Interview with MAD

[Jeremy MadL (aka MAD), is one of the leading American artists creating designer vinyl today.  We recently chatted with him about the upcoming reintroduction of the Mad*l's with the release of Phase: 3 right around the corner and his Stuff I Made solo opening tomorrow (4.17) @ myplasticheartnyc.  Enjoy and be sure to click through to enjoy the whole interview complete with several never-before-seen pics].

Can you tell us just a bit about yourself and how you got into the crazy world of designer toys?

My name is Jeremy Madl... most people know me as MAD.  I'm 31 and live in Kansas City with my wife and 3 kids.  I've been designing toys and other products professionally for about 13 years.  I now make a living running 2 companies where I design and manufacture toys of all shapes and sizes for a wide variety of clients.  I also have a steady workload of collaborative projects in various mediums based off my 2D illustrations and artwork. I got into designer vinyl about 7 years ago as a collector.  My job at the time was with a creative agency in LA, where i was thumbing through a magazine called Milk.  In it were all types of crazy Japanese toys, and I started seeing these dope figures.... I was hooked from then on.  I HAD to find away to get into this, so started to concept my own platform figure.  Around that time a few companies in the US started popping up and I showed the Mad*l's to all of them.  After many "no's" I landed my first production deal in 2002, which started everything rolling.  Soon after I began designing on other peoples toys, and the rest is history.

Mad*l Phase: 3"

Your upcoming 'Stuff I Made' solo show @ myplasticheartnyc marks the return of your mad*l figure  with the release of mph's Black Guard exclusive.  Where has Mad*l been and what's he been doing ?

It's been a while hasn't it!?  The Mad*l's kinda fell off the map there for a bit, but have been really busy the past year.  I regained the rights to the brand in early 2007 and started manufacturing them myself with my company SOLID.  Now that I'm in charge, the direction of the brand is going to be more in line with the original concept.  I'll be taking the Mad*l's beyond designer toys and into lifestyle and apparel merchandise... all the while still growing the figure line.  I want it to be a tool for my friends and clients to work into their projects, so I'm really trying to focus on that for the upcoming year. 

There's already a handful of new figure designs that will be exclusive to certain clients and stores, so things are really just starting to get fun. The Black Guard is the first painted production Mad*l in almost 2 years, so I knew it had to be as close to perfect as production figures possibly can.  Working directly with the factory has allowed me to explore things that were never an option before.  I'm very excited about the quality of the pieces, and hope that people take notice.  I've always been very particular with the quality of the Mad*l's and feel I've surpassed the previous releases.    

Continue reading "Interview with MAD"

Interview with Dov from DKE Toys

[On 3.26.08, Amanda Visell 'took-over' Vinyl Pulse for her Birthday.  This is part of her turn as VP editor.]

Dov Kelemer has more toys than I have ever seen. Well, kinda. He's a toy distributor for almost everyone I know. He's somebody that toy buyers rarely talk to or know about but really has an important part in the vinyl toy machine. He is also a SUPER GEEK!

AJV:Dov! Sound your name out for the readers.
Dov: DUHV  but some people pronounce it DOHV... POTATO POTATO I say

AJV:Good. Now explain what you do.
Dov: My wife Sarah Jo Marks and I run DKE Toys which distributes designer toys, plush, books, and prints to retailers and stores all over the world. We exclusively distribute for over 50 companies.

AJV:How did you get into this business?
Dov:I have been selling collectible toys for over 15 years and still buy Star Wars toys on the secondary market for resale but designer toys have more of a soul than your average licensed property so naturally I gravitated in that direction.

AJV:How many toys are around you right now?
Dov:HA! Too many. I keep opening them to check them out and they never get put away.

AJV:Do you have an exit strategy if they come to life and turn on you?
Appeasement.

AJV:How do you stop yourself from keeping one of everything you sell?... or do you?
Uh... we actually keep 2 of everything.

AJV: What are you favorite kind of toys to keep?  Feel free to be specific.

I ONLY COLLECT AMANDA VISELL TOYS!   Well I actually collect Kozik too. What a mistake!  I came to designer toys because of Kozik and my fascination with his revival of the rock poster in the 90s and I would say I have 99% of the actual production pieces made and then some.  So obviously I feel very incomplete as a result of that missing 1%.

