![]() ![]() Tanompong thought the Dumpster Fire design was “super cute and perfect to translate from 2 into a real toy.” Only six months later, he claims Props & Pops’ steady business owes a big thanks to that little piece of trash. To hand-sculpt, cast, and paint the original resin toy, Torrence called upon Tanompong, who co-owns and operates the specialty sculpting house Props & Pops with his wife Maxine. No matter how it turns out, you’ve made a dumpster fire. Inspired by his already-popular enamel pin design - a simple, rectangular-shaped flaming dumpster - Torrence decided it was the safest bet for an uncomplicated first figure. “It’s a lot of money and time and energy to test, so you kind of have to hedge your bets on something that maybe people are already familiar with,” Torrence says. The Dumpster Fire vinyl was not a long-term, strategic reveal it was simply the test run of the brand’s step into figures. After one week, I had more than 600 new followers,” he says. “I started getting likes and new followers on Instagram on a daily basis. Tanompong, who missed SDCC, felt the effects in his notifications. But when I posted that thing, I just got a huge response on it.”Īfter a handful of blogs and outlets posted about the figure, Torrence started getting flooded with requests from fans hungry to get their hands on one. “You spend hours and days and months working on something, and you post a picture, and it gets lost in the flood. Originally planned as an exclusive resin figure for the small pool of fans or window shoppers who were expected to visit SDCC Booth 1532, the Dumpster Fire hype shot off in the days leading up to the convention after an announcement photo was posted to 100% Soft’s Instagram account. It’s an art toy fit for the moment, and a deserved invitation to bring 100% Soft into the spotlight. Symbolic of a life in turmoil, a representation of our cultural cynicisms, and quite the adorable desk ornament, the Dumpster Fire is one of the most popular figures to emerge from last year’s convention scene. Vinyl versions of the figure have since been added to 100% Soft’s webstore, where preorders, too, sold out after overzealous fans raced to secure their own little piece of trash. “I knew people would like it, it would kind of be a cute thing, but I didn’t think it would turn into a thing-thing.”Ĭuteness aside, the figure is “basically a perfect eye-catching toy” from a technical standpoint, with a “catchy and very recognizable” silhouette, says Paul Tanompong, a 3D artist and member of the team responsible for bringing the Dumpster Fire resin figure to life. People were crying, people wanted to fight me - it was insane,” recalls Torrence of the public response during the Dumpster Fire’s limited-run release at last year’s SDCC. “I’ve done a lot of conventions over the course of my career, and I’ve never experienced the thing I did at this year. It’s also cute as heck, so it’s no wonder that 100% Soft, Torrence’s moniker and brand, has received an overwhelming response from collectors, Instagram followers, and rabid comic con attendees. Torrence’s Dumpster Fire is a visual stand-in for the cynical, self-deprecating term used semi-jokingly on social media, in pulpy headlines, and during many a therapy session to describe the figurative smoking heap of garbage that is, at times, one’s disastrous, burnt-trash life. It’s a literal dumpster fire - a 3.5-inch figure of a dumpster fire, at least - and it’s the first foray into figurines for Los Angeles-based artist Truck Torrence. It’s also full of garbage and engulfed in flames. ![]()
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