never got a degree, But here I am,

teaching you guys. I see you and you’re not supposed to be here.” I have to say, that was the best fucking advice, I love how honest she was. That was worth the $13,000 tuition. I always think back on that, and I apply it to all parts of my life.

Video games seem to be a big influence for you. Not only have you teamed up with Sony and Naughty Dog for the Drake figures, but also a lot of your designs reference games. Wet-suit Maria, for example, is a play on the Frog Suit from Super Mario Bros. 3.

Yeah, I like a lot of the old stuff, so I think it’s really cool when I see these indie game guys going in and trying to touch back to what inspired them. I think that’s really cool. Working with game studios is great. Toys and collectibles are like cousins of entertainment.

I wouldn’t say that my toys are an exact translation of the characters. The Drake I did doesn’t look exactly like Nathan Drake, but it has the hallmarks of the character. I don’t know what place it will have in the history of Sony’s IP [intellectual property] but it’s not an easy figure to get. On eBay they sell for $90 right now. One time, one of the variants I did sold for $9,000! I’m happy to be involved. It helps when you have collectors on the client’s side that appreciate your work. It makes the relationship easier.

For the Drake toy, was there a lot of back and forth with Sony and Naughty Dog about the design? Were they sensitive with how you put your own spin on the character or did they give you free rein?

Yeah, there was some back and forth. I submitted three versions of art for their approval and the one that was approved was the one I did at the lastminute. I drew it in less than three minutes. I wanted to submit something cartoony and cute. Nathan

Clutter 19 | 13

Drake is a serious action character, and I thought if I do this cute version, nobody would see this coming.

The other ones looked realistic. We went back and forth, but it was actually a really smooth approval process. Naughty Dog was really, really cool to work with, as were Sony. They really liked the design I did, so I was happy with that.

People have been doing some very cool stuff with your Soopa Coin-Up Bros. platform, that must feel pretty awesome.

Yeah, it’s very cool to see other artists’ renditions.

Doktor A’s Pac-Gentleman and Game Over were really cool. I always love seeing other versions of the figure and how other people see it. A lot of these guys that go into customizing are from the same era as the arcade. Now you talk about an arcade and teenagers don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. They’re not aware of that culture. It was such a different time.

Arcades, cassette tapes, vinyl records, those are now like retro tech items. So, yeah, when these guys come in and make their customs and you get to see their versions of it, it’s always really cool. I love seeing that.

Your toys are very character driven and many seem to inhabit the same world. Is there a backstory to all these characters?

Some of them have backstories. The Papa Samas, the Miccis, the Little Spikers, Kissaki, they all have their different backgrounds. Sometimes I write the characters into each other’s lives. Like Little Spiker appears when Little Axe goes missing. It’s little things like that that I get to have fun with. We’ve got some animated commercials where you see Micci chasing Maria and Papa Sama is there. I like having backstories, I think it adds another layer to the character and to the figure overall. It’s just something I like doing, it’s a natural thing for me.

Where do these characters come from? What’s your workflow for conceptualizing and then developing them?

Oh man, there are so many characters and it’s different for each one. Let me use Little Spiker as 14 | Clutter 19

an example. I remember I wanted to do a follow-up to Little Axe and I drew a bunch of different girls.

I wanted to have another female character, and I wanted a girl with a big spike on a bat. Something cute but at the same time she could hurt you and knew how to carry herself.

Another example; Zone 6; that was a different style for me. It’s much darker. I wanted something that looked like a moving nightmare, so I came up with the tombstone on his back. At the same time, that tombstone is a character and it looks like it’s praying.

A lot of my figures have pencils in them. With Zone 6, those are six pencils coming out of his arms. Same with Kissaki, she has two pencils instead of katanas and they have fists at the end, so it’s like her art is her strength. With both of them, the theme is art as a weapon.

I try to put different feelings into each character. So far I have quite a big roster of different characters, which is really cool.

For you, personally, what are the advantages of having resin as your go-to medium? What are the drawbacks?

I’ll start with the drawbacks: resin cannot take a shelf dive. If it’s not handled properly, it breaks. At the same time, resin is definitely a medium that helps capture certain curves and features, it captures detail.

I don’t know, there’s just something about resin that just works so well. PVC can do the same thing, but there’s a certain clarity that you can get with resin that PVC can’t imitate. I think resin is the best for clarity and capturing detail.

Also the turnaround time! Working in vinyl, you’re three to four months in development; with resin, it’s two weeks. How can you even compare that turnaround time? This is why I’m able to release so many figures and have different edition sizes. It’s cheaper to produce in terms of material and scale.

I also feel like the paint that I use adheres better to resin than to vinyl. One of my first resin figures was the Soopa Maria Sato and that shit was such

an experiment. It’s been pretty well received, I don’t know how many years later.

When planning a new design, is there a specific point when you decide whether you want to use resin or vinyl? How does choosing one or the other affect the design itself, if at all?

Sometimes you have to think about the breakage and the shipping. ESC-Toy is an online business, so you have to consider how well a figure will hold up in transit. You have to consider certain issues, especially if the design itself has so many thin points and it’s a headache.

It really depends on the design and what you’re trying to capture. What is it you’re going for and how much of an audience, in terms of collectors, are trying to reach out to you. If you’re going to produce something in a bigger quantity, then you need to try to reach a bigger audience, whereas if you do something in resin, you can produce a lower quantity and have a very limited run. And, at the same time, the value appreciates better. It’s kind of evident now.

Using resin means you get to produce things at a faster rate, but I’m not trying to flood the market.

If everyone had to produce vinyl, it would limit the audience. Right now you have people who are casting figures in their garage. They’re making molds out of Lego parts, and, you know, it’s just different now. It’s a freedom. You get to see these things directly from the artist.

I prefer resin. I know it’s a headache, but I actually like it better.

Maybe I’m crazy, but it seems to me like resin production has this sort of punk rock, D.I.Y. pride thing going on.

Well, if everyone had to line up and go through a factory in China... for that amount of money, you’re either buying a car or putting a down payment down on a home. Not everyone can afford that. A lot of times, artists have to play businessman, managing finances and shit. That gets in the way of their art.

Not everyone can handle that. It’s a hard fucking balance, and even I struggle with that.

flipping them outside of eBay! What’s your favorite part of creating a toy?

With this D.I.Y. thing, you’re at your own leisure.

You can quit whenever you feel like it. And if you mess up, you try again. With the D.I.Y. mindset, it’s perfect. Everyone’s making their own art. I feel like in the Renaissance, if these guys had two-part resin, you would see fucking Michelangelo figures in the Vatican. And they’d be pumping out figures and selling them to you at high prices. I’m not shitting you; these guys would do this. And commissioning these big marble statues, you know, it’s marble. But if they had resin, they could do it smaller. You’d have all these figures that would be worth fucking millions.

So I think it’s perfect that everyone’s doing it at their leisure now. Soon it’s going to evolve to people printing out shit. In a few years from now, you’re going to have people printing out things and you’re going to be like, “OK, did they print this out or did they do it by hand?”

You use a lot of transparent resin. How do you come up with new color schemes? Does mixing transparent resin colors cause any issues?

There are two ways you can do it: sometimes it’s mixing the colors, sometimes you just use a clear figure and you spray a translucent color on top of it. The issues really are if you mixing the resin, you can’t undo that, whereas if you’re spraying a clear figure with transparent paint and the color doesn’t look right, you can hit it with paint thinner and touch it up.

Most of your releases are very low-run editions, is this a result of the resin medium? Do you ever feel like you’re missing out on sales due to these limited production numbers? Or does it create more buzz for your toys and provide a more personal touch?

Most of the time it’s designing the art, but sometimes I’ll finish the art and then I’ll get indecisive if I should make the toy or not, if it would even translate well into three-dimensions. A lot of times the figures look better than my art, but it’s the art that I really love doing. I haven’t done it lately but I like sketching a lot, inking, coloring, etc.

I like coming up with variant colorways. I have the art done and, once the figure’s sculpted and I’m assigning colors to it, I might use a color that doesn’t look right and get these accidents that look cool.

That’s the thing with art, sometimes you get these results that you didn’t plan for.

It seems like you wear a lot of different hats at ESCToy. What are the different responsibilities you cover?

How do you balance your business responsibilities with the art and design side of things?

I’m actually still learning how to balance everything after all these years. It’s not easy. I’m playing businessman and I’m playing artist. I’m not going to downplay it: it’s really hard, I struggle with it, I have no secret to making it work. I read articles on how to manage your time better, and I have my days where I don’t feel like doing anything but I still have to go in and answer emails or submit new art and review things. I’m managing so much and I’m working with a small crew. It’s very demanding when you know as a business you have to grow and you can’t stay stagnant. Every business has to grow and evolve. The reward is that I get to do this and I get opportunities to work with cool people.

ESC-Toy does prototyping for outside companies.

What does this entail?

I think it’s a mix of everything. With some collectors, I notice they’re more drawn to the lower runs because there’s more value to something that’s produced in an edition size of five pieces as opposed to something that’s 500 pieces. I thought I understood this business, but I really don’t. I’m still learning about it but I see that this is something that is a collector preference. This is why I try to be as diverse as I can and offer something to as many types of collectors as I can.

We help other artists and companies make their figures. We helped Anna Chambers, Jarrod Deal, kaNO, Klei Entertainment (the Canadian game developer), Henri Bendel (the high-end boutique in Manhattan), and a bunch of others. We help whether it's taking their design, or making new designs, and getting them made into a collectible or figure formats. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a collectible that they sell to the public; sometimes they need to have figures for concepts or whatever reason.

This is a really nice scene, but it’s still relatively small. The toy market is a $21 billion market. $21 billion. Not fuckin’ million... Billion! And people go, “Oh yeah, Kidrobot? They’re the leaders in vinyl.”

No, fuckin’ Disney is the leader, they do vinyl figures now. They have Mickey and use that as a platform.

It’s the same concept as the Munny. They saw what Kidrobot did and saw they were successful, so they got in on it. I don’t know if people are going to acknowledge it or not, but it’s a fact. These guys in the vinyl market are like, “Oh, well it’s not the same,” but it’s pretty much the same. Disney just happens to have theme parks and they’re a 90-year-old company.

Kidrobot is ten years old. It’s a different landscape now. You have these corporate companies that come in and make these big runs, they pay attention. They know what’s going on. They see that it’s a niche market but that you could make money in it. This is one of those things that you look at and you’re just like, “Wow, big companies do watch us.”

You’ve done some cool 3D commercials for your toy releases. I don’t see a lot of designers promoting their stuff proactively, a lot of people leave it up to bloggers to spread the word. Are these videos more for fun or for marketing? Is marketing an important part of your business?

But I like to offer different things at different prices and give something pretty cool to collectors. I have over 200 releases now and there are certain releases I’ve never seen on eBay. Never. It’s cool that some of these collectors are keeping them. Or maybe they’re

Yeah, it’s a very important part. People are dropping shit every week. If I see a post of my stuff on Albotas or whatever blogs on Monday, it’s not on the same page by Friday. With marketing, and I hate to say this, but I have to be in your head. I have to. ESC-Toy is an online shop and we have to compete against all these other brands and artists. We artists all offer something different, but it’s an awareness thing.

