Not only does Erick Scarecrow design plush, plastic and custom toys but also runs his own company ESC-Toy LTD. Under ESC Erick Scarecrow has brought us creations including the Mousey Micci, Muraida, SOOPA Coin Up Bros., Shiitakes and many, many more. Renowned artist's have put their mark and given their particular take on his work over the years, and so with Erick's passion for customisation in mind we recently approached him to see if he'd be interested in collaborating. Safe to say he was excited to have the chance to give artists and a new audience out there the chance to try their hand at some ESC-Toy style digital DIY.

PI3D: It's been said that one of your main influences is Asian culture, what have you been inspired by most recently?

Erick: Very good question. I have to say listening to 70's music and reading UFO phenomenon have been sugaring my creativity.

PI3D: Many of your characters appear designed with a strong story behind them. Do you feel it's important you start out with a theme/story in mind or is producing a figure in the beginning just what takes your fancy at the time?

Erick: I have to admit I don't have stories at the time when I produce characters. Its actually in reverse, first I create the characters then the story grows from it. If I am required to work from an existing story I can develop the designs this way as well. I was recently asked to contribute designs for a film. I couldn't review the script due to confidentials but the basic story was expressed to me which I understood and helped me develop the designs.

PI3D: Do you find dreaming up new ideas comes naturally, or is it a lot of hard research and development?

Erick: Developing new ideas is very easy for me. I'm blessed this way but my problem is I get bored easily. Every artist has a pattern of how they create whether they know it or not. Over the years I've come to understand my creative patterns and control them so this way I don't get bored as much :)

PI3D: Do you ever feel the pressure to come up with the goods?

Erick: Sometimes I feel the pressure. I feel like my job is never done and that is always something to do. The pressure is good in many ways though. It keeps me hard at work and distracted. I play a lot of video games so if I wasn't releasing new material every month I'd be playing more and more games on a weekly basis.

PI3D: There are many custom variations by artists on your vinyl figures, do you have any favourite version out there?

Erick: This is a very hard question to answer because I'm still in awe and grateful at the fact someone took their time to customize my material. Its very inspiring because their artistic perspectives are so different. Now with the new online collab I have with Pimpit3D I am seeing more renditions from digital artists. Its very humbling because I can't wait to see what they do next.

PI3D: What's up ahead in the near future for Erick Scarecrow and ESC-TOY? (Any SDCC news?)

Erick: The future is exciting. I'm working on new releases at ESC and with other artists/companies for their own projects. Among the different groups that I'm working with is Sony. I can't give away too much right now but I'm very happy about it.

Thanks to Erick for that great insight into his world. If you think you'd like to get customising an ESC toy for yourself, and make your own mark, templates are available for download now (see the links below).

• Checkout and customise the SOOPA.
• Checkout and customise the Shiitake.
• Erick Scarecrow's Blog

In collaboration with Dolly Oblong we are excited to announce this unique dual function creation for your customisation. Designed by Dolly O herself, Gami has a download-able template that's not only customisable for online 3D, but also ready to cut-out and buld into paper-toys. Take a look at the template here.

"Gami means paper in Japanese and also refers to spirit, by designing a skin every designer can put their own spirit onto this chap :) - Dolly O.

Pimp the Gami online to your heart's content, print out the designs you like best, build them and feel free to send us your photos.

• Dolly Oblong's blog.
• Checkout and customise the Gami on Pimp It 3D.
• Download the PSD template for the Gami now. Pimp it and print it