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Designer toys, an interview

posted by Matt Knicl at 11:13 pm.

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Before the New York Comic Con, I was oblivious to many parts of geek culture. At NYCC, there were a lot of booths not devoted to comics, but to small collectible toys made predominantly of plastic. Many of them were of Japanese influence and I was largely ignorant of this hobby, though I didn’t feel I needed to understand it.

Then I saw Kissaki. Designed by Erick Scarecrow, founder of ESC-Toy Ltd., Kissaki was the first designer toy I have purchased. For me, it was a work of art - a delicate fantasy creation who is simultaneously peaceful and angry at the same time. For me, Kissaki is all about how you choose to perceive her. Her arms are at her side, or clenched, raised, in fists.

I wanted to know more about this scene, and spoke to Erick Scarecrow about Kissaki and his work in the field.

Matt Knicl: What are vinyl and designer toys?

Erick Scarecrow: Designer Toys is a term basically used to describe toys and other collectibles that are produced in limited editions. These are created by artists/designers that use vinyl,plastic,wood,metal,resin and plush. They first appeared in the 1990s when designer Michael Lau displayed customized GI JOES wearing urban gear.

Matt: How did you get into it?

Erick: I used to work for a US based Toy company back in 2002. I lost my job as an art director back in 2005 due to the company downsizing. I had designed hundreds of plush toylines that sold in many parts of the world.

When I lost my job, I had nothing. It was a really hard time for me but the one thing that I noticed was there was opportunities for me to handle production for other artists/companies. So I knew I could handle their production so I seized the opportunities and that was the birth of ESC-Toy in a nutshell.

Matt: What goes into creating a sculpture?

Erick: A lot of work goes into creating a sculpture. One of them is rotation artwork. When you see a characters in 2D like in one pose and it needs to be sculpted, you need additional information such as the back side, left, right etc. This all helps with the translating into 3D sculpture. Especially when there’s a great level of detail required.

We spend a lot of time reviewing 2D artwork that needs to be translated into 3D. Whether it’s vinyl or plush you have to be aware of consistencies.

Matt: How did you come to design Kissaki?

Erick: Initially I created Kissaki as a full fledge samurai wearing chunky armor but I wasn’t satisfied with the design. I kept playing with different ideas until I settled on the present design. It felt right. I wanted to capture a character that uses her art as her weapon. A character that was beautiful. Someone you couldn’t cross without her using your body as a canvas.

Matt: Is this a stable market?

Erick: This market is growing in other countries as we speak. The UK, Australia, Netherlands, Japan, and Taiwan are starting to collect as hard as the US. I’m glad because it means my art is traveling and I’m happy about that.

Matt: Do you collect yourself?

Erick: As of now I haven’t collected in a while. I’ve been so busy working on just making new toys.

Matt: Why are some figures relatively cheap, but painted variants more expensive?

Erick: Well that’s because the limited edition ones in painted variants are produced in lower qtys instead of the regular colorway that might be produced at a higher qty.

Matt: Do you have any more lines planned for the future?

Erick: Yes. Since there’s a strong interest in Kissaki, I’ve decided to expand in her world. Since the unveiling at the New York Comic Con I’ve been asked a lot of questions regarding her. So we’ll have some fun with it.

Images courtesy ESC-Toys LTD.

Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.