Yeah, you know the figure’s available, but do you remember to check it out? You’re being bombarded with your personal emails, you’re browsing the web looking at whatever, then you’re checking out breaking news. You read about a new release that’s dropping Friday, but come Friday, do you remember it just dropped? And big brands know this. They’re merciless. They want to be in your head while you’re sleeping. I just want to be on your shelf right now! [laughs].

Clutter 19 | 15

This November (2013) saw the expansion of ESC-Toy beyond the realm of Designer Toys and into the world of animation as Erick Scarecrow's company launched a Kickstarter project for his anime series, 9 Deadly Killer Pussies (9DKP). To keep the feel of the production as authentic as possible, Erick hired Japanese manga artists to help flesh out the character designs and enlisted Asahi Production for animation duties; Asahi being famous for their nearly endless portfolio of contributions to classic and current anime franchises, from Voltes V, Gundam, The Dirty Pair, and Akira, to Cowboy Bebop, Bleach, and Attack on Titan.

A lot of artists are introverts, including myself, and we find it hard to communicate to other people, especially when expressing how we feel. It’s easy to send an email, but a lot of times when people send them out, they get no response. Either the blogger doesn’t like it or whatever. I really had to come to grips with that. Every artist has to sell their art. Do artists just want to focus on their art and not worry about marketing? Shit, I want to. The last thing I want to do is bother people, but I have to because if I don’t, the next person will. And if I don’t, who’s going to buy all these new things I have coming out?

I always try to have a constant presence. Every month, you hear something about me. There are artists who you see with a couple of drops and then they’re gone, nothing’s updated — their Twitter, their blog — they just disappear. You wonder if this artist was even real, right? So I try to be as personal about it as I can. But artists are introverts. It’s a fact. They’re sensitive about their art. People tell me about my art, “Erick, your characters look like they’re sleeping, they look Asian.” So what? You either like it or you don’t. That’s why I diversify myself. I know I can do more than what I’ve offered before. Do you have to have thick skin? Yeah, it’s a fucking business and guess what: you’re going to have good days and bad days.

ESC-Toy has been around for about eight years now.

How has the company evolved over that time? How have you personally evolved as a person, designer, and businessman?

We’re both still evolving. I’ve learned a great deal along the way, and a lot of it is from working with other people, learning how to meet deadlines, how to continuously make something new. Earlier this year, I had a new release every week. You know how hard

16 | Clutter 19

that is? It was something that gradually happened.

We weren’t like “Oh, we have to do this.” I had that much stuff that I had done. I had stuff that I had done three years ago and I hadn’t released yet.

Do I feel like I have to evolve into different areas?

Yeah, I feel like it’s about that time. It feels right.

I don’t have a board of directors pressuring me to branch out. I feel like this is something that organically has to happen. I feel like that’s part of ESC’s evolution, to go into entertainment. It makes sense. Look at what Huck Gee did: he had the Battle Tales Kickstarter, he went and did a videogame.

Shawnimals… Shawn went from plush toys to video games. Nathan Jurevicius… he had Scary Girl.

Same thing, toys to video games. David Horvath with Uglydolls, toy to movie, a feature film!

I feel like I can’t learn enough. I’ve learned so much.

I used to be so impatient. Now I know I can’t rush things. I’ve come to understand that.

Anything you want to say to your fans or anything they should look forward to?

Yes! Thank you for your support. It means so much to me. I’ve been working my ass off on everything. I’m just really grateful for everything. It’s good to be here.

I really appreciate everyone supporting me. There’s so many releases coming out and you’re choosing my work to be part of your collection. That’s a big deal.

The biggest compliment is somebody paying for your work. I appreciate every customer. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Keep on top of ESC-Toy releases by visiting:

www.esc-toy.com

The story of 9DKP focuses on the legend of an evil zombie overlord cat, Babusa, who crossed over from hell into Japan. After nearly destroying Japan, Babusa was defeated by a sorcerer who sealed him away inside a statue containing 9 stones, which was buried and hidden for over 700 years. In present day Japan, it is accidentally discovered, unleashing Babusa onto the world. However, the sorcerer had taken precautions and had the stones randomly select 9 people, giving them the power to transform into cats with supernatural powers in order to fight Babusa.

We've gotten a sneak peek at some of the preproduction elements of 9DKP, and, we've got to say, we can't wait to see more. It's always exciting to see toy designers break out into the larger areas of entertainment, such as video games and animation, and 9DKP is no exception. Check it out by following @9DKP on Twitter.

MASTER OF CEREMONIES

THE SUPER SUCKLORD THE 3RD ANNUAL

If you've never heard of it, the Designer Toy Awards annually celebrate the best and brightest stars of the Designer Toy Industry. Its aim is to bring together the industry in a congratulatory pat on the back for the blood, sweat, and tears that each individual has contributed over the previous year.

A place to congregate, let down your hair, and maybe have a impromptu dance off. From an extensive list of candidates, the fans and a professional-based Nomination Committee carefully whittled down the nominees to the nine top contenders in each category… which then had one winner per award selected mainly by the DTA's venerable Board.

This year's ceremony had the added elements of not only being live streamed — archived at http://www.livestream. com/designertoyawards/ for your viewing pleasure — but also, through a partnership with SideKick Lab, we released a trading card series highlighting the finalists for every category. Over the next few pages we have published versions of the winner's cards for you to cut out and enjoy, and, should you want to expand your collection, packs and factory sets of the cards are still available from http://www.clutter.co/ — some even containing special redemption cards for amazing pieces by the finalists and signed versions of cards.

While we look back at the ceremony that just took place in NYC during the weekend of the New York Comic Con, we're already planning for the next one, and we hope you'll join us on the journey!

The Designer Toy Awards www.designertoyawards.com

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR SPONSORS. A SPECIAL THANKS TO:

kidrobot.com 18 | Clutter 19

sidekicklabs.com

thecottoncandymachine.com

dketoys.com

ndpromedia.com

jasonfreeny.com

Clutter 19 | 19

THE 3RD ANNUAL

EVENT IMAGES

a monster named

Clementine Clementine is Booh's older sister. She always has a card for every occasion: Happy Half Birthday!

Now available in select retailers and at:

GARY HAM The real life Mister Geppetto

Miranda O'Brien

Gary Ham

Gary Ham is a rare artist, a modern day Geppetto carving whimsical and wonderful wooden sculptures that appeal to even the most rugged of collector. While still embracing his hand-crafted original art, Ham has been equally exploring the production side of the industry, leading to a year that propelled him into the Designer Toy stratosphere. He's experienced the success of his Wooper Looper design, the transformation of his SuckSet from wood to vinyl, and the popularity of the Monster Toytem platform, as well as having been in a variety of high-profile gallery shows. One could say that 2013 has been the Year of the Ham. From reflecting on his own childhood to having a child of his own, Ham uses his life experiences as the building blocks in the 'adorable DNA' that his pieces are infused with.

His works recall the innocence of younger days, when a mere cardboard box itself was all the toy you needed. And while Ham's multi-faceted objets d'art might not resonate with every collector, for those it does, he welcomes them with wide arms into a world where cuteness reigns supreme.

30 | Clutter 19

Tell us about your childhood: where did you grow up? how was it?

I was born in Indiana and moved to Phoenix, Arizona when I was 6. Growing up in Phoenix was pretty awesome. Sure it is hot as hell here at times, but when you are a kid that just means you spend most days in the pool.

What have been the biggest influences on you?

What inspires you?

My father was my biggest influence. He was the ultimate handyman and always had a project going. I learned so much from him. He was always encouraging creativity and did everything possible to ensure we had what we needed to explore it.

I draw inspiration from lots of different places: vintage Halloween design, modern cartoons, weird creatures, and lots of children’s and "The Art of‌" books. Sometimes I refer to childhood memories for inspiration. For instance, I used to love raking up leaves in the fall and jumping into the pile. I turned that memory into a custom Playsam 500 piece. You can never predict when inspiration will hit, just be ready to spring board from it when it does.

How did you get to your current life? Did you go to school, travel, etc?

I attended community college where I did basic studies and took a few art classes. When I was 21, I began working at Fox Animation as a special effects artist. I worked there for 5 years before the studio shut down in 2000. There are not many art jobs to be had in Arizona, so I did odds jobs like window covering installation for a few years while developing my art portfolio. Thanks to the Internet and showing my art on a few forums, I began getting contacted for freelance work doing everything from story boarding for commercials, magazine illustration, and

character designs for animation. In 2004 I exhibited at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) for the first time and have been exhibiting there ever since. It was at SDCC that I first discovered Designer Toys and I knew that it was what I wanted to do.

How have you seen the Designer Toy industry evolve in the almost 10 years you have been involved?

Several companies and stores have come and gone, 3D sculpting has become more widely accepted and used, and in the past two years sofubi (Japanese vinyl) production has become more prevalent amongst Western artists. Mass produced vinyl releases have slowed a bit, especially in terms of mini series, and the industry has become a lot more hands on with more self-production than I remember it being, which is really cool. Designers are getting their hands dirty!

When I first started, SDCC was the premiere convention for Designer Toys, but I think that is soon about to change. New York Comic Con is getting bigger and better, giving the East coast a great convention. DesignerCon has seen huge growth and become an artist and collector favorite, and ToyCon in the UK is coming off a very successful inaugural event and looking to be bigger and better for many years to come. It's a small community, but that is also what makes it strong. It's become a family constantly evolving with the times and finding new avenues to venture down together.

Some see Designer Toys as commodity pieces, some as art; which side of the fence do you sit on?

I play on the art side of the fence. Toys provide me joy and inspiration every day by filling the shelves and cabinets of my home and work. After 20 years of collecting though, space has become an issue

Clutter 19 | 31

and, like most collectors nowadays, I have become much more selective on what comes home with me.

When did you start collecting toys?

I began collecting toys when I was 21. I began decorating my home and workspace with toys. My home had shelves filled with Spawn, Toy Story, The Simpsons, The Tick, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and the like. The first SDCC I attended really started my Designer Toy collection; my first purchase was from there, a Pip and Norton from the CreatureBox booth.

Your main job is in animation; tell us about that, do you still find it creatively satisfying?

My day job is not all that creative. I do basic animation and artwork for an education company. Every now and then a fun project may come across my desk, but for the most part it is "work." That said, I love my co-workers and it is a great company to work for.

By maintaining a full-time day job, it has allowed me to take some of the financial risks with my personal work.

What drove you to start producing your own toys?

I think every toy collector dreams of one day having a toy of their own design made. The Designer Toy scene was proof that this dream could be achieved and there was a market for it. Being an unknown, there was no way any toy company would give me the time of day, so I went about self-producing. I designed Carrot Shake Jake and hired a sculptor to bring him to life.

I then contacted a factory in China for some quotes and Jake was soon being mass-produced. This was a huge financial gamble, but I didn't care. Pain or gain, the juice was worth the squeeze.

The process of having a toy made requires lots of patience, as it can takes years to finally see the design come to fruition and, when it does, it's a very rewarding feeling. Looking back I wouldn't have done anything differently, I am proud of everything I have done, however I would have told myself to learn all the different processes of making a toy. In the beginning, I didn't have a great grasp on the differences between injection molding and rotocasting, or an understanding of the chemical differences between PVC, Chinese vinyl, ABS, and Japanese soft vinyl. Not having full knowledge can hurt the pocket book and creates design detours.

What has been your most favorite project so far?

