Last month, we announced that PopVinyls.com and custom artists were coming together to raise money for Toys for Tots. You can read that article HERE but basically we will be auctioning off donated custom Pops in our VK Auction House to raise money for Toys for Tots. We have now finished two rounds of auctions for Toys for Tots and have raised well over $1000 for this great charity. We have one last round of custom auctions beginning Monday December 15th. My friend and majorly talented artist Jared Breslow wanted to participate but was far too busy with planning a wedding and getting married recently but he was gracious to make an awesome Buddy the Elf framed photo for our auction. The only thing better than Jared’s customs is probably his photography! The photo is printed onto glossy metal, in a process called sublimation. It’s printed on special paper with special ink and heat pressed at 400 degrees onto the metal. After it cools Jared installs a floating wall bracket for easy hanging:)
When Jared showed me this beautiful piece, I asked him a few questions!
What got you into making custom Pops?
When I first started collecting in 2010, there was only 2 batman variants believe it or not, so I figured it would be fun to start making customs one for myself, then I was lucky enough to become friendly with Dan Stevens from Dragonfly Designs, and he sold me a custom of his, which inspired me even more to continue customizing, and now a nice friendship and 100s of customs later, here I am today! As for the Pop! photography, photography has been a passion of mine for quite some time and i thought it would be fun to put Pops into the environments from their tv shows, movies, etc and take pics of them, sort of emulating scenes and memorable moments. My dream is to one day take pictures for Funko and have them in their “world of pop!” book.
How long have you been making customs?
Since 2010.
What is the favorite custom you have made?
This is such a hard question, it’s like asking somoene what their favorite candy is, but I think if I had to pick one, it would be my Dr. Alan Grant, from Jurassic Park(one of my favorite movies. He was a lot of work and I spent a good week making sure the paintjob and box were perfect, and whenever someone asks me about selling it, i say you couldn’t pay me all the money in the world. Dan from Dragonfly recently made me a Ian Malcom custom for my wedding, and i have already gathered some props and a nice spot for a photoshoot this spring.
What was the inspiration for the piece you created for our Pops for Tots auctions?
The inspiration for the piece I made is that everyone loves “buddy the elf”, and since I could not get a custom done in the time frame due to planning a wedding, I figured the next best thing would be a Christmas themed Pop! photograph I took, printed on metal, so someone could hang it on their wall. I love smiling, smiling’s my favorite;)
How can people see other customs of yours and commission their own?
If people want to see some of my pop! customs, they can check out Jokers Wild Customs on FB and JokersWIldCustoms on Instagram, and if they want to see any of my Pop!tography they can check out Arkham Photography on FB and ArkhamPhotography on Instagram.
Thanks so much Claude for your amazing display. This goes on sale tomorrow!