HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Just wanted to wish all of you a safe and Happy New Year! Thanks again for the support all year round, you guys and girls truly are amazing ;)

Much Love,

The Most Wanted Crew

MATUCHA : TIKI MONSTER [WIP]

Alright guys, today we're bringing you a little work in progress teaser from Angie aka Matucha. As you can see, her little Tiki Monster dunny seems to be coming along just fine.  Although you can't tell from the pics, these little guys will indeed have faces behind those masks ;)  Feel free to follow Matucha on her blog, or hit her up at "hola @ matuchastudios.com" (of course without any quotation marks or spaces) if you're interested in hitting her up for a commission or two. I think this would make a great 8"er, don't you :)  And being that she's a part of Red Mutuca Studios, you can find some of her merch over on their storenvy shop, along with some other cool swag. Enjoy, and stay posted for the full reveal very soon, here a few more shots to keep you tied over till then. .. .

NEW LOGO AND A SMALL TEASER ;)

Hope everyone and their families are doing well during this hectic holiday season. I just wanted to take a brief minute to talk about our new logo. Designed by our very own Jared Cain (aka Nikejerk), who wanted to take a very different approach to our final logo, and packaging. 

"The packaging I am working on is going to be very minimal. Let the box function with the logo and let the work speak for itself. Bold, and diverse. ." -Jared Cain

So with that said, we'll be following up with the full box reveal very soon. Again, it's going to be a change up from the first series, of which I think many of you will enjoy ;) We hope to follow up any future series with logos and box designs that will be laid out by a different artist every time, hopefully this will keep things both fresh and fun for all our fans. 

Now, on to a very small teaser. Mind you that this is a teaser based off of the prototype which has gone through some minor changes, but ones that have made it that much more awesome! So, from one of our new and only female artist (thank goodness for that cause we can all benefit from a little female touch in our lives, lol), Matucha, who has recently joined up with our Brazilian boys (Igor, Sergio, and Luihz) in their collective studio (Red Mutuca), we bring you a small taste of "The Tiki Monster"! 


Thanks again guys and girl, we wish you and yours all the best! Happy Holidays from the entire MW Family! :)

THE MAN BEHIND THE GRILLZ : AN INTERVIEW WITH TIM MUNZ

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born in Saarbrücken, Germany (that's next to the french border) in 1981. My parents got divorced when I was 5 and me and my moms moved to Heidelberg. Well known by tourists cause there's a really huge castle and the NATO and US headquarters as well. In 2003 I decided to move to Berlin. And one time when I went back to Heidelberg for a visit with a few homies who had never been out of Berlin till that day, they said that Heidelberg reminded them of the land of the hobbits from Lord Of The Rings, lol.

In berlin I took a professional course in digital media design. Because of some troubles I had with my graffiti art back in Heidelberg, I decided to change it after moving to Berlin and did some quick pieces under the name "tim". Once I applied to the bauhaus university in weimar I did a few drawings on acetoneprints for my portfolio and this is what came out (referring to the name "timself").

My very first touch with vinyl was a blank mini munny a friend of mine bought for me in Berlin. The strange thing about that is that this munny still remains blank to this day, lol. Shortly after that, that same friend bought me a labbit for my birthday, and not long after is when I discovered Dunnys, and of course, the Kidrobot discussion boards. And just a short while after that, well, I think you know the rest of the story. But besides customizing toys, as I am a proper German, my other hobby is drinking beer. . . No, Im just kidding. But I do grow a little garden that my girlfriend and I take care of.


You have a really interesting style that definitely separates you from the rest. What inspired all those crazy "grillz"/teeth you put on your characters?

THATS JUST CAUSE I [eat] U! Seriously though, I don't really know what the whole "teeth-thing" is about, but a friend asked me the same thing a few weeks back. Maybe it's because I had a retainer when I was a kid and hated my orthodontist. Also, when I was little, I loved the part from the little red riding hood fairy tale when the wolf said to little red riding hood, "the better to eat you with, my dear...", but those are just theories. And I cant speak of a special style I have because I'm confrontated with it all the time so its common to me. Maybe you can tell me?

Tell us about your contribution for the latest MW series, and about your involvement behind the scenes.

Well, for MW2, this fella titled "total agony" with the cut out tongue is an allusion to the censorship of being opinionated. I'm talking about propaganda, public relations, society's being brainwashed, modern day slavery. . . But other than that, he's just a nice creepy looking character. Doing all that tiny accessories for them was a pain, but totally worth it in the end. Running the Most Wanted S1 was lot of fun though it was a daring feat of coordination. I was realy impressed by the professional quality each artist brought to the table. At this point, I wanna say "BIG UPS" to all the artists who participated in the first series, and I'm hella exited for the upcoming squeal!