The Monster Toytem is my favorite so far because of its playability and well... MONSTERS! It was a fun design challenge to ensure each piece complimented and stacked well with one another. As an added bonus, it's the one toy I can continue to make new pieces for and build upon. I do have a couple new projects in the works that I think will trump the Toytem as favorite though.

What was your inspiration for the Monster Toytem?

There was a group show at Stranger Factory fast approaching that I had several monster designs created for, but not enough time to make them all. I asked my twin brother which he thought I should do and he suggested I make them all in totem form using just the heads.

Tell us about the new Toy Titans Toytem. How did that process happen work with so many parties involved?

I wanted to create a new wood Toytem and thought it would be cool to pay tribute to a few stores and blogs 32 | Clutter 19

that have helped make the Designer Toy scene what it is today. Before I began, I contacted all the parties — Lulubell Toy Bodega, Rotofugi, SpankyStokes, Dragatomi, and Clutter — and asked if they would allow me to use their logo/mascot for it. They were all happy to be a part of it. After the Toytem was completed, we all liked it so much that we began talking about the possibility of it being a production piece too. I received some factory quotes and soon after we were headed to production. Overall the experience has gone pretty smooth. It isn't always easy negotiating and getting feedback/input via email, but with so many involved it was the best format.

Coordinating the promo, release dates, and pricing is our next hurdle. Maybe answering this question is a bit premature!

You also make wooden Toytem heads to sell at conventions, have you ever thought of doing a wider release of these?

I have! And the original plan was to release additional individual pieces as convention exclusives, however money and time gets wrapped up in other projects.

Lots of ideas, but sometimes you have to pick and choose what gets done.

How do you create your wooden figures? Are they completely hand-carved? What's the step-by-step process in making them?

The wood toys are completely made using power tools. Very little actual hand carving is done. I design the wood toys in a pretty simple fashion using curves and straights. Sometimes I do this on the computer first so all the pieces are precise and to scale, it's important to really plan ahead so you know where all your cuts are going to be, but there are many times where I skip the template stage and make things up as I go. However I go about it, the first step is etching the shapes I need onto the wood and then I cut them out using a scroll or band saw. The pieces are then sanded for any reshaping and smoothing of rough edges. Then I drill some holes for dowel assembly that allows the parts to swivel for articulation. Final step is assembling it and prepping for stain or paint.

You designed the very first 'Artist Edition' Fonzo figure… how did that come about?

I was on Facebook one afternoon and I received a chat message from Ane [Rodríquez] of Freakstore.

Ane mentioned they were working on a Fonzo toy and would like to see Fonzo get the Hermees treatment.

A few days later I submitted the design using their turnaround template and the next thing I knew it was going into production. It all happened so quickly.

Freakstore were amazing to work with.

What are Haminals and where did they come from?

Haminals were animal designs I created in 2004. They began as characters I drew on brown wrapping paper to decorate Christmas presents. The idea behind them was that they are genetically engineered animals all having been given the characteristics of a pig. All the animals had giant nostrils, tiny legs, curly tails, and playful personalities. I began illustrating a children's book for them, but the story never felt strong enough to try and publish.

And what about Carrot Shake Jake, what was his inspiration?

Carrot Shake Jake was the original Haminal, hence the giant [buck] teeth and tiny [other] teeth. I gave him a humungous set of chompers to compensate for the huge schnoz and then I thought, how the hell is he going to eat? So carrot shakes were the solution. Then

Clutter 19 | 33

from that, I wrote a short story very similar to Rudulph the Red-Nosed Reindeer of how Jake was teased by the other rabbits because he was different. One day a flash flood threatened to decimate the rabbit village, so Jake drove his teeth into the ground and dug a trench around the village and the flood was detoured away! All the rabbits cheered and no longer called him names.

Why make the jump to sofubi with the Wooper Looper?

I love the feel of sofubi and thought it would best represent Wooper. With my first two toys, Carrot Shake Jake and Hermees, I went with Chinese production.

China suited and worked best for those toys, but I wanted to try something new with Wooper. When using Chinese production, you generally have to produce large run sizes and design all your colorways at once.

By going with sofubi, it allowed me more control of the figure and at a more comfortable pace. Sofubi production allows me to keep run sizes far more limited and to produce colorways as they come up.

Talking of which, congratulations on winning the Best Sofubi Designer Toy Award for the Wooper. How did it feel to receive that acknowledgment from your supporters and peers?

A total shock and totally awesome! The category was filled with amazing toys I gawk at from designers I respect and admire, so I had no anticipation of hearing my name called. It's a great feeling knowing something we worked so hard on was recognized and supported by the voters, collectors, and esteemed panel of judges. And by "we" I mean [sculptor] Chauskoskis and [producer] Ricky "Velocitron" Wilson, two of the best guys in the game and I'm honored to share the award with them.

Can you tell us about your forthcoming Fatty Wooper Looper that Chris Ryniak sculpted (shown top left)?

34 | Clutter 19

Chris is rad. He was a big supporter of Wooper so I thought it would be fun to see his version of the Wooper Looper. I reached out to Chris and, much to my surprise, he was interested in giving the fella the Ryniak treatment.

Fatty is being produced in sofubi and we are hoping for the first colorway to release by end of the year.

Who have you enjoyed collaborating with the most?

Damn, I didn't want to dance around any questions, but I have seriously enjoyed them all and can't choose one over the other. Everyone I have had the opportunity to collaborate with is so ridiculously talented and passionate about their craft. I feel extremely lucky to have worked with the artists I have.

You recently started to collaborate with Lana Crooks on plush, how did that collaboration start?

Lana and I met at last year's Designer Toy Awards ceremony. Lana mentioned that is would be fun to work together and that Hermees is something she would love to tackle. I provided Lana with the original designs and pantones for the Hermees toy and she then interpreted how she saw him in plush form. The fun part was watching her work-in-progress pics on the social sites.

Every now and then Lana would ask a question or show me a sneak peek of its progress, but for the most part I was watching him come to life via her Instagram posts.

Lana was amazing to work with. She is very detailed and wants to ensure everything is the best it can be. We got along great and communicated really well. I was blown away by what Lana had created, I was grinning from ear to ear.

What would be your dream collaboration?

This would have been an easy question, but then you had to go and toss "dream" in there. The list of artists I would like to collaborate with is long, but if we are going to the dream state then I would have to say a

collaboration with Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes fame would have me floating in the clouds. I don't know what I could possibly offer such perfection, but hey it's a dream right and it would be amazing!

How has having a child changed you? Has it influenced your work?

Lukas is my everything. I'm a big sap these days... well.... I was before too, but now even more so. The most significant change I have noticed though is how it's changed my time management. Free time and sleep is a precious commodity now.

In terms of influence, I have always leaned more towards the cuter side of design, but now find myself designing more for playability too. Toys I hope he can one day enjoy too. If he doesn't, then I'm requesting a paternity test! Just kidding, he is definitely my kid.

Do you have any advice for people who are just starting out?

Be passionate about what you do and bust your butt at it. Don't be afraid to try new techniques and materials, every experience helps you grow.

What’s next for you?

A couple new vinyl projects are in the works and hopefully more fun collaborations ahead. I recently did a show at Stranger Factory called Sentimentrees and I think it's been my best and most fun work to date. I would like to develop them further and look into possibly making them into a small vinyl series where every piece can be interchangeable with one another for tons of playable and displayable options. I also want to more design toy shelving, a toy type design that lends itself to also being able to house and shelf our toys.

For more information visit: www.haminals.com

ACTUAL SIZE

SAFE AREA

X www.MadKnits.com www.HollerToys.com

Josh Kimberg

38 | Clutter 19

Beauty can be an orgasm or a flower, a Silver Ghost Rolls Royce or a 1971 Buick Skylark. Beauty is an Invisible Dragon*.

The Boryoku Genjin figure, known to Americans as the Nag, is one man's desire to make something special and the world be damned if they don’t like it. It’s that devil may care attitude that was the inspiration for its creation, but who is the man behind the toy? Even after the writing of this article and getting to spend some fun times with the artist, I’m not convinced I know any more about him now than I did before, and I think that’s part of the point.

Shigeru Arai, a Japanese native and former kabuki theatre producer, is a uniquely original sculptor. He has created an artistic toy form that inspires a level of criticism that is equal to the effectiveness of its image. It inspires a pleasure in its collector inverse to its shocking brutality. The purity of Shigeru’s thought is equal only to his bellicosity. Is he a genius or a dick? If you asked him, he would just laugh.

The average Designer Toy collector may not even be aware of the Nag, and — when experiencing it for the first time — might think, "what the fuck is that ugly thing?" It's a fair initial reaction, but one that for a hardcore devoted mob the answer has become “just about the most beautiful toy I have ever seen.”

Matt Dorcas

But what is beauty? There are well-known platitudes that reflect the everchanging nature of beauty that don’t need repeating, age-old wisdom that point to the plasticity of taste and opinion. An individual’s right to choose to hold any aesthetic near to their heart is part of the fabric of our society. Maybe it’s the elusive core of that context that makes beauty: living in the heart of each individual, the physical expression of beauty is too personal to be defined. Or maybe it is in and of itself meaningless. This conversation begins to describe where the love and devotion of the fans of the Nag comes from.

The Nag is an encapsulated piece of beauty that may be the total expression of what it means to be human, a perfectly imperfect model within a universe that is dark and filled with warts. While there also exists a universe filled with very cute monkey-ponies and sunshine, it's almost perverse to describe the polar opposite of the Nag in terms of beauty; it is that negation, that rejection (ah, rejection!), that ugliness that personifies the truest dream of a very, very angry teenager. Hasn’t that angry teenager become society’s new self-identity? Who is our modern hero? Iggy Pop? Christian Hosoi? Kurt Cobain? Lou Reed, who passed away about two weeks ago as of the writing of this intro… Who are we all trying to be?

The Nag is the fulfillment of our most horrible wishes, the greatest manifestation of the joy of angst yet created. It is the most terrifyingly beautiful waste of vinyl yet imagined. Genius, fuck, cunt in a bottle.

Want one? Fuck you, get in line!

* The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty (Art Issues. Press, 1993)

by Dave Hickey

* The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty (Art Issues. Press, 1993) by Dave Hickey

Where are you from originally?

Tokyo.

Like, punch you… in the body?

No. PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!

How did the Nag figure come about for you artistically?

I wanted to make something that was all mine, all by myself. I wanted to make my own toys, because there was nothing interesting in other people’s toys!

Is that the point of NagNagNag? To be a mystery?

I'm just doing what I have a passion for, what I want to express. I wanted to excite myself with making the Nag.

Are you an artist or a toy designer?

Neither, I am Shigeru.

What is the meaning of NagNagNag? Naguru Naguru Naguru. Punch you, punch you, punch you…

Do you also paint and sculpt?

No, only NagNagNag releases.

Like, punch you… in the body?

No. PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!

Everyone loved your movie at the Clutter Gallery exhibition (Monsters from the Island). Why did you include the text 'Fuck the USA'? What does it mean to you?

I did that to bring everyone together.

And the meaning of the Boryoku Genjin (the Nag)? Violent caveman?

Violence, it means violence. He always wants to punch people!

What would you like to create that you haven't yet been able to? In an ideal world, what would happen next?

I wish that the U.S. and Japan would join forces and attack North Korea. Then we could all sing together, after the big war.

What was your life like before this?

Nothing really has changed. I used to be a freelance producer of kabuki theatre.

