Shogunasty (Afterglow Edition) by BigManToys
Basics of Bootlegs and (In)Action Figures The term bootlegging first originated in the 19th century, when smugglers concealed bottles of liquor in their boots while trading with Indian tribes. In 1919, prohibition was enacted and the practice of bootlegging spread across the United States to supply alcohol to the people. The word eventually came to mean the illegal dealing of goods, and today it is often applied to piracy of music or movies. For the designer toy community, the term ‘bootlegging’ has a very specific meaning; a genre for creating toy art based on licensed properties without permission. To understand bootlegging, it would be helpful to first understand one of the most widespread materials used in the creation of designer toys: a substance known as resin. Resin is a liquid substance that can be poured into a mold, hardening into a relatively archival objet d’art. “Resin is the lifeblood of the bootlegger. It gives their ideas form and their lives meaning. He who controls the resin, controls the universe.” - The Oracle Boot Leg
Care Grizzly Bears (Rainbow) by Falcontoys
Resin is popular in the designer toy world, as most other plastics require factory-level machinery to manufacture a piece, while resin can be poured in one’s home or studio fairly affordably. The process involves creating an original object out of clay or any other material, then creating a mold of that form, usually out of silicone. The two components of resin are then mixed together and poured into the mold, then the resin hardens into a rigid plastic as a result of an exothermic chemical reaction. Once removed from the mold, a hardened object is formed and can be reproduced. This process is often what is used by artists who want to make multiples of their sculptures or designer toys. As for bootlegging within the designer toy community, the name itself is a bit of a misnomer. They are not the cheap variety packs of action figures often seen at flea markets where it is clear that no mainstream toy manufacturer had a hand in creating them. Those toys are referred to as “knock-offs.” Bootlegging, however, while not technically being “legal” is something different in the world of toy art: within a Warholian art sensibility, often it is the bootleg that rises to the level of fine art. In the evolution of designer toys, the greatest example of bootlegging is Suckadelic’s Gay Empire series. The slight alteration of a Stormtrooper, with a larger codpiece, poured in pink resin, and doused with a lifetime’s worth of attitude created a brand new concept of what a Stormtrooper could be. The reason this type of art is known as bootlegging is because it builds off of a pre-existing
Alien vs Predator (Close to Midnight) Edition. By Special Ed Toys 60 | Clutter 41 NYCC