Do you have any new projects in the works? Any new customs some of your fans can get their hands on before the release of MW2?

I'm actually dropping a new custom blind box series today! BUMMYs will be up for sale today (12.03) at 12 noon PST over HERE! You can also hit up mANNEe over on the Kidrobot boards for more detail. Oh, and there's a special-toothy something popping up later this month on the 31st. Just 4 of them will be up for sale so keep your eyes open right before the year is over.

Thanks again for the interview Tim, and feel free to leave us with anything else you may have on your mind :)

Just want to say thanks to the great community on the Kidrobot boards. I've met some really nice people from all arround the globe over there. Thanks again!

MW2 PREORDER : SOLD OUT!

I just wanna take a moment out to thank each and everyone of you who made today and last week's preorder a complete success! I know I've said before, but we couldn't have gotten this far without you, you guys truly are the heart behind this project. Much love from the MW Crew, you guys fucking rock!

Don't forget guys, tomorrow is the preorder for the MW2 series. Be sure to bookmark our store and get your F5 trigger finger ready for tomorrow at 12noon PST. Each blind is $60 USD, and shipping is calculated at the end according to your location. Please check out the sales page for more details, and remember that although there is an initial 3 per person limit, once the first 30 minutes are up, you can purchase as many as you want. Quantities are super limited, so don't hesitate to grab one now, cause you may regret it later ;)

Here's a little recap of some of the designs revealed so far. .. .

UPDATE ON OUR CONFIRMED ARTIST LIST

For those of you who wanted a quick checklist to go by, here ya go:

Tim Munz
Simon Walter
Igor Ventura
Chauskoskis
FAS
Kevin Gosselin
NikeJerk
Grimsheep
Luihz Unreal
Sergio Mancini
Rsinart
Matucha

PAUSE
Special guest artist :
Jon Paul Kaiser

and we may have another surprise for ya ;)

THE WAIT FOR THE PREORDER IS OVER

That's right, the date for preordering is almost here! In about 13 days, you'll be able to lock down some blinds for MW2. They'll be up for sale on Tuesday the 30th, 12noon PST on our big cartel shop:

http://mw2.bigcartel.com/

Please read through the following details so you're all set to go when the time comes:

*Please take note that the preorder you see right now is only for those who preordered for MW1, or donated dunnys for MW2. If you are one of those people and did not receive a separate newsletter regarding this, please let us know over on the KR boards and we'll sort you out. Anyone else not included in that preorder who purchases one will have their order canceled. Thank you for understanding.*


-There will be a limit of 3 per person for this preorder only. That doesn't mean that you can't buy any more during the regular sale (date as yet to be determined).

-Each blind box will retail for $60 USD, and shipping is not included, but will be added automatically at the end. Within the US they will be shipped via priority with delivery confirmation. If you buy 2 or 3 blinds, signature confirmation will be added at no extra charge.
*International orders have a standard shipping price as well. They will be shipped out via first class international, which does not have tracking or insurance of any kind. If you purchase 2 or 3 blinds, or plan on purchasing more later on, please contact me so we can work out a more secure method of shipping via priority international*
Please remember that we are not responsible for any lost or stolen items, so if you'd feel more secure paying extra for tracking/signature confirmation or insurance, contact us and we'll figure it out asap.

-We are shooting for a shipping date of January (possibly February). If you'd rather wait it out till the official release date (yet to be determined) which will be closer to the shipping date, you can go ahead and do so, but we can almost guarantee it will be more difficult to try and score some then as there will be no limit as to how many you can purchase.

-Finally, we cannot guarantee every one of you will score any blinds during this preorder. But don't worry too much, as you guys will still have a shot at them during the final sale.


Alright guys and girls, I wish you all good luck, and thank you once again for all the amazing support you've shown us ;)


-The MW Crew

KEVIN GOSSELIN'S MW2 ARTIST PROOF GIVEAWAY!

In anticipation for MW2, Kevin Gosselin has hooked up with Mark of the "Hello Vinyl" toy blog in order to bring you an amazing giveaway! Kevin is giving away one of only 5 AP's from the upcoming series. . . that's right, free of charge ;) Head over to "Hello Vinyl" for all the info and be sure to sign up before the 29th of this month, that's less than 4 days away, in order to qualify. Big ups to Kevin and Mark for this amazing opportunity, and stay tuned for more info on MW2, we're getting closer to the preorder date. . .

FAS Full Reveal

Here it is folks.

Better watch yourself, he's armed!

