London Trip

Today me and some of my friends took a trip up to London to help with our research. I found this day very helpful and I actually found more information than I was hoping to.

Firstly, one of my friends needed to visit the London Film Museum at London Southbank. I wasn't sure about this as I initially felt it would have nothing to do with my idea of Designer Toys. However, I found some very interesting models, toys and information that could all link into my work.

Figurine of the 'Turds'

A1 Character Design Sheet

There was an animation room in the film museum which had a lot of models and figurines of characters in cartoons. Some of the models were also collectibles like the 'Turds'. I also found some very interesting character design sheets that would be a great way for me to show my own character designs when making my own toy.

 Many of the superhero figurines that I saw in the museum were counted as toys when they first came out in the 1940's, but they are now counted as designer toys because of their age and value if they aren't damaged.

Character Figurines (collectible)

Later that day I visited some proffesional Designer Toy shops called Orbital and Kidrobot. I found these shops very interesting as it proved the point that not all toys are for children.

Orbital

Japanese Designer Toy

Kidrobot

Merchandise related to the toys

Big statues of the toys in the window

The kidrobot shop was the most helpful place that I visited while up London. It sells proffesional, mass-produced designer toys and was amazing to look around! I noticed that it wasn't only Designer toys they sold; they also sold merchandise related to the toys such as hats, hoodies, t-shirts and shoes. 

Since I was there I bought myself 2 designer toys. One was called a Dunny and the other was called a Smorkin' Labbit. However, before you buy them they are all sealed in their unique packaging and you don't get to see what toy you get until you buy it.. Sort of like a Lucky Dip!