About Rotobox Vinyl Anatomica

What started as a timeless hobby brought the country’s first Filipino artists to design internationally-produced and renowned toys. Filipino-Chinese Ong brothers, Stephen and Spencer are the men behind Rotobox Vinyl Anatomica, Philippines’ first vinyl toy designer to earn multiple design features and award citings in the local and international tri-media, including online.

Exposed to and immersed in Japanese-inspired anime and robots since childhood, the Ongs started early coupling their innate creative talent with years of developed sketch drawings and designing. In the mid 2000s when vinyl toys have started to get buzz around the globe, the Ong brothers considered banking on that gut feel and challenge of making a niche market out of an emerging country like the Philippines. Signs of low, if not non-existent market acceptance forced them to shelf the idea. In 2008, they tested the market and started importing a few vinyl toys and posted them online. There were a few takers. This however inspired the Ongs to take their creative juices to another level –through do-it-yourself pieces. Spencer applied his sketch drawing skills while Stephen transforms them into graphic design and illustration. Both collaborate for the actual mould, paint and finishing art. These custom-made vinyl toys were promoted and sold online, when a Taiwanese toy hobbyist spotted Celsius, Rotobox’s first design, and wanted to make it a full-fledged designer toy. The rest is history!

About Rotobox Vinyl Figures

The Ganmetall Celsius in its classic design has now evolved into multiple forms and special edition designs. Hundreds of these production figures made waves to the international scene including the United States, UK, Taiwan, and Japan. Now Rotobox has lined up to launch a few more characters to complete the series, including its arch-nemesis Debametall Farenheit. Rotobox Custom-made designer toys are also a main attraction hobbyists look forward to.

The success of Celsius made way for a custom show, gathering Celsius fans and aspiring designers to showcase their talent using Celsius-inspired designs. The first custom show was held locally in the Philippines on January 2010, the winners of which were featured in the second custom show held in the prestigious Toy Art Gallery in Hollywood, USA.

Rotobox has been awarded as one of the top 5 2009 Toy Customizer of the year by Plastic&plush.com, and featured in multiple media like GMA 7’s Unang Hirit, Pulp Magazine, Taiwan’s major design and art magazine XFuns, and countless designer toy blogs. Its design Ganmetall Celsius was also the same year’s Best Vinyl Toy by Tomopop.com and graced the 2009 San Diego Comicon for its exclusive product release. Rotobox has several projects lined up including designing unique custom-made toys. The team is also the designer behind the clothing line and accessories for Kusopop, San Francisco-based online shop.

Here are some links where Rotobox is featured and interviewed:

Gibson coverage on "Art Assault"

Vinyl Pulse coverage on "Art Assault"

Rotobox - Artist Spotlight by Pituvision

Rotobox featured at geeks-span.com

Rotobox Celsius custom munny - Kronikle

Rotobox - Interview by Toy Pusher

Rotobox - Tomopop's best of 2009

Rotobox FMJ Celsius - Pituvision

Rotobox Suparobo Project Series 6 - Albotas

Rotobox Suparobo Project Series 6 - Spankystokes

Rotobox Suparobo Project Series 6 - Toysrevil