Tokidoki

tokidoki ("sometimes" in Japanese) is the Japanese-inspired lifestyle brand created in 2005 by Italian artist Simone Legno and his business partners Pooneh Mohajer and Ivan Arnold.

tokidoki produces apparel and other products using art and iconic characters designed by Simone Legno, including purses, t-shirts, vinyl figures, jewelry, and small toys.

History

In early 2003, the co-founder of American cosmetics company Hard Candy, Pooneh Mohajer, and her husband Ivan Arnold discovered Legno's personal website, which had some popularity, being listed as one of the "The Independent's" top ten "websites of the week". [] They subsequently arranged to meet him, and Simone joined them in Los Angeles to form the tokidoki business venture. Simone has become a recent fixture at the San Diego Comic Con and makes appearances at various locations worldwide for signings and promotions. Simone has also made a guest appearance on .

Products

tokidoki for LeSportsac

Since launching, tokidoki has created the tokidoki for LeSportsac line of handbags in collaboration with LeSportsac (each bag comes with a Qee [ [http://www.lesportsac.com/external/tokidoki_pop.html] |] ; a toy collaboration for Toy2R, inside carabiner on stretch cord and a ball chain). :*The first print was introduced in Spring 2006, originally named "Tokidoki", but deemed by fans as '"The Original Print", which includes Sandy and her Cactus Friends, along with the Moofia minions. Also included in this collection was the "Black" print, which had "The Original Print" lining the inside the bag and blue and green hardware. The cheapest bag style from the collection was the Carmellina make-up bag, which was retailed at $56, while the most expensive bag style was the Luna duffle bag, retailed at $198. Each bag came with either the Meomi (blue cat), Dalek (pink dog) or Tokidoki (white bear) qees (the Meomi and Dalek qees are not found in any other season; Dalek (James Marshall) and Meomi are other artists).:*Summer 2006 produced 3 new prints featuring the tokidoki girls, "Playground", "Camo Playground Olive" and "Camo Playground Black", each with orange inside lining and brushed gold hardware. LeSportsac discontinued the following bag styles after this season: Caramellina, Angioletto ($62), Cangurino ($78), Mamma, ($96) Bella Bella ($148), and Andiamo ($164). :*Fall 2006 produced the following 5 prints: "Foresta" (forest scene with orange inside and brushed gold hardware), "Citta" (with pink inside and brushed silver hardware), "Citta Rosa" (with pink inside and brushed silver hardware), "Arancia" (orange with "Foresta" print inside and brushed gold hardware) and "Fumo" (gray with "Citta" print inside with brushed silver hardware). New bag styles for this season include Braccialetto (no qee included, $42), Portatelefono ($84), Bocce ($88), Gioco ($160), Cucciolo ($198), Nuvola ($184), Corriere ($184), Zucca ($184), and Trenino ($298). Prices were noticeably increased for the Fall 2006 season, e.g. the Campeggio bag style increased $12 from $148 to $160.:*Winter 2006 featured the following 3 prints with brushed silver hardware: "Paradiso" (heaven with yellow inside), "Inferno" (hell with red inside) and "Notte" (black with "Citta" print inside).:*Spring 2007 featured the following 3 prints with brushed gold hardware: "Pirata" (ocean pirate scene with turquoise inside), "Adios Star" (the signature Adios Star with random tokidoki characters) and "Bianco" (white with "Adios Star" print inside). About three months later, the late Spring 2007 "L'amore" print (hot pink inside with gold hardware) was introduced; it had tokidoki characters portrayed as loving couples with hearts.:*Summer 2007 featured the following 3 prints with brushed gold hardware: "Spiaggia" (beach scene with yellow inside), "Fumo solid" and "Notte solid" re-releases. The late Summer 2007 "Famiglia" print (orange inside with brushed gold hardware) was introduced, featuring various tokidoki characters in circles.:*Fall 2007 featured the following 2 prints with brushed silver hardware and a new Adios keychain: "Tutti" (black and white drawing of most tokidoki characters with purple inside) and "Trasporto" (tokidoki characters traveling on a light gray background).:*Winter 2007 featured the final tokidoki for LeSportsac print, "Vacanze", which features a winter holiday scene including Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, tokidoki carolers, skiiers, penguins and eskimos. It has a gray inside lining, brushed silver hardware and includes the Adios keychain.

The tokidoki for LeSportsac line of handbags has been highly sought after, with rare prints and bags reaching bids up to three or four times the retail price on eBay, leading to the production of many illegal counterfeit copies. The most popular prints were re-released starting late 2007, beginning with "Foresta" on November 13th in Hawaii; it will include the Adios keychain, rather than the white tokidoki bear qee.