Interview with FAS and Teaser!!

OK people, here's a crappy little teaser 
of an excellent design by FAS.

No worries though, the full reveal 
will be coming soon.

For now, wet your appetite 
on a great interview with FAS himself.

Hi FAS.  Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I just want to ask you a few invasive questions, hope you don't mind.


1. So let's start in the beginning. When did you decide you wanted to be a working artist?  What was your first paying gig and do you have a favorite piece you've done thus far?


Been painting as an ''Artist'' for about 3 years and before that I really wasent into art as a making a living of it or doing it on the professional side. But That all changed due to free time I had recovering from a shoulder injurie in 2002 while in Puerto Rico I pick up sketching and graffiti again. It was Hard to find Paint Supplies on the island so browseing ebay for paint and nyfat/german caps/tips I stumbled upon micheal lau figures as well kidrobot fatcaps. Been painting ever since.

Have always been into art from a young age and was always the one called for doing posters/school play dioramas. I was no Leonardo Da Vinci but I could get down. I spent most of my teens working, downhill mountain biking, dirt jumping, fixing cars so I did not think much about art. I felt I could have made a career of the biking sport but do to injuries/dislocations I had to put it to an end in 2002. I am still active in the scene and support it, but I dont get down like I used to.

If I would have known I could do with art as I'm doing today I would have pushed harder to explode my skills years ago. But it was a diffrent time and when I was in highschool art was not like today or my interest and internet really changed all that, it did for everyone with information as well this designer art movment where any artist big or small can make it you just have to put in work and not worry about what others are doing.

I think that's the problem with people today, worried about the other guy. Just do you and draw the way you want to draw and not the way people want you to draw! That is the quickest way you will obtain your own identity, look at what's out there but put your own twist on it and you will have something to offer. Even if people say there is competition outhere and me, I don't see it as that, art always finds a home, competiton is for people with somthing to lose, and I don't have nothing to lose, haha.


2. Your work appears to be heavily influenced by comics. Do you collect any titles? If so, what is your favorite?

Yup I love the style, I am trying to build hopefully my own style so I can be the next Adam Huges or Steven Sanchez haha, we all have dreams! Just love how some of these guys can take a simple character as Batman add their style and each one looks diffrent. As for comics I don't buy comics anymore and when I did buy them its was for the art not the story. Some of my favorites are Witchblade, Danger Girl, Spawn, Gen 13 to name a few.

3. What other sources influence the work you do?  And who is your favorite customizer (outside of the Most Wanted group please)?

''Bee'' A.K.A Bart riviera was a close friend that past away 3 years ago he did comic work/tattoo and he had a crazy style! As well J.scott Cambell, Adam Huges ,Talent Caldwell, to name a few.

4. Could you give us a quick run-down on your process, without giving all your secrets away?  Like what materials and mediums you use?


I have no ''formal training'' all self taught, so I cant tell you all the mumbo jumbo about art. I just paint/draw straight up and take it day by day trying out what I can on my free time.

I am not stuck on one particular thing and want to be able to do it all. Like a one man army as I am still evolving as an astist and my taste change I want to work with everything so I see what I enjoy doing the most. That goes for charatcer design, sculpting, tattoos, book covers etc. Also to keep people interested in my work I try to keep what I call my style going but reason why I have influence of Graffiti, Comic, Pin-ups, Cartoons is so Ican grab a little of every crowd.

I also use all kinds of paints as Liquitex, Golden, Winsor and Newton and thin them down with matte medium and Anitas Craft Acrylic (white).

5. Do you listen to music while you work and who really gets you in the zone?

I listen to all kinds of music when I paint but not all the time, I usually enjoy the sounds of my beautiful niece nagging voice, lol but I love her, she is like a daughter but Rap, Hiphop, Counrty, R&B you know whatever sounds good.

6. What would you like your collectors to know about you that they may not already know?


My Full name is Fernando Alex Soto. 'FAS' are the initials to my name, never really been called by Fernando, not even by family, its always been Alex or FAS. Hell I dont look like a Fernando! And I just tunred 25yr old as well.

I was rasied in East Nyc brooklyn/Queens had a typical life for a kid from that area, been through and seen it all, most people couldn't walk in my shoes (real talk) but hey, that's the life I've lived and would not take anything back!

The main logo I add in all my work is a graffiti style 'A' which stands for Alex. Most would think my logo would be the ''F'' since it comes first but its the way I wanted it. I like to take that simple 'A' leter and turn it into so many diffrent kinds of characters (as frog below)

My cartoon lettering are graffiti inspired, as I wanted to be diffrent from the rest and came up with the idea of having orignal characters/animals based off my lettering. Same thing goes with my skull character, everyone does skulls but have you seen one like mine? Proably not and don't forget the ladies, I just like women who doesn't? So I paint them.