AJV: Are you into specific materials like vinyl or plush?
Not really. In fact I am liking what I am seeing lately made of resin, wood, metal, and ceramics. I think collectors have to get over their vinyl only fetish. 

AJV: Hey, you just curated the Vader Project last sumer. That seemed to get a lot of interest from... everybody. Do you feel like you introduced Star Wars geeks to new artists?

That was my intent. Lots of artists still tell me that they got more emails and attention over the helmet that they did than anything else. Its not over yet though so we will see what else develops.

AJV: Any news on the future of the Vader Project?
Working on more tour dates. Nothing confirmed yet but a few strong possibilities.

AJV: Would you call yourself a Star Wars geek?
No but other people might.

AJV: I would call you a star wars geek. How did you buy your house?
I like it when you ask questions I know you already know the answer to but that is the sign of a good interviewer isn't it? Yes, I bought my house (or at least put a down payment) by selling my vintage Star Wars collection years ago.

AJV: Geek. Here come the hard questions... Are you ready?
Should I just answer Amanda Visell to everything from now on?

AJV: How 'bout artists you would like to see toys from?
Personally I want to see more from Todd Schorr, Brendan Monroe, and Jeff Soto. But what really gets me going are artists that are really actually designing 3D objects. That's why I like Kozik's work so much and other artists like the guys from Jamungo and Unkl. They plan and create 3D objects rather than a company licensing an image or character, taking the artist's 2D work and making a 3D representation of it.

Oh yeah and there are not enough Amanda Visell toys out there 

AJV: How 'bout favorite guest Vinyl Pulse blogger on March 26?

AMANDUH !!!

AJV: Aw shucks.

Interview with Kenny Wong on Dr. Cube

[We're pleased to bring you Yevgeniy Shukhman's  interview with  HK artist Kenny Wong about his upcoming Copperhead-18 releases.  Enjoy]

Yevgeniy: Kenny, we last talked about the release of the  Dig 12 inch toy from the Coperhead-18 series. Now, you've announced the next toy in the series, "Dr. Cube".  How does he fit into the whole story?

Kenny: Dr.Cube is the most experienced diver among the Copperhead-18 team.  His task is to help to build and to repair the submarine.He lost his face -- there's  a mysterious story behind the injury.  I'll reveal it later on my site.

Y: You are notorious for using real world materials for your toys. What can we expect from Dr.Cube?

K: I think  real materials can enhance the feeling of the figure.  The weight  and  the texture  sometimes can't be replicated by plastic. Real material can make it totally different. I'm trying to make the lighting interface around his head, frankly it looks really cool ^^

Y: When is the release date?

K: I hope I can make it around April. As U know , limited production in China is always unpredictable.

Y:  We are all fans of Dig.  You started working on the 1:18 version of him  with   the details of  the 1:6 figure. How is it coming along?

K:  It brings back my memories to when I was a kid. I used to keep  a 1:18 figure of  a He-Man like figure in my pocket --  it was like a friend, I took it wherever I went.  So in some ways, this box set  represents the memories of my first figure. That's why I want to make it come true and to share with U guys.

Y: Kenny, once again thank you for sharing with us and we can't wait to get our hands on Dr.Cube.

K: Thank U

Continue reading "Interview with Kenny Wong on Dr. Cube"

Interview with Mark Landwehr of Coarsetoys

[Mark Landwehr creates stunning extreme sports figures for his Coarsetoys label.  Following on the success of his first releases, Switch and Cream, he's just dropped the monster 1:3 scale (25 inch) Pain edition of the Flake figure in conjunction with Vans. Pain is available from European Vans store and will soon be available in the US (targeted for 2/12) at both Munky King and Rotofugi. We interviewed Mark to learn more about his  cool figures.  Enjoy.]

Mark, tell us a little bit about yourself.  I assume you're an illustrator.  How did you decide to get involved with toys? What do you do from 9 to 5?

My roots are graphic design. Since I was a kid I liked to challenge myself. Today I am floating somewhere between Graphic/Packaging/Product-Design. To survive I am working in a design company in Hong Kong - the Asia branch of a German company.

Designing for money is fun but never made me really happy. To many exhausting compromises, boring restrictions and weired decisions by customers can be quite demoralizing.

