Interview with customizer Dinosauria

Tell us a little about yourself
OK, My name is Thomas Gillespie. I live in the West End of Glasgow. I did a couple of art courses at college starting in 1998. I went to university in 2000 and I graduated with a degree in fine Art.
I had to go to an art school where I could do an interdisciplinary degree, mainly due to the fact I have a very short attention span, so there’s no way I could’ve stuck to one medium for 3-4 years. This worked out really well for me as I got to do painting, printmaking, sculpture creative writing, musical composition and make a film.
Before that I was a graphic designer. I’ve always drawn since I was a kid.
Last week I had the best White Russian of my entire life!!

How and when did you get into designer toys?
Leslie from Fat Buddha (my local vinyl dealer) gave me some free blind boxed Dunny’s when I was in is shop (they were Azteca series) and I pulled a GID Beast Bros.
I knew practically nothing about vinyl, so I did some poking around on the KR forum and found out that it was a chase (which I’d never heard of). I joined the forum and posted my haul on a “post your latest toy” thread and immediately got hammered with PM’s offering crazy amounts of money for this £5 toy!! I didn’t really like the design so I ended up trading it. I was too green at the time to realize how cut throat the vinyl collecting scene can be. I still got a good trade though.
That was it for me, I had an instant Dunny collection and it just went on from there. Wow, it was only 6 months ago!

Tell us a little about your collection
The bulk of my collection is mini figs focusing mainly on Dunny’s. I have lots of 3”ers (including around 200 doubles for customizing) and around 30 8”ers. I also have a couple of hundred 2” Qee and around 17-20 8”ers. I have a 2 of the old Gorillaz vinyls from KR as well as the newer small ones….a couple of Dalek Space Monkeys…….various other bits and pieces. I like weird looking stuff.

Some of Thomas’ collection of designer toys.

What are your favorite toys and/or artists?
That’s a hard one… Fave toy…maybe my Eric So Hellboy, though I do love my Dalek Space Monkeys.
As for artists I’m a big fan of Dalek, Jon Burgerman, TADO, Peskimo, Biskup, Baseman…too many to mention really. I have a wide and varied taste when it comes to art.

When did you start customizing?
Around six months ago I wanted to get back into painting and saw a couple of customs by BiL BetsOviC (Dunny or Munny, I can’t remember) and I was impressed so I started searching for a place in Glasgow where I could buy something to paint on. I found 3 DIY Munny’s in Forbidden Planet (International). I quickly completed my first 3 customs and went back to buy some more. At this point I didn’t realize that these things were so hard to get a hold of, so I was saddened to discover that FP didn’t have any more!!
While waiting for the subway home I happened to spot an ad for a shop called Fat Buddha and they stocked……TOYS BY KID ROBOT!!! So off I went back into town to pick up some DIY’s.
The shop owner liked the customs I’d made and asked me to do one for the shop. I posted the first 3 on the showoff forum on KR and I got great offers for them, so off they went!!
I just saw it as a cool hobby that meant I could build up a collection for free.

What are your favorite toys for customizing
8” Dunny without a doubt, I do like the 3”ers too, though it can be a real challenge to get the details onto those little guys. Dunny’s have a great build quality, and I like the vinyl they’re made of. Also the paint comes off of them really easily as the main colour of the piece is the colour of the vinyl. Teddy Troops and some other vinyl toys are plain vinyl with a base coat then a design so there’s much more paint to strip off.

Thomas’ workspace.

What materials and techniques do you use?
I use acetone from the chemist to strip the paint off vinyl. I buy all of my primer, paint, clearcoat and scalpels for carving from Games Workshop. I put on the design with paint brushes, I never really use spray paint or sharpies. I always start with a black basecoat and block in the design with white paint. I either paint or cut away at customs. I never add with Milliput or Sculpey.
I also tend to freehand my customs, I’ll only ever sketch out a design if I’m doing a version of an existing person/character for commission or if I’m doodling while I’m on the phone.
It’s a pretty simple setup really.

How much time do you spend customizing a toy?
It really depends on the design and how much I’m enjoying myself. It could be anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days. I also tend to work on a few at a time. The fact that I have such a short attention span helps. It means I have to focus all my efforts into making my customs as quickly and to the best standard possible.
If it’s a commission I’ll aim to have it completed and shipped within a week of receiving payment. I don’t understand how some people can take months and months to do a custom and it just turns out to be something you could knock together in 30 minutes. If someone’s gonna pay for a custom they should get a great piece AND great service.

A selection of Thomas’ customs.

Do you make other art besides customizing toys?
I used to paint a lot, but living in the city means no room for canvasses. A friend of mine has an artist’s studio complex so maybe I’ll get in there and start painting again in the New Year.
I used to paint on huge canvasses, it was great fun. I really miss it. I’d like to get back into printmaking too, I’ve always loved it.
I also write and do a lot of music. (Do you class that as art?)

What other interests do you have (besides designer toys)?
Playing guitar, Writing, Watching movies and meeting strange new people.

Do you take on commisions?
Yes, but at the moment it’s only if I’m into the idea (or if I’m trading for a sweet piece of vinyl!!).
I was doing a lot of commissions up until recently but I’m having a bit of a break. I’ll be back into full-on commission production by the end of the year!!

Where can we see more of your work or contact you?
www.dinosauria.co.uk - email. I also frequent the octane3 forums.