Madelon
As most of us had returned to our homes last year to go straight into lockdown, I like to feature the last group of artists that were at ToyCon UK 2020. There were so many great artists out there and it was a blessing to have been able to enjoy their wonderful work in person before life as we now know it started. Of course, The Toy Chronicle was at ToyCon UK too and I will end this blog with the one and only Toy Chronicle booth.
But, I’m starting with the work of Wazi Toys. His booth featured a huge piece that caught your attention right away. It’s called Slave Surreal and, unlike the US version, had fixed legs. Though I mostly collect cute stuff myself, I thought this was a very cool piece. Besides this unit, there were several smaller pieces to be found as well (and perhaps slightly cuter too haha, can’t go wrong with a turtle).
The many faces of Laura Penn also blessed us with her wonderful work and it was difficult not to get too excited about all these lovely pieces. I always adore nature themed toys and there were many of them at Laura’s booth. I think the Halloween themed pieces were my favourites (I LOVE Halloween!), but I also really liked the little tree trunk figures covered in beautiful leaves and the colourful octopuses definitely stood out as well. Plus, let’s not forget about the butterfly themed and Triceratops Dunnys. I mean, how cute are those?!
Ztenzilla was an artist I wasn’t familiar with before ToyCon UK so I was happy to see someone whose work I didn’t know yet. It’s always nice to discover new art. I liked the funny take on familiar characters like the Power Tubbies and The Fantastic Dwarfs. The blond dude also stood out to me and made me wonder what he’s up to… Don’t come after my toys brother!
Another fresh face was that of Imps and Things. I absolutely adored all the different characters. Each figure had so much personality! From the beautiful purple dragon to loads of different trolls. I feel like these characters belong in an animated movie. The level of detail is truly amazing too. I mean, look at that chair and pet dragon, the little backpack and all their clothing in general. Definitely an artist that is worth checking out!
C-Concept Studio had a lovely booth as well featuring the Unisaur: a wonderful little character that came in several pretty colours and had a removable horn. I think my favourites were the pink and gold Unisaurs, but to be fair, the Unisaur rocked all colours. Another detail I really liked was the news bulletin dedicated to the Unisaur. It’s things like this that truly bring a character to life and I love it when artists think about details like this.
Dave Neiland Studios was a ToyCon UK newbie too (what a year you picked huh!) and had a super colourful booth filled with toys that actually made me a bit hungry haha. Especially the rainbow worms reminded me of candy. Thankfully I was able to resist them and just took photos of their funny little faces. Besides the adorable worms you could also find several cool Skully figures and turtles at Dave’s booth. Let’s hope we can enjoy more of these characters next ToyCon UK!
Then there was the work of Fleur De Lapin that almost turned me into a cat person. As someone who absolutely adores dogs, that says something! But there were just so many great cat pieces it was hard not to fall in love with them. I thought the Egyptian themed cats were amazing, but I also loved the devilish Little Red Riding Hood and white cat with pretty pink details. I also really liked the fact that there were beautiful wearable art options. I love my cabinets, but to be able to support your favourite artists by wearing their art is pretty great too!
Of course a ToyCon UK without The Toy Chronicle isn’t a true ToyCon UK. While it wasn’t possible to share (bearded) hugs, there were plenty of cool toys to be found at The Toy Chronicle booth (and if you were lucky, you may have gotten an elbow bump). There was a great assortment of SuperJanky figures, POP MART collectibles, cute (and fancy!) APO frogs, Dunnys and loads of other fantastic toys. A little Toy Chronicle merchandise also never gave anyone a grumpy face (or maybe I just didn’t notice it).
Looking back at all these amazing art pieces and toys I. CAN’T. WAIT. for ToyCon UK 2022. Though I always enjoy writing my ToyCon UK blogs and sharing photos of everybody’s work, this year just isn’t the same without actually meeting in person and seeing everyone’s friendly faces in real life again. But, we’ve got the wonderful memories from last year and I’m sure we will all have a blast next year. Is it March 2022 already?
Check out my other ToyCon UK blogs here: I, II, III, IV and V.