I always liked sculpting - think its fascinating to discover shapes. When I am sculpting I easily forget everything around me. But I always did it just for fun - when I started with the coarsetoys lineup I didn't even think about producing toys. I just made them for myself.

While 1:6 figures have moved from military to more urban characters, your focus is pretty unique.  Why extreme sports?  Do you skate or surf?

I have been skateboarding a lot during my younger days. Nowadays the idea that my hands might become unusable, even for a few weeks, REALLY scares me. Luckily Snowboarding is more safe - spending days in virgin snow is just paradise.

For a few years I have been working as a photographer with a quite number of publications in board sports magazines. And did many graphics for snowboard companies. I always felt deeply rooted in that kind of stuff.

Your first releases from Corasetoys, Switch and Cream seemed to come out of nowhere.  The sculpts were so powerful -- chiseled yet quite stylish.  The simple color scheme really pushes the form.  I've never seen anything quite like 'em.  Tell us a bit more about your art style and approach to toys.

Well its weird. There are many great toys out there - but seeing them is really confusing me. I guess I am one of the worst informed toy artists out there hahaha....

I think the approach for my work is mostly about a certain kind of feeling. When I look in my characters faces I don't see much life. They just seem to be empty and withdrawn. Always in the right place at the wrong time ... I like this hopeless expression. Don't know why.

Incorporating these feelings in the final figures and finding the right balance between curves and edges keeps me busy for weeks and weeks during the sculpting period and doesn't let me sleep much...

But in the end I love to do the complete product. Illustrations, packaging, photography...

Continue reading "Interview with Mark Landwehr of Coarsetoys"

Interview with Amanda Visell

[Amanda Visell paints whimsical humorous scenes that recall a bygone era.  While her work may seem sweet on the surface, danger lurks -- everywhere you look there's a cute baby eating elephant or alligator.  Not limited to canvas and art board, she's brought  her characters to life as unique one-of-a-kind art sculptures, limited-edition wood and resin figures and now the Pink Elephant (w/ Drunky McSkunky) vinyl figure which drops with a release party and art show today, Thursday December 13th @ Munky King.   We sat down with Amanda and her partner Michelle Valigura to understand the elusive (very shy...) person behind the art that's found a strong following here in LA. ]

So according to your blog you didn’t train to be an artist. How did you decide to get into painting and drawing?

Initially I wanted to get into animation. So I move down here. That was 1998. My friend had a friend who worked at Disney so I met with him. He was an effects animator at Disney and he said oh my friends have this clog company and they’re hiring a bunch of people who want to work in animation. So yeah, hand-painted Swedish clogs.  So  both Michelle and I  painted, designed and shipped the clogs. It’s all animation paint – cel vinyl with brushes. Like exactly what I do now.

Had you painted before?

Yeah – I like art stuff. I just didn’t go to art school. I moved here to try to get into CalArts but I did not get in. So I stopped doing clogs and tried to get into animation. The only place that just lets you in if they don’t know you already is stop-motion. They’ll hire anybody. We both [Amanda and Michelle] started working in stop-motion and created puppets and sets for projects. We learned mold-making and sculpting as well as interns.

I hated it. It’s a really crappy job – very toxic and really long hours. It’s not the same as regular animation – you’re not protected by anything. It’s little independent companies. Nothing is safe and it’s a really weird industry to be a girl in.

Through out that period  I was trying to get a job in feature (traditional animation) or TV, like Nickelodeon, Cartoon network. The thing they don’t tell you is they don’t really hire people that they don’t know, that they didn’t go to school with. I was applying for jobs every week and not getting anything – it was years of that.

I kept putting together portfolios . The way I was doing it was making paintings of scenes that I thought people in animation would like. They were ideas that I wanted to pitch for animation.

Billy Shire’s Kitchen Sync show at La Luz came around  and Michelle said “Why don’t you put your paintings in ?” I did and that was my first show.

At what point did you decide you were going to be a painter instead of doing animation ?

I liked a lot of artists such as Tim Biskup that work in animation and also paint. You’re already looking at them and you can track them down, google them and see that they’re doing it and it seems to be working. For me, it was selling stuff. It’s like whoa it’s actually working -- as opposed to constantly working for animation without getting paid to do it.

