and I'm wondering about the Faux pas of painting older sculpts and selling them. I have a lot of blank, but the pricing without paint is already insane. Then I have some older toys with chips in them I will be repairing. What is the responsibility as an artist to the makers and the buyers.
i dont know sofubi manners, but i make toys. i have the right to enjoy working on them and to the first sale. if its 60, I got 60 when it left me, thats it. i enjoy seeing them painted and enjoyed. if i had paint on it, i dont think i'd be too butthurt, not my toy anymore, if the owner fucks it up, thats their toy to do so with. if they do a better paint job (likely) i cant really get mad, can i?
I guess it depends on the artist, some care, if they think themselves a hot shot, and it’s their place to control their work once it leaves their hands. but most probably don’t. Curious what blanks you have that you are considering painting. Because most stuff has tanked in value over the past few years. In regards to painting scuffs, just let it age. Look at vintage, why do you need a perfect paint on a toy that is say 10 years old. Let the life show. Besides wonder paint is not the same colors as say v color or sofvi color, and you will have to mix paints and likely get a color that is slightly off.
i think you should do whatever you want with your toys. theres plenty of artists that release blank after blank. BUT i think its fair game if an artist gets rubbed the wrong way about the paint stuff and you just gotta accept the criticism. no artist was born knowing how to paint and not everyone wants to make toys so waiting until you have your own toy to paint is kinda hard too. plus... $60 blank vs $5k production i can see how the m1 blanks are so appealing in that sense lol
I like your take on this. Never thought about it that way. The thing about vintage is that, often, they weren't kept in glass cases but played with (as intended). So scuffs on more modern toys might be seen as a sign of neglect... but I'm all for "letting the life show."
Yeah it's a very different mentality these days, most consider them collectables that need to be kept in pristine condition. Still they accidentally get dropped, or shelf dive, put in a bin with other toys, or boxed up and moved and life happens. I used to be bothered by paint rubs but now I don’t care. My favorite toys are used things I buy on yja or mandarake from the 2000s and they arrive with paint rubs here and there smelling like 20 year old vinyl. It will all be vintage eventually.
Dont get me wrong I love my Rainbow Barom but the paintjob on it isnt what I'm looking for. I have a large collection of izumonster blanks bemon longneck etc
Yeah I probably wouldn’t paint the Bemon, a lot of people would love grabbing a mixed part and several have already been painted and should have never been. I think some of the older long neck stuff like the white gas bawer was made for painting and even today is probably just 100 bucks. The izumonster stuff is still pricey. But it’s your choice. I might suggest buying some cheap blanks to get some practice on before the izumonster.
I imagine people will have varying feelings about all of this so just do what you want. The pitchforks have long been retired.
I suppose so but I still see some people posting "I didn't paint this" posts. I can see if someone is being questionable about sales, but for the most part seasoned collectors, can tell you didnt paint it eh. I just don't want to step on toes, I reached out to other sofubi makers to see if they mind me painting their blanks. I've had mixed answers. Rampage and Le Merde have been the coolest so far.
I understand how painstaking the process of making toys is, I get why you wouldn't want people stepping on your coat tails. Being creative is hard work.
Skullbrain has seen a lot of custom painted sofubi over the years. A lot of it good, but more of it bad. The problem I've seen with many of them is that the vinyl is completely covered up and not given a chance to express itself. The sculpt gets buried under paint and the details end up being obscured. So, don't do that. Vintage mass produced sofubi came from factories that had to produce thousands of them. Paint jobs were minimal, just enough to bring out specific details or convey essential elements of the character. Look at the production versions of your blanks and use those as a guideline. You will be following the path the original maker intended for themselves and end up producing something that is truer to the spirit of the figure. As @3wing recently put it, "if you're spending two hours painting each figure, maybe you need to rethink your choices."
In this small art community, It’s always best to ask. Some people care, some don’t. Sending a message isn’t that hard. I’m stoked when I see great paint jobs on my blanks. And I’m bummed to see when they got stomped on or sold for double what I charge painted. So, I make a policy to rarely release blank toys. If someone asks, I say go for it. Because I don’t own the thing… they do. As an artist, I know when I sell a toy, it leaves my control. The business minded me is stoked but, my ego is spinning tires. I’d like to control my vision of the object but, thems the breaks.
To a degree, but it’s always been common in sofubi to totally paint over extra stock of vinyl. I’ve had black skull toys figures that were actually pink and totally painted. Very common in licensed characters. I’ve had a CCP flesh dust man that was totally painted green and the only way you could tell it was flesh were the scrapes where the joints rubbed. also very common for licensed characters to be covered in gold paint as a gold version. This can add a real charm in my opinion. I would say more importantly as a creative it’s better not to set rules or limitations but be resourceful with what you have. If you have a flesh toy but want it to be red, paint it. The right clear coat can make paint look like raw vinyl. But I don’t teach people how to paint anymore, no one wants to listen. I’ve painted sofubi toys with creatix and achieved beautiful colors and results and with the right clear coat it’s as durable as any vinyl paint and no one has ever known. There are also paints sold across most hobby stores that out perform “vinyl paints” in adhesion and finish. That’s just part of undertaking something, stick with it and you will figure out a lot of things through experimentation and trial and error that no one else knows about.
If you have the itch to paint.. please paint! Don’t let the fugliest toy thread discourage you, learn from it, bc I clearly haven’t.
Painting is all personal taste really... People here know their stuff. There are a ton of classic toys that had the entire surface of the toy repainted and are sill classy. \ yet, a jaunt over to the ugly thread will show what you might want to steer clear of.
@JoeMan So I'm a vet of the Monster Kolor Debacle. I'm ver particular about paint. I still have a small stock of v color, I was planning on using it alongside my Wonder Vinyl, will those two not mesh? @Roger I know exactly what youre talking about, and I've seen the damage done. The only person I've seen do Allover paints well was Shig, and a guy Bug0061. When done right, it can look great. When done wrong... I think a lot just depends on the toy itself, I would have a hard time painting a chogokin vs Hedorah. I've had the hardest time painting Le Merde's Mega Junktion for that very reason.
They hurt more now that they haven’t been sharpened in a while I could never bring myself to paint blank Bemons…
Mori of Real x Head fame used to pull all of his minis, especially the Lucky Cats, in white vinyl and paint over the entirety of them in whatever colors he chose ‘cause it was cheaper and faster than ordering different colored vinyl per release. Shirahama Toys’ Agony Relief Kumon is pulled in white vinyl, but painted blue, silver and gold all over. Hell, even my Splurrt Garamon Cadaver Twin is the same as the aforementioned Brilliant coverage on both. Only quarrel I’ve ever had with people painting customs or one offs with toys that aren’t theirs, is, knowing you’re either practicing or considerably bad at it, but painting highly coveted sculpts to contrive interest and force sales. Time and time again have I seen IzuMonster Flesh/Toxic Eaters and Kumon and similar get butchered to fuck all and sold for a premium because a collector really wanted to own the sculpt, not the end result of the custom. But again, at the end of the day, we buy/collect these toys and I do agree that we’re to do with ‘em as we see fit. The dialogue it can create is always interesting, though.
To each their own, but when I see a $100 toy that's been 'custom painted' and is now struggling to sell for $25, a little piece of me dies inside. But then again, WTF do I know!
