Urban toy and art news: KOLLECTION OF THE MONTH

August 2010

Join me as we enter the wonderful world of Shizasta...

1.) What is your name? ---My name on the KR boards is Shizasta, and asa street artist and and with my rock n' roll band, I go by the name Bankrupt Slut.

2.)Where do you live?--- I live in West Hollywood--and moved to the area because it is a focal point for collectible culture--or Kollectible Kulture. ( haha nice plug my friend ) With toy stores, sneakers shops and supportive galleries, the Melrose and Fairfax area of Los Angeles is the place to be for any dedicated low brow artist or collector.

3.) When did you start collecting? I have been collecting all my life. From baseball cards to stickers then on to shoes and toys around 2006. I think collecting is an ever-changing passion.

4.) What started the shoe aspect? I had just moved from Miami toOrlando and I saw an article about custom shoes being done by a local collective called 'Divirsitile'. While in Miami, I had fallen in love with street art so I ordered a pair of graffiti themed shoes. When I got them, they were so amazing that I was hooked and I wanted more. I had 4 pairs of shoes at the time, total. Now I have 200+ pairs of sneakers, and the biggest custom shoe collection in the world, with customs from artists all over the world with 22 pairs.

5.) What enticed you to start? Anything that makes your heart jump and gets you excited is something to seek after. I didn't have many toys growing up but I always appreciated their look. When I started collecting shoes, my early purchases were my favorite toys from growing up--the Nike Transformers pack and the Reebok Voltron pack (bought it from Japan). --but these shoes didn't have much actual toy branding, so I had some customized and thought they were so fuckin cool. Toys have always been a theme for my custom shoes, but as they've progressed they've become more personal and now I even have custom toys based on custom shoes.

6.) Have you had to re-arrange your house/office/living space to accommodate your collection? Well, when I moved into my apartment, it was designed to feature my collection. I got a 2 bedroom place and the spare bedroom is just for my collectible stuff. Boxes floor toceiling, and its still hard to walk into. Collecting itself is an addiction. I think there is a certain type of person that is a collector and there is really no explaining it. Its closely related to hoarding, but much more fulfilling.

7.) What is your favorite piece? I like all my customs. I have customsthat change colors, customs made with 23 k gold leaf plating, naked girls and custom toys wearing my custom shoes so its hard to choose, but I actually have 2 favorite pieces--the OG Betso Nike Dunks and theSupra Tk Society Bankrupt Sluts. The Betso's are my favorite because they are an impressive shoe that utilizes the Nike swoosh as a tongue--and does it amazingly well.These were designed for the Sneaker Pimps shoe tour. I had seen them online and thought they were incredible. When I met Betso and had achance to buy them, I jumped at the chance. I love the shoes, and Betso has grown into one of my best friends. Shout out toBetso--Congrats on winning the Kidrobot Munny contest homie!! The Bankrupt Slut Tk's are special because they so personal. The images are from photo shoots I have shot for an ongoing series sponsored by Suprafootwear.org called Supra Pimps. Basically just hot chicks in sneakers. And a couple of the girls on the shoes are my friends, so that's extra special. The shoes were painted byYoaKustoms, the top shoe customizer in the game right now.

8.) How much do you think you have spent? Hahaha, more than they are worth. That's the most common question people ask--How much did they cost? The least I have spent on a pair of shoes is $45 and the most is $950. The cost of the artwork is on top of the the cost of the shoe. When I got my first pairs I tried to get the cheapest shoes done the cheapestway. But as my knowledge about the shoe game grew, my tastes becamemore refined and I started getting artwork done on shoes that arespecial in their own right. I had a pair of the Nike Teenwolf Dunkscustomized--they are limited to only 76 pairs in the world and have awesome fur lining--but Yoakustoms killed it with an awesome paint joband I absolutely love the new shoes. I have no idea what they might be worth. The collection is worth the most to me. If I tried to sell it, I would get no where near what its worth. Customs are valuable to the person who commissioned them, but not necessarily to other heads.

9.) How do your family/friends react to your collection? They like it but generally don't really understand it. Its cool, once in a while I'll get an email from a friend or family member who saw something shoe related and sends a link.

"Thanks a lot for the interview. Really admire what you are doing here at Kollectible Kulture. If anyone is interested in street art, check out LA's top street art blog."

Thank you Shizasta! Definitely guys, check out the blog, hit him up on the boards, keep an eye out for this guy and his amazing Kollection! Thank you again for being a part of our Kollection of the month and inspiring us all Shizasta.

June 2010

My name is Ian and I live in Brighton, which is by the sea in East Sussex, U.K. I have been collecting toys for around the last two years. I was initially interested in pop and graffiti art. I love artists like D*Face and Ron English. When I began to run out of wall space I started to take an interest in the toy scene. I think the first toy I saw that really grabbed my attention was Ron English’s McSupersized figure. When I saw it, I decided that I had to have one. Once I had that I was hooked and wanted more and more!

Space is a real problem. We live in a fairly small apartment, so I have to be quite creative when deciding where to put things. I have a lot of pieces that I just don’t have room to display at the moment. They may have to wait until we move somewhere a bit bigger. Luckily, we have a loft, which is a great place to put all the packaging. It’s currently full of boxes and empty tubes!

My favorite piece has to be my awesome Ron English Massive Grin figure. It is 4 feet tall and is made from fiberglass. I got it from Garageworks Industries of Hong Kong who did an amazing job making the figure. It makes me smile and grabs your attention when you walk in the room. I think it is fair to say the reaction to my collection is mixed. None of my friends are into this scene so probably think it’s a bit mad. My girlfriend thinks that every time I get a new toy, I should get rid of another one. I’m reduced to sneaking them in and hoping she doesn’t notice! My Mum (Mom) says the living room is ‘saturated’. Generally though, I think most people really like it.

I tend to prefer collecting smaller edition figures, rather than large run production stuff. I’m not really into Dunnies and Munnies unless they’re hand painted/customized. I love things like Erick Scarecrow’s hand painted resin figures that are produced in low runs of about 25-30 pieces.

It is a bit of a pain living in the U.K. as nearly everything has to be sent from abroad. This means higher shipping costs and usually there is duty to be paid as well. No free shipping for me! We do have some great U.K. based toy artists and customizers though. The best known of course is the amazing Doktor A. Favorites of mine are Lunabee, Cris Rose and Jon Paul Kaiser. Jon is currently customizing a Coarse Paw! figure for me. I can’t wait to see the results, it should be amazing!

I have recently also become interested in kaiju figures. I like Japanese artists like Blobpus and Elegab. I also think American artists Bob Conge (Plaseebo) and Lash (Mutant Vinyl Hardcore) are really creative and produce some great things.