Hey Go Figurino’s! Here's another installment of Behind the Figure. This week I had a chance to chat with Flic Manning and Diesel Laws of Foom Toys! They are a male and female duo combining their talents to create cute and original designer collectible toys. I really enjoyed this interview and we chatted for quite some time. They are really talented and great to talk to. Check out our convo:
LJ: I want say thank you first and foremost for taking the time to chat with me.
FT: Thank you! And thanks for being willing to chat late in the evening too!
LJ: No problem I'm a night owl so it works for me.
FT: Perfect :)
LJ: So where did the name Foom come from?
FT: We have always been into names that are simple and sort of have a fun and punchy ring to them. When we were brainstorming names the word "oomph" came to mind, but we figured that would be taken. So Foom came to us as though we had jumbled the letters up and replaced the ph with an f. It has a really punchy feel, which we love.
LJ: That's a nice origin story.
FT: Thanks!
LJ: So how long have you been designing toys?
FT: It hasn't really been long when we think about it… around 4 months now. We have always been interested in characters and we have a lot of creativity - this is the first foray into making them.
LJ: Wow! Really! From the look of your pieces you can’t tell you are newbies. What got you into wanting to work with vinyl?
FT: Thank you! That's great to hear- always nice to get a new set of eyes on our art. It mainly came about from the advancement in 3D printing - once we started working with the Form1 we realized what was possible for us. Our toys are actually resin - we have researched vinyl intently but resin seems like the best fit for us right now. Diesel is a designer and so his strengths in that with my creativity (clay and other crafts) really combined for us in resin.
LJ: Oh! Sorry didn't know that... do you think that resin is easier to work with than vinyl? Does resin cast easier than vinyl?
FT: That's ok, no problem! For us, resin has been great to work with, and we have found casting to be a really interesting thing to learn. It’s an art form in itself. We do all of it from our home studio and use a pressure pot to get great results. Vinyl is cool too, but in most cases it involves a big cost up front and it can be a very long process.
LJ: I have heard a lot of artist say that especially those just starting out.
FT: Yeah, resin is great for beginners and we get the feeling that a lot more established artists are trending towards resin (at least between vinyl runs) so I think its starting to get a bit more of its own space in the scene.
LJ: So what would you say your style of art is?
FT: Good question! I would say we have two styles right now. We have a really unique base form ("Ommy") that is awesome for DIY and artists to make their own. But we also have these characters that fit into this expansive universe we are creating - and they are edgy and cute. We really like the challenge of creating something that could go beyond the toy medium into comics, cartoons or plushies.
LJ: That is definitely the way to brand. I really like the Food Fight figures. What inspired the series?
FT: We wanted to take something sort of normal (like a cute animal) and play around with how its perceived by making it harder, edgier, tougher.... and adding food into it has given us this super fun way of playing with those dynamics.
LJ: It‘s kind of like playing with your food LOL!
FT: Hahahah! Exactly!
LJ: Will you just be doing Dunny like figures or will you step off into other mediums. Like Funko style Chibis inspired by already popular figures with the Foom twist?
FT: Yeah we would love to do that! I think that's something we are leaving ourselves open for, but right now we are still building our brand, and still early in that process.
LJ: I am in love with Roary he is really cute!
FT: Thanks! He makes us smile every time we look at him too.
LJ: The back-stories also make your pieces more unique. I can see the characters in comics etc. Will there be variants of Luma and Roary?
FT: No plans for that at the moment. We are really focused on Food Fight X - but there is always room for experimentation so we never say never!
LJ: What else can we expect to see in the FFX series?
FT: Well we have shared some of the "Good Guys." And at the right time we will be sharing some of the enemies we have planned out already. It's a big world we are creating for these guys. In fact, to say good guys and enemies is selling it a little short. Imagine a proper world and all those roles need to be filled to make it run, the heroes, the villains, the traders, the growers, the vast species...well you get the picture! There is a lot to it and we are keen to get it all out there as it grows.
LJ: How do you feel about the artists and work coming out lately? Do you have any favorites?
FT: There is a lot of really intriguing and incredibly creative work coming out right now. It's so cool because the space is small but so big at the same time and it feels like there is always something amazing being introduced. We love a lot of the artists that customize on the DIY toys. Some of the bigger names are just awesome too. We love Joe Ledbetter, Tokidoki, Dead Zebra Inc, Theotherguy, DaveMarkArt... the list grows daily! Kaws is a big one too!
LJ: I know most artists are also collectors is that the case with you as well?
FT: We have started a collection; some of the artists above have pieces on our mantle piece for sure!
LJ: Nice! What is your favorite piece in your collection right now?
FT: That’s a hard one lol! We just had a mini debate - but right now its "The Last Knight" classical edition from Dead Zebra Inc. Its not really a character per say - but its a beautiful piece right down to the packaging.
LJ: I am not too familiar with Dead Zebra but a few people have spoken highly of them guess I should get it in gear LOL!
FT: We recommend it :)
LJ: It's like a chess piece that is different…
FT: Yes exactly why we love it - just kind of breaks the rules a little bit.
LJ: Ok time for what I like to call my Random Questions of Doom LOL!
FT: Ok hit us with them...
LJ: Ok Random question 1: Favorite color?
FT: Emerald Green
LJ: Sweet! Coincidently that happens to be my birthstone.
FT: Nice! I have Scottish blood and red hair.... so yeah lol,
LJ: Question 2: Carnivals or Festivals?
FT: Carnivals! I love the games at carnivals!
LJ: Me Too! I love carnie food! I can’t leave without getting funnel cake and a stuffed plush.
FT: Definitely the stuffed plush! If we had a spare room the toy collection mixed with plush would be intense!
LJ: I use to have a gigantic plush collection growing up. I ended up giving a lot of them away. Ok final random question this one will be hard... What is the square root of 12? I know so left field, LOL!
FT: 3.464… that's what Google says at least, lol!
LJ: Good old Google (smile emoticon) What would we do without it, lol!
FT: I don't know....I had no idea there would be maths hahaha
LJ: Well it is called random questions of DOOM! HAHAHAH!
FT: Good point…
LJ: Well thanks for playing my game and thanks again for chatting with me I know it is getting late so I will finish this up. Is there anything you would like our readers to know? Any events, where they can get your work, etc.?
FT: Follow us along on Instagram, because we will be teasing new characters on there as we share the journey of making them. We would also like to announce that we will be bringing Ommy back in the coming months. We are looking forward to hearing from really creative artists that want to work on one! And of course we want to thank you for staying up and chatting with us. This was really fun, and I hope you get everything you need and wanted from it too. (Wink emoticon)
LJ: Well I wish you the best with all of your future endeavors and I’m really looking forward to working on that Ommy.
I do this for you guys the readers, so I want to know what artists, designers, etc. you would like to see on Behind the Figure? Sound off on our social media accounts (at top) and let us know. Until next time Go Hard! Go Fast! Go Figure!
Images of Roary and Luma by TJ Norris.