How did you the make the jump to NagNagNag? My life is a mystery.

Boryoku Genjin: you like to meet everyone who buys one. What is the philosophy behind the way you release and sell your toys? t's all about the trip, taking and enjoying the trip. And learning about everything.

Is that the point of NagNagNag? To be a mystery?

I'm just doing what I have a passion for, what I want to express. I wanted to excite myself with making the Nag. What is the meaning of NagNagNag? Naguru Naguru Naguru. Punch you, punch you, punch you…

40 | Clutter 19

And the meaning of the Boryoku Genjin (the Nag)? Violent caveman?

Violence, it means violence. He always wants to punch people!

Is there a reason behind the use of the baby doll eyes in your figures?

It's a traditional style in sofubi. The four eyes are important to me. I really like the four eyes, though it means nothing.

What is the most interesting thing you've learned?

Food. I want to eat food.

What is your favorite food?

Women. Specifically, pussy.

What's your favorite movie?

I don’t watch movies but I do have a favorite, Stanley Kubrick' Was the original sculpt crumpled tin foil?

That’s what I’ve heard…

That's a secret. While the material is a secret, I will say that I sculpted it with my teeth.

And the meaning of the Boryoku Genjin (the Nag)? Violent caveman?

Violence, it means violence. He always wants to punch people!s violence. He al

What does the wristband on the Boryoku Genjin mean? Where did you find the inspiration for something like that?

It has no meaning. I just like it sometimes.

Do the different faces of the Nag have different meanings to you?

They are expressions of different emotions.

You have an interesting way of selling the Boryoku Genjin: you like to meet everyone who buys one. What is the philosophy

behind the way you release and sell your toys?

It's all about the trip, taking and enjoying the trip. And learning about everything.

You have an interesting way of selling the Boryoku Genjin: you like to meet everyone who buys od sell your toys?

It's all about the trip, taking and enjoying the trip. And learning about everything.

What is the most interesting thing you've learned?

John Wicker Clutter 19 | 41

What is your favorite food?

Women. Specifically, pussy.

What's your favorite movie?

I don’t watch movies but I do have a favorite, Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

What is the most interesting thing you've learned?

Food. I want to eat food.

What is your favorite food?

Women. Specifically, pussy.

What's your favorite movie?

I don’t watch movies but I do have a favorite, Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

The Necronomicons: what was the meaning behind them?

I tried to use my own blood in these toys, as the coating. I tried a lot. But, in the end, I had to use no blood.

The Nzombie's packaging is really cool, what was the inspiration?

It's like a plush figure. I really like it as a silhouette. Gallery exhibition (Monsters from the And your favorite music or band?

I love acid house and punk. My favorite punk band is The Stooges, I love Raw Power. I also love '60s garage punk, especially the Pebbles compilations.

Did you help write the comic he drew? Or was it all Johnny Ryan?

It was all Johnny. I suggested that he should do a comic but it was all Johnny.

What was it like collaborating with Johnny Ryan?

He’s awesome. He is a genius and he puts in a lot of effort to his work.

Did you help write the comic he drew? Or was it all Johnny Ryan?

It was all Johnny. I suggested that he should do a comic but it was all Johnny.

How did you first connect with Мишка?

It was the autumn of 2009, Greg (Rivera, owner of Мишка) emailed me, just after I released the Nag. The Nag was first made in 2008-2009.

Everyone loved your movie at the Clutter Gallery exhibition (Monsters from the Island). Why did you include the text 'Fuck the USA'? What does it mean to you?

I did that to bring everyone together.

Everyone loved your movie at the Clutter Gallery exhibition (Monsters from the Gallery exhibition (Monsters from the How did you come to work with Coop?

Coop wanted a Nag and I love his work, so we traded.

Why does Rat Fink play such a big part in some of your designs?

When I was a kid, I played with Rat Fink models and, when I made the Nag, I had the idea of sewing Rat Fink inspired costumes for them. Since Coop knows Ed Roth (creator of Rat Fink), I asked Coop if he would ask him about doing a collaboration and he said let's do it! Coop 42 | Clutter 19

is great at drawing, but Ed Roth is iconic.

The Nag could only exist because of Ed Roth's influence; he laid the foundation for all lowbrow art.

What's your favorite movie?

I don’t watch movies but I do have a favorite, Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

And your favorite music or band?

I love acid house and punk. My favorite punk band is The Stooges, I love Raw The Necronomicons: what was the meaning behind them?

I tried to use my own blood in these toys, as the coating. I tried a lot. But, in the end, I had to use no blood.

The Nzombie's packaging is really cool, what was the inspiration?

It's like a plush figure. I really like it as a silhouette.

And the meaning of the Boryoku Genjin (the Nag)? Violent caveman?

Violence, it means violence. He always wants to punch people!

Is there a reason behind the use of the baby doll eyes in your figures?

It's a traditional style in sofubi. The four eyes are important to me. I really like the four eyes, though it means nothing.

Do you have a political worldview you want to share with people?

I am trash. I am a small thing, like a piece of trash. But, then again, everyone is a small piece of trash.

Boryoku Genjin: you like to meet everyone who buys one. What is the philosophy behind the way you release and sell your toys?

It's all about the trip, taking and enjoying the trip. And learning about everything.

Everyone loved your movie at the Clutter Gallery exhibition (Monsters from the Island). Why did you include the text 'Fuck the USA'? What does it mean to you?

I did that to bring everyone together.

The Necronomicons: what was the meaning behind them?

I tried to use my own blood in these toys, as the coating. I tried a lot. But, in the end, I had to use no blood.

Did you help write the comic he drew? Or was it all Johnny Ryan?

It was all Johnny. I suggested that heeyes in your figures?It's a traditional style i should do a comic but it was all Johnny.

What would you like to create that you haven't yet been able to? In an ideal world, what would happen next?

I wish that the U.S. and Japan would join forces and attack North Korea. Then we could all sing together, after the big war.

Any last thoughts?

I only have thoughts in the morning. It's far too late in the day for thoughts.

For more information visit:

www.nagnagnag.jp

Artwork by Tara McPherson (page 48) & Johnny Ryan (page 50)

Erica Patterson dust

Introduce yourself. Where are you from, what is your background, and how did you start your life as an artist?

I'm a Swiss/German guy who lives and works in Freiburg and Stuttgart, the Southern part of Germany.

I've painted since I was a little boy; I painted for hours while sitting in school, doing nothing else than painting and illustrating. Luckily I never had problems painting and listening to what the teacher said at the same time. I then studied graphic design, but never really felt like a graphic designer and never felt like this is what I wanted to do with my life. I was always passionate about painting in the streets, and I did that for years. When I grew older, more and more galleries started to notice my work and that’s how it all began.

I never wanted to limit myself in any way and have always looked for individual ways to express my thoughts and philosophy, that’s why I’m very happy that people appreciate what I’m doing.

You have two very distinct styles of artwork: Street and Customs. How would you define your art?

I’m both a street artist and a customizer as well as a sculptor. I come from street art and, before I developed my surreal abstract style, I used to paint classic characters. The R.A.S. was one of those characters, which I decided to make in 3D; that was my first production run of hand-made Designer Toys.

But at that time I didn’t know at all that there was a whole scene around Designer Toys, as the scene

46 | Clutter 19

wasn’t well-known in Germany at all. Fans told me that they’ve seen my work on toy blogs, and I suddenly realized this great “new” scene that I didn’t know about before!

Personally I see myself more as a painter, but I really love to create new prototypes, customs, and dioramas. I've always loved painting in the streets and murals are still a very important part of my work.

In the last few years, I've mostly painted on canvases, wood panels, and paper, but whenever I find the time I still to go outside and paint [street art].

What drives you to create art and what inspires you?

My paintings are personal expressions of my ideas, my thoughts, my feelings, and what I see. I’m a child of the Star Wars generation and I've always loved comics, so these things definitely influence me, especially when creating Designer Toys. For my artwork, there is an infinitely complex diversity of influence, especially from nature. The perfection of nature in terms of colors and shapes, which is not limited to large entities but is mirrored in details.

Everything is connected and strives for cohesion, an all embracing symbiosis.

At what point in your life did you realize you wanted to be creating art full-time?

Drawing and painting is everything I always have done and wanted to do. Wherever I go, I have my sketchbook with me. For me it was quite awesome when the first gallery owner asked me to take part

in an exhibition. I didn’t expect anything, but the people’s reaction of my work was so positive! More and more curators asked me to exhibit my work in their galleries. Everything felt right. That was the point when I decided I wanted to do nothing other than painting full-time.

What does your creative process look like when you are starting a new piece?

I don’t like plans, I don’t think that much about what to do, I just do what comes into my mind.

When did you begin going by dust, and why did you choose that name?

I chose the name because of the philosophical perspective: when life comes to an end, we’ll be dust.

I find it very interesting that you created a toy without any knowledge of the Designer Toy scene.

What inspired you to make a toy without knowing something like that had its own market?

That’s difficult to answer. It was just pure fascination for creating something three-dimensional and bringing one of my painted characters, the R.A.S., to life.

Your artwork seems to incorporate some of the same characters, for example the Körperwesen, the R.A.S., and the Wabenmenschen creatures. Are these characters a part of a larger story, or world, where they interact with each other? Or are they simply just characters you have created that do not relate?

There is a larger story that connects the Körperwesen and the Wabenmenschen, which are characters in my surreal abstract work: I show a world where human life no longer exists and something new is evolving. I paint pure energy, micro and macro cosmos playings, and new life. The R.A.S. is part of another, more brutal and rogue world; the story plays in a futuristic scenario on Earth in 2046, when there is one big government who is dominating everything. The R.A.S. is part of an active resistance group who are fighting against this brutal and corrupt New World Order.

Maybe someday, if I find the time, I’ll illustrate a graphic novel and show what the R.A.S.’s function in life is. The plot is already written down, I would just need to focus on the illustration.

What is the most enjoyable part of making a custom toy for you?

Most of my customs have a military look, they could be fighting together with the R.A.S. I like to make people think, that’s why I build all these tiny little machines and gadgets, to tell stories. Also creating dioramas, out of stuff that other people would consider trash, is great to me as it gives a deeper insight into the custom’s surrounding. One important thing is that the viewer always should recognize the original figure.

Over the years your style has gone through many evolutions. Where do you see your style going next?

To paint is like life itself: a lifelong process. It develops continuously.

For more information visit:

www.dirtydust.de

Clutter 19 | 47

Andy B [kaijukorner.blogspot.com] Matt Branscombe - BSC Photography

HARDER THAN THE REST AN INTERVIEW WITH

MUTANT VINYL HARDCORE

Rich Montanari Jr., aka LASH, is the one-man crew behind the fast-growing indie outfit Mutant Vinyl Hardcore (MVH). I caught up with him to talk about his toy making, which has evolved over the years from a hobby to a budding career.

Let’s start by talking about toy making. You’ve made a number of figures over the years, so what’s your process for making a new toy? Do you start with concept sketches and then move on to sculpting? Or do you just start sculpting until a character reveals itself?

Well it’s both, actually. My favorite way to create a character is to loosely come up with an idea, and then grab clay and start playing around with it until the figure fully reveals itself. It’s the most organic way I’ve found to create a character. With conceptualizing it first, you kind of dedicate yourself to a design, and then you’re stuck within those limits. Just grabbing clay and going for it allows for some really amazing stuff. The only downside is it usually takes longer. I’ve played with clay for days, working for hours before something works. When I actually do start with a concept sketch, it’s usually for a collaboration where all the details have to be worked out so everyone is happy and there are no questions.

