Hello Funko Family and Funatics! Today we welcome a new Pop! into the Fantastik Plastik family. Introducing Cutey Corn! We're also here to talk to winner of the Funko Fantastik Plastik Design Challenge who created the newest member, Jacob Martindale.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us Jacob. Would you please start by telling us a bit about yourself and where you're from?
"My name is Jacob Martindale! I'm 25 and live in Angleton, Texas. By day I am a teacher, but by night I am an independent illustrator/graphic artist trying to make a career in art!"
When and how did you first learn about Funko and the Fantastik Plastik line?
"I learned about Funko for the first time in 2012. My local Hastings had a large selection of Wacky Wobblers that grabbed my interest! Back then however, I was only able to afford Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger with my lawn mowing money. It was shortly after this that I received my first Pop! figure for Christmas, the Target exclusive Green Lantern bobblehead, and I was immediately hooked!
The Fantastik Plastik line came quite a while later. I remember being immediately intrigued seeing old friend in Pop! form like Otto, El Diablo and T-Bone. But then I became even more drawn in with new characters like Frank Von Viener and Big Al. The Fantastik Plastik line was one to keep an eye on!"
Would you consider yourself a Funko Funatic or at least a collector?
"I know we're not talking about taco shells, but: 'Why not both?'
I've been collecting since 2012 (almost ten years) but have also been to multiple Fundays events, SDCC lines, local meet ups, etc. At this point, I'm not sure I could be one without the other. Funko has made such a positive impact on my life that I don't think there will ever be a point where I won't be a Funko Funatic. The family that I have been invited into has been unlike any other and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
What Funko lines and fandoms do you collect?
"I collect all of the Movie lines. It started with Jason Vorhees and I think I'm caught up through the "Gladiator" set. There are some rarer characters I'm looking for to complete my older horror sets. Outside of movie related figures I collect Count Chocula and a few figures based on PlayStation game characters."
Do you have any particular fandoms that hold special meaning to you?
"Count Chocula. As I mentioned before, I've always been fascinated with Halloween. It's a deep rooted love for the holiday. Plus for a short time every year these highly recognizable General Mills characters reappear. It adds to the exclusivity and the illusiveness. I also love chocolate and his overall design."
What's your favorite Funko memory?
"My first Fundays, back in 2015 (if I remember correctly). It was my first time going to a comic con and it was my first Fundays. It was the moment I first got to meet, in person, so many of the people I had met online through the Funko groups over the years. To put faces to the text bubbles I had seen over the years while helping others in the group find or trade the collectibles they'd been searching for.
I also got to meet Brian M., Mike B., and Reis O'Brien (who's an art icon of mine). It was an amazing and overwhelming experience."
How did you learn about the Funko Fantastik Plastik Design Challenge?
"I'm not sure how I could have missed it. Everyone in the community knew me as 'the guy who draws', so I think it's safe to say that I was tagged/sent/"@"ed well into the triple digits when the contest was announced. Once I got started, I had to be reeled back in! I had to read the fine print saying I could only enter one design! The rest is history at this point."
Where did the idea/inspiration for Cutey Corn come from?
"The very base idea admittedly comes from one of my personal art heroes, Funko's very own, Reis O'Brien. In years prior, he had designed these little sketch card characters using only four colors (yellow, orange, white and black). The original design exercise got me to think 'How can I do something like that?' The thought of making a candy corn immediately entered my head!
As a big fan of Halloween and everything the holiday encompasses, I wanted my character to represent the spooky time of the year but something a little more too. A lot of the characters that had been made in the Fantastik Plastik line (in my opinion) could be seen as a little scary. Not a bad thing! I love them to pieces. But I wondered if I could make a more endearing design that could potentially bring more interest into this line from different collectors. Making him a trick-or-treater was just the natural decision! Everything from that point was just good old fashioned design work. He came alive all by himself!'
How did your previous experience with Pop! figures and design work help inform your process for Cutey Corn?
"I was in the middle of getting my MFA in Sequential Art (comics and storyboarding) from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) when the contest dropped. Everything I thought and did at the time was design and artwork. The creative energy of the school definitely lent itself to the design work of Cutey Corn. That, mixed with all of my years of collecting, creating this little guy felt natural. Like it was something I was finally allowed to do!"
What is your favorite design feature or detail about Cutey Corn?
"Well, this is a silly answer, but honest nonetheless: With the proportions of a Pop! figure, oftentimes props (especially ones that would be placed on the heads) are too small or big for the rest of the body. A good example is the tiny hat being held by the Target exclusive Oddjob. When creating Cutey Corn, I wanted to find some goofy way to meet in the middle. Someone with a sharp eye for design will notice that his skull mask 100 percent wouldn't fit over his head, but it would also be super big for his tiny hands to hold. I know it's goofy, but it always makes me chuckle!"
Thank you so much for entering the contest and taking the time to talk us through the creation of Cutey Corn with us, Jacob!
Click through to check out the rest of the Fantastik Plastik Pop! line. Pop! Cutey Corn is a Funko Hollywood exclusive figure.
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