San Diego Comic-Con Moments Long Ago

While it’s gone virtual for the second summer this July (due to the pandemic), Gary remembers fondly his times at the International Comic-Con in San Diego. Check out the blast-from-the-past photos below!

Starting in the early 2000s, Gary Baseman became a regular attendee of the world’s largest annual pop culture convention, featuring comics, toys, animation, video games, and more.

As an artist involved with the designer/urban vinyl toy movement early on, Comic-Con provided a great space to share his art, as well as add to his own collection.

Baseman has always been interested in toys, as his collection includes some from his childhood as well as many acquired as an adult. He keeps at his studio numerous objects featuring iconic characters like Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat, drawing inspiration from their wide variety of bold features. For Baseman, the progression to developing his own toys was natural.

Some of Baseman’s first toys were produced thanks to a partnership with Conor Libby of Critterbox, one of the best toy makers unfortunately no longer in existence. The most coveted classics from Critterbox include Baseman’s Dumb Luck, Dunces, Fire Water Bunnies, and Hotchachacha. Critterbox also produced the 16-inch Toby plush figure (ed 200)* that could only be acquired from an art gallery, as well as the 4-foot Tobys that have since been displayed in museums in the US, Taiwan, China, and New Zealand.

We look forward to seeing you all soon with more toys to offer from the mind of Gary Baseman!

*Buyer Beware: Toby as a plush figure has not been sold for several years. The last versions offered were from Baseman’s K11 Shanghai exhibition in 2014/15 and for a Kickstarter campaign for the documentary Mythical Creatures in 2014. If you see a 12-inch plush version on e-bay or elsewhere for a very low price, it is likely a fake. Support artists and designers by NOT buying knock-offs!