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Mon, Feb 16, 2009
I kept coming across the name “grimsheep” in custom shows. His work seemed heavily influenced by the comics and superheroes of my youth. When Owen won a custoMONDAY, he decided to give back by starting a custoMONDAY of his own. Owen’s work will particularly resonate with comic fans. Writes the artist, “I will say its been fun seeing quality adaptations of comics coming out in recent years. Iron Man was quite a pleasant surprise, not only because it was great, but mostly because I didn’t think anyone would ever do it. Coincidentally, Iron Man was the first comic I collected and also the first custom I did.” A Stormtrooper here and a Hellboy there, and no doubt you’re going to recognize Owen’s work when you see it. You can keep up with his customs on Flickr, see his upcoming shows in San Francisco and Montreal, and you can enter our contest to win an original figure from Owen DeWitt’s Custom Dunny Skull Squadron series through ToyCyte’s custoMONDAY.
Last week was Owen’s birthday and his wife got him one of the first toys I wrote about for ToyCyte, Bwana Spoons’ FullyVisual Steven The Bat. One of the fun surprises of the metal figure is that the head comes off to reveal a small compartment for safe-keeping. Owen has put something in that compartment, and he has sent me a photo to prove it. Click here to see a photo of Owen’s (closed) Steven the Bat for size. This contest has two parts, and therefore, two chance to win:
Get your entries in by Sunday, March 1st at midnight PST. We will announce the winner on Monday, March 2nd shortly before the next custoMONDAY. The contest is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. If you have already won a custoMONDAY in 2009, please feel free to share your creativity, but you are, regrettably, not eligible for the prize.
Where are you and what’s the art scene like?
I am originally from Montreal, but now living in Waterville, Maine. Waterville actually has quite a thriving art scene (as does most of Maine), though not really an urban one. The designer toy scene hasn’t exactly taken Waterville by storm quite yet, although there is one store that carries vinyl. I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in town buying it though 
.
How did you get into toy customizing?
It’s funny, I’ve been collecting toys and doing the occasional customization (things like making plastic Star Wars blasters look real) for ages, but the whole designer toy movement managed to elude me for a few years. I did finally become aware of Kidrobot a couple of years ago and was thinking about getting a Munny but never got around to it. About a year and a half ago I stumbled on Dunnys in the local music store, and my wife bought me a pile of stuff from Kidrobot, including a Munny that year for Christmas. Painted my Munny, went to the Kidrobot forum to show it off and I was hooked.
Tell us about your Hellboy custom.
I’ve been a fan of Mike Mignola since his days doing Alpha Flight, which if anyone even remembers it, gives away my age. Anyway, I do like pop culture icons, and although I’d seen many awesome Hellboy customs, I wanted to take a stab at him. I hadn’t done any sculpting on a Dunny before but I was pretty sure that if I could pull it off, it would be good for a little recognition. I ended up completing it for a community trade and he is now residing in sunny California.
You’ve modded Dunnys, Munnys, a Mad*L, a YOKA, a Labbit…am I missing any? What’s your favorite toy platform to customize?
I did do a plushform as well. I do tend to gravitate towards the smaller platforms. I find the details are so much more impressive on a small figure, and they don’t take as long so the gratification is a little faster. For the most part I’ve really liked most of the platforms I’ve worked on, but if I have to pick I’d say the 8″ Dunny.
As for what I’d like to work on; where to start? I have a couple shelves full waiting for me and there are some awesome blanks that just came out recently. I love Chaos Monkeys and I definitely want to get my hands on a Crappy Cat blank. I’m also looking forward to doing a Ryusei Ninja for the upcoming ‘It Came from Skullbrain’ show.
Man, I would love to see you do a Chaos Monkey and a Crappy Cat! Tell us about your custoMONDAY piece and the Skull Squadron series.
Ever since I did the first one of these Skull Squadron guys, I thought it would be awesome to do a series, mostly because I wanted a group shot of a whole bunch of them. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that first one turned into a pile of commission requests and as much as I’ve wanted to, have not had the chance (or maybe the discipline) to do it. I had enough people asking for it that I finally decided to put most everything else on hold to try to get it done.
Right now its looking like there will be around 20 of them, each with at least one accessory, blind boxed, and one Golden Ticket redeemable for a mystery custom. I did one specifically for the custoMONDAY giveaway, in glorious ToyCyte yellow and green.
What toys do you collect/which artists do you admire?
I collect all kinds of stuff. Of course, Dunnys having been my gateway drug and fodder for the majority of my customs, I do have a lot of them. I am getting more selective about which ones to display. Other than that I have a pretty good cross section of western vinyl, but I do try to keep my purchases to pieces and colorways I actually really like. I’m also proud of my collection of blanks [see below] but it’s likely that it will be forever changing.
