As reported on Wired.
BY JOSEPH FLAHERTY
Jeff Pidgeon is a toy fanatic. By day he works as a story artist at Pixar, where he helped craft the Toy Story series — he even provided the voice of the little green aliens. In his off hours, he spends time curating one of the world’s greatest toy collections.
Telling stories and collecting still wasn’t enough for this action-figure enthusiast though, so he decided to design and mass-produce toys of his own creation. His first design, called “Happy Beaver” is going into its second production run and his new product, the “Tr!ckster Fox,” is entering the final stages of design. Pidgeon is prepping an online store to sell both and they will also be available at select boutiques.
In between working on Academy Award-winning films and sculpting new toys, Pidgeon talked with Wired Design about his inspirations and the process of bringing a toy from sketch book to store shelves.
Wired Design: What was your motivation for making a toy?
Jeff Pidgeon: I think it’s just a natural extrapolation from being such a passionate toy fan in the first place! If you love toys, eventually you’ll want to make your own. Whether it’s with clay or wood or PVC plastic, it seems to happen. There’s a lot of artists out there who customize existing toys into their own creations, or characters they’ve always wanted to see merchandised. That’s another path to the same goal.
WD: How did you develop the happy beaver design?
Pidgeon: Clay. I don’t sculpt myself, so I hired Vin Teng, a sculptor I met years ago at San Diego Comic-Con. I really like the way he interprets stylized two-dimensional designs into three dimensions, and he has experience with toy-making. That was important because he could sculpt something I could use with a manufacturer without having to know all the ins and outs of the process.
When I realized that producing my own toy was affordable, I started asking Vin questions and showing him drawings. I gave him a ‘turnaround’, a type of animation drawing that shows what a character looks like at a variety of angles. Once he had that, he could start sculpting. Since Vin had already done a lot of freelance work, he had a great working method in place – he would show me the figure at various stages of sculpting, I would react to it, then he would make changes. Vin is really good, so there really weren’t a lot of changes!
WD: Did your dedication and skill as a collector influence the design from an aesthetically or with regards to manufacturing?
Pidgeon: Definitely – but less concessions to the process, and more influence to my aesthetic – a combination of my design sense and what I think makes a good toy. The more toys you see, the more you know of what’s technically possible to do. Sometimes you can learn about manufacturing techniques from other collectors, too.
My “Happy Beaver” toy was an artwork-centric process, in the sense that I had a drawing, and wanted to preserve the look and feel of the drawing as much as possible. Every interaction with anyone else in that process was asked the same question: “How can I make my toy look just like this?” The liason between me and the factory that made the final toy knew more about how to hide and minimize manufacturing artifacts. His job was to get me to that ideal toy version of my drawing with that knowledge, and he did a terrific job. I was very proud that more experienced toymakers were impressed with how well “Happy Beaver” was made.
WD: What was the most challenging part of bringing the Happy Beaver to market?
Pidgeon: In my experience, the time between the first drawings and the finished toy is about a year. I think the most challenging part of production is making choices that you won’t be able to change later. I used to really struggle with decisions like that. Fortunately, I trust my own instincts much more than I did when I first started making toys, so heading up projects like this are easier now.
WD: Did you approach the design of the Trickster Fox toy any differently based on your learnings on the Happy Beaver?
Pidgeon: The “Tr!ckster Fox” toy was a somewhat different process. My wife Anita (Coulter) is one of the co-founders of the Tr!ckster event that’s been taking place in San Diego over the last couple of years. When the second Tr!ckster was being planned, Anita knew she wanted something similar to the art book for the first event – a primary piece of merchandise. So she suggested I make a fox figure. I had been working with Klim Kozinevich (of Bigshot Toyworks) for a little while on a set of resin figures, but this seemed like the best choice for my next toy, so we shifted our focus onto making the fox.
The “Tr!ckster Fox” process was different because I set out to design a toy, not to make a cartoon character into a toy. I definitely wanted the fox to have personality, but all of the artwork I generated from the start looked a toy of a cartoon fox instead of a cartoon fox. It was different because it was an articulated figure with accessories, instead of a vinyl toy with no joints or extra parts. It was much more complicated.
It was also different because I didn’t get the design exactly the way I wanted before I began. Rather than have every choice dictated by the drawing, this time the design evolved over the process of creating it. The Tr!ckster Fox was sculpted digitally, so I got feedback to my notes much more quickly than I had in a traditional sculpting process.
I found that a little bewildering at first – I had just gotten used to a bunch of decisions I’d made, and now all of a sudden I’d have to make all of them all over again. Fortunately, the Bigshot guys were patient with me, and I was motivated to keep things moving because I had a deadline for finishing the project. Gradually, I got used to the new feedback turnover, and the figure turned out really well!
WD: What would you like to do for your next toy project?
Pidgeon: I have a bunch of ideas for future toy releases – that’s why I make variants of my current designs, to help buy myself time to make the new characters! The next design on the slate is Kumo-Kun, a kind of anime-luchador-insect-superhero-thing. He was a T-shirt design back in 1998 or 1999, and originally I considered him as my first toy because those shirts sold very well too. But Kumo-Kun was a little more complicated, so I decided to wait. The painted maquette is all set to go – as soon as I can get the cash to make him, I will. I’m considering making a three or four inch resin figure, as opposed to another five-inch vinyl toy, which was my original plan. It’ll be cheaper, and if those sell well I can go ahead and make the vinyl figures later. He’ll be released in three colors, so I can have a unique version of Kumo-Kun for the next three conventions I attend.
The next project is one I’ve been developing with Klim before the Tr!ckster Fox toy began. It’s a series of jazz musicians that happen to be birds. These will be resin figures, and if you buy all of them, the bases will fit together to form the backdrop of the club where they’re performing. There’s going to be five or six band members, so I’ll probably release a new character periodically rather than make multiple color variants.
I have two more ideas for Happy Beaver toys that I still want to do. I’m looking into making a “Green Beaver” that’ll be manufactured out of recycled materials. I also want to figure out my “Shaved Beaver” concept, one that’s colored to look like its fur has shaved down to the stubble! I want to put a tiny bandage on each one, too. If I can think of a third idea, I’ll do another trio of variants that can be released one by one throughout the year. I’m not sure where they’ll fit in the schedule, but they’ll be easier to do since I can use the same Beaver molds I already have.
I’ve also been considering a licensed toy – I did a little homework, and discovered that I could afford to make a limited run of a famous character. I think it’s begging for the vinyl treatment, but it may always get back-burnered because I’ll probably always want to put one of my own designs first.