7. What can we expect to see from FAS in the coming months?  Anything big on the horizon? And for anyone wanting to collect your work, are you open for commission?  Where can they hunt you down?

Oil painting, sculpting etc, on those certian techniques so I could bring them into my work for some new magic. No classes or workshops just tuts or whatever I find online. I can't afford to waste time, well not necessarily waste time since I will learn but I'm busy with work, family and hobbies I can't take time to do that kind of thing. On my own I can do it my way my time and build my style.

Right now commissions are 50/50 unless someone contacts me out of nowhere and I'm free we could work it out. If I have time I won't mind but I am at a point were I'd rather worry about my work than doing commssions or being over whelmed since I have a busy scheduale and when it comes down to painting I would like to take the time I put aside for my art or with personal work/ideas then trying to finish a deadline for a commission.

I will put out what I have for sale just be on the lookout. I usually have commission into people hands withn 2 weeks never longer.


Got some production work comming , MAYBE figure scuplts if time lets me.

 Check me at  www.fasnyc.blogspot.com and  http://www.flickr.com/photos/fasnyc/

Thanks again for your time FAS.  We're all really looking forward to seeing what you have in store for the Most Wanted Series 2.


That's it folks.  Look forward to the full reveal in the next few days.

GET YOUR GREAD ON

If you checked out our blog a couple of weeks, you might remember the post about artist Lysol's latest resin figures, Gread. His first two colorways, green and blue, sold out as quickly as they went up. Needless to say the limited run on the first two left many people Gread-less, so this Friday Lysol dropped four new colorways (red, purple, orange, and yellow) to help alleviate the grief of missing out on the first ones ;) Although the red, purple and orange colorways are now sold out, you still have a shot at the yellow one. So act quick and head over to his shop before they're all gone! This may be your last shot at scoring his Gread figure, so don't say I didn't warn you. And while you're there be sure to check out some of his customs like this insanely detailed "Demon" Skully (as shown here) for only $50 bux with free shipping! That's a hell of a deal if you ask me, especially for such an amazing piece. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more from Lysol in the months to come so make sure to follow him on his "Dead Hands" toy label blog: http://deadhandtoys.blogspot.com

THE MOST TALENTED JERK I KNOW : IN AN DEPTH LOOK AT THE ART AND LIFE OF NIKEJERK

This week we sit down with Jared Cain, better known as NikeJerk, for a little one on one Q&A. So for you NikeJerk heads out there, grab a cold one, sit back, and enjoy ;)

How did you first get into customizing vinyl figures?

I had never even heard of Kidrobot let alone Dunny’s or anything else. I was interning in NYC in the beginning of 2006 and a friend of mine dragged me to SOHO for the black “Bubble Is Love” drop by Tilt. I didn’t really know what we were going to but I didn’t have anything better to do, so I went. I instantly fell in love with the scene. Not too long after that, they released the Munny for the first and hosted the very first Munny paint contest. I submitted a design... I didn’t win. I created my first Munny using Sharpies, white out and other paint pens. I admittedly was living in a share on the LES so I didn’t have access to my own cache of materials, but I still think it came out pretty cool. Once I got back to Atlanta in April of ‘06 I did 1 more Munny — Munnysuarus Wrecks. After that I got away from toys for almost a year at which point I started painting again and this time I submitted customs to a couple different exhibitions throughout the country. That was cool but since I couldn’t go to the shows and my pieces almost always came back to me damaged... I decided I wanted to find a different way to do customs. In February of 2009 I decided to do my own blind box series. 1 of the most important things I considered was how could I approach the platform in a completely new way. How can I do something completely different? Taking that mentality I created my 17 piece Teenage Mutant Ninja Dunny blind box series, which sold out in 5 seconds... since then I’ve been doing commissions almost non-stop. The thing I love about doing commissions is it gives me a chance to interact with new people and to work on ideas and themes that I might not necessarily have ever come up with on my own. I am a professional graphic designer so the process of taking on a commission and concepting something unique and personal is very familiar.


You have a very unique style in the details of your customs, what is your inspiration for this?

