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People that have been in love with toys have likely been in love with them for a long time. That is the heart of many of today's premier vinyl designers, which may be the reason for the bold statements they make in both design and color. For those of you unfamiliar with this popular trend, you may be startled to find what an intense source of color and beauty the designer vinyl toy universe can offer.
 by delarge
Designer vinyl started to pop up around 1990. It was coming from radically different sources: Some designers were classically trained in art and design, while others were self taught. My own personal discovery of designer vinyl started with Toy2r's Qee bears, around 1997. The 2" bear shaped toy with Mickey Mouse ears quickly became a ubiquitous symbol of designer vinyl, not to mention a great inspiration for artists everywhere. By taking something as simple as a toy and projecting art onto it, a new creation was born -- a highly accessible art form to people of all ages and backgrounds.
by Andy Woo
The look quickly caught on and spread to other forms of toy art. "Designer plush" was true to the same artistic ideals as designer vinyl, but made use of the medium to make its own unique statement. One of the most popular plush designers is Friends with You, a Miami based company that is heavily inspired by Miami's strong design aesthetic. These toys have also become highly collectible and much sought after, making it cool to have a shelf of "stuffed animals" in the house again.
by revlimit
The vinyl toy culture is flourishing more strongly than ever today, with popular websites such as Vinyl Pulse keeping fans up to date on the latest releases. The culture has also spawned a rabid custom fanbase, as many of the sculpts are sold in plain white and encourage you to customize to your heart's content. The creativity with use of color simply explodes here -- one can't help but feel as if this is the very core of the trend itself. It's exciting to see a culture fueled with such a passion for art and creativity, but the consistent use of vivid color is perhaps the most inspiring part of all.
Some Colorful Urban Art Toys
by Sergio Recabarren
by Andy Woo
by claspingwalnut
by Andy Woo
by Lynt
by smallandround
by ffi
by Andy Woo
by fabrico
by Bigshot Toyworks
by Andy Woo
by ffi
Title by Subkernel.
18 January, 2008 24 
 Did you enjoy our post? Get our blog feed by Email or RSS for daily updates.  Showing 1 - 24 of 24 Comments
Rodrok18 Jan, 2008
Cool stuff. thanks for sharing 
skullface18 Jan, 2008
I think this is my favorite blog in a whole, so much wonderful color. and I love the Munny :D 
into_thes…18 Jan, 2008
I love this post! I have many of the vinyl toys at home, especially the smorkin' labbits (the picture by claspingwalnut) The colors are wonderful. This really made my day! 
electrikm…18 Jan, 2008
who doesn't love a blank dunny waiting the marks of a creative influence? 
LucyG18 Jan, 2008
Great post! Anyone interested in toys, designer-toys or designer-plush should also check out Dreamlets: http://www.dreamlets.com
despise18 Jan, 2008
I received a munny as a going to college present over the summer but I have yet to customize it. I'm waiting for that perfect bit of inspiration to strike to dive in.
great article, loveeeee those vinyl toys. 
vinylart19 Jan, 2008
I'm loving the creativity in these. I've come across a lot of examples during my searches for more work like mine (which is pretty different from this work) and it's so fun!
Peace. 
lizcrimso…19 Jan, 2008
they're very cute, but i guess i just don't get it. why is the article called "Invasion of the Color Snatchers"? 
ilovesumm…19 Jan, 2008
soooooo lovely.i wanna get it.love it. 
circuscar…20 Jan, 2008
Ooo, where can we get ourselves some of those colourful little figurines? 
kirei20 Jan, 2008
Great post! I too would love to know where we can get these wonderful toys :) 
jennyhelm…20 Jan, 2008
Huh, I've never heard of these before. And, yes they do feature fantastic colors! 
vermilion20 Jan, 2008
Oh, I love these dolls! Someday I'll have a toy army like in the top photo over my desk. :D
 
Colette B…21 Jan, 2008
Hi all, I'm so happy everyone enjoyed the article. To buy these toys and many like them, check out sites like Kid Robot.com and MunkyKing.com. You can also check out Vinyl Pulse, the toy blog I mentioned above - they are likely to have many ads for retailers. Last but not least, I'm launching my own designer toy blog called Tomopop.com early next month, so if enjoy the culture come check us out! 
Just Perf…28 Jan, 2008
Too much fun! And not even high tach! 
Bioutifio…16 Jul, 2008
Don't collect them all!
Choose one of each color and have a rainbow on your desk!
or buy anyone of anything and paint them a color each.
(i'll send a pix of wat im tokin about)
IT'S GREAT, for colour lovers ovcurse. 
Dreamagen…8 Nov, 2008
Attached above is one of the pictures I used with this palette
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