Passionné par les jouets depuis sa tendre enfance, Jeff Piegon l’heureux créateur du Happy Beaver. Ce toy autoproduit par Jeff gagne en popularité de jours en jour et de convention en convention, le grand Kozik lui-même s’est intéressé au Happy Beaver et en a fait sa propre version, le Evil Beaver, qui verra le jour, si tout va bien, au SDCC 2009.
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Voici une petite présentation de l’artiste qui nous parle de son cheminement dans le monde du toy et de ses projets à venir.
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I loved toys when I was a little kid, and it really never went away! As I got older, I turned into a toy collector, buying cool stuff at flea markets and garage sales. In college, I had more access to comic book and big retail chains. After I graduated, eBay was born, and then things really kicked into high gear! I found stuff that I'd never seen anywhere.
One of the coolest things that I stumbled upon in those days was the designer toy movement, which was just big enough to start getting noticed in the U.S. I snapped up as many Michael Lau and Eric So figures as I could afford!
The internet made buying the toys easy, but it also made it easier to talk with the folks that were making this terrific stuff, and start asking them questions. At first, I was just curious - it still didn't seem like something I could actually do myself. After a while, though, I began to realize that it was possible - that I could make a toy of one of my own characters! My income and the costs of production had met in the middle.
I'd been selling T-shirts at conventions for a year or two, with one design far outselling all the rest. My wife Anita had picked a cute beaver doodle out of my artwork pile, and everyone seemed to love it. Being a simple character didn't hurt, either - I could get my feet wet without too much worry of biting off more than I could chew.
Through my work in animation and my many trips to San Diego Comic-Con, I'd run across people who could help me make things happen.
Vin Teng (sculpster.com) is a very talented sculptor who interpreted my stylized character, making it work in three dimensions. I found a toy production company who could be the experienced middleman between me and the Chinese factory. Brian Flynn (a toy creator and owner of the toy store Super 7 in San Francisco) was also a great sounding board and mentor with lots of experience, support, and generosity.
Tucking this toy project into my work schedule wasn't easy, but about a year later I was selling Happy Beaver for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con. I'd gone from being a fan to a professional to an exhibitor! As any convention peddler can tell you, it's a huge thrill to open a shipping box filled with your own toys!
With the help of some PayPal tools, I set up a virtual storefront at my blog (jeffpidgeon.com), and slowly began to sell toys all over the world. It's all been very exciting, and I couldn't be happier with my little vinyl buddy!
