Illustration of Frank Kozik by SourBones
So is it strange for Frank Kozik to have a corporate job? No, because I don't have a corporate job, dude. So you don't see this as a corporate job? It's not a job. I didn't interview, it's not really structured that way. We have a team here, we all know each other, we've all been working together for a while now… some people here I've worked with for seven years. So it's not like a weird job, it's all odd, it's not like that at all. It's more like my thing and their thing has finally come together the way I always wanted it to. I guess the perception is that Kidrobot is this large company… It's not really set up that way… [Steve Elmes, Kidrobot's Marketing Director, interjects:] People refer to us as a corporation, like we're Google, but it's kinda funny to talk about Kidrobot as a corporation. We're a pretty small team. Large is relative; within a space we're a well-known and recognized brand, to many a leader in the industry, and if that makes us a corporation, I guess we're a corporation. You know, I have a corporation too. I've had a corporation for twenty years, but just because you have a legal standing doesn't mean it has to work according to certain rigid rules internally. And you know me, I'm not about that anyways. I wouldn't be here if that was the deal. Is this going to be a full-time, hands on position or a consultancy? It's more the former, but I've been doing stuff remotely for twenty years, through — you know — these awesome things called computers and telephones. Every job I do I talk to dudes on three continents at the same time. Like, I will be spending a lot of physical time here in Boulder [Colorado, where Kidrobot's headquarters is located] every month, but I will remain based in San Francisco. Are you going to stop being a curmudgeon and start being cute because you work for Kidrobot? (Laughs) I'm always cute, baby, you know that! (Laughs) Are you going to start smiling and acting cute or can we expect the same ol' Frank, the one that we love?
This just in… Frank Kozik has been named the Creative Director of Kidrobot! In light of recent events - namely the brand becoming part of the NECA company family - the longterm potential for Kidrobot seemed brighter than ever, but where would this newfound financial freedom take the company? A true bedrock of the Western designer toy movement, with its line-up of archetypal figures, it seems every fan wants to know where Kozik is hoping to steer the future of Kidrobot. 12 | Clutter 23
I'm not going to change what I do, it's just that I'm playing the game on a higher level now. We have real backing here! Here's the situation, people are worried — I've read every single thing that people have posted on the forum and the internet in the last few days — so here's the deal: Kidrobot will remain autonomous. It is not being absorbed into a mega corporation, we have the full logistical, manufacturing, and financial support of a really big company, but that company itself is not a traditional corporation. It's a company is owned by a guy, who is a really smart guy, who happens to be in love with collecting toys and other interesting things, and understands what Kidrobot was, what it is, and what it should be. There are no managers or knobs coming in, no, no, no… This is like if me and you were sitting down and going, "hey, we can do whatever we want to now, what are we going to do." That's the