Steven Sanders is launching a lineup of homemade toys, Vanimals, this summer.

Who are you?

I run an online toy store right now called Mynd Gym Toys, which I'm actually trying to look for retail space for at the moment. I do pop ups, festivals, and events throughout the Lower Mainland. Right now I sell stuff from other manufacturers, but I’m in the process of making my own toys.

I'm in the prototyping phase. They're mostly designer toys, similar to what Funko or Tokidoki does, where you can be a kid or you can be an adult and still collect these figures, you know?   I'm in basically the phase where I've 3D-printed off a lot of different figures, seeing what actually works.

I'm doing the molds myself, instead of trying to find a manufacturer right away. I'm just going to produce it all myself first, locally. If it fails, well, then I'll try to look for a manufacturing partner overseas. I would like to be here and do it.

How'd you get into this?

This started back when I was working my day job. I got pulled into doing something for the Richmond museum and we were looking for somebody who collected toys. I had just finished my master's and I was like, what do I want to do? I was mostly interested in virtual reality at the time. But I had done all this toy research. I was like, I can design a better toy than this. I can design a better figurine than this stuff. I had all these cartoon characters that I’d designed when I was trying to look for work in animation. And I was like, I can turn this stuff into an actual toy figure. And it just kind of snowballed from there. 

What are you trying to do with these toys?

This first series that I'm doing is actually dedicated to Vancouver. I'm a transplant, originally from Detroit, Michigan. I started off kind of hating Vancouver, which I know is not the best thing to say, but you know, I’m gonna be honest. I hated Vancouver. I was like, housing, the cost of living, everything, I was just down in it. But my wife is from here, so I had to warm up to it. So this first line of toys is dedicated to that, focusing on hipsters and other kinds of characters I came across while first living here. I hope people can kind of see themselves in these characters. 

Why do you think this work is important?

It's important because play is important. So is imagination. But also just seeing yourself reflected in the art of it. I know some people don't look at toys as art, but designer toys can definitely be art. It’s about expressing yourself in a lot of different ways and finding community with others. That's a key thing for me. Whether it's toys or comics, whatever, you always want to  come across other interesting people. It can be a positive thing to share that same experience with somebody else.

Handle: @myndgymtoys