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Here's some inspiration for all you independent toy artists and customizers out there. Dustin Cantrell just sold out an ultra-limited run of Plasma Dunnys on Kidrobot.com. Let's revisit the previous sentence like it's a Kaws Companion and dissect it. Dustin, who keeps a relatively low profile (but occasionally tweets), was offered a chunk of Kidrobot's online real estate in a section previously leased by some Tara McPherson statues. Kidrobot's people got turned onto Dustin's talent after the viral success of his first Plasma Dunnys, which were part of the custoMONDAYs series I created and curated for ToyCyte. I had the jump on KR, though, as I'd scored Dustin's T.W.E.R.P. Mad*L at the Me Mad*L show in San Francisco in late '08. Dustin was supercool about giving me tech support on the circuitry of the piece, and almost a year later, he's still supercool, except now he's totally famous.
But back to that sentence. When I said his Dunnys sold out, I should add that they sold out in under 24 hours at $600 a pop. Congratulations to you, Dustin. See you in San Francisco next month.
What have we learned here today?
- At least 3 toy collectors out there are not affected by the recession.
- An independent artist with true talent CAN succeed. I suppose this is why wide-eyed midwestern girls move to Hollywood. Sometimes good people do get discovered.
- Give your local toy blogger a hug. Or buy him/her a cup of coffee. Or hire him to write something. ToyCyte went down with the economy, but the custoMONDAY artists are all alive and kicking. 1/20 getting a gig with Kidrobot is better odds than pulling a chase.
