Dan Goodsell and His Mr. Toast Character Finds a New Friend in Vincent the VHS Tape and Celebrates Our Favorite Format with some Plush Love!
Comic creator Dan Goodsell has been at it for just about 20 years with his character Mr. Toast, and along the way he’s created a host of other fun and super-cute characters to join Mr. Toast on his illustrated expeditions. But most recently, Goodsell has put together a brand new buddy to join in on the fun: a VHS tape named Vincent! And how groovy he is! Greg has a Kickstarter up right now, and it’s just a few bones away from being completed. At the rate it's going, it'll be done by the time I post this! Read on, my fellow Videovores, and dig the plush playfulness of Vincent the VHS tape and all his other inanimate cronies!
That's Dan looking to the future! All the other kids have a Jacob's Ladder thing goin' on...
Can you give us a rundown of your creative history and the legacy of Mr. Toast? The dolls you've created? I created Mr Toast when I was in college back in the 1990's. Then in 2003, I started doing a webcomic. In 2006, to promote my comics I made the first Mr Toast doll. Since that time I have produced over 30 different dolls. My characters are mostly based on food products and inanimate objects like toast, eggs, candy corn, etc.
Mr. Toast and just a smattering of his buddies, including Vincent! This is one of the reward packs available on the Kickstarter!
What made you choose a VHS tape for his pal? Is the name Vincent a nod to a particular thespian of great prestige?! I wanted to do a little something different with this latest doll by doing a videocassette character since most all of the dolls I have done so far are food products. I thought of the name Vince to be an alliteration of videocassette. And his full name is VIncent Horatio Samuels, so his initials are VHS....
A glance at some of the Mr. Toast comics. I see a little ghostie peeking out of thurrrr. DIG IT.
Can you explain the difference between regular Vince and "obsolete" Vince? Was that a variation specifically created for the Kickstarter? One of the things I have always done with my dolls is to create a standard doll and then make a limited edition version. The standard doll I will continue to produce but the limited doll is made in a limited quantity which when sold out is not reproduced. With Vince, I created the limited Obsolete Vince. Obsolete Vince has X'd out eyes and a frown; he is the dead version of Vince. This is a nod to the falling out of favor of the videocassette format.
Vincent Horatio Samuels and his "obsolete" counterpart. Damn, these slabs of plushy delight are RAD.
Do you have a personal affinity for VHS? Do you still watch them, etc.? I grew up on videocassettes. I would tape sci-fi movies in the middle of the night and watch them the next day (and save the tapes). It was the way that really made media finally accessible to everyone. It is sad that they have fallen out of favor but collectors will keep them around and they will not be forgotten. I think Vince is just another way to celebrate this format many of us grew up with.And it's a fantastic way to celebrate, indeed, Dan! Thanks for dreaming up a super-cute and groovy character for us to love! You can keep up with Mr. Goodsell and Mr. Toast on his blog, Facebook, Twitter, and the sturdy old original website. Groove on over, and give Mr. Toast and all his adorable amigos some love!
Josh Schafer