Superplastic: An interview with the Janky Kickstarter duo

Paul Budnitz and Huck Gee are no strangers to setting the bar. For fifteen years, their contributions to the designer toy world have defined the industry. Despite their prominence in the world they helped shape, their future involvement in the designer toy industry has been uncertain. That is, until the announcement of Superplastic. Paul Budnitz is a serial entrepreneur with an ever-increasing list of projects that extend well beyond the confines of vinyl. Back in 2014, Paul sold the company that started a toy revolution and dug into his newly formed social network ELLO. Huck Gee continued to design and customize toys, releasing his own platform in 2015, all the while trying to find a way to recapture the momentum from the industry a decade prior. Last August he shocked his fans when he announced he was stepping away and closing down shop. For several months both artists have stayed quiet while others in the industry continued on with business as usual.

And then, Superplastic.

The momentum is back. Paul and Huck have united their experience, creativity and business prowess into a new art venture. Starting with the Janky platform, this project dropped on Kickstarter and within the first day raised over $200k. It’s been an absolute tornado of energy and excitement, and they were kind enough to take a break and give us a peek into the world of Superplastic. Check out the interview after the jump and then go support the platform on Kickstarter.

I imagine the past few days have been a whirlwind. What are you feeling right now?

[HG] Humbly exhausted… and catching my breath a bit. 🙂

[PB] Exhausted and excited! We had $200K in sales in the first 24 hours of our Kickstarter campaign, and we’re excited and grateful so many people support the art toys we’re making. We’ve been up all night answering questions and handling details.

You know, making art is really an insane thing to do. On one hand, when people love your stuff it feels like a miracle. And at the same time we think the toys are beautiful and amazing, and everyone should love them like we do! The experience is a bit schizophrenic emotionally.

When Huck and I sat down to design janky, we decided to design the best toy in the world for artist to customize — and it took 8 months. It was like reverse engineering an icon like Mickey Mouse, the toy had to be just right.

How has your past experience influenced your approach to both Superplastic and the Janky platform?

[HG] I bring a great understanding for art toy design. I understand form, I understand people’s needs and desires. Paul maybe more-so. But this a complete collaboration between Paul and I. Everything goes back and forth. We balance each other out incredibly well.

[PB] When Huck and I sat down to design janky, we decided to design the best toy in the world for artist to customize — and it took 8 months. It was like reverse engineering an icon like Mickey Mouse, the toy had to be just right.

Janky is an evolution for both of us, a mix of our styles and at the same time, much more developed than earlier toys.

I’m not interested in repeating the past, and Superplastic isn’t strictly a toy company (like Kidrobot was). We’re a creative product & experience studio, and art toys are a launch point. I’m looking at what we’re doing as an artistic version of Disney crossed with Bape and Off-White, other brands I love.

We’re diving right into fashion, animation, AR and gaming — mixing it all up, and working with the best people along the way.

What are people going to be most impressed by when they receive their toys?

[HG] The art. The artists involved all knocked this out of the park.

[PB] Quality.

I’ve been working with the same factory for 15 years, it’s family-run and we’re friends. For them, and me, every detail has to be perfect, the color bright, the whites glowing. This is art.

Do you have any surprises up your sleeve you want to divulge?

[HG] Of course not. 🙂

[PB] We just dropped a new Maximillian Ca$h toy by UK artist Pete fowler on day 2 of our Kickstarter campaign. We are about to launch fun challenges that will allow our backers to get free toys just for participating. And then there’s the JANKLYLAND mobile game which comes out soon — very amazing I think.

We don’t really know what will happen next. Part of the fun of Kickstarter is that we get to make it up as we go along.