As far as the artists go, so many of course, but if I had to name a few that have been making me happy lately I’d say Tim Biskup, Bwana Spoons, and Julie West. I’d also love to see some toys by Mari Inukai.
Since all I know about you so far is related to toys, what ELSE do you do in your not-so-spare time?
Heh. Between being a stay-at-home dad to having a strong-willed three year old girl, and my relatively recent descent into the black abyss of vinyl toys, one might think I don’t actually have any other interests. After kids (well kid) and vinyl, most of any other time I can find goes to my wife. Happily we are lucky enough to share common interests, and spend our ‘free’ time watching movies, TV, and gaming of all sorts.
What’s next on the horizon for Owen DeWitt/Grimsheep?
Next up are a few group shows in April…
Of course, as usual, all the deadlines are around the same time, so I’ll be going out of my mind the last week of March. Hopefully I’ll find some time between now and then to do a few commissions as well!
You heard the man! If you like Owen’s work, drop him a line, and try to hook up a custom. And if you want this one, get your entries in by Sunday, March 1st at midnight PST. WHAT’S IN STEVEN’S HEAD???
Jeremy Brautman - who has written 1965 posts on ToyCyte: Toy Culture Collected.
Jeremy Brautman joined ToyCyte in 2008 and has been writing about toy culture ever since. You can currently find him contributing to a variety of blogs, artkiving doodles at Doodlesplatter.com and cataloging artistic ephemera at ARTkivers.com.
February 16th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Here’s the type of guess we’re going for: his daughter’s baby teeth.
February 16th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Grimsheep’s work is awesome, keep up the good work!
My guess: A Toothpick
February 16th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Outstanding!!!!
My guess: A key
February 16th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I thinkkkkk that there is:
an engagement ring in there.
February 16th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Groovy. My guess:
CANDY!!!
February 16th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
He keeps his piece of his childs hair
February 16th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Id say…..um….not much can fit in there. um…a flash drive.
February 16th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Holy water
February 16th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I’ll say its his lucky penny
February 16th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
gun powder
February 16th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
The diamond from the Waxlips Lefontaine Chase- Frank Kozik Chumps figure.
February 16th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
A Star Wars Action figure Blaster. A Storm Trooper’s to be spicific.
February 16th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
SWEET MARY JANE
February 16th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Great work!
My guess: a button
February 16th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Good luck everyone
February 16th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
The hospital wristband of when his daughter was born?
February 16th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
a tooth
February 16th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
A MicroMachine!
February 16th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
A Pure Golden Ticket !!
February 16th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
a folded dollar bill.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Im going to guess an eraser as my official guess.
if I add more is that ok? I know only my first counts towards the BB..
February 16th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Totally awesome customs. Very clean lines.
My guess: push pins
February 16th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
book of matches
February 16th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
My Guess: His Birthstone
February 16th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
The Skull Squadron group shot is awesome.
Original guess: wedding band
February 16th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
a piece of jewelry
February 16th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
A jellybean!
February 16th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
A Booger
February 17th, 2009 at 4:18 am
is iiit…A small plastic moo-cow?
February 17th, 2009 at 5:45 am
a zipper
February 17th, 2009 at 7:18 am
my guess: some Sculpey?
February 17th, 2009 at 7:44 am
ChaOs, Skullduggery and sheep to aid sleep
February 17th, 2009 at 7:56 am
His wedding band when he’s working on customs.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:01 am
my guess: it’s where he puts his used boogers hahaha
Awesome job Owen. Where can I get on the list to get one of these pieces??? I don’t feel so bad that you had to drop the trade.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Nice work,
I guess: coins
February 17th, 2009 at 8:06 am
herb.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:32 am
FINGERNAIL!
February 17th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Man, Grimsheep’s customs totally ROCK!!
And the customized boxes are smokin’ too.
How awesome would it be if someone actually
guesses what’s in Steven the bat’s head and
picks up TWO of Grimsheep’s customs? It would
be like double barrel shotgun AWESOME!!
I’m guessing one of those solid colored,
small, rubber, eraser kaiju toys like these
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=kaiju%20eraser&w=all&s=int
February 17th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Did Grimsheep say when to expect
the 20 Skull Squadron series to
be available for purchase? And
where he will be selling them?
And for how much?
February 17th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Just in case my example unduly influenced some people, the “right” answer has nothing to do with Owen’s daughter. So if you thought I was leading you somewhere with that, feel free to guess again…
February 17th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Guess: Money of some sort – first thought would be a penny.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I’m guessing the head contains all the hopes and dreams of Owen’s childhood….
And some incense.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I’ll guess a spraypaint can nozzle.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
This is nuts…. i love the little belt buckle!!!
