Craig Perkins Interview

Craig Perkins is the designer behind BROKEN HEART ROBOT. Available in 3 different colour ways (Regular, Glow in the dark, and Clear) it is sure to be a big hit on Australian shores. Craig and his design company [GENSHI:TOY] are working hard on another project to drop hopefully in the next 2 months. Craig also spends time as a musician, a website designer, and a photographer. His work ethic is just out of this world and us at The Never Grow Up Club are thrilled he's able to give an interview.So Craig, tell us about Broken Heart Robot?Well, Broken Heart Robot is a sad little guy who was accidentally built without a purpose on his homeworld of Xerbix 319 (where everything has it's place and purpose.) He left Xerbix and came here to earth to seek out his purpose in life...

Was it difficult to get into the designer toy industry, there doesn't seem to be much information out there on just how you go about doing it?

Yes and no. It was because there wasn't much information on how to get into all of this and I found that some of the people in this industry were very guarded with information on how to break into it all. At the same time, seeing the original sketch I did of Broken Heart Robot I think connected with certain people, so it did open some doors that would normally be harder to get into (as far as getting the sculpt made, getting the factory and finding a distributor.)

Where did the idea of Broken Heart Robot come from?

It actually did come from my own broken heart! I was going through a tough time, I had just lost my mom then the girl I was seeing left me and I had just kind of broke down and "had it" with people. So out of nowhere I sketched this character Broken Heart Robot and after a few days I thought to myself "I'll make a whole website for him and show the world that humans are more cold and heartless than a Broken Heart Robot!" lol, so originally it was going to be a web project. It wasn't until about two years later that I saw the KidRobot site and saw some of the vinyl figures there that I wondered to myself if I could pull off a toy of my own.One thing was, I didn't want to make a typical "square robot". I knew it had to be different and show emotion while still be simple and clean. I think I came close. It's weird because I've had more than a couple of people now say that the design looks like an Alice In Wonderland character or has that sort of feel to it. Some of the people that have said that liked it because of that and some thought it was too twisted because of that.

You attended the San Diego Comic Con'06 to promote Broken Heart Robot, how was that?

That was pretty amazing actually. I was quite nervous about it since it was my first show for my toy. And I hadn't been to SDCC for almost 15 years so I didn't realize how big it had grown (I originally grew up in San Diego.) But it was great and some of my biggest fans turned out to be other toy designers that I had been a fan of. I met a lot of great people like Mario a.k.a. MARS-1 and George of October Toys (who make the Gwins) and Kozik and just so many others that I can't remember off the top of my head!

The blank D.I.Y versions of Broken Heart Robot don't seem to be around anymore? Are they all sold out?(even though he promised The Never Grow Up Club a complimentary one!lol :P)

They are very near to being sold out. I think with only 5 left which I am trying to hold on to (but yours is coming I PROMISE!)

Do you have any idols in any design kind of vein? Whether that be toy designers or graphic designers in general?

Well, I'm big on art and photography and I'm a big fan of the original surrealists such as Andre Breton, Giorgio de Chirico, Tanguy, Miro, etc. and as far as photographers, everyone from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Michael Ackerman. I'm also into very dark stuff and have always been a huge fan of H.R. Giger. As far as modern designers, there's a lot out there and it's hard to keep track of them all. It seems that everyone is doing everything nowadays! But I really do like MARS-1 as one of my current favorites in the vinyl scene. Mark Ryden I've really liked for awhile now and in photography Floria Sigismondi (but that may be more of a crush sort of thing!)

Whats your favourite toy that came out recently?

MARS-1's Invisible Plan. That's the stuff I thought I'd be doing and instead, I make this cute sad little robot! Go figure...

Tell us a bit about Kricky, the new toy designed by you thats coming out through [GENSHI:TOY], and does it have any relationship to Broken Heart Robot? Any exclusive information for us Australians?

Kricky is Broken Heart Robot's little sidekick. They meet when Broken Heart Robot lands on Kricky's homeworld (on the way to Earth) and they start bombarding him because they see this big scary Broken Heart Robot and they are just a planet of alien frogs! But Kricky sees he's harmless and joins him on his quest to find his purpose! Still working up all the details of Kricky, but he is 4 inches tall and going to come in at least 6 colorways with a removable head that you can switch among the different colors.

Broken Heart Robot is available in the store on this website as you know, did you ever think that your little sketch of a sad robot would make its way to Australia? Or even into a toy in general?

To be honest, no I didn't! When I finally had the sculpt made I thought I would just try to get it into 2 or 3 stores locally here in Los Angeles... by the time he was released, Broken Heart Robot was in 200 retailers worldwide! And there are new ones popping up every week (like this excellent site here!)

Ok some word association, first thing that pops into your head when i say

Turkey: Cheese

Spray Paint: Freeway

Lucky Charms: Frosted Flakes!

Hollyhock: Mistletoe?

Comic Books: The Crow, The Sandman, my favorites!

American Idol: Waste of space! But fun to watch the ones that think they can sing but can't!

If you had to leave America and come live in Australia, what would you miss about America the most?

Ooh, that's a tough one. I've always wanted to come to Australia, and lately, I don't think there is anything I would really miss about America in it's current state. I guess what I would miss is it's vast diversity and access to everything, but I am sure Australia and many other countries are like that as well, so... My mom was from Italy so she raised me with more European values than American ones.

Are there going to any Broken Heart Robot competitions/custom competitions soon. Every artist these days seems to be doing a competition of some sort to promote their product. Anything planned?

I am trying to put together a custom competition and gallery show hopefully by January. Once the details are confirmed I'll make sure The Never Grow Up Club is the first to know!

Thanks so much for your time, this is our first interview so maybe we were a bit rubbish? Oh , one last questions, anything in the works (even just in your brain!) to come out after Kricky? It would be great to see the whole Broken Heart Robot world to advance with the release of more and more toys don't you think? Really create a world for him?

Not rubbish at all, I quite enjoyed it!
As for what's in the works, well, as a matter of fact (and this is an exclusive for The Never Grow Up Club) there will be more characters in the Broken Heart Robot universe because I am currently in talks with two major TV networks in in the U.S about turning Broken Heart Robot into an Animated Series. So once the deal is offically signed, I'll be Executive Producer of my own TV show and I'll have to create what they call a Development Bible listing all of the characters of the show (and thus, all of the characters that will be made into toys!) So yes, there will be more...
Also, as much as I like Broken Heart Robot and his universe, I am toying (ha! bad pun) with the idea of making a sub-division of GENSHI:TOY to create more dark and twisted toys. I have a couple of ideas for this, but nothing I can mention quite at the moment.

Thank you so much and please keep checking out THE NEVER GROW UP CLUB, because even though were based in Australia, a lot of our products are priced way lower than other webstores, so get some Americans buying stuff through here! Thats your mission!

I shall make it so! And thanks for taking the time to talk with me.
Thank you, this has been Craig Perkins, for [GENSHI:TOY]