PROPOSAL: NOUNish Friends (NOUNS TOWN) Collectible figures and more by BigshotToyworks

Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback about the design of the figure. I am taking everything into account and will definitely use things that make sense. To be clear this is a small 4" figure series designed to have interchangeable parts with a common body shape that can be decorated in production with multiple paint applications similar to a BearBrick or a Kid Robot Dunny. The legs have swappable parts that will allow us to have 4 separate height options and change the proportions visually. The reason for having soft and flowing edges is to give the figures a nice feel when you are holding them in hand since the sharp edged toys like Roblox and Minecraft figures all feel cheap and poorly are based on the methods used to produce them. Happy do jump on a call of have a chat about plans for this series and beyond> have been working on these for the past 3 months with considerable time and capital already spent on the proof of concept, happy to colaborate on some feedback and looking forward to taking this to the next steps .

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In order to try to clarify some of the design choices here i put together some notes. to help explain why these look “off model” While I can certainly make these as limited artworks out of wood with incredible paint in small editions the point of this particular concept is mass adoption and proliferation.
Happy to re quote this at 10K or work through quantities once we are ready to go to production but I would love to get the development funded first so We can continue the work.
The NOUN PFP is a gorgeous example of pixel art and quirky fun simplicity that can only be communicated in a flat 2D manner or tiled as flat pixelated 3D layers.
This look does not translate effectively into a 3Dimentional mass produced object for manufacturing reasons both with molding and paint deco at scale.
The simple on model translation of the body only really works if the shapes are blocky yet soft edged to have a nice tactile feel in hand. The heads all need a certain level of reimagining in order to translate into 3D, work as a figure and be suitable for production
Once you get away from the waist up only look and add the lower body and second arm
The aesthetics start to look off and loose the charm and style of the original when brought into 3D for production.

I wanted to approach this project slightly different and start from scratch using the Characters as reference and guides but working to create a new look that works as physicals, commands a presence on the shelf, Is fun to play with and be cost effective in manufacturing. I wanted to make sure that the proportions were modern and had a cool line flow aesthetic and also allow for a more uniform design language throughout the entire line of characters.
The other reasons for this style variation is to give the characters a more animated fun style that can be easy and fun to animate and evolve the look
I wanted to have a strong example that really embraces the CC0 concept and embraces that this brand can be and look like anything that you want. When I onboard artist the first levels of pushback is always “I don’t work in the pixelstyle” and this erases that stigma immediately opening a much wider range of opportunity to work with a whole new range of builders and creators.

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I for one, love the idea and aesthetic you have here Klim. I really hope some Nouners get the proposal on-chain soon.

I want to start my collection.

Much like Kenner did with StarWars they began with a limited SKU.

Stickers or vinyl clings like “color-forms” of the accessories that you could stick on the shirt would be cool too. (though paint would be higher quality)

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Stickers are a definite yes. the vinyl clings would not work due to size and curved surface as well as materials. ( i tried LOL) I plan to have these executed at the highest quality level possible since the goal of this project is engagement and not profit we can spend the margins on quality and not walmart profits. We have a robust marketing strategy for all of our NOUN engagements but have to start with stage one first Thank you so much Sam

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After quite a few rounds of group feedback and tweaks I think that we managed to come up with a happy medium for the figure design that looks nounish and makes sense as a 4" collectible blind box figure.
We are going to use the classic Noggles for series one and I refined the design to have a less curvy/bouncy look and make the figure have a more upright posture. The shape is great to hold in hand and all the joints (waist, wrists, ankles) are nicely hidden in the way we separated the parts.
These figures will have fully painted heads. bodies to reflect the classic NOUN colors and shirt designs. and come in a beautiful box and display carton and each figure will have a collectible trading card inside with more information about NOUNs and possibly include a POAP for additional experiences
We also reduced the run to 10K pieces with 7 unique heads.
Hopefully we can get this on chain so that I can begin production to meet the tight DesignerCon delivery
Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. We have what I think is an exceptional distribution/proliferation strategy and I am happy to discuss Thank you.

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I absolutely love the amount of professional work that’s already gone into this. They look amazing.
I also can’t wait to start my collection.

Best of luck!

