me me me me me me

[John]

Frank, that's a good interview. Can you expand a bit more on the whole credit-based nature of these toy purchases from a few years ago? How was it becoming apparent to you and Kidrobot and the rest? Were consumers expressing that they were buying these toys on credit?

What gave you and the manufacturers the red flag that the rate of these sales wasn't sustainable?

[ryan_1969]

i'm suprised to read about the lack of validation you felt doing gigposters. i have a ton of your stuff, and i have no idea who many of the bands are.

[MrBlonde7]

I posted something, but it used my real name instead of my blondie name. goddammit.

[Barry Obama]

Frank, that's a good interview. Can you expand a bit more on the whole credit-based nature of these toy purchases from a few years ago? How was it becoming apparent to you and Kidrobot and the rest? Were consumers expressing that they were buying these toys on credit?

What gave you and the manufacturers the red flag that the rate of these sales wasn't sustainable?

just basic analysis and in person 'research'. I attend SDCC each year and talk to well over 1000 toy collectors in person over the course of the week. I also spend time talking to all the retailers, manufacturers and other designers. I track sales and royalties records for various products, I remain in weekly touch with the major distributors and talk to them about sales trends, I track my own sales and so on. I watch collector forums and see patterns in collecting and activity, especially among new versus long time collectors active on those forums. Trends develop, and I extrapoltae new product designs, release numbers timing price poin ts etc on the trends I feel I see developing.

so far I have been accurate within about 10% over the last 6 years. its like surfing, you get to be able to feel the waves, see the weather....if that makes sense.

and, since the production cycle is about 18 months at this point, it gives me time to 'adjust the course' so to speak and avoid major problems.

so far so good. in 2009 revenue went down by an expected amount, which I had preplanned for, and in 2010 I will maintain the avergae and probably grow sales by 20% or so with the new, market adjusted items.

if that makes any sense. the key is to have dialog and contacts into both the fanbase and the 'industry/distro system'.

[Barry Obama]

i'm suprised to read about the lack of validation you felt doing gigposters. i have a ton of your stuff, and i have no idea who many of the bands are.

thats nice, and while I did have X amount of 'kozik collectors', the majority of sales and value where always linked to the bands and their related success, so i always fekt like all i was really doing was coat-tailing on the bands at a certain level.

with the toys and so on, it's just me...so I feel its a better indicator of my abilities.

[GR8Dane]

Toys suck. Get yer ass back to makin' great gigposters.

[Barry Obama]

I respectfully disagree. I enjoy the toy design a lot more than I did the gigposter thing.

the main issue for me is, I no longer listen to new music or go to shows or 'care' about whats going on with the music scene, so, I feel it would be 'false' to do posters. I had my time, and then I moved on to other things I was more interested in on a personal and creative level.

[dspring]

thats nice, and while I did have X amount of 'kozik collectors', the majority of sales and value where always linked to the bands and their related success, so i always fekt like all i was really doing was coat-tailing on the bands at a certain level.

with the toys and so on, it's just me...so I feel its a better indicator of my abilities.

I see your point... some people buy certain band posters no matter the artwork, just because it's that band... and some amazing posters get passed over by collectors simply because the band is little known... toys are like - if you like you like it, no strings attached... hit or miss...

[piemel]

I have an image in my head of Kozik surfing Bolinas this weekend... in a thong


btw, for the surfers .... crab opener Nov-7th is a likely bust with the upcoming swell... but boy is it a great weekend to hit the beach and ride some waves

FRI
NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 3 FT.
W SWELL 13 TO 15 FT. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

SAT
NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT.
W SWELL 13 TO 15 FT. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN.


and this is for the Half Moon Bay buoy :

Buoy Forecast 46013 (STORMSURF)



fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

I have 9 pots ready to go on opening day...

[GR8Dane]

I respectfully disagree. I enjoy the toy design a lot more than I did the gigposter thing.

the main issue for me is, I no longer listen to new music or go to shows or 'care' about whats going on with the music scene, so, I feel it would be 'false' to do posters. I had my time, and then I moved on to other things I was more interested in on a personal and creative level.

Well, I guess that is fully understandable. At least you got a cool car!