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!