Andy
The Toy Chronicle speaks to designer art toy specialist who’s based in Singapore, Pobber! Pobber has been producing vinyl toys since 2011 and worked with artist ranging from Doktor A to Scott Tolleson and helped the likes of Gary Ham produce his Autumn Stag. Jake from Pobber Toys takes time out to speak to us.
So who’s Pobber Toys for the people who don’t know you guys?
What’s your typical day in the life of Pobber Toys?
Pobber have been producing toys for established artist, any chance of less established artist work getting produced?
How does one get noticed from Pobber?
Well just keep doing what you love doing. An email to touch base would be nice too. There is just so much stuff out there and sometimes it is hard to keep up.
JPK Samurai piece has already had a great reaction and many collectors are excited about the release already. Are you pleased how the piece is turning out? any more sneak peek for our TTC readers?
We are all very pleased with how the piece is turning out so far. JPK has done an amazing job with the base Samurai design and Huck has come in and added his signature style to it. We recently did our test pull and we are now working on the colour sample. I would have loved if we have colour sample photos to show but they are not ready. Joking, here’s test pull shot of the JPK Skullhead Samurai!
2016 is looking like another strong year for Pobber toys. From the teaser projects with Twelvedot, Huck gee and Jon Paul kaiser. Which one has been the hardest getting it into production?
Every project is different so it is hard to compare. However in terms of the time taken from concept to being production ready, I have to say it’s the Samurai project. We started off with traditional sculpting but wasn’t satisfied with the first sculpt and re-sculpted it a second time. We ended up redoing it a third time in 3D modelling before we were finally satisfied.
Twelevedot’s Roadkill is much like Twelvedot galley art pieces and we think it’s outstanding looking art piece. Roadkill is very different and visually stunning with nothing like it on the scene right now. How hard is the decision to go with something like roadkill compared something similar to APO frogs which is open to more collectors?
Any more sneaky details you can share with us for 2016?
STGCC is one major event in the Asia will we see more prototypes and exciting release from Pobber?
Indeed STGCC is becoming bigger with more overseas artists coming each year. We have a few releases planned with a couple of artists who will be here for the con so we really want to make it worth everyone’s, both the artists and collectors, while to attend this year’s STGCC. Exciting releases or not, at the end of the day it really is all about having fun and enjoying yourself.
One thing that stands out the most about Pobber toys is the quality, how do you guys keep it up, when some of the top companies are falling behind on QC.
Over the years what’s the biggest learning curve you guys have experienced?
What’s your top two vinyl/resin toy for 2015 non Pobber 🙂
Any chance you guys making it to Toycon UK in the near future? We have Manchester United tickets ready for you 🙂 We have Manchester United tickets ready for you 🙂 (with Mourinho in charge it should give you more incentive compared to Van Gal)
You’ve worked with British artist Doktor A, way back in 2011 and now with with JPK. A little bird told us that UMEToys might be on Pobber list of releases. Have any more British artists caught your attention?
Oh you like 2petalrose’s work, we all do and proud he’s from the U.K. A project with Pobber and 2petalrose would be amazing! could Pobber make a vinyl production with 2petalrose standards so high?
Oh yeah I think 2petalrose’s work looks amazing. I am always up for a good challenge so who knows.
Singapore has a strong designer toy/art community what got you guys into the scene?
Singapore art scene is growing rapidly any plans to add local artist to Pobber’s roster?
Do you see Pobber be sticking to art collectables or dipping your toes into licensed art toys?
Can you walk us through your work space, and what are some of your favourite things about your space.
We heard a birdie talk about you might have a project lined up with Spanish artist Cote Escriva? could you shed some light or are we hearing Chinese whispers?
Yes we do have something in the works with Cote Escriva. It is based on his line of Twisted Toons and I picked a Simpsons character seeing as I am a big Simpsons fan. It has been a challenge translating his detailed work into a 3D figure. We have just completed the hand sculpted model and we are insanely excited. Hopefully collectors will feel the same way when they see the finished piece.
We’re foodies what’s your one food you cannot like without?
Pobber and Andrew Bell are making a new version of Gary Ham’s Autumn Stag will it be the same size or slightly smaller” We’ve seen Gary Ham’s Instagram design which includes smaller versions with the same idea of a display within the toy art any chance Pobber will produce more Gary Ham toy/display?
It is not a smaller Autumn Stag but a whole new take on it. I think the confusion came about because Gary was showing sketches of a mini stag around the same time. The Winter Reindeer is Andrew’s take on the 28 inch Autumn Stag. We’ve made some changes to parts of the sculpt and accessories to add some character to this new piece. It’s been fun to see some comments online that after Autumn Stag and Winter Reindeer, there will be a Spring and Summer edition too.
Gary has so many ideas when it comes to toys/display. We want to do a smaller Autumn Stag because the most often cited reason for not buying the Autumn Stag is that it is too big and people just do not have enough space. But we did not want to just make a smaller Autumn Stag, we wanted the form to fit the size and so the 12” mini edition showed by Gary isn’t just a smaller version but a new form. We are still going back and forth about the design and nothing is set in stone yet.
Whats the last toy you have bought so we can see what Pobber likes to collect.
When releasing/ designing toys, does shipping come into mind when producing toys? we’ve seen countless companies having shipping problems.
It is always on our minds. There are usually two concerns – breakage and prohibitive shipping costs. We do what we can to minimise the chances of breakage during the design phase and conduct drop tests. As hard as we try, it really is up to the postal service once an item leaves the warehouse. They never fail to amaze with how they lose items or worse, manage to break our toys. I’m looking at you USPS, the only postal service to have broken not 1 but 2 Autumn Stags.
If theirs an artist who you guys would love to work with, who would it be?
Some quick-fire questions
Favourite colour?
Blue
Don’t fucking procrastinate.
Big THANK YOU to Jake from Pobber Toys for making such cool toys and taking time out once again to speak to us.
Get your designer toy fix right now at
http://pobber.bigcartel.com/
