Interview with SpankyStokes
SpankyStokes has been with us in the vinyl toy community for the past several years. John Stokes has dedicated his life into providing us with some of the freshest news on the web with an uncompromising effort to make sure that urban vinyl culture is portrayed in a positive light. We thought that this man has done such a great job hyping up other artists, that we wanted to give him the chance to talk about what makes him keep the Stoke Factor always running…
DD: What/Who is SpankyStokes and how did you come up with that name?
SS: SpankyStokes or SpankyStokes.com is an online blog with a primary
focous on urban vinyl and designer toys as well as art culture,
graffiti, urban lifestyle and basically anything that sparks the
creative genius in everyone! I came up with the name… well I should
say the name kinda stuck from my freshman year in high school… my
football coach said I looked like Spanky from the Little Rascals, and
the nickname Spanky was born, then over time it connected to my last
name and there ya have it, nothing too special, but definitely sticks
in peoples minds.
DD: That’s funny… I will vouch for your football coach. Coaches are ALWAYS right when it comes to nicknames too huh? Anyhow, what’s been the highlight of 2009? What can we expect from
SS in 2010?
SS: The highlight for me in 2009 was just all the great people I have met
in the one year I have been doing the blog, so many amazing people are
in the art/toy community. I have also enjoyed watching my blog grow
over time, it is neat to see something so basic like a blog turn into
a place where people go on a daily basis to find “stuff” out, it makes
me happy to know that I can affect people in a positive manner. 2010
is going to be a HUGE year for SpankyStokes.com, along with more site
upgrades like a store that is going to focus on custom toys, and some
SpankyStokes gear. We might also be getting some SpankyStokes
exclusive colorways of some AMAZING figures coming out, really
exciting!!
DD: Being one of the Designer Vinyl media powerhouses, what trends are
you seeing evolve?
SS: Powerhouse, awww man your to kind, the funny thing is I still turn to
the real powerhouses out there like ToysRevil, Plastic and Plush and
Vinyl Pulse to see what they are writing about… we have a great
community! Now, there are a few trends I see evolving in the designer
toy field… the first being Resin, more and more people are taking
matters in their own hands and are making some truly SICK figures on
their own, and I think more and more up-n-commers as well as
established artists will start embracing resin as a viable means to
get their figures out to the public. The next trend I see happening is
more artists taking the ATC “Art Toy Collectible” roiute… not so
much a toy anymore but an actual sculpture fetching 4 to 5 digits.
Through all of this though, the Dunny will rein supreme as the gateway
drug to all things collectible in the toy world.
DD: Well thanks for taking the time to interview with us John. We’ll be seeing you at DesignerCon in a couple weeks man!!
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