Jon Paul Kaiser Talks with Sofa King

Jon Paul Kaiser is one of the most influential toy designers out there. Over the years he has solidified himself in the art of the toy designing world with his signature Black & White custom style. He caught the attention of many established toy producers such as Toy2R and Kid Robot who requested that he design their platform toys for them. Along with the vinyl toy scene, JPK has extensive experience working on licensed clothing as well as designing for licenses as diverse as Star Wars (Lucasfilm), The Simpsons (20th Century Fox), Kelloggs, Transformers, Lego & Looney Tunes (Warner Bros.), Ghostbusters (Sony Pictures), and Britvic.

SofaKing: Who would you say inspires you?

JPK: Toy and art-wise, I'm inspired by Huck Gee, Yoskay Yamamoto, Luke Chueh, A Little Stranger, Sam Flores, Brian Flynn, Ferg..... too many to mention! I was always into art history and get quite a lot of inspiration still from Francis Bacon, Picasso, Goya and the Chapman brothers -- particularly their darker, more provocative works.

SK: Do you have any series or specific piece that is your favorite?

JPK: I've several favorites of my own, that sounds really immodest... Production-wise. I'm really proud of all of my releases, particularly Captain Sturnbrau, my FatCaps, and each of my Dunnys. With my customs, it often takes a while after finishing them for me to appreciate them. I'm really proud of my Coarse customs, and my Mecha Bears. Though, perhaps my favorite is the Yakuza Squadt I completed recently.

Yakuza Squadt

Captain Sturnbrau

SK: Can you give us any details on your upcoming pieces?

JPK: Upcoming production pieces... I'm not allowed to talk about. But I have some great releases this year and a few ambitions fulfilled too!

SK: Any upcoming Shows?

JPK: I'm working on some customs for ToyCon UK next April where I'm sharing a booth with Rich Page from UmeToys. He's a good friend and a great laugh!

SK: How about your favorite movies?

JPK: I have a few favorite movies, they're hard to rank I guess... The Royal Tenenbaums, The Star Wars trilogy, Predator, and The Prestige.

SK: Music?

JPK: At work I listen to Spotify during the day, usually on random play. Though at the moment, Public Service Broadcasting and Godspeed You! Black Emperor are getting a lot of attention from me!