October Toys Calls It a Day!

Wow, guys, this one really sucks.  I mean, we all saw it coming, but it doesn't make it any better.  2016 started really strong for the company, but then there was a something of a wall and things sort of froze.  Matched with various shows and events cropping up, there seemed to be something writing on the wall when it comes to October Toys and late yesterday they released a letter confirming that they are exploring new adventures outside the October Toys brand.

The more I think about it, the more the idea of a future without October Toys leaves a rain cloud over my head.  It was their community that really cemented my interest back into keshi mini-figures years ago.  It was their forum I joined first and it was their Toy Break show that taught me the world-wide cast of amazing artists.  It was their OTMFG toy line that I gravitated to first, with a small, digestible, release schedule, checklist information, and a trading forum to really get my mind acclimated to everything.  Certainly, their forum has been inactive for quite some time and their releases have come too few and far between, but this brand was certainly without a doubt my trampoline back into things.

Knowing my always expanding October Toys collection now has a limit, other things dawn on me.  Although I have a good whack at completing what mini-figures I have missed throughout the years, things that were in the tunnel for the company are going to be likely left down there.  The worst victim of this, I feel, would be Series 5 of OMFG, that found it's final designs but possibly nothing further.  Although I never fully got into the series, but I can't help but recognize their Skeleton Warriors brand will be leaving a lot of others in a similar situation.

The shows and conventions are changing, but with the baby on the way, there was a fantasy of flying out to the west coast with the young one in the coming years.  There certainly are others to attend, but a sad fact of yours truly never got a chance to attend a Designer Con, despite the handful of opportunities.  I suppose it's one of those things you take for granted, and regret not taking a more serious approach before it's gone.

But you know what, I think I just might be something of an animal of habit.  Maybe I reject change a little too much,  Maybe I like repetition a little too much, because as I think of it now, as a collector, I am very different to the one that got into all this years ago.  I've come from someone knowing absolutely nothing about anything but what I remember from growing up, to someone knowing maybe too much about keshi mini-figures and providing something of a resource for newbies getting into it.

As much as this might be just a change of clothes for the people in the company, I can't help feel there are large contributions to the keshi community that are now missing.  Thankfully there are so many amazing artists and production teams out there, small and large, that can tickle your keshi bone, but I'm not sure there will be one like October Toys, and I'm glad I was there for the time I was.

Well, 2017 hasn't started out that swell for keshi right now, but now that the band-aid was ripped off, let's look forward to a brighter and more positive year.  Who knows what will happen and who knows from who?  There is only one way to find out, and that's just to keep on keeping on.  Keep collecting.  Keep trading.  Keep checking out everything, and keep supporting your favorite artists out there.

http://octobertoys.com/new-adventures/