After some delay, I have finally customized my first vinyl toy! Toys aren’t just for kids anymore – they can be unique works of art to be shared, experienced, displayed and inspired.
These collectible art toys first caught my attention when I visited Kidrobot on a weekend trip to New York City a few years ago. I remember going from shelf to shelf admiring all of the figures on display and inspecting the little cardboard blind boxes, trying to decide which one from the series to get. The Dunnys especially caught my attention because their bunny-like shape was just SO cute and playful, and I’m such a sucker for small cute things (I was that girl with a giant collection of Hello Kitty pencils in grade school). However, I quickly realized that many Dunny artists gave a dark twist to this lovable bunny-thing.
There were so many different variations of the same basic figure, and each one seemed to have its own personality and quirks. When I got back home to my computer, I googled ‘Kidrobot toys’ and ‘Dunny’ and discovered a whole new artistic platform and community of artists. Not only can you collect vinyl toys, you can paint and modify them to make them truly unique.
At the 2013 Designercon in Pasadena, I had a great time wandering the convention center seeing how different artists modified Dunnys, Foomis, and other vinyl toys to suit their own style. The variety of skills and styles on display were amazing to see, and it seemed like many of the artists knew each other too. There was a friendly community connected by a common interest amidst a sea of artistic differences. Furthermore, the artists would kindly chat with and give advice to vinyl novices like myself.
I’ve been collecting vinyl toysΒ (primarily Dunnys) since that first trip to the NYC Kidrobot store, but I have always wanted to create my own. A couple years ago I bought a few blank vinyls to customize, but between changing jobs and moving across the country, I haven’t been able to pursue that idea until recently. Now without further ado, here’s what went into my first vinyl project:
I started with a blank 7″ FoomiΒ that I bought from my local Blick’s art store. After unpacking the toy, I dismembered the body and used an old paintbrush to apply two coats of Liquitex Clear Gesso over everything. Your primer doesn’t have to be clear – I just had some already on hand from my acrylic painting projects. This first step is VERY IMPORTANT because if you don’t prime the surface first, paint will NOT stick to the toy’s surface and it will take you forever to get a good coat of paint on.
This was intended as a gift, and I wanted to reflect the recipient’s interests in meditation and Thai motifs.
My sketch of the Foomi on paper:
My sketch on the Foomi itself:
I used Super Sculpey clay to add the head ornaments, teeth, and extend his jaw out more. I baked the head in my oven according to the directions on the package and it came out great! The plastic does NOT melt, but it does become very soft, which would be useful if you want to cut into your vinyl toy and make modifications that way.
Super Sculpey additions to the head, after baking:
I forgot to take pictures of my painting process, but it took about 3-4 coats of paint, drying in between, to completely cover the toy. The orange color that I mixed came out pretty thin, so those surfaces took additional coats to be evenly coated. I used paint-on gold leaf for the gold accents on the head and arms. The final step was to spray on to protect the paint and give everything an even look. There are different kinds of sealants/finishes you can use (matte, satin, glossy), but I chose a matte finish because I wanted the Foomi to look softer.
Here’s the finished product!
