Review – Sleepy Robot 13’s Clay Robot Toys

I posted about the Sleepy Robot 13 Etsy store last month and, at the time, I also placed an order for a couple of the polymer clay toys that are sold at the site. Clay robot toys, each hand-crafted by Lisa Pinkston, just couldn’t be allowed to exist without at least a few of them joining my toy collection.

Well, the toys were waiting for me when I got back from Hong Kong and it’s now time that I share these tiny toys with you. But you can only look; I won’t let anyone touch my clay robot toys. These are mine!

Packaging

The old inexpensive standby, the header card and bag, strike again. Check the photo above for a look at the design. One of these days someone will come up with another style of packaging for resin toys and short-run pieces but until then we’re gonna have to just settle for header cards and bags. This is adequate packaging, but there’s absolutely no reason to keep the toy in the bag so let’s shred some plastic and give this clay robot a chance to take a breath of fresh air.

Cookies!

About an inch tall, Cookie Robot is a cute design that combines clay work with what appears to be mass-produced cookies and a cookie jar. With beads for eyes and a sad — too sad for a robot with cookies — expression, Cookie Robot grabbed my attention that second I saw him and I just to grab him.

This is a simple design, with the toy constructed out of a body with arms and legs sculpted from one piece and the head/ears made of other bits of clay that were fused to the body. Fingerprints are visible on the surface of the toy and it looks like a clay with metallic flakes of some sort of other were used. There’s absolutely no paint used on this toy.

Robots Are Made with Love!

The front of the toy works great but the back is a bit more blobby and bumpy than the front; see the photo above left for a close look at the back of Cookie Robot. It’s not the smooth, machined look of most vinyl toys but the human touches give the toy a personalized feel that makes it a unique, custom piece of art that was obviously crafted by an artist who loves what she’s doing.

Closing Thoughts

$12 is a lot of pay for a one-inch toy robot, but when you consider that this is a one-of-a-kind work of art and that the $12 goes to support an artist it’s actually a great deal. A resin toy at this size would easily sell for $10 to $20, but a resin toy wouldn’t have the personality that this robot does.

It’s not the greatest toy I’ve ever seen. Cookie Robot is rough, decorated with fingerprints, and the sculpt is a minimalist design that couldn’t have taken too much time. The cookie and cookie jar elements were a great idea and an excellent way to add color without paint or spending time to sculpt custom pieces. But even though it’s not the greatest toy I own it’s a fun work of art and one that I’ll proudly display with my resin and designer toys.

I know these unique pieces of art aren’t for everyone, but those of you who appreciate individual art toys — and enjoy directly supporting artists — should jump over to the Sleepy Robot 13 store and find yourself a toy.

Because you’re not gonna get mine.

Philip Reed, like the madman that he is, now thinks that he should take a stab at creating a clay toy. Would someone please slap him in the head with the mound of projects that he’s already working on? Philip needs someone to protect him from his own insane mind.