JAVIER JIMENEZ for #ByeBye2016Hello2017

WHAT-IS: TOYSREVIL asked a few select folks how their year was in 2016, and what plans are ahead for 2017! Stay tuned to continued coverage of JAVIER JIMENEZ on #TOYSREVIL!

TOYSREVIL: How was 2016 for you? Share with us your most triumphant moment in 2012. Any disappointments you’d like to share with us?

JAVIER JIMENEZ: “Now that I get to look back at 2016 in full, I’m amazed by how much stuff I’ve made!

Last year saw a lot of StickUp Monsters releases, including two new mini figures: the Ghost Bat and Maneki Wananeko. But most important, I was finally able to wrap up my Indiegogo project and ship all the last rewards to my backers after some serious factory delays.

Of course I traveled to a couple of toy conventions. This year it was ToyCon UK in London and Taipei Toy Festival in well, Taipei. It was my first time at both and I had a blast! It was also my first time in Taiwan and fans made it really special. Their love and enthusiasm for toys is amazing!

I did a couple of conventions in Spain too, but I was mostly trying to show my toys rather than sell them, since here people don’t really collect or even understand toy collecting. I’m just glad I was able to raise a bit of interest in some people.

As for disappointments, I guess the only one I had was not visiting Japan for the first time after going 3 years in a row.”

TOYSREVIL: What is your most favorite toy, or piece of art you've seen in 2016?

JAVIER JIMENEZ: “One that definitely stands out for me, though I do not own it, is the mixed parts version of King Korpse by James Groman and Instinctoy.”

During my talk on vinyl toys and sofubi at Madrid Gaming Experience IFEMA. Vinyl toys are very unknown in Spain. Most people see them and think they are just cheap bootleg toys, so they freak out at the prices. Everytime I have the chance I try to show these toys to people and make them understand that there's way more behind these toys than what they see. In this talk I touched just a bit of vinyl toys history, showed them what's popular right now and why it's popular, and I also showed them how they are made (but just sofubi) and painted. The feedback was really positive and I hope this brings more collectors to the scene. But what I'm sure about is that at least the people who listened to my talk will now respect vinyl toys as an art. A big THANK YOU to everyone who came by to listen. I was honestly hoping just a few guys but in the end almost all seats were full! #stickupmonsters #sofubi #vinyltoys #javierjimenezxl #toys

A photo posted by Javier Jiménez (@javierjimenezxl) on Nov 7, 2016 at 7:05am PST

TOYSREVIL: What are you most looking forward to in 2017? Any plans for your work, for the new year you can share with us? Or not share with us, but can tease us with?

JAVIER JIMENEZ: “2017 is a very promising year for StickUp Monsters! For now, I’ve already plans to be at ToyCon UK and TTF again. There will be another surprise for Taiwan fans and I might also visit Japan again.

As for toys, we’re currently finishing the sculpt of a new figure and working on some new characters for a new project. There’s a lot going on right now and I hope to be able to show some stuff soon.”

(Latest colorway of Tiger Boss with Max Toy Co that has since Sold Out)
TOYSREVIL: Share with us, WHO you are and what you do?

"I am Javier Jimenez of StickUp Monsters, and I love creating my own characters and turning them into toys. These toys are made in either Japanese soft vinyl or in resin and hand painted by myself.

You can see my work on:
www.javierjimenezdesign.com
Instagram @JavierJimenezXL
Twitter @JavierJimenezXL"