***12/09: Research further into the industry and market.

The vinyl toy market is considered to be an urban market. It’s kicked off in the UK, Japan, China, and the US, with beginnings in Japan.

This vinyl market could could be more widely opened up to the designer toy industry. Designer toys were introduced in the 1990’s with Japanese figures. There are many limited edition items, custom designs, and made of different materials such as vinyl, wood, metal, abs plastic, and more. All of which are created by designers and artists.

The target market ranges from children to adults as there is something for everyone. Blind boxes for kids to get a surprise gift in each box to collectible art series for adults.

The designer toy industry is picking up as now there is even a Designer Toy Awards. Just this september was the 3rd annual award ceremony, honoring designers and their art. Some awards included, best vinyl, fan favorite, best collection, best DIY platform, artist of the year, toy of the year, and more.

I decided to research into one of the most well known vinyl art stores here in the United States— KidRobot. Since their inception in 2002, they have grown tremendously. They now have 5 city stores in the United States. In 2006 KidRobot’s revenue was $7.6 million and by 2009 it doubled to $16.2 million, a three year growth of 114%.

When I went to KidRobot’s website I was able to see just how involved the community was. With the forums having tens of thousands of posts. Some of the categories in the forum section include: talk to the artists, customizing and toy making, and events and trading.

Overall, it is a young industry, with a bright future, especially as more people, like me will be able to create our own designs and figures with 3D Printing technology, allowing us to be able to produce and sell them much cheaper.

There is a video I saw on KickStarter also being developed on this industry and focuses on custom urban vinyl art. I’m going to keep a look out for this as I haven’t been able to find anything like it.

https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/projects/451150/video-205898-h264_high.mp4

Sources
http://www.inc.com/profile/kidrobot
http://www.cluttermagazine.com/news/2013/10/3rd-annual-designer-toy-awards-winners
http://forums.kidrobot.com/
http://modernsymmetry.com/2013/art/will-3d-printing-destroy-the-vinyl-toy-industry/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dopevinyl/custom-urban-vinyl-art-documentary-film