Who's making resin toys now?

Hello.

With a few rare exceptions, indie toymakers are not getting hits on their blogs. There are a handful that made it with Blogger and  a web store back in the day and keep it going but since Instagram, everything has changed. It's the first time I've felt the tug of changing tide against what I thought worked.

Seven years ago, having the gumption to spend money on a pressure pot and work out what size baggies you needed was a big deal. Bootlegs and original resin pieces were lumped into the same category. I enjoy sculpting so that's what I've put my time into.

A thousand or so new resin artists later, and everything is different. You can never produce too many Skeletors or Boba-Fetts. That's the trump card. So, you know, eff that. Now, here are some a-ma-zing guys doing MOTU repro: Viktors Vintage, Master English, MOTU Molder Baz  and about five or so more making really crisp work. My friendship with Austin Richards (Gold Dober) was the thread that held my interest in super-nice casting work. I will always have love for crispy clean casts in clear red resin.

The most inspiring to me over the past few years have been artists like ThatDamnJo, Jimmy Rommel, Eddie in the City, Vincha V, Underworld Muscle, Musculoids, Therojo, Better Days (off the top of my head). Prolific sculptors that make new universes. Also, it seems to be the final beating heart of original art in the resin toy scene. It's encouraging to see it. Keeps me buying the occasional bottle of silicone.

Then there's the old guard. The ones that were about before craft-beer and NWA hoodies ever came into contact with splashed resin. Resin model kits, statues, that kind of thing. Home-made Horror is one of my favorites. He makes really animated static sculpts of classic horror scenes. Eddie in the City kind of walks the line of that. It's minifigures that are not trying to be edgy or Japanese style. Straight up 2-3" painted (usually) resin pieces in a western comic style. Very cool.

So I'm thinking about where I want to fit into this all. For the time being, I'm getting by on Z-brush commissions and 3D printing. I will be in Japan this time next year - back in the world of professional wrestling and also earning a proper wage with a day job. That means less time and more money = outsourced production. I would really love to grow Pagan as a vinyl or PVC line but if people are getting Super 7 5.5s for $4 in Target... I'll need to think.