I believe that the process is a very important part of being creative. To me it's almost more important than the end result. So even though I make a sketch of most of my designs, as I’m working and moving along I almost always stray from my original intentions and allow for things to move in a natural direction. Working in this manner gives me unexpected results, it is very conducive for experimenting which I’m a huge advocate of, and ultimately gives you a final product that not only can you NOT trace the steps to how you got there but you also can’t recreate. This is why as seen in my Most Wanted Series 1 design, though there are multiples of the same design, each one is slightly different and I love that. So the way the style of detailing came about is way back when I did my TMND series, there was a a scratch or something on one of them and I tried to cover it up with a same colored marker. It didn’t work. So then I added more so it didn’t stand out as much. I really started to like the way it looked so I added more detailing in black, shades of that same color and complementary colors... and my style has really evolved from that. That is why I always tell people that you can always salvage a design. You might end up with something great that you never planned for.


Tell us about your involvement in series 1 & 2 of the "Most Wanted" project, not just as an artist, but working behind the scenes.

When the guys first decided to do Most Wanted, I was in a convenient position to apply because I had recently come off my TMND series and I had done a couple commissions since, so I had a decent amount of work to show in my plea to take part. Some people had tried this before and it was a total disaster but these guys really had things in order so I was very optimistic that this could really work. Beyond producing my own design and creating the vector of my own design, I did the vector drawings for at least 5 of the other designs. I am a professional graphic designer so I spend the majority of my work day in Illustrator and Photoshop so I am very adept at making vector drawings. It was coming down to the wire and Tim (timselF) had enough on his plate with the packaging and poster so I did whatever I could to get things finished in time for the drop date. For Series 2 I hope to collaborate with Tim on the design for the box design. One of the things that I’ve been doing since I started customizing is making custom boxes for all my pieces... so I feel like I can bring a level of expertise in packaging design as well as my experience as a professional graphic designer.


Tell us about your new design for series 2?

I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it... one of the most important aspects of making customs for me is to continue to experimenting and executing unique and progressive ideas. When brain storming for my Series 2 design I tried to come up with ideas that would involve an execution that I’d never done before. One of the ideas that I came up with was to make a design where the head was not only removable but was intended to be displayed with or without the body. So at it’s core, the headless horseman was the start of the idea, and Sleepy Hollow instantly popped into my mind. I also really loved the concept of cutting the face out because no production Dunny had ever done that before. But I wanted to take it one step further... After cutting out the face out, I noticed that the head would squish together every time I tried to put it back on. I also didn’t like how you could see the socket through the mouth, which is why I decided to use the magnets . It made it easier to take the head off and put it back on, it created a cleaner facade inside the head, and I LOVE that the head can be stuck to anything magnetic. It’s like the head is floating around separate from the body.


After the success of your first solo show, "chomping at the bit", what else do you have in store for us?

I have so much stuff on deck that I can’t even mention it all. No production pieces yet but I love the process of talking to people when it comes to doing commission work, so that makes me really happy... and it's what I’ll probably be doing for the rest of the year. In the coming months I will be working on a Coarse Jaws, another Mega Munny, a 6-3” Dunny set, a couple of Mini-Munny’s, an 8” Dunny, a couple of standard Munny’s, 2 KR mascots, a special charity piece and a handful of 3” Dunny’s. I’m also in the process of designing some custom weapons for the 3A WWR robots, and I’m printing the 3A Legionnaire shirts again for the 2nd year. This time around there are 160 different members getting shirts, each with their user name silk screened on the back and a variety of other customizations. I have a feeling that will keep me tied up till 2011. I hope to do another show at Ultra Pop! sometime next year. Perhaps all original work, or perhaps all customized WWR bots. It’s too early to tell but there will be more solo shows in my future.


Thanks again for taking a moment to let us in to your head for a quick tour. Any last words you'd like to say to your fans? Are you currently taking commissions?

I am taking commissions but my list has quickly become quite long. I always have time to answer questions and talk about a commission even if it would be months down the road before I actually get to start it. I also want to thank everyone for their support. I make customs because I love it, and if you all didn’t like them then I wouldn’t still be making them... so again, I thank you for your interest in my work and for your overall support of Most Wanted.

"MUAHAHAHAHA!" IS ALL NIKEJERKS CREATION FOR SERIES 2 HAD TO SAY. . .

Just wanted to give you guys a better teaser of NikeJerk's design for series 2, I know the blurry shot from last weeks newsletter didn't help much ;) You'll see the full reveal of his prototype along with an in depth interview this upcoming week. So stay tuned, enjoy your weekend, and have a few drinks to ease the anticipation. . . but try not to over do it, you definitely don't want to lose you're head before the full reveal. . .

SERIES 1 VETERAN ARTIST LYSOL BRINGS YOU GREAD. . .