The Summer of 2008 started off with a bang when tokidoki fans were introduced to a new line of bags from tokidoki. The bags are manufactured by LeSportsac but do not bear the LeSportsac logo; instead, they are branded only as "tokidoki." This time around, Simone was given complete creative control over the bags and decided that the LeSportsac logo would no longer appear on the bags because he felt it broke up the print too much. This resulted in a cleaner aesthetic for the bags. The first print was released in August 2008 and is called "Carnival" with a carnival/circus theme. The second print was released September and is called "Eco Mundo" with an environmental/save the planet theme and the last print will be released in October and is called "Concerto Punk" which shows various tokidoki characters at a punk rock concert. There is also a black print (Mezzanotte) and a charcoal print (Carbone) with characters (nana star, fantasmino, adios star) appearing on the inside lining of the bags. The bags are accompanied by a newly designed Adios keychain. There are a total of 8 bag styles with some styles somewhat resembling the "Tokidoki for LeSportsac" bags. These new bags are pricier than what tokidoki fans have been used to paying.

**Surprise Teaser - In November 2008, tokidoki will release a new print with a New Year's Eve celebration theme. The background color of the bags will be a combination of dark blue and lovely sky blue with sections of white. The print will feature all the beloved tokidoki characters ringing in the new year by toasting champagne and dancing (you can catch Bulleto dancing up a storm and Mozzarella having champagne with a banana haired cave-monkey). Brand new characters will also make their debut on the print such as baby new year, a John Travolta-like dancer with a disco ball head, an Adios-like dancer wearing a magician's hat (where the hat is the magician), two mice dancing with one another, a cute baby blue chick popping out of a skull and a guy sporting a pair of "2009" glasses. The print is bright, colorful and fun: tokidoki fans definitely have something wonderful to look forward to.

Toys

There are also a number of tokidoki vinyl toys. These include the 10" Trexi Yukuun and the 3" Trexi that came with it, Yuki-Za and the tokidoki series 3 Dunny. There was a collaboration with Devilrobots for the 3" Trexi Plus series. The Cactus Friends and Moofia line of designer toys with Strangeco has been highly successful. He also created an 8" Qee Bear named Sahara with Toy2R, available in several different exclusive colors (Yellow, Red, Black and White). The original (Yellow) Sahara Qee even included a 2.5" version of Simone Legno himself! There is also a collection of seven Cactus Pups that was released in 2007. These pups are the babies of Bastardino and Polpettina - each pup comes blind boxed with a little accessory.

There have been two tokidoki Circus Punks. The Moofia is a line of 11 vinyl toys. The Moofia are milk box-themed toys, and consist of the following characters: Soya, Leche, Latte, Low fat Milk, Mou Mou Milk Bottle, Baby Milk Bottle, Choco, and Japanese Milk. There are three new Moofia that were released in 2008: Riso, Creamina, and Fragolina. In July 2008, two tokidoki plush dolls were released - Sandy and Mozzarella. Production of these plushes had been pushed back for some time but now Sandy and Mozzarella are available for purchase in all their plushy goodness. Sometime in Fall of 2008, tokidoki will release a vinyl of Mozzarella's boyfriend named Bulleto. During SDCC 2008, a grey-scale version of Bulleto was released in limited edition but fans can expect the color version to come out soon.

Tokidoki, in collaboration with Toy Tokyo, premiered a limited edition soccer-themed tokidoki bearbrick at the New York Comic Con. Simone was so pleased with Toy Tokyo and this collaboration that for SDCC he chose to create a limited edition Toy Tokyo geisha vinyl and also another Toy Tokyo exclusive bearbrick (LA Robber) to be released sometime next year.

Clothing and accessories

There is a line of tokidoki clothing available which includes both t-shirts, hoodies and jackets for men and women. There is also a line of jewelry and belt buckles and New Era produces tokidoki hats. In 2006, the tokidoki timing line of watches launched along with tokidoki iPod covers created in conjunction with iSkin. In early 2007, a tokidoki journal and stationery set were introduced, produced by Dark Horse Comics.tokidoki has also produced sneakers and pumps with Italy's Fornarina shoes and a limited make-up line with Smashbox cosmetics.

Collaborations for 2008 include Hello Kitty and Onitsuka Tiger.

Characters

There are many tokidoki characters and most of them belong to their own distinct worlds inside of tokidoki. Many of these characters have appeared as STRANGEco vinyl toys.

*:The Cactus Friends include Sandy, Sabochan, Bastardino, Polpettina, Bruttino, Carina, and the Cactus Pups Series
*:The Moofia include Mozzarella, Leche, Latte, Mou Mou, Soya, Choco and more
*:Adios & Ciao Ciao The Grim Reaper and his girlfriend
*:Sumo BabyAnd various Asian girls who are unnamed.

References

External links

* [http://www.tokidoki.it Official Tokidoki Website]
* [http://www.tokidoki-blog.com/ Tokidoki-Blog.com, Comprehensive fan updated bag guide and related news]
* [http://starbulletin.com/print/2005.php?fr=/2007/01/11/features/story02.html Tokidoki article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin]
* [http://www.luckymango.com/ Tokidoki news, updates, fan site]
* [http://www.naloinc.com]