Some of your toys are huge. When you work on a new 50 | Clutter 19

sculpt, do you ever start with a smaller, “proof of concept” figure and then move on to a larger sculpt later, or do you usually go straight to working in the scale that the figure is ultimately going to be in?

Nope, I just go for it. So sometimes I’ll start in a size I think I want to go with and then, depending on whether I’m liking the design, I’ll either add or remove clay. I know many artists sculpt the way you mentioned, but personally I’m just a one and done sculptor. I’ve yet to do any minis of existing characters, but it is something I’ve been planning on at some point. I really want to do a mini “Attack Pose” Ollie. I think that would be pretty cool.

That does sound cool! So in terms of size, how much thought do you give to scaling new characters so that they’ll fit in with other MVH toys?

I don’t. I just make what I feel is right for the character and hope that down the line all my figures will fit in together. My first figure – the Sludge Demon – is about 3

inches tall. My second figure – Ollie – is 13.5 inches tall.

It was one extreme to the other. But that’s how the figures were meant to be, and if I had forced them to be a specific size, I don't think it would have been true to the character.

I try not to worry about the details – just go with the flow.

I like that — the figures form a flow instead of the other way around. Speaking of the MVH family, do you see all of your figures as forming a cohesive group, or do you see them each as separate characters with independent identities? Or is it a bit of both?

Originally I started out wanting that kind of single world and feel. As I grow as a toy designer, it’s turning into more than just a single world – my ideas just won’t work that way anymore. If I contain my toys to only one world and vibe, it would quickly get boring for collectors and for me. Also, I don't want to pigeonhole myself to one look.

I think as long as figures are created with the same spirit in mind, they will create both a cohesive group on a shelf while working as standalone figures with their own unique

identities. For instance, right now all my characters have that creepy monster Japanese yõkai or American Ray Harryhausen vibe. There’s no doubt that was what I was going for.

But now I’m working on a mecha character, a troll and Rat Fink inspired figure of my dog. All are very different from what I started out with, which I think keeps things fresh for collectors. The same goes for the Feral Boy head I sculpted for the Evolved Diggler toy by Joe Merrill / Splurrt, the Krawluss collab with Skinner, and the Moon Goon with Paul Kaiju and Joe Merrill. All this also helps tie other makers’ toys into my toy world, while leading to future collaborations. This also goes for toys I design but don't sculpt, like the figures that I asked Monster5 and Shinbone Creative to sculpt for me. As long as I handle the art direction, I can make sure the figures will have that MVH feel.

I know this wasn’t part of the question, but I wanted to give my thoughts on hiring traditional and digital sculptors.

I’ve worked with both and respect them equally, and I’m glad I choose them for the jobs they’re doing. I still prefer to sculpt as much as I can on my own — it’s my favorite thing to do — but there are times when you have an idea and they are just the right people for the job. I came to this conclusion after seeing well-known artists going this route for installations and music writers doing it for songs.

I think the artist first has to prove they can do what they are hiring people to do. They need to build and craft their identity long before they can farm out work. Once they get to that point, I think hiring others to accomplish their goals is like using them as you would any other tool.

Skinner once asked me if I were to lose the ability to use my hands, would I then no longer be able to be an artist.

That really stuck with me and led me to think about this deeply. I think it’s something that people that have issues with hiring skilled sculptors need to ask themselves.

It’s definitely food for thought. Okay, totally changing gears now. In some Japanese strands of thought, objects and statues have their own spirit, which may be one reason character culture is so strong in Japan. Do you see your

characters as possessing a spirit or force that transcends the plastic and paint that make up their forms?

I think so… yeah, that’s actually a really good way to describe it. I’m heavily influenced by Japanese design, and I think this is why Japanese toys are so good and why every toy maker should pay attention to them. As the artist, it’s your design, but if you’re trying hard to force your concepts and feelings onto something, it may not always work out.

Just come up with a design and let the toy come to life on its own. I think with that, the toy inherits its own spirit, voice, and feel. I’d say this is why my toys have their own expressions and feel, they do have their own spirits. It brings them to life beyond vinyl, and it’s why people can connect with them.

After you send a sculpt to Tokyo, there’s a lot of back and forth in the prototype development process before the molds and sofubi figures are made. How challenging is that, given the time difference and physical distances involved?

It’s not hard at all, to be honest, but that’s mostly due to Ricky (Velocitron), the person I’ve been working with a long time. I think I may be one of the first three people he worked with to make toys, actually. We've grown together over the years and share a mutual respect and understanding for each other.

Many people just want to get something made without forming relationships. I think it’s the reason they have issues. In order to get the best out of any project — especially a project with time zone and distance issues — you need to build solid trust and understanding with the person you’re working with. Remove this from the equation and the problems begin. Ricky and I talked for a long time before we even started working together. He was the one who started the rough Ollie sculpt. If I could give anyone who wants to get into toys design advice, it would be to slow down and become friends with the people you’re working with. If all goes well, you’re going to deal with this person for the rest of your toy career, which hopefully will be many years or decades. Becoming best friends and sharing a bond will help in spades.

I’ve also learned patience, which is a major part of toy making. It can take up to two years to take a toy from sculpt to vinyl, especially with large toys.

One area that seems really important to you (and some other makers) but which gets little attention is packaging, especially header and backing cards. I remember when you were bagging customs in toxic waste disposal bags, that was really cool. These days you go to town on the header art. Is that mostly for the initial presentation before the figures are opened? Or is it a nod to the collectors who keep their figures unopened?

Personally, I look at the packaging as part of the toy. It’s very important and is something you can’t overlook even if it’s ripped open and thrown away. As I’m sculpting a toy, I’m thinking about everything down the road, from how I’m going to paint it to how I’m going to package it. I also think every person’s dollar is important, and they deserve my attention to every detail and to the total presentation.

It’s like going to a restaurant. When you find a special place, everything is great, the location is beautiful, and the presentation is beautiful, and all this adds to how you feel about the food. Anyone can buy something from a food cart, but when you want an experience, you have your favorite restaurant. I want my collectors to have that same feeling when they buy my toys. They will know that I made sure to think about everything they are paying for and that their money is respected and appreciated.

To answer the rest of your question, I look at my packaging both for the collectors who open and for those who stash.

I do both myself, so I’m aiming to make sure that I think about both types of collectors. And I still have some biohazard bags. You will see those again very soon!

Nice! Retro MVH style! Shifting back to your characters, there are recurring horror and pop culture themes that appear in your work. Can you talk about some of those?

Sure, as a kid I grew up on horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and barbarian movies, and it just stuck. At seven, I named my first pet — a fully black cat — Freddy after A Nightmare Clutter 19 | 51

on Elm Street. I loved anything that was scary or odd and was basically drawn to anything vivid. I’m an only child, and I had a hard time connecting with other kids. I just sort of created my own little world with everything I loved and was pretty happy there. As an adult, when I decided to make toys, it was an easy choice of what to go with. Now that I’m growing as a toy designer with the chance to expand, I’m going deep into everything that inspired me and what I loved as a kid.

I’m now able to clearly filter all my memories as a kid though the vinyl toy medium, with an insight into exactly why I liked something to begin with. Many people in the toy community grew up similarly on pop culture, and I think this is why many collectors connect with my stuff.

We were all raised on the same culture, so it’s our connection even if we’ve never met or spoken.

Besides those influences, what else impacts your work in terms of current (or earlier) indie makers, big box toy companies, childhood inspirations, Elvis impersonator sightings...?

Imagine going back to your earliest memories of toys and kooky stuff as a kid, and then filling in all the years from that time to your adult present.

This is what influences me and my choices. It’s such a heavy question that I could go on for days. Books, movies, blah, blah, blah — it’s all in there. If I were to sum it up, it would go like this: Child World, Toys "R" Us, comic shops, local artists, New York, Kidrobot, Toy Tokyo, Super7.

You can fill in the rest with movies, books, alcohol, raves, music, and other first-hand life experiences before the Internet age. All of this impacts how I look at what I do. Maybe I should write a book… yeah, maybe that’s what I will do after my toy days.

You like to make homage pieces, like Frankenruge Ollie and Darth Vader Berserker Ollie, both of which are awesome. Roughly speaking, how many of your toy colorways would you say are inspired by “classic” palettes, and how many are “MVH originals”?

It’s a good mix, maybe 1/3 are homages and the rest originals. It just seems that people really remember the homages. And why not? It’s something they recognize for the same reasons I do: it’s familiar and comforting and easy to connect with. It’s a great way to connect Kenner, Mattel, or Hasbro with sofubi or designer vinyl or whatever else you collect. I have homages from other toy makers that I collect, and it helps my stuff fit in with theirs. At the same time, I have my own voice and really enjoy just letting go and coming up with original colorways. It’s a fine balance that I enjoy playing with.

Playing devil’s advocate, some people say certain color schemes (like Frankenruge, Hawaii, Tokyo, etc.) are overdone and played out. What’s your response to voices like that?

It’s in the eye of the beholder, but personally I never get tired of it. I think I could have a collection of just Frankenruge colorway toys from different makers and still be pretty stoked. The same goes for Hawaii, Tokyo, etc. Honestly, though, I do seek these out, and as you have seen my collection, you can vouch for this. I’m a creature of habit with a little touch of OCD, and I’m comfortable with collecting things some people think are played out or repetitive. I’m not worried about what’s hot or in style. But like you said, playing devil’s advocate, I can respect people thinking they are played out. And that’s totally cool. To each one’s own.

At the end of the day, every collector just needs to dig down and collect what makes them happy. Worrying about anything else will only make you waste time and money.

Let’s stay on that track. How well do you respond to criticism, constructive or otherwise, of your work?

Oh boy, that’s a good one. At first I didn't respond so well, and I felt I had to stand up for myself in the face of every negative comment. Then I went to art school and learned how to let go a bit and understand criticism. Nowadays I’m nowhere near as bothered or likely to dwell on the negative stuff. I think I have had just about every bad thing said to me about my art and toys. The same goes for the positive.

I think this comes with time and experience, though. Art, and especially the toy world, are very harsh. You need a thick skin in order to stay the course. If you never let go, you’re never gonna make it and will always be miserable. There will always be someone disliking what you do. In the same way, there will always be someone loving what you do. Just focus on the good and grow off that. It’s easier said than done, but in the long run you'll be much happier even if it takes longer than you expected. But yeah, I think I’m always growing and learning how to respond to it all. It’s 52 | Clutter 19

a never-ending growth process.

Indie toy collecting is driven by a small number of extremely passionate fans. Before you started making toys, you were a collector. And you still are. In your view, does the small collector base make it more difficult to keep going as an indie toy maker, especially as trends and collectors’ interests can be fickle? Or does the small base make it more rewarding on a personal level since you get to know lots of the people buying your toys?

get a toy made, and you went through years of frustration trying to get into that exclusive club. How did you break on through?

I custom painted toys for years, to the point where it was getting back to Japan and pissing off the Japanese toy makers I loved so much. That was the last thing I wanted.

I knew if I wanted to continue, I had to figure out how to make my own toys. I asked around, and after a few disappointing dead ends I came across Ricky.

