Review – Creative Peeples DIY Norm

Finding Dot Dot Dash!* about six years ago really opened my eyes to the creativity of the designer toy scene and that book could almost be called one of the seeds that led to the creation of battlegrip.com. And as much fun as flipping through the book was, it was my first few shots at customizing a blank/DIY toy that really sparked excitement in me.

Unfortunately, the time just isn’t there these days so pieces like this Creative Peeples DIY Norm just sit there, blank canvases waiting to be turned into unique pieces of art.

The good news is that these DIY toys are quite neat in their blank state.

DIY Toys?

If you’re unfamiliar with the idea of blank, DIY toys I think I can give you enough of a background so that this toy makes some sense. DIY toys — the most popular is Kidrobot’s Munny series (Amazon.com search*) — are basically a piece of plastic canvas intended to be customized by artists.

And while the Munny is the most popular DIY toy it isn’t the only one available; in the past I have reviewed two other DIY toys — Ashley Wood’s Bambaboss DIY review here, Kano’s Moneygrip DIY review here — and posted pics of a Sqwert I customized. And there are way more than that out there.

Inspired by the Fisher-Price Little People

So with some DIY chatter out of the way I can now tell you about the Creative Peeples DIY Norm which is, as any child of the seventies and eighties can tell you, clearly inspired by the classic Fisher-Price Little People toys. A 8-inches tall this designer toy is much larger than the Little People (visit FPLP World if you’re unfamiliar with the old toys) and not an exact copy but instead a deformed, stylized take on the classic shape.

Okay, so What Does it Do?

It’s doing it by sitting there and waiting for me to assault it with paint, markers, or whatever materials I want to use to customize the toy. The toy separates into three pieces (head, legs, torso) to make customizing easier, but in terms of “articulation” the best you can do is pivot the three points 360-degrees each. This — and I really hate to put it this way — is an “art object” and I think mine will hang out in its blank form forever.

Closing Thoughts

I know the Creative Peeples DIY Norm designer toy isn’t for everyone, but as a DIY toy it’s a neat platform and could be used for some quite fun customs. (A Stormtrooper would look great on this shape.) I know this isn’t for everyone, but those of you who admire vinyl toys and remember the old Little People should at least find this interesting if not spectacular in its simple brilliance. Mine looks quite happy out of its package and is a fine canvas . . . that I plan to never paint.

Philip Reed hadn’t realized how long it has been since he had last reviewed a designer toy. He’ll have to work on that gap in his review output.