the story of erick scarecrow's shiitakes

"I warn you, do not stare into the Shiitakes' cyclops eye for too long. These monster mushrooms have a variety of bizarre powers that eventually led to their escape from me their creator. Presently they camouflage themselves as regular toys with a convenient clip-on in efforts for you to take them with you!" = so goes the "warning label" on Erick Scarecrow's new plush SHIITAKES that are set to spread (like fungi) throughout the toyworld, not least with it's upcoming Shiitakes Parade DIY-custom show [blogged]

i had a chat with Shiitakes' creator, Erick on what them plush-fungi are all about = *read about it after the JUMP*


TOYSREVIL: how did Shiitakes come about? what inspired their creation?

ERICK: The Shiitakes came about when I did a custom toy last year. One of the toy's accessories was a mushroom and I basically just painted the mushroom into a character to go along with the toy. Everybody went nuts over the mushroom. So I basically knew I had something and I had Esc-Toy go and produce them.

TRE: diy-plush = genius, IMHO.  was it always designed as a "plush" in mind?

ERICK: Thank you! Yes, I always had plush in mind. When I first got into the toy scene. I did plush way before vinyl.


[image via]
TRE: how did you decide on the size?

ERICK: I wanted to do the plush at a size that anyone could look at it and feel they could have fun with it. Plus it's small enough to hang up anywhere.

TRE: pocket-sized fungi, yeh? coolness LOL ... how many are there in the Shiitakes family? i count 5+1 on the label-card (image insert) - are there any variants planned?

ERICK: There are 8 including the DIY. There's 2 secret variants.


TRE: can you tell us about the Shiitakes Parade? how you thought of it and how it is gonna be like?

ERICK: Since this is the very first Erick Scarecrow product produced by ESC-TOY LTD. I wanted to do something different and special. I also wanted to extend the invite to other creatives and give them an opportunity to have fun as well. There's going to be a very interesting mix of talent. I don't want to reveal much but it's going to be AWESOME!


TRE: darnnit, the pressure is creeping up on me now LOL ... what are your current and future plans for Shiitakes' eventual world domination?

ERICK: I can't reveal much about that either but I'll state this much.....the fungus will spread.

TRE: and spread it will, indeed! what do you hope for the Shiitakes to do for the collector?

ERICK: Hypnotize them.

TRE: don't stare too hard in them cyclop-eyes, yeh? LOL ... any last words for current and future fans of Shiitakes?

ERICK: I'm really looking forward to the Shiitakes Parade and I thank everyone for being a part of it!!!

(cheers and thanks for the mini-interview, Erick!)