It’s a small world, but not that small. The more years I’m in this, the more people I come across. It’s constantly growing. More and more people are discovering this niche of toy collecting and are amazed to find out how long this has existed and how many people are like them and into the same things.

He was living in Japan and was in the same boat as me.

He had already put in the time to figure out the process and luckily for me was willing to help me out. Thankfully by that point I had earned trust with a handful of collectors with my paint jobs to the point that they were willing to give me a shot with my own toys.

So I don’t think it makes it more difficult. It actually works in the favor of the indie maker. Even on a good day you can only make so many toys, and having a smaller collector base means more people are happy. Imagine only being able to make a run of 30 toys for 30,000 collectors. That would never work out. Also, being smaller means I’m able to personally talk with my collectors and make sure they are as happy as I can make them.

The only thing was I had to sculpt my toy, and at that point I had never sculpted anything. I thought I could never pull it off against pro Japanese sculptors. But I just went for it and somehow discovered I could sculpt. It was like you could realize you could fly only if you had jumped off a building. I was amazed that I had this in me, and I sculpted the Sludge Demon after just one other sculpting experience. It got produced, and the rest is history.

It’s fantastic to create a relationship with a fan of your work. In my years of doing this, I have made some of my best friends who started out as my collectors. I don’t think many other professions can claim this. When it’s all said and done, I can honestly say I know I made some people happy with what came out of my brain. I don’t think I can ask for anything more rewarding.

Having gone from customizer to resin maker to sofubi toy maker, you have a unique and important perspective. What advice would you give to others who want to get their own toy made?

What about the state of sofubi making in the USA? How do you feel about the direction things are heading?

I think things are getting better by the day. More and more American makers are connecting and making some of the best toys today. I only see this getting better as things grow. More and more people are collecting, and now that we have finally broken down all the barricades to Japan and beyond, it’s all smooth sailing from here. There isn't a day that goes by that I’m not blown away by what I see, and this gives me hope for what’s to come.

Everything has to have a beginning. I see this scene 10-20 years from now being huge. Just think, 20 years ago no one would have thought Marvel comics would be dominating the box office and ruling culture. Who's to say all the indie makers won’t be next in line.

Let’s go back in time for a minute. I remember when you were doing a lot of customs in 2006-2007. It wasn’t at all easy to break in and win acceptance. What would you say your biggest challenges were during your customizing period?

My biggest challenge was winning the acceptance of collectors who already had a level of quality and trust for the toys they collected. They didn’t want some guy to ruin what they respected just so he could paint a toy. I tried my best not to step on any toes and to only take commission work, so I wasn’t just painting to paint. I still stripped a lot of toys to paint them, but most were commissions. It was a totally different time, which I don’t think anyone can understand unless they were there.

I had a lot to learn but no one to teach me, so I had to learn everything through trial and error. The upside was that there were just as many collectors who were new and open to buying customs from guys like me. I think all of us were growing at the same time and trying to figure it all out. It was a very exciting time to be honest, like the wild west of the toy world.

How about in terms of becoming a toy maker? Five to six years ago, there were very few routes for a Western artist to

Start out small, and only ask from others what you’re willing to put in yourself, money and time wise. Listen to the critiques of those better than you and ALWAYS show respect to your community. It’s really as simple as that.

Creative people have a hard time letting go and listening to others, and they usually have little patience. I know since I’ve been there. Over time if you persevere, it will work out. You just have to pay your dues and earn your place.

It won’t come overnight, and sometimes you have to start over from scratch.

If you can do this, you may have a shot. Nothing is guaranteed, but it’s been proven that people who are persistent meet their goals. All the artists you respect and admire have gone though this and earned their place.

If you want to get there, so do you. If it were easy, you wouldn't appreciate it once you had it and would lose it.

I think that’s advice we could all take to heart. One way you’re able to maintain contact with collectors is by going to events. What are your favorite toy shows and galleries?

Events and galleries owned or run by other artists. They are always the best, since an artist knows your feelings exactly and looks out for you. Businessmen are businessmen and are just looking to make money off you. In the end, either way is fine, and as long as I can nerd out at a show, I’ll be happy. I’m a collector at heart first and getting to talk shop brings me great joy. I’ve met many collectors at shows, and if it’s a group show, I’m usually looking at other artists’ stuff and just geeking out about how cool it all is. There is nothing worse than some hard ass at a show acting like a tool. This is the toy community. Just have fun and let go.

Besides toy shows, indie makers have to do a lot to cover the bases – lottery releases, online spot sales, madeto-order figures, etc. How difficult is it to maintain the balancing act? And how careful are you to limit production runs to avoid over-saturating the market?

This is a challenge, and every maker has their own way they are happy with. For me, it’s all of the above. I know how it feels to be in a collector’s shoes and how much it sucks to miss out over and over. I try to offer every avenue for a collector to buy one of my toys. I mean, you can’t get what you want every time, but if you did, what fun would that be?

Clutter 19 | 53

The hunt is such a great aspect of collecting, it’s what creates a toy grail. As a maker you'll know when it’s time and how to handle all of the above. You'll know your fan base, when to up or lower run numbers, and when and where to release them. It’s one of the things that comes with time, like I mentioned before. All the steps to get there will teach you all you’ll need to know. And if not, you’ll make friends who will help you out.

You’ve got your hands full making toys for fans in the USA and other countries. And let’s face it, it can be tough for indie toy makers to grow their fan bases outside their home markets. What are your feelings on that? Are you ambitious when it comes to expanding your international fan base?

In all honesty, with all the social media outlets, it’s not as bad as it used to be. If you’re ambitious, you can really reach out to the world. There are so many collectors out there that don't post on message boards or come to shows for multiple reasons, but they still want your or others’ toys. It’s up to you to find them and cater to them.

Nowadays my favorite social media outlet is Instagram, [where] I go by MutantVinylHardcore. It’s a great way to connect, and it cuts out all the BS that happens on message boards and shows. It’s all positive and so much fun. You have to create your own community and stay part of others’ as a maker. These days, I have collectors all over the globe. It’s amazing, definitely nothing I could have ever dreamed of. Yeah, if you’re willing, you will find a way to communicate, and you can definitely make it happen.

I’ll get onto Instagram one of these days, but I still prefer posting info and reports on Kaiju Korner. Anyway, there’s a flip side to expanding — there are only so many hours in a day to paint, sell, pack, and ship. In Japan, it’s common for indie makers to have other people paint their toys. Have you ever thought of bringing other people on board?

Yeah, I have thought about getting help, especially when it comes to packing and shipping. Paint wise, not so much, unless it’s done by a skilled factory painter. Shirahama or Goto-san would be a dream to have paint my toys, since both are technically factory painters but are also masters.

I think the biggest misconception people have is that factory paint is a bad thing. This is true with massive factories in China, but not so much with Japanese factories, which are 2-3 man operations with highly skilled artists. If it was something done in-house, I would need to teach the person how to paint. It takes years to really understand how to use Japanese paint.

At the end of the day though, I love what I do and prefer to do as much as I can at every step. Something has to have had my say in it, or I can’t really say it’s mine. I think the fact that I sculpt, paint, and package my stuff is what makes it so appealing. I know this is why I fell in love with Japanese makers. It’s knowing that what you have in hand was all done by the person who imagined it in their head.

Collaborations are another part of the puzzle. You’ve done a lot of collabs over the years, with painting, mashups, and working with other artists on completely new toys. How much do you enjoy collabs versus working on new releases on your own?

It’s equal to me. Both are just as rewarding, and each has its unique aspects. When I’m creating or painting a toy, that’s me alone, I’m putting into it what I like and what I want to see made. When working with others, I try to incorporate their history and what would make them happy.

When you’re working alone in your own little world, after a while it can get stagnant. But when you work with others, it brings out fresh new ideas that open your mind and which you can then bring back to your personal projects.

Also, I think collaborations really help bridge the gap between our toy worlds. It helps make collections of different brands pull together and form a cohesive group.

2013 was an amazing year for MVH, with so many new figures, collaborations, and shows. What are your thoughts when you look back on the year?

I’m always amazed with what I somehow accomplished when I look back at a year. This year has been one of the best, I think. I’ve been in some great shows with great friends. Finding out late last year I was going to be a dad has really helped me move forward and step up sculpts

this year. Although a few aren't finished, I’ve started some new toy designs I’m in love with. Just the general state of collectors and the love they have shown has been a leap forward this year. It’s a great time to be both a collector and a toy maker.

And a big congratulations on becoming a dad! How about your plans going forward with MVH and your career plans as a toy maker?

I’m planning on going full-time toy as a maker in 2014.

With things going the way they are and with all the artists I’m working with, it’s been a dream come true. When I finally decided to let go of worrying about the bullshit and started to focus on the work and hook up with other likeminded artists, it’s been a whole new world.

In 2014, you will see at least three new MVH toys. Along with collaborations with Paul Kaiju, Joe Merrill / Splurrt, Skinner, Brandt Peters, and Monster5, it’s going to be fantastic. I hope to get to the point where I can start producing other people’s toys and helping other artists get out there. That’s been a dream of mine from the start: to not only have my stuff, but to help foster the next wave of artists that will change the game. If I can be a part of all that, in the end I will be the happiest toy maker of all time. It just takes time to get there, which I think will happen soon.

Any other comments or shout-outs?

It goes without saying the fans who support my brand, and to the other artists who have helped get me here. But I need to give the biggest shout-out to my wife Jaclyn. If you have been to any of my events, she's usually there with me. She has changed my life and has given me courage to face my fears, supporting me through thick and thin.

She talked me off the ledge when I wanted to quit, when my depression was at its worst. If you’re a fan of my toys, thank her. She’s my final critic and the brains behind the operation. Sorry if this is corny to readers, but I never have a forum to give her her due. Thanks for letting me do this here.

Follow the exploits of MVH at:

www.mutantvinylhardcore.com and for the continued adventures of Andy b head to:

www.kaijukorner.blogspot.com

54 | Clutter 19

#HomeBrewPaint

Toy Paint/Resin Dye System www.HomeBrewPaint.com

Nick Curtis

Birthed on the Kidrobot message boards, the Most Wanted crew have consistently assembled some of the best regarded custom blind boxed series to date, drawing top tier talent to them regularly and someone managing to pull forth instantly iconic designs from each artist. In the previous issue, we had the rare opportunity to talk with the original founders of Most Wanted — Tim Munz, Igor Ventura, and Manny Rivas — who are joined for this discussion of Most Wanted Series 3 by customizer, and Most Wanted member, Kevin Gosselin.

PART FOUR: SERIES 3 TP: Were you guys feeling more organized going into Most Wanted Series 3 (MW3)?

Rivas: Absolutely we did! By then we had experimented so much and experienced both triumph and, well, not so triumphant moments that we had a stronger feel for how to go about things. The actual start-up process became like second nature. I mean, we actually never really took a break so it felt more like a continuous flow then anything else.

TP: So after Most Wanted Series 2 (MW2), you immediately started thinking about MW3?

Rivas: With an overwhelming demand for MW3, we couldn't bring ourselves to stopping just yet! From my end, MW3 was already in the works during MW2.

Throughout the last few months of MW2, I was already writing down new ideas I thought would keep things fresh.

Ventura: Around June [2011], we started talking about it and contacted all the former MW2 members 58 | Clutter 19

and asked them if they would be up to another series.

