Riot68 He puts down his spraycan and pens to give VA the lowdown.
	Tristan Eaton We picked the brains of the man behind THUNDERDOG.
	Nanospore Nanospore's Paul and Ben tells us why they do what they do.
	Mr Clement VA interviews Mr Clement. Creator of Mr. Yeah Kou
	Tesselate Produced his own toys named "Heart Head" and tells VA how he did it!

Tell us a little about yourself?

I went to college and did a Foundation Arts Coarse and then 2 years Studio Practise and Design, (pre computers). Worked in a Supermarket, Advertising Agency and then Film Cutting rooms.I am presently, an out of work, or as they say in the business 'in between jobs' Film Editor working in Features and Telivision. I have 2 children of 11 and 12 both with severe speech delays and a wife who is an amazing Interior Designer.1 dog 2 goldfish and a house full of toys!

Mimic asks: Are you really old? Why are you sooooo good at customs?

Well lets put it this way. I will still be making customs well into my 50's and I don't know.

Explain the process of creating a custom. Do you begin with prep sketches and designs?

Depends, usually I can't wait to get started so just draw directly onto the vinyl. Sometimes, like for instance the Mayor from NB4XMas, http://zenzero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3531 I will draw a quick sketch onto one of the qee templates that come with the blanks. Ever since the very first one I seem to have sculpted a lot, the form just seems to lend itself to modification. The problem with taking apart the vinyl, sculpting and then reassembling it is that sometimes it just won't go back together.With the recent Marvel custom http://www.zenzero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5525 the head won't turn fully as the Hulks arm is in the way and I had to file back the top of the Human Torches arm as the flames were in the way of the face.You can't forsee these problems when you're doing so much sculpting.

Are the processes that go into your customs trial and error or do you have experience/training in model making and other techniques?

Absolutely trial and error. Making the same custom twice would take half the time the second time round, no doubt about it. No training at all in model making and having rather stubby fat fingers doesn't help! For the finer details I sometimes use my childrens fingers as another tool, just wet them and drag them through the milliput, they're quite accomodating really, thats why they usually take so long, I have to prise them away from their games consoles.

What is a typical day for you?

No typical day really. There's the when I'm working day. Get up at 6.30. Train into Soho. Work at 8.30. Leave at 20.00 Home by 21.30. Collapse, go to bed. Or the out of work mode, that I actually prefer. Get up 7.30. Take Romany to school. Walk the dog. Go to the gym. Help the wife or do more work on finishing her studio at the bottom of the garden (It now has the same amount of floor space as the main house). Pick up Romany and work on my customs for a few hours.

You’ve purchased quite a few custom toys, do you prefer these over production pieces?

Customs are just so cheap for what they are, which is unique works of art, and its just nice to see other peoples brush strokes and fingerprints. I don't have a great deal but intend to buy more in the future. I was amazed at how cheap the Dutch Customs went for on ebay recently. I mean you could pick them up for £10 more than a blank which is ridiculous for all the work that was put into some of them. It would be great to see them enter into art circles like The Summer Exhibition or the Design Museum. It may only be a matter of time. I'm all for pushing and promoting the scene as much as possible and getting more people to give it a try.That's why I do so many pictiorials in the Customs Section on Qeester, to hopefully show that its not rocket science.

You’ve worked with both 2” and 8” qees; which do you prefer?

8" Definately.I've only done the 2 small ones. Raymond Qee http://www.zenzero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4539 and Bone http://www.zenzero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4292 and I'm sure I will do more in the future but I just love the 8" at present. Although I am now working on 8" Knuckle Bears and the Munny looks promising.

Would you say you’re custom work has a certain style?

I don't know to tell you the truth. I think it may be developing but I don't think that you could go to a piece of my work like you could Doktor_a's or Biskups and know immediately whos it was.I tend to do intricate and time consuming customs involving a lot of sculpting and I hope to push the boundaries and make them more 'art' in the future but then I also want to get back to really basic design. Watch this space!