Just wanted to post a little mention that our friend and veteran artist from series 1, Brian Ahlbeck, better known as Lysol, is back with another original resin figure. Gread [pronounced greed] is a cute little pile of goo with 3 large eyes to keep a lookout for any foes, and a deceitful smile ;) Measuring at about 1" to 1" and a half, he'll be oozing your way this Friday the 7th, at 12 noon EST, in two limited colorways. At only $10 bux a pop, packaged in a nice little bag and header, these are sure to fly off the shelf. Set your home page to here so you'll be sure not to miss out, and be on the lookout for future colorways. . .

KEVIN GOSSELIN'S "CANNIBAL" DUNNY : FULLY REVEALED

For those of you who didn't sign up for the mailing list, here is you're first look at Kevin's "Cannibal" dunny for series 2:




Don't get him too close to your other dunnys, they may end up as a shrunken trophy on his coffee table.




Make sure to keep checking back for updates on how to get your hands on a blind box. And from what I hear, Kevin may have one open slot left for some 8" versions he'll be doing of this little guy. And for those wondering if there will be any APs of his S2 design, the answer is, absolutely! But don't sleep, cause they're sure to sell out fast! For more info on both his 8"er and APs, you can get a hold of him through his site: kgosselinart.com


Much love,

the MW crew.

CHAU"WHO?"SKIS?! : AN INTERVIEW WITH WALTER JACOTT

This week I sat down with Walter Jacott, better known to his fans as Chauskoskis, to get a little insight behind his art, his life, and his contribution to the "Most Wanted" series.


Let me start off by saying thanks for being a part of the series, and for taking the time out from your busy schedule to do this little Q&A.
Now, tell us a little bit about your art; Where does your inspiration come from, is there a method to your madness, an what medium, if any, would you say is your favorite?


First I just want to thank you guys for inviting me to the Series, you guys did a terrific job on this. Well, honestly i don't consider my stuff "art". I'm just a guy who makes ugly characters and stuff. But that's easy when you've grown up with clay in one hand, and a pencil in the other, lol. I don't feel that I have a particular style, but if I do, I know it's constantly changing. At times, My drawings and sculpts tend to vary in style from one another, but I plan on finding a more defined path with my custom toys. My inspiration comes from all around me; art, people, random stuff, or whatever else I've seen through out my 32yrs of life. I use whatever pops into my head most of the times, but there are moments when I'm just a complete blank. Which is why I've saved every single drawing I've ever made. So when i just can't come up with any good ideas, I open up my big box filled with thousands of drawings on small papers and napkins. Then I just take a look at them and auto-steal some ideas, lol. I also love to look at art and design websites, and right click and save hundreds of pics of anything that's awesome, even though I never really look through them. I guess I just hope that something good will stick in to my brain, lol. (But just a little warning, I'm always full of surprises, so beware cause I may come up with a different style every once in a while :P) As for a favorite medium? Hmm, tricky question... Honestly, I don't have one, I enjoy them all.


"Chauskoskis" is such a unique name, and I can't for the life of me figure out what it stands for, lol. So, what exactly does it mean, and why did you choose it as your artist name?


Haha, maybe I Should have picked my last name instead? I've just recently started using this nick name now that I'm in the toy scene, but its origins come from as far back as '97. As you know my names is Walter Jacott. Walter is not a very common name here in Mexico, and my last name, which is Scottish, is even less common. I think it's so rare that all the Jacotts here are direct relatives of each other, lol. Well, I was introduced to a couple guys who later become close friends of mine. It was just like a "hey guys, this is Walter Jacott", "pleased to meet you" type of thing. Some time passed, and one day I was walking on the street and the same guys saw me from across the street, so they wanted to shout out my name. . . but they had obviously forgot it, because what came out of their mouths was: "HEY YOU.......(big pause) CHAUSKOSKIS!" Lol, it was the only time they called me like that, but I think they were trying to say some weird name that is like the Mexican version of "Tchaikovsky" ( the classic musician). That's a little bit of a long story though, but I hope it made enough sense, lol.


For those of us how don't know much about the inner workings of the art scene, share with us some of your experiences. From past projects to future collabs, we're all ears ;)


Dude! There is so much cool stuff to come... Of course I have dozens of custom toys on the table, but there are also some original figures as personal projects; Some as DIY toys, some as sculptures to be casted in small runs, some hot collabos with some well known artists (Karuzo is still on the way, my buddy Frank Mysterio and I are really happy with how the things are moving along), and many cool shows coming up. Some of them I can't really talk about, but I can say im on the Celsius show in July from Rotobox, and the Jouwe Show from MyTummyToys... And of course my soon to be out designs for the Qee X Skelanimals series (how awesome is that?) -FUNKY DANCE HERE- LOL


How did you come to find out about the "Most Wanted" project? How do you feel about the line up, and tell us a little bit about your piece in the series.


