Javier Jimenez for *BYEBYE 2017 HELLO 2018* on TOYSREVIL
A, illustrator, graphic designer, toy-designer, toy-customiser, and now youtuber, is Spanish creator Javier Jiménez of StickUp Monsters! Massively productive and busy, I had been amazed at his work since first posting about his "Adventure Time" fanart in 2012, to his current efforts on his youtube videos, reaching out to Spanish speakers and collectors beyond or English speaking toy-world (his videos have Eng Subs, so its all good in da boyhood!).
It has been my utter pleasure to continually feature him on TOYSREVIL, and as well be in the "hot-seat" today in my micro interview series "ByeBye2017 Hello2018"! ONWARDS~
QUESTION#1: TOYSREVIL: How was 2017 for you? Share with us your most triumphant moment in 2017. What did you find the most disappointed of 2017?
JAVIER JIMENEZ: "Looking back in perspective, 2017 was extremely kind to me. I think one of the most triumphant moments was me leaving my boring job as designer for a local company to just do freelance and toy work.
My solo show at PlayToysForever was a very exciting moment too. Even though I couldn’t be there, I was excited just to see the pictures of the people who went to see it and it made me feel the love for my work. Sometimes that’s what us artists need to keep working hard."
JAVIER JIMENEZ: "My event at Kaiju Salon (see video posted below) was also a highlight, because I love Japan so much and it always makes me happy to run events there.
Oh! And becoming a youtuber in my quest to spread the love for sofubi was also one of my 2017’s highlights."
JAVIER JIMENEZ: "The most disappointing moment was finding out that due to a problem that was out of my hands I couldn’t make it to the Taipei Toy Festival in October, but fans were very supportive and understanding and I really appreciate that and look forward to seeing them this year."
TOYSREVIL: What is your most favorite toy, or piece of art you've seen in 2017?
JAVIER JIMENEZ: "There’s too many cool toys being released lately, but one that stood out for me was Kasing Lung’s Labubu painted as one of Maurice Sendak’s Wild Things. I already loved Kasing’s work, but he totally killed it with this one!"
JAVIER JIMENEZ: "As for movies, my favourite was definitely "IT". Being a big fan of both the book and the classic TV series I was worried they might off this one up, but they did such a great job. On the other hand, I was really excited for The Dark Tower because it’s my favourite book saga of all times, and the movie was kinda disappointing."
TOYSREVIL: What are you most looking forward to in 2018? Any plans for your work, for the new year you can share with us?
JAVIER JIMENEZ: "I will spend most of my 2018 traveling to toy shows so there’s a lot for me to look forward to! Of course I’m already working on new stuff, and while I can’t say or show much, I’ll just say two things: first, that Hong Kong fans should expect me soon. The second is, Tiger Boss fans stay tuned for a cool announcement coming soon!"
This is the final sculpt for Wananeko's guts. Now we're going to make them as keshi (rubber) and do a few tests to see how they fit inside. It's our first time doing guts so it might be a trial and error process. Then after we succeed I will need some clear Wananeko toys that are already ordered. I'll keep you all posted.
Posted by Javier Jiménez on Thursday, February 1, 2018
TOYSREVIL: Share with us, WHO you are and what you do?
JAVIER JIMENEZ: "I am Javier Jiménez, a character designer and toy artist owner of the StickUp Monsters brand. I love Japanese and street culture and try to blend them in my characters.
You can find my store here: www.stickupmonsters.bigcartel.com
My Instagram is @JavierJimenezXL
And my recently created YouTube channel @ www.youtube.com/makingtoys is where I talk about sofubi, toys in generals and do vlogs about my trips!"
#toynews: Dropping online via stickupmonsters.bigcartel.com this Sunday Jan 28th at 11AM EST, are these yummy "Sweet Devils" Maneki Wananeko, along with other awesome custom toys from Javier!
