Zen and the Art of Toys: An Interview with Kid Robot's Paul Budnitz

Paul Budnitz is quite a guy. The founder of Kid Robot and considered by many to be the father of the designer toy movement, he is many things: An artist, a movie maker, an author, an entrepreneur, a curator, a designer and much more.

This son of a nuclear physicist and a social worker is truly a renaissance man. He made references to Buddhism, Andy Warhol, the Museum of Modern Art, eBay and grandpas during the course of our interview. His movies have won awards, his book was reviewed in the New York Times and his toys are on permanent display in the Museum of Modern Art.

For those who are unfamiliar with designer toys, they are toys designed to be produced in limited editions. A commonly used material is vinyl and many of the products are, at least to my eye, cute with an edge.

If you want to know more about Paul and collector toys, I suggest you visit his website aptly entitled Paul Budnitz. You can find it at www.paulbudnitz.com.

I wanted to interview Paul Budnitz because he takes toys and the toy aesthetic very seriously. That and he is a really brilliant guy. Here is my interview with Paul.

Richard:

Peter Drucker, the great management philosopher always liked to ask this question:  "What business are you in?"  If it worked for Peter Drucker so it certainly works for me.  Paul, what business are you in?

Paul:

I’m in the business of making art.   The art just happens to come in the form of toys.    At the same time, I’m really in the business of making toys.

A famous Buddhist philosopher said that finding meaning in life is realizing an impossible contradiction — all life is transitory, but at the same time, we are all subject to the laws of cause and effect.  My work is the same way.

Kidrobot makes and sells limited edition toys that are collected, mostly, by adults. The toys are designed by world famous artists, designers, graffiti artists, fashion designers, etc. and some of them are now in MoMA.   Many that originally sold for $35 now go for over a thousand dollars on eBay.  Some toys sell for over $10,000.

And, some of the toys cost $6 and kids play with them and are great for birthday gifts.

We’re both things, and for people who can’t figure it out — study Buddhism!

Richard:

As I studied the collectable toys for sale in Kid Robot, my mind kept turning to this question:  Is this art; is this toy or does it make a difference?

Paul:

See answer above.  This question isn’t one that’s interesting to me.   It’s both things. Andy Warhol sort of took the lid off the "is it art" question in the 1960’s when he started selling wallpaper.

Richard:

When I visited your stores I was struck by the diversity of your customer base; I saw kids, seniors and everything in between.  Who is your end user?

Paul:

Everyone!  Isn’t that fantastic?  We have art collectors, toy collectors, designers, artists, kids, grandpa’s, you name it.

Richard:

I understand that you are exploring the possibility of selling your products through other retail outlets.  Is there currently an appropriate department for designer toys and if not where do you think you belong?

Paul:

We currently own a distribution company called "Beautiful Plastic" and we sell our toys in about 1000 stores worldwide.   We’ve down shop-in-shops in the MoMA store in Japan, in Selfridges in London, really all over the world.  Of course, we’re pretty picky who we work with.  I don’t think a Kidrobot shop would look right in Sears.  But you never know, if they asked nicely I might find a way.  Maybe I could design plastic chainsaws!

The point is that if you let go of boundaries, you can make just about anything work, as long as the other side is cooperative.

Richard:

It seems to me that you are what was once called a Renaissance man.  You design; curate, manufacture, sell and a whole lot more.  How did you learn to do all these things so well?

Paul:

Well, I just did them.  I’m fairly stupid, actually.  If I was smarter I would have been a talented violinist or architect, and I wouldn’t have got anywhere.  But since I’m a dummy I’ve had to compensate by making my own way.

I’m also too dumb to know when something is totally not going to work.  So I dive in, and get in a lot of trouble (at one point I was $750,000 in debt starting Kidrobot) and have to shovel my way out.  It’s actually a great way to work if you’re not too protective of your credit rating.

Richard:

Do you see designer toys as being part of the greater toy industry or something separate?

Paul:

I think we have nothing to do with the greater industry.   The reason I know this is, I don’t know anyone in the greater industry and never worked in it.  I don’t even go into toy stores and have no idea what regular toys are like.

Kidrobot and the artists we work with just do our own thing.   We’re lucky, it’s working out.

Richard:

You are the father of designer toys.  So as the father, what is your baby’s future?

Paul:

I think I’m the step father.  Maybe the western father.   The real fathers were in Hong Kong and Japan, and I learned from them.

The future is bright, as long as what we make is beautiful.  If it sucks, it will die, like everything else eventually.  You can’t fool reality forever.

Richard:

Well, I just have to end on this question:  Do you own any toys?

Paul:

Yes, but I’m not a collector.  I have about 200 toys here beside me in my office, but I usually keep only what I’m given from friends, and what I like.   I don’t have the attention span to really collect things.  I am too addicted to change!!!!!