dunny munny kidrobot designer toys qee bearbrick
How and when did you get into designer toys?
I took a portfolio of my poster work and went to see Frank Kozik (4-5 yrs ago, perhaps a little longer?). I don’t even think the Kid Robot in SF was open yet. Frank had an amazing collection of all kinds of stuff, but I believe most of it was Japanese.
What are your favorite toys and/or artists?
Favorite toys short list would be things like the Sam Flores Tiger Baby & Fatima, Mars-1 Recon & Observer, Jeremy Fish Bunny Van & Turtle Camper, Scott Musgrove Booted Glamour Cat, Jermaine Rogers Squire, Ewok Horselington, Kaching Brands Canti and Super Rad Ningyo Gosho.
Tell us a little about your own collection
Let’s see, well besides the stuff already mentioned, my wife has a pretty big collection of Cheshire Cats and we still have a lot of 8″ Dunnys. Way too many odds & ends to mention. Oh, I also have a soft spot for Kozik’s Labbit in all it’s many forms.
When did you start customizing?
I think I’ve written this before, but - as a kid I’d cut off the arms, legs, and heads off my little plastic army men and use a Bunsen burner to make my own multi-armed or double headed mutant soldiers. Then when “Star Wars” came out I started crashing model kits together to make my own space ships and creatures. I didn’t, however, touch a piece of designer vinyl until I got to check out Kozik’s place.
What are your favorite toys for customizing?
The list is basically the same as my favorite toy list - the Sam Flores Tiger Baby & Fatima, Scott Musgrove Booted Glamour Cat, Jermaine Rogers Squire & Veil, Kaching Brands Canti and Super Rad Ningyo Gosho.
Something a little different was, I got to do one of those 70’s (??) Dough-Boys for that El Maz Show. On a side note, I actually bought my piece back this year. I think I paid through the nose for it (haha), but it was too much work to make another one and I really missed it. I don’t usually feel that kind of attachment to my own work, and as I do it for a living, am forced to part w/ most of it. I really wanted that guy back for some reason.
Back to the list… of course there’s been plenty of Dunny’s and Munny’s. Something new for me was I got to hit a pair of Super 7 Doku’s just before Halloween. Those were a hell of a lot of fun.
What materials and techniques do you use?
I use all kinds of paint and spray-paint, markers, pens, pencils, pastels, etc. I’ve hit up canvases, skate decks, walls, kicks/shoes, vehicles, all manner of wearables, door panels, toilet seats, furniture etc. I know I’m spacing on all kinds of stuff, but you get the idea.
How much time do you spend customizing a toy?
I don’t think I’ve ever spent less that 5-6 hours and have gone well beyond 100 hrs. With commissions I try
to make at least minimum wage (sad isn’t it?) and so usually average 2-3 days depending on what the client wants to spend, but I am getting faster.
Do you make other art besides customizing toys?
Oh yea! I actually paint way more than I customize. So there’s traditional canvas of course, but I painted all kinds of things before toys. When I first worked as a graphic designer and production artist (yes that’s before Macs and we used wax and spray mount to hold everything together before shooting film positives or negatives w/ a giant old stat camera) in Cleveland (late 80’s early 90’s) I had what I called “chair parties”. Basically I’d get a shitty old piece
of overstuffed furniture w/ cloth upholstery and then gesso the hell out of it. Then w/ plenty of friends, paint, markers, beer and perhaps a pinch of pot, we’d go nuts on that thing. I still wonder how I managed to keep any roommates back then or ever get a security deposit back.
What other interests do you have (besides designer toys)?
First off painting and drawing. Beside that, standard stuff I suppose… movies, video games, moutain biking, hiking, competitive drinking. We have two fish tanks filled w/ turtles. Also my wife and I bought a “fixer upper” which I learned is real-estate speak for “shit box” and that eats a ton of my time and taught me the meaning of “back pain” (I’ve got the fireplace al torn apart right now). But if not for this you could see me hustling toys out of a shopping cart along side Johnny crack dealer and talking to myself while standing in a fresh puddle of pee, so right now I’m just thankful to be eating and living in-doors. Oh, I’m also a hell of a “house husband” and do all the shopping and cooking. Although I secretly fantasize about having a maid as neither of us clean as much as we probably should. I don’t know how the hell mom managed to do everything and raise two kids and a husband at the same time. I think this is were I give a big “shout out” to my wife Michele (yes one “l”) for giving me a chance to follow my dream as it were. I had a crappy art director job w/ the phone company for 15 yrs and well after one of the last mergers, were it not for Michele, they’d have me climbing poles in a field right now! No lie. Thanks Honey!!!
Do you take on commisions?
Every chance I get. You just need to know what you want to spend and I have a $100 minimum (unless you have a toy I want - I do work for trade too). Beyond that I can work w/ any budget. I still get a nut-bag once in a blue moon that wants me to customize his bedroom in his mom’s basement for five bucks and a 3″ Dunny that his dog chewed. For the most part however, I’m pretty busy and people have been killer this year w/ all kinds of great commissions (thank you all very much BTW!!!!).
Where can people see more of your work and/or contact you?
Well I’m between websites (read haven’t gotten off my ass to finish the one that’s up), so the best bet is Myspace http://www.myspace.com/leecifer1
You can also hit me up through a KidRobot message board PM or Vinyl Requiem message board PM.Sometimes I’ll appear if you say my name three times in the bathroom mirror w/ the lights out, but I think both of us have to be drunk at the same time for that
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