One of 'em sold [paintings from the La Luz show].  But that was enough…I just switched. The last show I applied to was “My Life as a Teenage Robot” and  had a really bad experience and I decided not to deal with it anymore. They lead me on for weeks and weeks. What’s weird is that the show’s creator buys my art now.

So going in Kitchen Sync did you think you were going to be a painter or were you just trying it?

Trying it… but… No one ever tells you can do that as an artist – for a living. That’s always in movies – that people paint. It’s never a thought that it’s actually someone’s job – that you can just do that and try to work towards that. It was a guess and it just felt right.

Continue reading "Interview with Amanda Visell"

Interview with Marka27

[Ed: We're happy to bring you Yevgeniy Shukhman's interview with Marka27, creator of the upcoming Minigods figures].

Hello Marka please introduce yourself and give us a little history about your nickname.

I'm known as "Marka27".  Marka is the graff name i chose to write. It's Spanish for leaving a mark on a surface or brand. It also represents my Mexican roots. The 27 has a secret meaning only close friends know.

You are first and foremost a graffiti artist. How did you transition to graphic design?

That's an easy question, why does anyone do graphics design, "To Eat".  On another note it can also work as a form of art or tool for me to get my message across. It wasn't a big deal making the transition graphic design and graffiti have a lot in common when it comes to color, balance, composition.

Do you still do graffiti?

Does J Dilla make dope beats?

Please tell us a little more about your fine art?

Lately I've been working on a series of paintings called "Audio Canvases" They are paintings that play music. I have a J Dilla painting that plays his instrumentals. They are made from a wood surface with real working speakers installed. I have also been working on installations with vintage speakers stacked on top of each other with musical icons painted on them like Afrika Bambbata, Billy Holiday, Celia Cruz etc.

I won't name names but recently another artist attempted to steal my concept. I know in the art world people freely so call "borrow" from each other but in the graff world you get no respect for "biting" a style or idea.

Continue reading "Interview with Marka27"

Interview: Three from the Pocket Full of Monsters

[ Pocket Full of Monsters is a large distributed art crew of talented underground artists united through their mutual love of the creative process and the internet.   Vinyl Pulse recently had the pleasure to chat with three  'Pockets' members -- Arron Martin ("Angry Woebots"), Damon ("Peekaboo Monster") and Dean Bradley ("Mainframe"), about the crew, their art, and of course toys.  On top of that we tagged along for their live canvas painting for a charity benefit to support Cade, a 13 yr old brain-damaged victim of a drunk driver, at the Pinch (Newport Beach).

The three 'Pockets'  members are upfront about their love of toys and their desire to create them. Dean Bradley's Mainframe is now a vinyl figure from STRANGEco (dropping at SDCC) and Angry Woebots is currently working with STRANGEco on a figure. Live Painting is a big part of the 'Pockets' art. Five members of The Poket Full of Monsters Crew -- Angry Woebots, Mainframe, Peekaboo Monster, Phallic Mammary, and Tragnark will be showing their skillz with live painting at the SDCC Da Festicon party (7.26) sponsored by STRANGEco, Munky King and Vinyl Pulse.  And with that, here's the interview. ]

So why don't you guys introduce yourselves -- where you're from, and all that.

Peekaboo Monster: Peekaboo Monster. I'm currently in Seattle soon to be in LA in September.

Mainframe: Dean Bradley -- Mainframe.  I created Mainframe, grew up in Orange County California and I'm probably here for the rest of my life (chuckles).

Angry Woebots:  Arron Matin - Angry Woebots. I was rock hopping between the West Coast and Hawaii but now I am based out of Honolulu, Hawaii -- the windward side of the island of Oahu.

Pocket Full of Monsters Crew

Why don't you tell me a little bit about the Pocket Full of Monsters ?

Angry Woebots:  [I was inspired after watching the Barnstormers doing time lapse painting]. I saw that -- together as a crew, I was like that's awesome -- instead of trying to build by yourself...  I knew alot of artists on Myspace that I met.  Its really weird casue this was like six years ago.  I was just talking and networking with people -- I saw their art online and I really liked it. I was moving to seattle and I wanted to start a crew called the Pocket Full of Monsters. I started running into people like Peekabo, Darvin Vida, Tsua -- we have so many people. At first it was just a Seattle based crew, but I was keeping in touch with Dean  two years before that.  It wasn't organized.