I'm a part time visitor on the KR forums just cause I'm already a member on 4 or 5 different art forums, and as you know it takes a huge amount of time to post back and forth. Sometimes I even forget were I just posted, lol, anyways, I always go to KR boards and click for "new posts". And the "Most Wanted"series always seem to be on top, lol. So I read the whole thing, even though it was super long, and I was impressed by the detail and dedication from the artists and the organizers. It looked so well planned and handled with care, that I felt so much respect for you guys. I was already friends with some of the artists on the first series so it was great to see many of them aboard. So I am very pleased to have joined all my old and new buddies, who are great artists btw, in this series.

I remember submitting 3 or 4 rough ideas that were very complex with many add ons and stuff, but the final design we decided on, well, I have to say it really rocks! Maybe some people will expect something crazier from me, but I think this was a good choice. I feel I used a unique way of using the dunny shape, plus it's a very clean and simple design, at least I think so. I can't say any more, but I really hope you guys like it as much as I do.

Watch out KR here comes MWS2!


Thanks again bro, much respect from myself and all the other guys. Any last words you wanna give to your growing legion of fans? And what's the word on getting an original piece from you?


Just want to say thank you to you Manny, Igor, and Tim. Also, a special thanks to Sergio Mancini, WuzOne and Gawein who said good things about me, which I think helped me get on the series :)

To the fans, hope you dig my stuff even more so now, cause I will be around for a while, lol. Expect the unexpected!

About commissions :( I'm not taking much, cause I have too much stuff to take care of lately, but anyways feel free to drop me a message for whatever you like. If you need a tip or even a commission I will see what Ican do. It's good to know the people who like my stuff and I'm always pleased to say hi.



Thanks again Walter, and thanks to everyone who checked this out. Below you'll find some links to Chauskoskis work, so you can pick up were we left off. We hope you enjoyed the interview, and please feel free to leave us any comments. Good or bad, we want to hear them. And remember to check back next week for another interview from one of our artists.


http://walterjacott.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walterjacott/
http://twitter.com/chauskoskis

FROM GERMANY, WITH LOVE. . .

For those of you who followed the first series, you probably remember our guest artist, Flying Fortress. Well, here's a little something our very own Tim Munz (aka timselF) sent his way just to say thanks:

http://www.teddytroops.net/2010/03/04/custom-teddy-trooper-by-timself

for those of you who are interested in snagging a dope custom from the man him self, you can contact him at: timunz@gmail.com
And believe me, you'll be glad you did ;)

INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN GOSSELIN

Through out the series we'll be doing a few interviews with the artists themselves, so check back every week to get an insider look at what your favorite MW artist is up to. This week I'm proud to present you with a few words from Kevin Gosselin. Hope you enjoy it, and please let us know what you think by leaving a comment or two:

First of all, I just want to say thanks for taking the time to not only do this interview, but also for being apart of this artist collective. So tell us a little bit about yourself, who is Kevn Gosselin? What makes you tick? Is it true that you have a vast collection of vintage communist propaganda? How did Ricky Martin's coming out effect you? . . Just messing with you, lol, let's just stick to the basics; So tell us a little bit about where you grew up?


Well, I'm a New Hampshire boy. I grew up in a small New England town of under 3,000 people and there wasn't much to do. I passed the time fishing, playing video games and reading comics. Real wholesome like. This town was so small it didn't even have a grocery store. Just a couple mom and pop markets and 1 gas station. Fortunately we had cable. One of the first places in the states due to our proximity to Boston. So I got my pop culture. Being so rural was great though and kept me out of trouble. I loved it and it's made me who I am. But at 18 I left for art school and have been bouncing around ever since.


When did you begin your art, and what led you to where you are now? Tell us a little bit about your process, as far as where you gather your inspiration from, what medium do you like working with best, but most importantly, where the hell do you find the patience to create such detailed work, lol.


Wow, that's a lot of questions there. Where did it begin? Really, it has always been there. I'm assuming it's gotta be the same way with everyone who has a passion for art. Passion? hhmm. More like love hate relationship. By that I mean I love it but it can be a source of eternal frustration. At least for me. I don't think I've ever been satisfied with anything I create. But I digress. Where it began, yeah. As far as making custom toys, it's very recent. That Kid Robot MunnyWorld show was the beginning of everything for me. Just came out of the blue and quite frankly I'm holding on to it and trying to milk it for everything I can get. I want to be an artist. I want to manage somehow to afford a way to be that kid who just wants to be left alone for hours while I dream of cool things to doodle. So that's what drives me. The desire to just have that luxury.


