The Joy of Customs

As much as I enjoy collecting many different types of “urban” or “artistic” vinyl, custom figures are even more desirable IMO.  While one can certainly view most of these vinyl toys as art, particularly those created by well-known artists such as Tim Biskup and Gary Baseman, custom toys are essentially “original” works of art. In a very small way, I see buying these custom vinyl toys as a way of participating in an art world as a quasi-patron.  Partly due to a normal lack of interest and a decided lack of funds, I would have never really entertained the idea of seeking out and purchasing original art.  However, custom vinyl toys are attractive to me because they are typically unique and hand-painted/created and often quite affordable!

So far, the only customs I’ve acquired are two beautiful Dunny’s done by Zomby Kustom.  This talented artist quietly sells his creations on ebay, one at a time, typically about every 2 or 3 months.  Interestingly, customs are also appearing on various vinyl toy websites such as myplasticheart.com (Mad*l customs and Sket-one’s eggster customs) and rotofugi.com (Funny Club show  customs).  Unfortunately, I missed the boat on these more “visible” opportunities to buy custom toys.  So I guess the additional attraction of customs, is the thrill of the hunt.  Most of the customs sold on popular web stores go quite quickly — I’m assuming in a matter of hours.

So if you’ve collected a bunch of toys and are looking for the “next level” (ugh!), customs seem like a worthy pursuit!