Hello all,

As the classic line goes: long time reader; first time poster. There is defiantly a great buzz on these forums, happy I finally signed up! Should have done it years ago.

My name is Shane Haddy and I am from Adelaide, Australia - Some of you may know me from around the place . I have been designing art toys for the last two years under the studio name 'Hints and Spices'. I have mostly focused on custom work but I have one sofubi production piece named 'Waniphant', which some of you may have seen? (There has only been a few small runs.) Over the last two years I have kept a semi-low profile. My online presence is shocking but I hope to change that in the coming months - signing up here is step 1!

Last year I embarked on a very ambitious project, to me it's very exciting and I'm keen to spread the word. In August 2012, I found out I was the lucky recipient of the 'Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Japan Travel Fund' through Arts SA, which is part of the Australian Government. With this grant, I have travelled to Japan to develop new sofubi works while being influenced and mentored by talented Japanese artists and craftsmen. I have organised a very exciting list of mentors which include but not limited to: Sunguts, Touma, Zarigani Works, Dolroffo, TTToy and Studio Uamou. I am still blown away that I am working with such talented and respected designers and artists. I am forever grateful to all my mentors for their support and participation in my ambitious project.

I have been in Japan for two months (taking two weeks off over xmas/new years) and have currently spent time with Sunguts and Touma. I have learnt so much in my short time here and it has been a fantastic opportunity. This past week I have been very busy at the Sunguts character factory finalising and preparing two character sculpts for wax casts. These two characters will be produced in vinyl and released at wonderfest in early February!! Exciting times.



A koala/drop bear and a mermaid, I am still finalising their names. Sorry for the instagram image, I will take better photos soon

Throughout this project, I have been keeping a blog detailing my journey. http://blog.hintsandspices.com/ ~ Please follow and enjoy! This month will be action packed! You can also follow me on twitter, facebook and instagram. I use instagram the most for 'blow by blow' accounts of my daily adventures in Japan.

Well, there is my quick little introduction and display of new work. I think I will leave there for now ~ Thanks for reading, nice to meet you all.

Cheers,
Shane Haddy

Shane they look pretty damn fun man! That sounds like an amazing experience you are having and I hope you take a lot from it and it leads to nothing but positive things for you. Welcome to the board Duder!

best of luck with your project.

that is an awesome opportunity! pretty jealous.

beyond jealous...best of luck!

amazing,
thanks for sharing

Very interesting, thank you for sharing, looking forward to seeing more in the future.

Thanks for the warm welcome! Yes, feels like I'm in a dream. Has opened many doors and I aim to keep working hard at what I love!

Will be producing more work while I'm here for release in the coming months. I'm quite open about many aspects of the project (besides a few facts kept due to respect and request) so feel free to ask me anything. Generally trying to keep everything on my blog so I might even reply with a post on there.

Just about to walk into Superfes - TOYS!

Wow, such an amazing story and a wonderful opportunity! Can't wait to hear more and follow the progress of your figures.

I stumbled across your blog recently & read a little about the mentorship stuff. sounds really fun. I liked the Sunguts photos a lot. Welcome to the brain of the internet.

Funny how this guy didn't get any shit thrown at him for hawking wares on his first post, but that one artist from NY got tons of shit.

Welcome, and congrats on the grant, what you are doing is a great way to start a career in the business, I wish you all the success. It certainly opens a path and gives ideas to others trying to break into the medium.

Glad to see you there Shane. And glad to learn that my Waniphant will soon have some friends to play with
Best of Luck for your awesome project mate!

Bung a shrimp on the barbie you tallywhacka, you must be flat out like a lizard drinking!
Stone the crows.
Hey, I talked to a guy here today in Brisbane with a rotocasting machine. I checked out his stuff, it's pretty wild...

Thanks all for the warm welcome! Spent today at Superfest and yeah... toys rock, they really do!



Cheers, have about 6 posts I'm polishing up. Keep an eye out



Great, always good to know people stuble across my work. It has been lots of fun! Especially with Sunguts, he is a great guy! Lots more Sunguts pics to come.



Poor NY guy, lucky for me I guess?! Nothing to buy as of yet anyway ;p I just wanted to share the story and my experiences more than anything



Thank you so much! It's defiantly a good kick in the right direction for my career. I hope the project inspires other artists to do something similar.



Hmmmm Waniphant might be a little jealous at first and not want to play with them ;p but after some time, he will get to know them and they will be best of buds!



Is that bluey from beyond the black stump? Blimey, that bloke likes to pull ya leg with a tall tale! LOL
Is this a DIY rotocast or an industrial machinery rotocast? I'll be having a bunch of meetings with a few places when I get back to Adelaide. Hope to get places willing to do small runs.