This Award-winning singer and actress, women's activist, and freelance writer, also happens to make some bad-ass toiz. We met Denise at Comicpalooza in Houston, TX a few years back. It's been extremely exciting to watch her crank out dozens of amazing projects as she takes the creative art scene by storm. Thanks so much for the interview Chica!

When did you first start customizing toiz?

My mom tells me that I’ve been making my own toys since I was a child. We had to make do with what we had, so we learned to use our imaginations to the fullest! I remember as a child, teaching myself how to sew by hand, so I could make my own dolls. My grandma would give me pieces of fabric she couldn’t use from clothing she made us. Once I got the hang of it, I loved sewing & making my own plush dolls! My mom might still have a plush clown doll I made out of left over fabric. We made toys out of everything: shells, rocks, material, broken dolls. We utilized whatever we could find!

Read full interview HERE

Tell us about how you first got into customizing toiz?
Well, to be perfectly honest I fought it for a long time. I didn't really understand the purpose of buying things you can't play with, but this is coming from the guy that has walls full of packaged figures. I guess the real push happened when my kids got me some Mini Muggs and I started to research which ones were available, and I came across the black and white blanks. My first figure was a Muggs, actually my first 5 were.

Where do you draw inspiration from?
It all comes from the moment. I’m not big on creating preexisting characters. Sure I did the Fett for Bean Pot Toiz, and I did a Tetsuo for the Kid Robot Contest this year, but beyond that it's all about the moment. I will just hold a blank in my hands and tear them apart and put them back together and all of a sudden it will just happen...

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Jason Chalker, an artist based out of Dallas, takes his creative skills and applies them to all kinds of different mediums. He’s a freelance illustrator, a graphic designer and just in the past couple years he’s been trying his hands at customizing toiz.

We met Jason on the road during one of our many comic conventions, and we’re glad he was up for a quick interview – thanks Bro!

What inspires you to create?
Vintage art, movies, other artists, you name it.

What's the process you go through when you've got an idea for a piece?
I start with thumbnails then go to a sketch. If I'm painting I do a clean drawing on illustration board, gesso it and start painting. If I'm doing an inked drawing, I do the final drawing on watercolor paper and ink it with brush and ink.

Read full interview HERE

Bean Pot Toiz snagged some time from Cody Phillips aka Mac IX for an interview about his life in the art world. He is a 34-year-old resident of Fort Worth living with his wife and 4 kids.

For the past 3 years he’s been designing toiz, but his regular gig is Art Director at Ignite Partnership. On the side he comes up with designs for different urban brands and of course his own toiz as well.

Here’s a nice intro by the rad customizer himself:
I got into designer vinyl about 4 years ago as a collector.  I remember walking into a comic shop and they had shelves of these crazy vinyl statues and these things called “blind boxes”.  It was genius concept and the thought that you never knew what artists figure you were getting. It had me hooked.  I then discovered there were platform figures that you can paint on yourself.  So I decided to take a stab at it.

Read full interview HERE

Valerie G of Cultured Critter Collective knows monsters really well - she creates them! But they aren't the hide-under-your-covers kind of monsters, more of the aww-look-how-cute kind. Her critters have such a funky and fun style you don't have to look hard to see that Valerie has true love for toy design. 

When did you first get into customizing toys?
As an avid Uglydoll and vinyl toy collector, I got to know some awesome toy customizers, and they were very helpful in getting me started. I had been studying ceramic sculpture for five years, but when my last three pieces blew up in the kiln, it was definitely time for a change! My first show was the Mini Custom Skully Show at Chuckwa in 2009.  After this show I became completely hooked!

What inspires you to create? Where do you get your ideas from?
My inspiration usually comes from pop culture, movies, television, vinyl toy platforms and sometimes just a new cool color of paint! Often when a new vinyl toy is released, I can immediately imagine what I will create with it. In addition, many of my interesting characters and stories have been “born” while sitting in music rehearsals and counting rests.

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Mike "Cappy" Capp is an old friend of Grego's from the Funko family circuit. He's a very talented artist with mad crazy skills of taking recognizable characters from pop-culture and turning them into refreshingly new and spunky versions of their original selves. He takes his cues from his children's drawings, and although most of his works are 2D the toiz that he does customize are just as incredible.

What inspires you to create? Where do you get your ideas from?
I just have a need to "create" deep down, I think everyone does. I get my ideas from memories when I was a kid and from my children.

What’s your next project?
My next project will be a new "mash-up" painting of Jackson Pollock (Famous Artist) and Jack the Ripper (Evil Bad Guy). I'm going to call it Jack the Dripper!

Read full interview here



Bean Pot Toiz was lucky enough to snag some of Halo Seraphim’s time this month for an interview about her life as a freelance artist and writer.

A resident of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Halo keeps busy by running the independent art company, ShoNuff Studio, with her fiancé Terry Parr.

While her forte is 2D illustration and sketching, she also takes her skills to the blank canvas of DIY urban vinyl figures (check out her Symbiote). Halo recently submitted two crazy awesome customs for the 2011 MunnyWorld MegaContest, her first for KidRobot.

Her art has a spunky yet Gothic feeling with a little bit of a hardcore anime-popish flavor that makes her creations and talent really stand out amongst all the indie artists trying to make a name in TX.

Read full interview here