Kidrobot is a producer and retailer of designer toys

Designer toys

Designer toys is a term used to describe toys and other collectibles that are produced in limited editions and created by artists and designers. Designer toys are made of variety of materials; ABS plastic and vinyl are most common, although wood, metal, and resin are occasionally used. The term...

 founded in 2002 by Paul Budnitz

Paul Budnitz

Paul Budnitz is the President, founder, and creative director of Kidrobot Inc., creator of designer art toys and fashion apparel. He is also an Executive Producer for San Francisco-based digital animation company, W!LDBRAIN....

, specializing in artist-created toys and imports from Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. Kidrobot also makes Kidrobot Mascots, which are figures of their main logo. These figures are usually nicknamed KR (Kidrobot's common nickname) and the number of the Mascot. For example, the first Mascot was KR1. Some figures also have names; for example, KR1 was called Brooklyn. There are 20 Mascots so far, the newest of which being KR20: kidolaf by the beast brothers. Kidrobot is owned by Wild Brain

Wild Brain

Wild Brain is an award-winning entertainment company that develops and produces television programming, motion pictures, commercial content and licensed merchandise...

, and not affiliated with Giant Robot

Giant Robot (magazine)

Giant Robot is a bi-monthly magazine of Asian and Asian American popular culture founded in 1994. It was initially created as a small, punk-minded magazine that featured Asian pop culture and Asian American alternative culture, including such varied subject matter as history, art, music, film,...

, the magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 of Asian American

Asian American

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 pop culture, or the retail stores of the same name. In August 2008, Kidrobot collaborated with jewelry designer, Tarina Tarantino

Tarina Tarantino

Tarina Tarantino is a jewelry designer in Los Angeles, California.She is known for "hair jewelry," as well as her use of bright colors and funky designs....

, to launch a limited edition jewelry line, kidrobot by Tarina Tarantino.

Location

Kidrobot has a commercial website, as well operating retail stores in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, San Francisco, Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, Miami Beach, and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK. The store in Dallas, Texas closed in 2010. A selection of Kidrobot figures are carried by Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters, Inc. is a publicly traded American company that owns and operates five retail brands: Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, and BHLDN....

, both online and in its retail stores across the U.S

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Collectible Dunnys have been sold in limited edition box sets. Many older Dunnys are very rare and can only be found online through websites such as eBay at higher prices than the original Kidrobot retail pricing.

Toys and collectibles

Most items are produced in limited numbers and are, or become, collector's items

Collectible

A collectable or collectible is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector . There are numerous types of collectables and terms to denote those types. An antique is a collectable that is old...

. Each of the three retail stores features a gallery of designer toys and related art, and often host artist signings to commemorate the release of limited-edition figures, such as the Bondage Labbit by Frank Kozik

Frank Kozik

Frank Kozik is an American graphic artist who has worked with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Melvins, The Offspring and Butthole Surfers. Kozik runs Man's Ruin Records, a media outlet and record label, and has published several books including Man's Ruin:...

. Collectible Dunnys have been sold in limited edition box sets. "Kidrobot toys retail anywhere from $5 to $25,000, and many appreciate in value over time." Many older Dunnys are very rare and can only be found online through websites such as eBay at higher prices than the original Kidrobot retail pricing.

As a producer of designer toys, Kidrobot is known for its proprietary Dunny

Dunny (toy)

A Dunny is a type of vinyl designer toy created by Paul Budnitz and Tristan Eaton, and produced by Kidrobot from 2004.The toy is based on a rabbit figure with distinctive tubular ears. The origin of the name Dunny came from a combination of street slang and one of the early "Devil Bunny"...

 and Munny

Munny

A Munny doll is a toy from the American company Kidrobot.- Action Figure :A Munny doll is made out of vinyl and has movable joints.A Munny doll is a blank figure the owner can decorate using pens, pencils, markers, paint, and other supplies...

 figures, soft vinyl figurines which resemble cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 animals based on urban

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

 graffiti

Graffiti

Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....

 and stencil

Stencil

A stencil is a thin sheet of material, such as paper, plastic, or metal, with letters or a design cut from it, used to produce the letters or design on an underlying surface by applying pigment through the cut-out holes in the material. The key advantage of a stencil is that it can be reused to...

 art. Artists and designers are commissioned to create Dunnys, while Munnys are released unpainted as "blank canvas" do-it-yourself pieces. Contributing artists include Tara McPherson

Tara McPherson

Tara McPherson is an American artist based out of New York City. She studied art at Santa Monica Community College and earned her BFA from Art Center in Pasadena, CA in August 2001 with honors in Illustration and a minor in Fine Art, working on Matt Groening's Futurama during college.-Career:Tara...

