Sergey Safonov Exclusives for DesignerCon

This is a momentous post because: 1) One of my favorite toy designers, Sergey Safonov, is flying over for a visit from Moscow and 2) He is bringing a ton of toys.

It’s been five years since Sergey sent his premiere character, Gooma, out to explore the world with his stick. Now Sergey has gone and “grown” Gooma some friends.

I love these girlie Goomas! Each stands 4.5 inches tall and is priced at $50.  Sergey will have several sets of Gooma and Friends (including the original birch juice Gooma) available at DesignerCon booth #319. He will also be creating individual (wordless) stories about Gooma’s friends later this year. (Expect them to look something like this.)

Meet Pillowpina the Sleepwalker, originally created as a special gift for Sergey’s wife (Hi Nadya!). Lucky for us, Nadya said it’s OK to share her with the world.

Sergey made two versions of the figure for DesignerCon: “Pillowpina” (above left) and the cute variant “2 Seconds Before Awake Pillowpina” (above right). The figures are just shy of 3 inches tall and come packaged in specially made pillows with secret pockets for $60 each. Sergey will also publish a comic strip about Pillowpina later this year.

Presenting the Flirps! This is Sergey’s first mini series, and he handcast each character in resin. Flirps belong to the Gooma world, and like the others, they will have their stories published toward the end of 2011. Flirps range in size from 2 inches to 3.5 inches tall. Individual figures in a range of colors will be available for $30 each at DesignerCon. Full sets are going for $200. But not the one shown above. It’s spoken for.

There is so much more. Click through!

Sergey is now using an airbrush to create color gradations. Awesome.

You remember the Moon Wanderers, right? This Kluth colorway really pops.

Moon Fox, Moon Cat and Kluth are sailing in for DesignerCon. Sergey will have a few of each available at booth #319.

Finally, since this bird is called Godot, I figured he wouldn’t mind waiting til the end. These are some of the usually quite minimalist designer’s “showiest” figures, and the palette of the plumage works wonderfully. There’s that airbrush in action again. So terrific.

It’s going to be tough to pick favorites among this batch, but luckily I’m saving you all the trouble by hoarding them for myself once Sergey touches down in California. Just kidding. But seriously, if any San Francisco toy fans want to hang out after DesignerCon, we’ll be back up in the Bay Area Monday through Wednesday. SEE YOU SOON!