February 17th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I’m gonna guess… An Iron Man ticket stub? Who knows…
Ah, well.
Great work Owen, especially love that (wife? or Daughter?) pink custom dunny you did a while back. Was great.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
im guessing sum type of nut
btw i LOL’d at karmden1
February 17th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone. Some pretty funny guesses in there
.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I’m going to guess nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other trace amounts of gases like argon and water vapor.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Awesome work as always Grim!
My guess is a Green Lantern Ring??
February 17th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Skittles. That’s what I would keep in there. Skittles are damn good.
February 17th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
So HOT!!!
My guess:
A pet rock…lol
February 18th, 2009 at 6:11 am
A candy corn?
February 18th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Great stuff Grim! Looks fantastic as a group shot.
I’m gonna go with a fortune from a fortune cookie.
February 18th, 2009 at 8:50 am
I’m going with….
a “mini killer”.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:04 am
I know it doesnt count anymore, but I’ll guess a lighter..
February 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
My guess : Candy !!!
February 18th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
a lock of hair
February 18th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
a small table and chairs with a tiny brain sitting in one of the chairs drinking coffee.
February 18th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I was just admiring this artists work the other day when I stumbled upon his page. Great popping colors and clean execution! Would make a wonderful editon to any collection!
A guess at something.. bah.. I’m no good at this.. *strains her mental non-existent psychic powers* First thing that comes to mind is a cigerette butt.. or a broken pencil lead.. *strains harder* .. its a.. a.. a little cellophane man made of a cigarette wrapper.. and that’s my final answer.
(probably not even a smoker.. lol)
February 18th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
my guess is…a tiny labbit
February 18th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
sweetness. a guess:
sentimental note from the wife.
all good wifeys give love notes.
i’d put all mine in there.
no, not wives, notes.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:37 am
a tooth
February 19th, 2009 at 7:59 am
I am going to guess that the contents of the bat are the same as the contents of the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.
February 19th, 2009 at 10:17 am
a bullet!
February 19th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I would guess a mini skull
February 19th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I think it is…. a little seahorse.
(hippocampus reference, anyone?)
YAY OWEN!!!!
February 20th, 2009 at 8:13 am
My guess would be ….. a little spoon! Beautiful work!!
February 20th, 2009 at 11:10 am
A sugarcube. There, I said it.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:26 am
my name and adress
February 21st, 2009 at 1:27 pm
a marble
February 21st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
a mini gwin
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
A coin
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Awesome!
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 am
A photo of his wife.
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:46 am
Was the white one in the trade apart of these?
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
A part of a cigarette
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:25 pm
a diamond
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
My guess is Paper clips.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Awesome work Mr. G. S.! My guess is your RWA graduation pin….NOT! Um, I don’t know, I don’t think anyone’s guessed a piece of Lego yet, so I’ll guess a piece of Lego.
February 24th, 2009 at 8:31 am
Nice customs! I especially love the pink and white Skull Squadroon. My guess for what’s in the bat: a Sculpey brain.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Thanks everyone
Desopolis – No, that was just done for the trade.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:54 am
MY GUESS IS:THE 1RST GIFT FROM HIS WIFE
OR THE SIGN OF wana Spoons’ FullyVisual SHOWING THE 1 OF 1 GOLDEN Steven the Bat
March 1st, 2009 at 7:26 am
My guess as to what is inside is a Note his wife wrote to him saying why she bought him it and how much she loves him?
March 1st, 2009 at 7:37 am
a brain pencil topper (that melissa got at a SFN conference for free)?
March 1st, 2009 at 11:51 am
A skull
March 1st, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Last Day!! WOOT!
March 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 am
Waiting on the official word from Owen. I know half the answer…Please stay tuned. We should have the winner shortly, and the next custoMONDAY up in a bit!
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Sorry I’m late everyone. After shoveling a couple feet of snow I a a small case of falling asleep on the couch
The winner should be announced any time now. Thanks to everyone who participated
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:46 pm
No worries. And the winner is…Anvikit who guessed “a little cellophane man made of a cigarette wrapper.. and that’s my final answer.” As Owen says he quit smoking when his daughter was born, I can’t say that anyone guessed the actual contents of Steven’s head. The answer to that? http://www.toycyte.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/steven-contents.jpg
No one is a loser though! Grimsheep will be offering the remaining six members of the Squadron for sale shortly in our ToyCyte shop.
March 16th, 2009 at 3:08 am
When are those grimsheep custom
pieces arriving in the ToyCyte shop?
March 16th, 2009 at 7:04 am
The Dunnys are painted and I’m working on getting the accessories and boxes done. So hopefully next week
March 16th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Woo Hoo! Thanks for the info
March 16th, 2009 at 9:32 am
I speak for ToyCyte when I say we can’t wait to see ‘em.