, Swizz Beatz

Swizz Beatz

Kasseem Dean , better known by his stage name, Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, DJ, rapper and painter. At the age of 17, he gained attention in the hip-hop world through his friendship with rapper DMX. Grady Spivey and rapper Cassidy helped launch his label Full Surface Records...

, Ed Templeton

Ed Templeton

Edward "Ed" Templeton is a professional skateboarder and a contemporary artist who resides in Huntington Beach, California. -Biography:...

, Mike Shinoda

Mike Shinoda

Michael "Mike" Kenji Shinoda is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in...

 (Linkin Park

Linkin Park

Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...

, Fort Minor

Fort Minor

Fort Minor is a hip hop side-project of Mike Shinoda, who is better known as being a member of the American rock band Linkin Park. Shinoda's debut solo album as Fort Minor, The Rising Tied was released November 22, 2005.-History:...

), Shepard Fairey

Shepard Fairey

Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His...

 (Obey Giant), Joe Doucet

Joe Doucet

Joe Doucet is a designer, artist, architect, furniture designer and inventor who lives and works in New York City.- Early life and education :Doucet was born in Houston, Texas to an artist mother and an iron-worker father...

, Futura 2000

Futura 2000

Futura 2000 is a graffiti artist. He started to paint illegally on New York's subway in the early seventies, working with other artists such as ALI. In the early eighties he showed with Patti Astor at the Fun Gallery, along with Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Richard Hambleton and Kenny Scharf...

 (Mo'Wax), Jamie Hewlett

Jamie Hewlett

Jamie Christopher Hewlett is an English comic book artist and designer. He is known for being the co-creator of the comic Tank Girl and co-creator of the virtual band Gorillaz.-Biography:...

 (Tank Girl

Tank Girl

Tank Girl is a British comic created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. Originally drawn by Jamie Hewlett, it has also been drawn by Rufus Dayglo, Ashley Wood, and Mike McMahon.The eponymous character Tank Girl drives a tank, which is also her home...

, Gorillaz

Gorillaz

Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...

), MF DOOM

MF Doom

Daniel Dumile is a hip hop artist who has taken on several stage names in his career, most notably MF DOOM, where the "MF" stands for metal face, and for tracks he has produced, metal fingers...

 (Madvillain

Madvillain

Madvillain is a hip hop group consisting of MF DOOM and Madlib . Their debut album Madvillainy was met with wide critical acclaim for its unique approach—short songs, obscure lyrics, few choruses and a sound which was generally unfriendly to commercial radio.In 2006, Madvillain was featured on...

), Huck Gee

Huck Gee

Mark Gee , better known as Huck Gee, is a contemporary artist, illustrator, toy maker, and designer best known by toy enthusiasts for his iconic "Skullhead" character. He works and lives in San Francisco, California.-Work:Influenced by Japanese and Hong Kong pop art, Gee calls his style...

, JK5 (Joseph Aloi), Clutter Magazine

Clutter Magazine

Clutter Magazine is a quarterly publication that caters to the world of underground designer toys and the artists that create them. After emerging in Japan in the late 1990s, the toy scene has gone global, led by companies such as Toy2R, Kidrobot, and Medicom, and Clutter is the first English...

, and Mark Hoppus

Mark Hoppus

Mark Allan Hoppus is an American musician, record producer, and television host. He is the bass guitarist and one of the two lead vocalists of the pop punk band Blink-182, as well as the bass guitarist and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band +44. He is a co-founder of both bands...

 (blink-182

Blink-182

Blink-182 is an American rock band consisting of vocalist and bass guitarist Mark Hoppus, vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. They have sold over 27 million albums worldwide since forming in Poway, California in 1992...

, Atticus

Atticus

Atticus, a Latin name meaning "Man of Attica", may refer to any of:People*Titus Pomponius Atticus , ancient Roman littérateur / philosopher*Atticus , a Platonist philosopher and author of lost Plato commentary...

).

Apparel

In addition to toys and dolls, Kidrobot produces limited-edition apparel, particularly screen-printed

Screen-printing

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate...

 t-shirt

T-shirt

A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....

s and hoodie

Hoodie

A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. The characteristic design includes large frontal pockets, a hood, and a drawstring to adjust the hood opening. They are sometimes worn with sweatpants. Some hoodies have zippers on them to allow easy removal much like a jacket...

s (typically in editions of 256) featuring Kidrobot characters. They are starting to collaborate with many big companies such as Lacoste, and artists such as Tilt. Lacoste and Kidrobot are making limited edition sneakers with vivid colors and designs that are trademark of Kidrobot. They range from around $175.00 each pair. Kidrobot also makes monogram bags with the artist Tilt. ($90.00-$150.00.) The new clothing line for women and men comes in funky bright and colorful colors combined with artistic never before seen characters. These garments often sell-through within minutes online, and are known to create long lines at their stores.