Friday, December 29, 2006

How to Create a Platform Toy

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Canadian Artist Ted Stilson has done what many of us only dream of doing: getting his own toy designed and manufactured. What started out as a whim and a few handfuls of Sculpey Bricks has become one of the latest platform toys with a loyal artistic following and an upcoming show planned. "Moody" which is part cow and part demon is the brainchild of Stilson and an inspiration for all of us who want to make toys or at least all of us who want to have 500 toys made and then try to convince a bunch of artists to doodle on them! So far, the reception from a motley group of international artists looks pretty good including our friends Dr. Bao from the legendary Canadian Duo, NVC Crew as well as Japanese Paper Toy Master Shin Tanaka- both of which have graced the pages of toybot studios. I encourage you to check out his site and read the story for yourself as well as check out all the other Moody Customs. An except is below:

Shin Tanaka
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This is where the whole thing really got crazy. Yipes! … I was now communicating with a person half way around the world, who was assuring me that they would be able to produce 500 of my toys. This was substantially more toys than I needed for my art toy project, however it was the smallest production run they would do. He also assured me that his company had a great team of technicians that could figure out how best to make sure my toy had professionally constructed articulation points. Brilliant stuff! My extremely patient and supportive wife provided me with a gentle nudge and the rest is, well, not quite, history. Moody was born after 7 months of sweat, tears and much labor. Created in Canada … built in China. Ah, success … one little idea implemented!

An for an extra special treat: how about a movie showing the creation of a Moody!!!



Monkey Goat Moody by Jenn Rourke and Jeff Orriss
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Sweet Art Moody by Erin and Kelly Carty
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Moo-HaHa Moody by Attila Adorjany
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DKR
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Chris Ryniak
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