For those that were still interested, we asked for some design ideas and sketches of what they planned to make, so we could decide if it would go well with the other designs, make any suggestions we saw fit, or request additional designs. Some of the artists decided to focus on other projects, while others just didn't submit anything we thought were on par with the others, so we made some cuts.

TP: I'd noticed that a couple of artists from MW2 left, but a whole slew of new ones came in. Why the massive influx of talent?

Rivas: Besides the fact that these guys are insanely talented?!? As with MW2, where we brought on artists like Pause and Matucha, each new addition brought something completely different to the table that just clicked perfectly with the type of series we were trying to produce. The balance in styles seemed to compliment the overall feel of where we were at and where we wanted to go as a collective.

Ventura: We never had a limited, specific number of artists in mind, so there was always room for one more great artist! We were constantly researching forums and blogs for other upcoming artists making different and impressive pieces, and contacted some of them. Some of the artists were also suggested by former members and, in the end, I think we had a pretty decent line up for the final series!

Rivas: And I was personally happy to see someone as highly talented as David Bishop [RunDMB] go from doing this as a hobby to pretty much blowing up over night. All in all, I'm glad we decided not to scale back on the number of artists for MW3. We would have definitely missed out on some pretty amazing designs.

TP: Speaking of RunDMB, when MW3 was announced, there was a contest to win a RunDMB customized Munny. Why'd you do the contest and, beyond that, choose one of the new additions to make the piece that was given away?

"Iscream" by Gomi The challenge of participating in a custom series like this is the pressure. You're going to be showcased along with a dozen or so artists whose work you really respect, so you feel like you need to take the platform somewhere it hasn't been before, to show collectors something new. It forces you to raise your game.

Untitled by Grimsheep I wanted to do something with a Dia De Los Muertos flavor. I do a lot of skull stuff but hadn't really done that, so I figured I'd give it a go.

Untitled by Frank Mysterio The mariachi zombie. I wanted to do a Dunny that had some Mexican culture mixed with zombie trend, and the style ended up being more artistic with the intention that the pieces were each unique.

"Most Wanted Crew" by RunDMB The MW3 figures I did were some of the first customs I ever did. Certainly, I think I’d only made one or two Dunny customs before I did them, and maybe five or six customs in total, so I had no idea what I was doing. I got invited to do it by Manny because he liked a couple of Munny customs I put on the KR forums. Unfortunately the design I settled on (which was a version of a custom I did for a board member and pretty much the first dunny I did) was quite intricate and really difficult to reproduce, so I found the whole thing terrifying, not least because I thought mine would be the worst in the series.

"Good Morning Beard" by Nevercrew "There's nothing "simple" about nevercrew's apparently simplistic designs. I love how the concept of "less is more" is always present in their work, and their "Good Morning Beard" Dunny is just flawlessly executed. I remember when we invited them to join the Most Wanted crew, and they came up with a page filled with great designs in a couple of days... insane!" - Igor Ventura "Arr-Manda" by Nikejerk I'm always trying to push the possibilities with the platform and, since my MW2 Horseman was already innovative at the time, I needed to come up with something that could top it. And I loved the idea of the nesting dolls running the spectrum of all the Dunny sizes.

"ty_po" by Ryan the Wheelbarrow When I was invited by the Most Wanted crew to be apart of their 3rd custom Dunny series I was super stoked! I have had mad respect for this global group of talented customizers ever since the 1st and 2nd series. At that time I had blogged about it extensively on Kidrobot's KRonikle and it was humbling to be acknowledged in such a growing scene of customizers. Plus I was also chosen for this series to make a one-off Silver Ticket design.

My style is definitely different from the rest of the series, so to push myself I decided to add a blend of purple and green color and a bit of grit.

By design my art is already fucked up so when you accidently drop it off the shelf no one will notice the imperfections. I don't let myself get bogged down by anal retentive details.

"Bury Da" & "Bury Ma" by MAp-MAp I had never reproduced a custom design. So to dip my foot in the water I chose to instead create two very similar designs. From there the ideas of a pair fell into place. A Mother and Father. One carrying their young, the other carrying their food (or the remains of their food).

"All About Zanahorias" by Chauskoskis "I loved the idea of using the Dunny's ears as carrots since the moment I saw Walter's sketch. I think he hit the nail right in the head making the character a farmer rabbit. Perfectly executed and sculpted, it can't get better than that — except with the 8" version that has eyes which actually light-up in the dark." - Igor Ventura

Clutter 19 | 59

"Los Reyes de Nada" by Dr. Befa "We've always been great fans of his pieces. The handmade look goes perfectly with the calavera look, and — even though there are a lot of customizers that make skulls — his piece really feels unique and full of character." - Igor Ventura

"Krunkenstein" by Tim Munz "Tim's Krunkenstein was one of the first Dunnys I saw with inverted arms, and I think it was a simple, yet genious approach to illustrate how the character walks around. As he said himself, Krunkenstein's definition is 'One who is in a perpetual state of intoxication, living their life in a zombie-like state.'

He couln't have illustrated it better." - Igor Ventura

"Gamerboy" by Luihz Unreal Gamer boy was so addicted to video games, he accidentally found out a secret code inside one of his games. He was transported to a magic world, where he can play all day long without worrying about life's problems, like paying his bills, respecting the laws of physics and the logic behind things, and all he needs is heart flowers to live.

60 | Clutter 19

"Paperboy" by Sergio Mancini The idea behind paperboy was more visuallyoriented than conceptual. I like vintage stuff and noticed that the Dunny's ears could be used to help him "shout."

"Golem Dunny" by Kevin Gosselin For my MW3 dunny I settled on a stone golem. I had yet to create a 3" dunny golem so I figured it was the obvious choice. The golem, while very detailed, is kind of boring so I decided to add a couple friends. I added a character I've used before, the "Ready for Bedtime" bunny, and create a new one, Penelope Pig. The golem's face and arms, the pig, and the napsack with bunny are all resin casts to help speed up the process and also make sure that each of my customs looked identical. Overall I was very pleased with the quality of these pieces as opposed to MW2.

"Don Pollo" by Matucha In the markets of México, there are people who sell chickens to eat, they are called "polleros."

When I was little girl I wanted to be a pollera. I like the stories of serial killers, that is why I did "Don Pollo," because he kills chickens.

"Pyromaniac Puppet" by Igor Ventura I have a very good friend of mine that was a drug addict, loved to party, and didn't realize he was ruining his life and destroying his family. So, pyromaniac puppet is kinda inspired by him, and by everybody that doesn't realize they are playing with fire til it's too late and they are already burnt. Yeah, I can be serious sometimes...

"Feelin' Husky (Some Assemly Required)" by Pause One of our favourite things to do with a Dunny design is to try and create a piece using the original Dunny sculpt in a unique way that hasn't been done before. People love the Dunny sculpt already, so if you can alter it while still having it easily recognizable, it makes for a really memorable design. Instead of trying to come up with a theme, we'll stare at a blank Dunny until ideas start to flow. If you stare at a blank Dunny long enough, without blinking, moving, daylight, or water, eventually you'll see that it starts to look exactly like a chubby blonde kid who dropped his candy apple because he's riding the hell out of playground duck spring who is being crushed under the weight in a sandbox. So, that's what we went with.

Ventura: All of us fell in love with David's graff style as soon as we saw his pieces, so when Manny had the idea of hyping the series with a giveaway, and since we were in touch with David, we thought it would be cool to promote the addition of one of the new talents by offering a custom piece. We created a Twitter/Facebook contest, and the winner was picked at random.

Rivas: I remember how worried he was that no one would want a pink Munny customized by him!

Ventura: He told me it was the only pink toy he has ever painted and I think it turned out wonderful. His custom Munny kind of celebrated MW3, with some tags and a sign with the logo.

Rivas: In fact, we loved his custom so much that we used the MW3 logo he painted on the Munny accessory for a good portion of the series.

TP: I think MW3 overall showed people that just about anything was possible with customs; there were a LOT of very unique, intricate takes on the Dunny platform. Was that something you specifically pushed for?

Rivas: Without a doubt, that's exactly what we were pushing for. We wanted to set the bar just a little bit higher for ourselves. One of the best examples has to be Eric [Pause]'s design. The way he managed to reinvent the platform while still paying homage to it was amazing. Everyone brought their best to the table and I couldn't have been happier with the end results.

Ventura: I think all the artists decided to push themselves further and further after the first two series, especially because we wanted to keep the number of production pieces lower than on MW2, and they could go even crazier and don't worry too much about having to make too many pieces of the same design. We focused on choosing the most original and mesmerizing designs, of course, but I have to give credit to the artists in the first place. If every one of them haven't pushed the boundaries and really tried to give their best, we wouldn't have so many unforgettable designs!

TP: Such stunning designs, though far fewer variants this time around. As far as I know, Chauskoskis, Frank Mysterio, Gomi, and Matucha had the only variants… Was this an intentional shift or did each artist decide for themselves?

Munz: We realized that there are people who tried to collect the whole series, so we tried to make it more "possible" this time. We decided to keep the number of variants as low as that of a proper production series.

Ventura: As I said before, we wanted to make MW3 a series a little smaller than MW2, so even though we gave all the artists a lot of creative freedom, we still asked them not to make over 10 pieces each, and try to keep the variants to a minimum. I think most of the artists chose to make between only 4 to 8 pieces, but the fact that we had fewer variants kept things more interesting for the collector, in my opinion.

different colorways of his piece!

Rivas: Yes! I thought that Gomi's choice of creating different flavors of ice cream instead of changing the overall design worked perfectly with his theme.

TP: And, of course, I didn't mention MAp-MAp, who did two unique customs for the series. I assume he was your "Special Guest" this time around?

Munz: Yes, that's right. MAp-MAp was this round's "special guest."

Ventura: Well, we contacted MAp-MAp really late in the game, so I think he didn't have much time left to make more pieces, but he is an amazing artist and we really wanted him aboard.

TP: And the Golden Ticket for MW3 was by Gomi — a hand-made 5" tall Dunny, right? How'd that come about? It's a pretty radical idea.

Ventura: I'm not sure, but I believe Manny got in touch with him and asked if he would be up to the challenge of doing the Golden Ticket, and I'm pretty sure he come up with the idea of a hand-made 5" Dunny himself, which I thought was an amazing idea.

Rivas: Yea, that was all Gomi. Right from the start he wanted to switch things up and do something completely different. When he presented me with the idea of creating a 5" custom Dunny — which, as you know, doesn't exist in production form — I was completely blown away! It just goes to show you the level of creativity and drive these artists possess.

Ventura: And since MW is a custom series to its core, I think a hand-made Dunny really helps showing that anything is possible when it comes to custom pieces.

Even creating one from scratch, having only the design of the figure to start with!

TP: There were also some instant bonus items this time around, right? I know Nikejerk made prints of his design, Ryan the Wheelbarrow did some prints too, there was an instant win Silver Ticket, and probably some other stuff… all in addition to the Golden Ticket! What was the reasoning behind all the extras?

Munz: We put in all the extras 'cause we could!

MW3 tried to get as close as possible to a proper Dunny series in overall look and quality, but it still remained a custom series. So we were able to put in some random extras that make it more exclusive and special next to a production series.

Rivas: Plus I think that having the artists create and choose what to contribute to the extras and giveaways was sort of a reminder that this was still something being done by a collective of artists and fans alike.