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Here is a review of a similar figure we just released with our frineds DALEK and 3Dretro, this one is 6" ours will be 4 but this gives you an idea of the articulation cuts and how fun these things will be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxWuMgnuqGU

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As the votes are coming in I wanted to share another design update based on more collected feedback. This is far more in tune with the final look of the figures that reflect an aesthetic of art toys and will look great and are production friendly in color and final materials. The Unicorn and Warewolf will look more like the shark does now and we may sub one of them out for a taco. Happy to jump on a group call to discuss the process and strategy.before 11 am EST Tuesday.
The stage 1 ask was for design and development of this series so there is some flexibility with which characters and some of the aesthetics but there is some practical reasons why a lot of the design choices. Thank you for your time

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Another update to help the voting process and to show that the stage one is for the development of the figures. these are looking really good and we hope that this gets a pass to teh next stage

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Deep dive into revisions on the body forms and overall proportions yields some awesome results

Any feedback and reactions would be appreciated here or in the discord

Love that bottom row! Feel like that body in relation to the head without the super long neck is really right on now. Pretty cool.

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I figured out how to still get some fun movement with out the neck so I think it will be pretty rad when we get the prototypes made. Still a lot of micro tweaks to get these to 100% and then will start on the heads. Going with the cloud now since it is the easiest to visualize then will move to the other heads

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Agreed! That short version is really nice.
I know you’re not to heads yet, but I’d like to see the skateboard as the whole head rather than the face with the cap, if possible. I do like the hat concept and how well it makes for the depth that’s likely needed for a head on these. But I’m also into the idea of keeping it as similar to the actual head as possible. Just a thought.
Either way, they look amazing Klim!

Glad you like these, I am still tooling around with multiple changes and will share them late next week. Things like the skate board or the stiletto, potleaf and some others have no volune to connect to the neck/body which is why i added the hat for volume Please Keep in mind that these are 4" mini figures meant to sell for 15-20 USD. There is carful consideration for part count, construction and durability(we try our best not to never ever make things that break easy) This series has a very specific strategy and needs to be low cost/high quality, and i am using all my knowledge to find a happy balance. The whole skateboard head has a risk of potentially snapping if the hat volume is not there and also looses the fun head rotation that we get with these that add oodles of personality and character to each figure but as you said, we are not at the head tweaks just yet so some of the options i am trying may work out for this suggestion

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Totally understandable!
You certainly know what’s up in this realm and it’s clear how much work/time goes into these.
I can’t wait to collect them!!!

the general aesthetics feels much better than when i first saw this project but still feel like it got some ways to go before it feels properly nounish

there is a certain level of balance that needs to be created with forms since most of the noun heads are impossible to mass produce at scale within a reasonable price point, and still need to have some sort of a cohesive family look.
While i am still working on the final designs it is important to note the target price, materials, size and reason for doing these in the first place which is to use these as a mass proliferation/onboarding tool for non crypto native people who have no idea what nounish means but love characters, stories and toys as well as inspire new people to think outside of the Pixelated boxy look that is already established and try to push the boundaries of imagination for new folks that come to the project. If you can help define “nounish” that may give us a good place to look for some design cues.

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just want to state upfront that i understand you’re working within the constraints of the medium here! <3

  • while pixel-style is hard to do, “blocky” or low-fi is more nounish i think?
  • unicorn, skateboard, shark, wiz hat all pretty good imo!
  • the smaller/shorter body feels more nounish than the prev tall design
  • I’m guessing 1 arm just looks amputated? been tried?

I’m trying to find what would make me excited to put these of a shelf and I think a more blocky/abstract design would do it

sorry for incoherent thoughts!

1 Arm is a constant thread in the design process since @4156 suggested it on the Sofubi. it is not working as well in this particular format but I will get that up for discussion with the next update.
agreed on the mosts of your points and you will see that in the next update.
Scrapped the beer and weed for now to make the project all ages.
Are you a toy collector? Do you have things like BearBricks, Dunnys or other art toys? I think that beyond just hype these objects need to be experienced IRL which is what the goal is here.
Incoherent thoughts are OK which is why we need NOUN coffee

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Spent a considerable amount of time and revisions balancing out the round shapes that work for toys with the angular boxy shapes of NOUNs and found a pretty happy spot here. Still need a few tweaks as i move into some additional heads and maybe explore some poses but as 4” mini figures I think these are going to be stellar. Any feedback is always appreciated and will be considered as we move forward

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