When it comes to customizing toys, I have a phrase that works for me. Thinking within the box. I've never really liked that other way of thinking, you know, outside of the box, because the reality is, there is a box. And for good reason. The people you want to communicate are in that box. And it's my job as a communicator to think within the bounds of the project and make it work. So with toys, I try to think about the platform in front of me. I don't try to make it something it's not. I try to make it something it could be. Bring it to life. The same, but more so.


As for patience, well, that's the big artist secret. Lot's of people will try to convince you that there's this thing called talent. I've never believed that. I believe there's desire and hard work and if you want to be good then you don't stop until you have achieved that. Patience is an artists best friend. So I try my best to take my time to do things to the best of my ability.


I don't know if I have a favorite medium yet. I know what I don't like though. I HATE carcoal and pastels. They're just too dry and suck the moisture out of me.


Are there any names in the urban art scene who you admire? If so, how have they affected your style and/or technique, if at all.


Huck Gee. Cause he sells his customs for some mad cash. Maybe the rest of us could do a little better if Huck wasn't taking all the people's money. JK. I think it's great and it gives us little guys a goal to aspire to. But I think if I had to get my hands on just one artist's work, it would have to be Chauskoskis. His work has such a unique look to it and the craftsmanship is beautiful. Each piece has a real artist touch to it. But is he urban? I'm still learning all this stuff. Scribe is more urban I suppose. Yeah, yeah, they're two of the artists in this group. I'm not trying to pitch this series at all, I swear. I think it just shows you how fortunate I am to be in this group.But I don't think anybody influences me in any other way but to make me work harder. When you see excellence it makes you realize that you need to step up your game or fall behind.


What brought you to this little artist sweat shop we got running, otherwise knows as the "Most Wanted" Artist Series, and how do you feel about the project as a whole?


To be honest, I had never heard of this group until Toy Break had a blind box just a month or so ago. Yeah, that's how much of a newbie I am. At the same time AW177 had emailed me to ask me some questions about my graphic design experience. I took the time to write him a short novel sharing with him my experience and I guess in turn made myself a new friend. When I heard about the first series on Toy Break I mentioned to AW177 that it would have been cool to have been a part of that. He asked me if I wanted a chance to be a part of the coming series and I jumped at it. Karma. I'm a big believer in it. Oh, and Thank you very much AW177! So how do I feel about it? I think it's great. For both the artists and the fans. Each one of us is creating a limited series of original custom art that anyone has a chance to purchase for a modest price. It's making customs accessible for those who can't afford our pricey commission fees. And for the artist, it's back breaking, eye-straining work that makes us curse the day we ever signed up. No? What I mean to say is that it's great exposure for each of us. It gets our work out there and promotes us and the art of customizing. It's also builds a sense of community amongst the artists. It's all great.


Once again, mad props for being a part of the series! Feel free to give any shout outs, threats to your enemies, and please tell us how we can go about scoring one of your amazing pieces?!


No, thank you for having me. I'm super psyched to see what everyone comes up with and really proud to be a part of this group. As for scoring a piece, well, people can find me through my site at kgosselinart.com. I also want to mention that I'm planning on making a couple 8" versions of my Most Wanted design. I love this guy and think a 8" would really do it justice. The 3" is awesome but the 8" is going to be sick.


Thanks again Kevin, I know your "cannibal" dunny is going to be a big hit in the series ;) Everyone else be sure to check out more of his work on his site, and for those of you interested in grabbing a commission or two from him, act quick cause spots are filling up fast!

THE MAILING LIST IS UP AND RUNNING!

So we finally got the mailing list up and running, big ups to Kevin for setting it up! Where do you sign up you may ask? First, put the "tobacco pipe" down, and look at the top right hand panel ;) Just fill in your email address, click subscribe, check for a confirmation email, click the link, and you're good to go! Remember that this how we'll be releasing all the important information, like the preorder and drop date, so if you miss out on either one, don't say I didn't warn you ;)

Yo!

What up folks, welcome to our blog spot. Freshly created to satisfy all your MW needs ;) I'll be posting everything you need to know about our 2nd custom artist series, including teasers, preorder info, drop dates, so on and so forth. But not worry, I'll still be as active as ever on the original KR thread. For those of you who aren't familiar with the "Most Wanted" artist collective, you can check out more info here. Also, I just want to thank all our loyal fans who helped make series 1 a huge success, we couldn't have done it without the love from a such an amazing community. We promise that series 2 will be nothing short of it's predecessor in both amazing talent, and quality. Stay tuned for more info from the original artist series. . .