Which artists do you admire? Who do you find inspirational?

Alexander Calder, Francis Bacon, Jean Michael Basquiat, Keith Haring, Contemporary: Tim Biskup, Doze, Brendan Monroe, Coop, Aaron Horkey, Ian Pollock, The list goes on... so many.

If you could pick one artist to collaborate with on any sort of work who would it be?

Miq Willmott is the best out there so it would be a privalege to work with him.

How did you first become involved in the world of designer toys?

My wife discovered Playlounge on one of her retail shopping outings. (Shes in therapy at the moment) and came back with some qee key rings. At first we bought them for the kids to play with! For Christmas last year I decided to buy her some and went looking for them on the net and came across Qeester. I scrolled down and went into the Customs section and the first one that came up happened to be Playskewls amazing 'Qeelectric' and still one of my favorites, I tried to buy it, failed and so made her my first custom Dash Incredible http://www.zenzero.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2874 and I was hooked.

Other than customizing toys, what else keeps you entertained/busy?

Kids are 24/7. Play a lot of tennis, watch films, drink, fall over.

Do you collect toys? If so, which?

Have collected toys for as long as I can remember. Started with old tin plate cars, tanks, anything that was a bargain at the numerous flea and antique markets I have always frequented. Then it was original Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise (which is still my favorite film). More recently its Qee, Scary Girl, Monsterism, Noupas and Michael Laus SFCC characters which are the DB's.

Who or what inspires you?

Everything and anything really. Just walking around London and window shopping and going downstairs at Forbidden Planet. There's also a great imagazine called Raw Vision http://www.rawvision.com/ which covers Outsider Art and Art Brut and Recycled Art which is always inspiring.

What is your ultimate goal?

No ultimate goal. Customising qees has radically changed my life in ways that I would never have thought possible a year ago. Maybe at at a stage in my life where I need a change of direction. I'm certainly very happy when I'm editing but it's always been a unpredictable business as in that you never know when the next job is going to turn up. I could get a phone call tomorrow and have to go to abroad for 8 months or I could be out of work for another 6 months. I just intend to continue customising qees in my spare time and let fate take its path.

Do you have any advice for those starting out on their first custom?

Read as much as you need to in the Customs Tips and Tricks section on Qeester and just go for it, it's only paint it can be painted over if you make a mistake and most of all just have fun with it.

Any chance we’ll see any of your custom work made into production pieces?

Somehow I don't think so! Certainly not the ones I've been making up to date but I have some ideas for more conventional designs I just havn't found the time or inclination to do them just yet.

Do you wish them to?

It's not at the top of my list although it would be nice of course.

What else can we expect from you in the future?

I have an exhibition coming up in March next year and all the customs I've done to date will go into that. But unfortunately I can't give anything else away as it is a little hush hush at present! I am currently doing a monster for a show in Bristol for Peskimo. I have just been approached for a commision to make the Marvel Patchwork Custom as the 6 individual characters! I would also like to put on an custom exhibition in London next year, not just vinyl but customising anything, we'll see.

Do you have any desire to create your own toy designs?

I'm starting to. It's great to see other qeesters, Docktor_a and Swam being 2 of them, coming out with their own toys. It's very inspirational to see all this productivity from the other designers we've come to know so well through an internet site. There's generally a great bunch of people on the vinyl boards and only too willing to lend an ear or a hand.

Why do you think creating customs has become so popular over the past year or so? What do you think is the driving force behind those who create customs?

It's just such a great medium. I hadn't drawn or painted since I left Art College in 1975! But then I see what can be done on these toys and I havn't stopped! It's addictive. Also, once you start getting feedback from the board members it boosts your confidence because no one is too critical and they are always positive it's like a drug, you go back for more.

What’s the biggest challenge for you when it comes to creating a custom toy?

Trying to raise the barriers a little more each time just to see how far it can go.