The Rise of Toys

Lately, there's been a huge increase in designer toys. And I'm not talking about really expensive children's toys. I mean, toys for older teens through to adults; since these figurines aren't exactly meant for play, though you could if you really wanted to. Figurines like these Cactus Friends by Tokidoki or better known Kidrobot have been popping up everywhere. Once exclusively sold off the internet and toy conventions, stores like Tower Records and Hot Topic have noticed the hip appeal of these designer toys.
Most of these toys' designers started out as graffiti artists, looking for a new type of canvas. These vinyl figurines were chosen, and since then, has exploded in to all kinds of different areas. The designers then moved from simply looking for something new to spray paint, to almost caring more about the shape and style of the canvas itself as opposed to its covering artwork; here the designer lets you choose how to decorate the character. As the characters became more popular, they were able to venture into other realms other then simply toys, such as shoes, clothes, and my personal favorite, bags and accessories.
Since the big toy boom, plush toys have become a hit as well, with everyones favorite Gloomy Bear leading the pack. Some stick to the classics, the Kubricks, and while others leave you thinking they just ran out of good ideas. But collectors will gobble all of them up just the same, and because of that, some go for quite a bit of money. Nevertheless, these crazy characters have defiantly left their mark on the design world, inspiring a whole new genre of artists.

Comments

[Marty]

I've recently been swept up by designer toys, having bought a few Dunny figures and a Smiling Malif (which is the best toy ever! It's made by Friends With You). Since then, I too have noticed the up-tick in designer toys and if one bounces over to Amazon or another book site and do a search for 'designer toys', you will see that a couple of books on the subject have recently come out. That, I believe is a key indicia of the rise of designer toys.