Those who are already fans know that there are all sorts of vinyl toys that get designed by artists and make their way to retailers for us to enthusiastically consume. So what do you need to know about them to get started?

First, they come in thousands of varieties, made by artists from all over the world, there is something for everyone. If you are in Indy, you can visit the IMA Shop or a cool fountain square store, Gnosis, to pick through some options and start experimenting with your newfound connoisseurship. If you are not in Indy, or would rather browse in the comfort of your own home, you can visit Kid Robot or Munky King on-line to try out some selections.

Next, if you want to start out affordably, you must come to terms with the uncertainty of the blind box. There are a lot of complaints (especially from newbies) about this practice. Trust that experience breeds acceptance. While I don’t know anyone who thinks blind boxes are awesome, those who regularly collect vinyl toys relish the moments when you tear the thing open and it is exactly the one you wanted. The moral of this story? You win some. You lose some. Deal with it.

Third, who cares if you have no idea what the thing you are buying represents. This point is probably the one that is most contentious among collectors. I buy things I find fun, interesting, unique, or whatever, with little concern for the series, rarity, or some other more tangible classification. Over time you learn all of these facts and might even become interested in such things, but if you stress out about not knowing what to get, then you will never get started!

Some of my favs? So glad you asked! Right now I am super-excited about tokidoki, and I was delighted to see the IMA Shop stocking some of that.

The last piece of advice I will impart about collecting these treasures is, start small. The beauty of this genre is that it makes work by contemporary artists accessible to all of us. As you start amassing your own little toy empire you will discover increasingly cool (and sometimes more costly) things to aspire to. One of my favorite art-to-toy transitions is that of Yoshitomo Nara. One of my favorite contemporary Japanese artists, Nara has made a variety of designer toys (and other merchandise) that are not to be missed in my opinion.

So, there you have it. All the words of wisdom you need to get going. But I have also left out so much…I hope you will get motivated and find out just what I omitted. Enjoy!

But here I am, typing my post from home while watching the latest re-run of Family Guy. Two of my fellow nuggeteers are also out of the office at the SXSW conference in Austin.

I hope we all get an update tomorrow from Daniel’s next post. By the way, have you noticed a pattern yet? We have taken to blogging more regularly so that all of our dedicated readers can wait excitedly for their favorite IMA author’s post.

Back to the business at hand…On a tip from Noelle, I am working up a post centered around an article in the most recent Wired magazine, but in my mini-vacay state-of-mind I would prefer to keep this one more casual. So look for that next week.

This week I am looking for some perspective and spending some time selfishly trying on shoes and other similarly indulgent endeavors like surfing the web.

Are you similarly looking to waste time or find yourself? Here are some websites that will help you on either journey:

BAPE – Getting in the mood for Breaking the Mode? When I think of Japanese fashion, I first think of street fashion. This site is one of my favorite surfing experiences and also features an awesome hip-hop influenced Japanese street design brand, A Bathing Ape. You have to download some stuff for the site to work, but you should. It’s worth it for the soundtrack alone.

http://cubo.cc/
This one is amazing. Recommended to me by my endlessly interesting boyfriend (that’s not sarcasm), it is fun and unique. Click on the link, give it a moment to load and then cursor around the screen. Not for those with slow internet connections. You can click the link for more info, but you won’t get any. You will get a whole new kind of crazy fun, though.

Maken Trance Project – This is my favorite JPOP song right now. I can listen to it over and over again in my car, singing all the parts I know and making stuff up for the parts I haven’t yet memorized. And the video is giggly and fun. This song make me want to create my own para para choreography. Maybe I can spend some of my vacation time working on that.

Kid Robot – Love contemporary art? Then you might like this…it might be too low-brow for you, but for me, well, it is just right. There is room in my life for admiring contemporary art that I can’t afford AND buying little toys that I can. Besides, if vinyl toys as art is wrong, then I just don’t want to be right. On a related note, the IMA store is starting to stock some of this stuff. You know the best way to encourage that? Buy some.

Hope you enjoy visiting some of these sites and find something new to obsess over. Until next week…