Interview with Brian Colin

 

How and when did you get into designer toys?

It was a little less than a year ago that I really took notice of designer toys. Atlanta was had skipped a couple years of having any sort of comic convention and on April 21, 2007 the Atlanta Comic Expo debuted. I had seen some toys in a few design magazines and in the windows of a couple of hip shops, but I never got quite close enough that I could linger….. that day at the comic show I purchased my first 2 blind box toys from the Scary Girl series. Then the next day I wished I had purchased a Munny from the same vendor and started calling around to local shops until I found who had them. At that point I was hooked. I think I came home with a white series 3 Munny, and a handful of Azteca Dunnys. I haven’t been the same since. 

 

What are your favorite toys and/or artists?

That’s a really tough question because there’s so much out that is really great work. Let’s start with toys…. I love Dunny, the shape the capabilities, the number of people that have done so much with that shape, 

 

Tell us a little about your own collection

My collection is very small and limited at the moment. Since I have only been collecting for less than a year it consists of Dunnys (Azteca, Series 4, French) A couple 8" (Mist, McPherson, Der), some of the Inventsville animals that I wish I would have gone ahead and bought a case that came with a tree when I had the chance, some Finders Keepers, Ripple, and Simkins’ piece from vivisect playset. That’s the designer toys I also have a bunch of Muppets toys, 12" Star Wars & Planet of the Apes, some MOTU, and a bunch of legos. I’m trying to build up an art collection  but it is off to a rather slow start. 

 

When did you start customizing?

From the first question you can see the second day I bought a Munny to customize and I posted it on the kidrobot forums on May 7, 2007. It took me about 2 weeks to decide exactly what I wanted to do, how to start sculpting and how I wanted to paint it. 

 

 

What are your favorite toys for customizing?

Right now sadly I haven’t branched out much. I started with a few Munnys, then I started doing a bunch of duplicate 3" dunnys that I had. I did one 8" Dunny which I loved working on, the ears just added an extra layer of complexity to the design. I worked on a Gosho by Super Rad Toys that I really enjoyed working on. It was a much different shape than anything I had done. Having a face already in the sculpt added a challenge that I hadn’t been exposed to yet.  I have also worked on one Mighty Mugg which the price was great, but I probably won’t do another for a bit. I have a 16" Bunny Qee that I’ve been staring at for a while and I am very excited about seeing what I come up with for that, it’s pretty stinkin’ big. I also want to work on some Mad Ls and anything else I can get my hands on. 

 

 

 

What materials and techniques do you use?

I was using super sculpy for my additions to the vinyl but found it has a tendency to shatter so I just got some Magic Sculpt that Sket-One had suggested during a panel discussion at the 2008 Atlanta Comic show. That material you don’t have to bake, it air dries over night. Hopefully I’ll get to playing with that soon. I was also using some tools from old Play-Dough sets. I found that I could run clay through the shaping tools and come up with some great, well formed pieces. Aside from that I use white killz spray primer to get the base coat ready to go. After that I start using acrylic and brushes. I tend to go through the brushes pretty quick between vinyl toys and canvases, I need the brushes to hold a good point on some of the smaller vinyl. 

 

 

How much time do you spend customizing a toy?

Anywhere from 6 hours to 20 hours. Usually if I don’t have an idea already sketched out I take some clay while I’m watching tv and let myself get distracted and see what comes from it. A few nights I did about 3 sculpts on Dunnys after I had gotten home from work and was just hangin’ out in the living room. Then after they are ready to paint, the small 3" ones I can usually paint start to finish in about 4 hours. Bigger pieces I usually do over the course of a few days at night or on the weekends.

 

 

Do you make other art besides customizing toys?

I do, I have been working my current acrylic style on canvas since December of 2006. The brush strokes and painting technique is similar to my vinyl. The subject matter started with vintage toy robots & ray guns and has expanded sometimes accompanying the toys that I customize. I’ve slowly been getting these pieces into shows around Atlanta, and Detroit, then in the fall I will have some in New York. 

 

 

What other interests do you have (besides designer toys)?

There isn’t a whole lot of time for much else after working as small design firm by day. I spend most of my free time painting either canvas or toys. But everyone has to eat and my wife and I cook very well together and we like bringing creativity into the kitchen. Those are pretty much my big hobbies, oh I also read a fair amount of comic books. 

 

 

Do you take on commissions?

I love working on commissions, it is a great feeling to have someone admire your work and see their reaction when you hand the piece over to them.

 

Where can people see more of your work and/or contact you?

I post all of my work on my website www.codedecoinc.com. My photography skills really do not do the pieces justice. I am currently still working on the code for the store section, but I usually have a couple of different giclee prints available and some originals. If anyone takes a look through the site, I would love to hear some feedback!