I started meeting people from different cities who were kinda doing the same thing.  I started networking online, getting into shows. My whole idea was that I didn't want to do this by myself.  For me it was fun doing it but I knew so many other talented people.   They were afraid -- not afraid, but didn't know how to network or didn't know how to talk to each other.  Just doing their own thing.   I got Peekaboo Monster, 2H from Seattle, Phallic Mamary from New York, Dean Bradley, and we were just friends online and things started to pick up and people started hearing the name.  It's kinda cool cause we really haven't been that close except through the internet.  Except for the west coast people we haven't even met. Just through online we got close, talking to each other. It's cool -- once the ball got rolling. I've seen everyone progress -- their careers progress.  Lots of us are doing things that are really commendable. Whether it be your own private business, your art -- It's a big life process, like learning.

Continue reading "Interview: Three from the Pocket Full of Monsters"

Video: Muttpop Bill on Red Demon

Muttpop artist and Red Demon creator, Bill, is in the states from France for the first time for the release of the Black Bean Red Demon at Munky King Melrose which goes down  tomorrow (5.31) from 7 to 11 PM.  Vinyl Pulse teamed up with Muttpop and Munky King on a video sketch session with Bill where he talks about his work on the comics. So if you're going to the release and want to learn more about Bill's artwork or can't make it to the release, have a look at the video shot and edited by Ace Carretero.   Enjoy.

Red Demon Sketch Session w/Bill

Watch:   Standard Resolution (320 x 240)                    High Resolution (640x480)

Munky King Melrose
7308 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323.938.0091

Interview with Kenny Wong

[ed:   Kenny Wong made a name for himself with Brothersfree and  is now pursuing his own projects through Kennyswork.   Yevgeniy Shukhman had the opportunity to talk to Kenny about his newest 1:6 scale toy project, Copperhead-18: Dig. Enjoy this insightful interview. ]

Hi Kenny, How is HK these days?

this is question 1 right? ha ha!! Very busy for  the upcoming exhibition in taiwan and Malaysia
for the launch of  "Molly the Painter" Mobile game , where it has a conference about kennyswork, so I have to prepare for it. Another  collaboration is copperhead x levi's ( secret in this moment^^)

Kenny your work speaks for itself, would you please introduce yourself to our dear readers?

I've been a member of "Brothersfree" since 2000, after we have spent 5 years in the team work together, we established our own brand as well, and Kenny 's new company call "Kennyswork." I used to be a visualizer, illustrator, graphic designer, photo retoucher before I started character design. 'Brothersworker" made me believed that  I was born to be a character designer.

Please tell us about Brothersfree?

"Brothersfree" was bonded by 3 guys, Kenny ,William and Winson in 2000, our initial goal was to create our own work after years work of servicing clients in advertising agency. "Brothersworker" is the first and the most famous series of our creations, the interesting design was keep creating  years by years and it was so lucky that we  have attracted many international branding to have some collaborations during the years, like Levi's , Heineken , Nikon, Lipton , Pringles , Nokia.... That's why "Brothersfree" grow up very fast  in these year.

Each figure you guys produced is not only an amazing achievement in detail, execution, design it's also a wholesome character, how do you create them and where do they come from?

"Brothersworker" was inspired by the hard working builders we saw every time when we look out of the window, and the basic form of the character is based on people from Africa.  They look tough and strong, and look as if they could bear  everything, so that's why we used them as the basic form of design.

Continue reading "Interview with Kenny Wong"

Devilrobots Interview

[Vinyl Pulse is stoked to bring you Tristan Eaton's interview with Shin and Koto of Devilrobots about their upcoming exhibition at the Showroom NYC which opens on Saturday, May 19th].

Hi Shin and Koto. Please tell the world who you are and what you do!

I am Shin, one of the founder of the DEVILROBOTS and I am an art director, as you know, I create all of the characters.  Some people call me the TO-FU GOD. Hi everyone, I am Koto Nishiyama one of the DEVILROBOTS, I handle all of the oversea business and oversee the schedule, contracts, and most of the business talking. 

Where did the name DEVILROBOTS come from?

