Archive for All Posts

What is Sofubi?

Sofubi, short for “soft vinyl,” is a type of plastic material used to create Japanese vinyl toys. These toys have captured the hearts of collectors worldwide due to their unique aesthetics and tactile appeal. One reason why we love Sofubi is their ability to be…

Continue reading →

Uncle Six Eyes Resin Bust

Uncle Six Eyes Resin Bust

Working with fine artist Travis Louie, we were able to adapt his painting of “Uncle Six Eyes” for production as a limited edition resin bust. Released in 2011, the bust is limited to 150 pieces in white and 25 pieces in black. The black version…

Continue reading →

What 3d Model Formats Work for Producing Toys?

What 3d Model Formats Work for Producing Toys?

You can send us pretty much any format – Maya, 3ds Max, Zbrush, Mudbox, Modo, and we’ll clean up and prep the model and make sure that it is watertight, scaled, articulated, cut up for manufacturing, etc. before sending to the printer. The files that…

Continue reading →

“Kyle the Bomb” by JThree Concepts

“Kyle the Bomb” by JThree Concepts

Jared Nickerson at JThree Concepts designed this adorable little fellow and we couldn’t resist turning him into a full three dimensional sculpt.

Continue reading →

Madl’s Modern Hero Resin Figure

Madl’s Modern Hero Resin Figure

Madl has produced a very limited run of black Modern Heroes in resin. Designed by Madl and sculpted by Shinbone.

Continue reading →

One Laptop Per Child Superhero Toy

One Laptop Per Child Superhero Toy

Our digital sculpt of this colorful and generous superhero character was used to create a one-off prototype for use in the “Win One, Give One” campaign by General Mills. The superhero 3d model was rapid-prototyped and hand painted and used as the main character in…

Continue reading →

Will My 3d Model’s Texture Transfer to the Printed Toy?

Will My 3d Model’s Texture Transfer to the Printed Toy?

We can print a full color model, but we don’t recommend it. At the end of the day, you’ll only have a single piece, colored, for display and it won’t be reproducible. If you are interested in a full production run, painted, of your piece,…

Continue reading →

Kaiju Cityscape for “Strange Beasts” Show

Kaiju Cityscape for “Strange Beasts” Show

Scott contributed a portrait of a massive fleshy creature to the Guzu Gallery “Strange Beasts” group show in Austin, Texas. This is a snapshot of the work in progress, showing all of the delicious little details that were built.

Continue reading →

JC Rivera’s Jonny Toy

JC Rivera’s Jonny Toy

JC Rivera has designed a wonderfully personal version of the John Hancock Tower in Chicago. Shinbone sculpted the figure and produced the rapid-prototype.

Continue reading →

Minky Vinyl Toy Design

Minky Vinyl Toy Design

The crew at Shinbone all share a deep love of toy design and we never sleep. This simpering little monkey, or “Minkey”, if you will, demands attention. If you don’t have attention to spare, he’ll accept bananas. “Minkey” is a vinyl toy design for younger…

Continue reading →

Can My Vehicle Design Have Moving Wheels?

Can My Vehicle Design Have Moving Wheels?

For basic resin reproduction, we can do some fancy footwork and produce a piece with metal axles and resin wheels, but it is tricky and requires a fair amount of assembly. For larger production runs in ABS, we can engineer a fairly standard execution of…

Continue reading →

Free Creature 3d Model “Cheebs”

Free Creature 3d Model “Cheebs”

Shinbone’s been getting so much love and support lately that it’s time to give something back. If you like monsters or if you’re curious about how we sculpt toys, here’s a 3d model of a little critter to load up and take a close look…

Continue reading →

Minecraft Steve Vinyl Toy

Minecraft Steve Vinyl Toy

Produced by JINX! and designed by Madl and sculpted by Shinbone.

Continue reading →

Thoza Giant Monster Vinyl Toy

Thoza Giant Monster Vinyl Toy

We love giant monsters from their noses to their toeses. We love giant monsters so much that even the Shinbone logo is a shoutout to the wonderful world of Japanese monster toys, also known as “kaiju”. Thoza is our first sassy creature with a heart…

Continue reading →

Minimum Order Quantities for Production Runs?

Minimum Order Quantities for Production Runs?

For resin, the minimum is extremely low, as low as 10 or 30 units. For vinyl, it is possible to sweet talk a factory into producing 500, but they would prefer to do no less than 1000, usually. A run of 500 will cost more,…

Continue reading →

How Much Does Rapid-Prototyping Cost?

How Much Does Rapid-Prototyping Cost?

The flexibility and speed of digital sculpting has an associated cost that sometimes surprises designers. Printing the sculpt can occasionally be perilously expensive. More!

Continue reading →

Mutant Vinyl Hardcore’s Krawluss

Mutant Vinyl Hardcore’s Krawluss

Shinbone produced a digital sculpt of MVH’s massive design, Krawluss. 14 inches tall, 2 heads, 1 bad attitude. Rapid-prototyped using a very nice SLA printer.

Continue reading →

What is Shinbone?

What is Shinbone?

Shinbone Creative specializes in design, digital sculpting & illustration, and manufacturing of unique goods for discerning people.

Continue reading →

Does it Cost Less to Produce More Toys?

Does it Cost Less to Produce More Toys?

Yes and no. Time for math fun. The total cost of a “run” of toys is the combined result of complexity, size, material, packaging, and number of units. Let’s look at a run of resin figures as an example. There are “one time” costs such…

Continue reading →

Resin or Vinyl Toys?

Resin or Vinyl Toys?

Designers who are planning a toy occasionally wonder whether to produce their figure in resin or vinyl. Both materials are being used to make wonderful and attractive figures. Here are brief overviews of the materials. More!

Continue reading →

Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4