Ventura: Absolutely. I donated the original art I used for my [Dunny's artist] card and it was randomly inserted in one of the orders, just like the other freebies.

Rivas: We wanted to give a little something back to the fans who had supported us for so long.

Rivas: There may have been an artist or two that just sort of went for it — which was a nice surprise for us! — but for the most part it was a back and forth process with each artist when it came to deciding which variants worked best.

Ventura: Not only their support but also their patience, especially the ones that got a lot of blinds on the very first pre-orders and stayed calm and patient for over a year until the first orders started to ship!

TP: When you say some artists 'went for it,' do you mean like Gomi's design? There were around five

Munz: I guess this is a good point to say sorry to the collectors for that huge delay in shipping.

TP: Since you bring it up, there were some wellknown issues with the final release of MW3. I don't want to open old wounds, but…

Rivas: As we all know, shit happens. There are things in life we just can't control but we try our best to get through it.

Gosselin: When the series was months behind and negativity began to build from the community, it was necessary for someone to take over Manny's responsibilities. I chose to do it after Igor asked me to call Manny. To be frank, I found it easy and took little time to complete, albeit I only had to package half the Dunnys.

Rivas: Despite all the lows, I don't regret being a part of something as ambitious as MW. We accomplished what we set out to do and I'm proud of that. With the support of our fans, I'd like to think we helped to create a sort of bridge between the up-andcoming community of custom artists and the already established artists in the scene.

TP: Speaking of which, and back to happier topics, the entire series was debuted at the Most Wanted themed art show, Behind the Hype… How'd that come about?

Ventura: I gotta give Manny credit for that — he really had a lot of cool marketing promo ideas to help hype not only the series, but the collective as a whole.

The Behind the Hype show was great, I know a lot of pieces were sold there, even though there was some awesome guest artists involved that weren't part of any of the first series…

Rivas: We were able to collab with some amazing up-and-coming artists such as Ardabus Rubber, Artmymind, Ian Ziobrowski, and many others.

Ventura: I guess you can say they would probably be in a future Most Wanted Series 4 (MW4)…

TP: Will there be a MW4? Or is Most Wanted over?

I believe Kevin Gosselin mentioned that he'd be interested in taking over the steering of the ship, if he had the time.

Gosselin: I said I'd be willing to do it again in the event Igor and Tim wanted to pursue another series.

I don't and did not ever want to lay claim to the brand but I think there is still very likely remaining interest in the brand, shown evident by this article, and I think that if it was pursued it would no doubt be successful.

Munz: I do not think there will be a MW4 after all the drama of this last series.

Rivas: The way I see it, this is an opportunity to reinvent the name and expand onto different platforms and projects.

Gosselin: In the end, the brand is just a list of skillful artists and, wherever they go, you will find success. Call the series whatever you want. If you bring Chauskoskis, MAp-MAp, [Sergio] Mancini, Grimsheep, [Tim] Munz, etc. into a series, it will sell.

Add the MW brand, and it's just a good back-story.

cont...

Clutter 19 | 61

PART FIVE: SUPERISH TP: After everything that happened with MW3, you seem to have shifted gears and focused on Red Mutuca, releasing the Superish blind box series. Red Mutuca was formed by yourself and Sergio Mancini, right? How'd you two meet?

Ventura: Sergio and I met around 2008 in a forum of art toy lovers on a site called Orkut, which was very popular in Brazil at the time. We were only collectors back then, but shared the same passion for art. We collected mostly Dunnys, but had to find something useful to do with our doubles. We first created an online store called Banana Suicida, but it didn't take long till we started to venture in the field of customizing. My first piece was for a contest that Sergio and I won; we submitted projects and both our designs were selected. Our prize was an 8" Bear Qee each, that we should paint with the same design that was selected. I made a slot machine and Sergio made a Samba Qee, inspired by a typical Brazilian bohemian character. From then on, we never stopped.

TP: So how did Red Mutuca come to be formed?

Ventura: Red Mutuca Studios was founded in 2009, when we decided we wanted to create a collective of people with the same passion as us, that we could showcase our art together and grow as a whole. When one of the artists appears on a blog, or magazine, or is selected to get a production piece, all the members end up getting some visibility and recognition, and that is good for everybody. It is an art collective of heavily talented artists and designers from around the globe, who share the same passion for developing creative solutions for designer art toys, limited edition and custom toy pieces, character design, illustration, street art, accessories, animation, and art shows.

TP: Sounds like a great artistic collective, gathering like-minded people together. Who’re the members of Red Mutuca?

Ventura: Our current members are Igor Ventura, Sergio Mancini, Luihz Unreal, Matucha, Tim Munz, RunDMB, Grimsheep, MAp-MAp, Quiccs, Charles Rodriguez, and Chauskoskis.

TP: So Red Mutuca's first blind boxed series was Superish, which was themed around creating almost superheroic custom Dunny characters. Why have a theme?

Ventura: We know none of the Most Wanted series had any themes, but we wanted to make things a little different, and we thought it was easier for all the artists to come up with ideas if we set a specific theme for them. Not to mention the whole set would look great together, even with different styles from each artist. We had originally planned to make the first Red Mutuca series just in time for SDCC, thus the superhero theme.

TP: Makes sense, though it wasn't released a San Diego Comic-Con, was it?

Ventura: Unfortunately, we weren't able to finish everything and release them at SDCC, but I'm really happy with the way all the pieces turned out and that the series was a success and sold out in only one day.

The super hero theme set a mark for us!

TP: Why'd you want to do a slightly humorous take rather than a straightforward superhero theme?

Ventura: There are already a lot of great customizers out there that do great jobs making adaptations of existing superheroes to a number of platforms, so we wanted 62 | Clutter 19

to do something different and use the superhero theme in an original way. Sergio and I had the idea of bizarre, stupid, and unusual super powered heroes, and everyone loved and jumped onto it.

TP: Was there one 'curator' for Superish? Someone who, like with Most Wanted, reviewed design submissions and helped guide the series to one cohesive whole? Or, since you're all part of the same artistic studio, was there more of a feeling that everyone could be trusted to work on their own and produce amazing customs?

Ventura: We have a secret group on Facebook, only available to Red Mutuca members, and we use it to discuss future projects, design ideas, invites for shows and open calls, production pieces from the members... it's a cool way to get in touch with everybody. We created a topic there where we discussed all the design submissions for the Superish series, so you can say it was a huge work in group. We set some deadlines, each one of us submitted some rough ideas, and everyone voted on the ones they liked best. Since Sergio and I are the founding members of the studio and we had the idea for this series, we helped to take it in the direction we had in mind from the beginning, but everyone helped with a lot of input and I'm sure all the pieces benefited from comments and ideas from the others.

It was Tim [Munz]'s idea that my Mizzzter REM should wear a sleeping mask, for example…

TP: I remember there was a rumor circulating that this series would come with a mini-comic featuring the characters… was that simply wishful thinking on the part of fans or was it actually something you considered but opted not to do?

"Super Matucha" by Matucha Matucha is a girl who loves stories of superheroes.

She wanted to become one with all her heart. Then, one morning, she woke up, farted, and immediately realized it was so stinky that anyone nearby would just faint. From that day on, she became Supermatucha! She immediately put her panties on her head to protect her secret identity, tied her bed sheets around her neck, and made a slingshot to launch objects at any foe.

Ventura: I don't remember exactly if we started that rumor or the fans, but it definitely was an idea and it's definitely something we considered! It would've been awesome to really make the mini-comic. However, I guess all the artists involved were crazy busy at the time, and we didn't want to have to postpone the release of the series another month or two, because it would definitely be a long process.

TP: Was there a script for it already? Or an idea of the plot?

Ventura: Well, we had the idea that the mini-comic wouldn't have a script and it would evolve depending on where each artist would take it. The first one would draw a page, the next would pick it up from there and develop the story, and so on. So the end would be totally up to the last artist drawing it... However, that meant that each artist would have to finish his page before the next one would start, and that could take a while.

"Mutucaman" by Sergio Mancini In the case of my Superish piece, Mutucaman, I knew it HAD to be part of the team, as a representative of the group. I've wanted to make our horsefly mascot for quite some time in some way, and this came in the form of a Dunny.

TP: Too bad it didn't work out; I would've loved to see the finished work.

Ventura: Well, maybe we will try something different with the next series, with a set script from the start, so everyone could work on their part at the same time as the others...

TP: Wait, you know what the next series will be? And it will make sense to have a mini-comic?

Ventura: Oh yes… we plan to follow-up with a super villain series next year!

For more information visit:

www.mwcrew.com www.redmutuca.com

"Me-Man" by Tim Munz "Tim was the first to finish his Me-Man piece, and he really set the bar high for all the others. The little mirror he used came from Lego toys, but I think it is the highlight of this character obsessed with himself." - Igor Ventura

"Brain Freeze" by MAp-MAp I was looking at classic elemental superheroes and landed on Mr. Freeze from the Batman comics when 'Brain Freeze' appeared in my head. From there, the concept flowed easily, with my idea of the brain as one of the ice cream scoops probably being the moment I knew that was the design to run with.

"Poison Arrow" by Grimsheep I don't really remember exactly how I landed on the poison frog guy concept. I was just brainstorming and trying to come up with some super power like abilities and how my hero could have come to have them. At some point I must have googled poison dart frogs to see if there were any that would look cool as a costume and found the red, white, and black polka dotted guy. I did switch it to arrow rather than dart for his logo's sake.

"Mizzzter REM" by Igor Ventura I had some ideas for my Superish piece, but none of them really satisfied me and I decided to sleep on it and have better ideas the next morning. I woke up in the middle of the night to hit the bathroom, and I had an idea that it would be pretty funny to make a sleep-walking superhero that couldn't remember anything he had done the previous night. Kinda like in the Fight Club, my all-time favorite movie, but slightly less violent. So, Mizzzter REM was born. I showed it to my Red Mutuca buddies the next day, and it was Tim's idea to make him use a sleeping mask. Brilliant!

"Nearly Invisible Man" by RunDMB There’s a drawing where I basically did some eyes and a moustache on the dunny template which I really liked and thought, “Why do anymore? If I cast it clear, I can do the Invisible Man” and then realised that if you could actually see a bit of him, he’d be the “Nearly invisible Man” and therefore superish. The clear resin was a real pain to draw on with my trusty Poscas as it’s so hard, but I think they came out OK.

"Super Weenie" by Chauskoskis "Walter's initial sketch for Superish was a little simpler when we first started talking about the idea behind the series. But once we started talking about how much we planned to charge for each blind box, everyone decided fans deserved all our effort in making pieces they felt were worth the money — and it was no different with Walter's piece, and it became that beautiful flying piece." - Igor Ventura

"Donkeyman" by Luihz Unreal Donkeyman is the donkey's guardian, ever vigilante and trying to prevent people from doing stupid things, like littering, making bad jokes, voting for corrupt politicians, playing the lottery... For that end, he uses his atomic kick, even if sometimes it takes people to the hospital with fractures or in a coma.

Clutter 19 | 63

Est 2004

Toy Mafia T-Shirt (GID Edition) Available in other colors

Groper

by Triplikid

WWW.CLUTTER.CO

Heirophany (Marbled Edition)

by Carlos Enriquez Gonzalez

Beat-Dazzle

by Scott Tolleson

The Furry Cup

by Lunartik

SHOP OPEN FOR BUSINESS