Shin: We grew up watching super robot animations, and we wanted to give our name a strong impact. We are not Angels, so we named our self DEVIL and we love ROBOTS, so these two words combined and became DEVILROBOTS.


So, you are coming to New York! Is it your first time?

Koto: We held an exhibition at ZAKKA in March 2001.  It was the first oversea exhibition we had, and we exhibited very first sample of TO-FU KUBRICK at the show.  Personally, it is my first visit to NY, so I am very excited.


New York is so different from Tokyo (Dirty, violent, loud etc.), so I'm curious: What are you looking forward to or not looking forward to?!? And of course, what will you miss in Tokyo?

Koto: Japanese think New York is cool place, and I always see and hear many things about NY.  It will be my first visit to NY, so I am looking forward to see it with my own two eyes. It is a long flight to NY from Japan, so the flight is the only thing I am not looking forward to. I will miss crazy phone calls from our clients while I am in NY, which is good.


You are also doing an exhibition at The Showroom NYC. Can you tell us a little bit about the show? What to expect etc.

Koto: It has been over 5 years since our last exhibition, so we are thinking of this exhibition as first time again.  We want to show our main character TO-FU collaborating with NY, and hope to have fun together with NY.  Apple TO-FU is just a kick off, there are more TO-FU coming up!

One of the highlight is our crossover partner BANDAI.

Koto: We are working on a Chogokin (die cast metal) project, and we are going to exhibit the prototypes at the Showroom.  This is first time to be shown to public, so NY fans can see it before any one in Japan will see it!


Many people in the states are big fans, but to those who don't know you yet...what are you hoping they learn about DR from seeing this show? And what is Devilrobots all about anyway?

Koto: We have been visiting Hong Kong and Taiwan lately, but we really haven’t been to US. We hope to hear the real voice of the fans in US by this visit, and hope they can feel close to us.  We are just a bunch of fun loving crazy guys, and our artwork translates our crazy mind.

DEVILROBOTS has 5 members total, we are a design company, making website, characters, ads, posters, flyers, pamphlets, flash animations etc…


Devilrobots are as famous for your hairstyles as you are for character design. Tell me, do you have any special hairstyles or colors planned for the trip?

Koto: I was not aware of our hairstyles being so famous… We will look like our logo, very pointy for sure. Please come to The Showroom on May 19th, and see us in real person.  You can see our hairstyles…

Le Merde Hits the Fan

[We're happy to bring you a look at the hand-made toys of  Le Merde. Guest blogger and passionate collector Ronnie K. Pirovino interviewed the duo to see what the fuss is all about.]  

A brilliant duo known as Le Merde has been sprouting unique designs under the misty rain of the Pacific Northwest for a few years now. In the course of their organic evolution, they are preparing to debut their largest offering of art [ed: Zeu Explode] , to date, at San Francisco’s vinyl toy mecca, Super7, opening May 12th. In the past few months, their work has totally intrigued me and I have eagerly brought them into my collection. Simply stated, their ‘merde’ is ill. Vinyl toy producers take note.

Graciously accepting an interview, Le Merde fired back the following responses to my 7 questions:

1. Who are your influences in your work?

I'm really inspired by Hideshi Hino the Japanese horror manga artist. The way he draws his demons, ghouls are beyond amazing. It was really hard to find his stuff here in the US but in the last few years a lot of his stuff is getting reprinted. Yudetamago (pen name that means "Boiled Egg") the Japanese artists that do the manga "Kinnikuman" and "Kinnikuman Sensei" are tops in my book. The humor, the violence.. the character designs just kill. I also love Raymond Pettibon, Robert Crumb, Daniel Johnston and Ub Iwerks.   

2. Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what?

Oh yeah. Thank god for Itunes! Talk about 300 song playlists. I drive Michelle (my wife and other 1/2 of Le Merde) crazy when I'm working on art because I get into the zone and only listen to same thing over and over again. I made a 69 song playlist of only Daniel Johnston that drove everyone nuts! For this latest show I listened to only ZZ Top (70's era), Thin Lizzy, AC/DC (Bon Scott era but I also like Brian Johnson) and T.Rex when I was planning it all. Then during the execution of it I listened to Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Hot Chip, Justice, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Clinic and Peter Bjorn and John. I need the rock and roll for inspiration!