Still a Kid at Heart

  
 You know, every time someone asks me what it is I do for a living it's always the same response. "Custom bobble heads dolls? I didn't know those existed! That's an awesome idea!" People always ask me what made me decide to go into the bobble head business. Well that's an excellent question. I actually have two reasons. One, because I wanted to do something that makes people laugh and to operate a business that isn't all business. It is possible to run a business and enjoy it at the same time. And two, the main reason I chose this business is because I guess you could say I'm a bit of a child at heart.



When I was a kid, I absolutely loved watching and drawing cartoons. I tell you, nothing made me happier than to get up on Saturday mornings and watching those now classic cartoons. I don't know about you, but I think that the cartoons they have on nowadays don't compare to the ones of the 80's and early 90's. In fact, some of my favorites (don't laugh, but from time to time I still watch them just to reminisce and yes I have a few on DVD) was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Garfield, Spider-man and His Amazing Friends and Sonic The Hedgehog. I use to love drawing these cartoons and I was actually good at it. And what child would be complete without his massive collection of action figures and comic books. Everything from G.I. Joe, Transformers, Star Wars and X-men. You name it, I had it. In fact, I still have some of my childhood toys stashed away somewhere.



My love for cartoons and superheroes had been carried over the years except now of course, there's no running to my box of toys to play action figures after school. There's no digging in my crayon box anxious to draw Garfield on a sheet of fresh white construction paper. Instead of drawing cartoons, now I draw comic book super heroes. Instead of collecting action figures, there's my comic book statuettes which by the way I highly recommend for true comic book superhero fans (check out Sideshow Collectibles and Bowen Designs). I have so many of these things now that I'm on the verge of being kicked out of the house by my wife. As far as comic books are concerned, I now buy the graphic novels which collect an entire series.

I knew that one day I wanted to open my own comic book shop and I had created a business plan for it. It would be called "T&J Exclusives" (the T standing for Tony and the J my wife Jessica) We had everything planned out and ready to bring the business into fruition. That was until one day, an idea popped up. You see dolls, statues and action figures with celebrity faces on the internet and store shelves, but what if we could create actual dolls of our friends and loved ones? I wrote another business plan, got a hold of the best sculptors in the business and created Face It Figures. The reason why I enjoy these custom bobble heads is because their so unique. Their not only great for laughs, but are a one of a kind and collectible. There are people who collect these bobble heads and display them in curio cabinets. You would say "Who would collect a bobblehead of themselves?" but many people buy them to remember things that they did throughout the years such as a fishing trip graduation.




I still plan to open my comic book store in the future and I'll always enjoy cartoons and superheros, but now I'm all about my bobbleheads. Sure running a business has it's challenges and it's not always a walk through the park, but I'm providing something that makes people happy and it's something that allows me not only to be creative, but also to be a bit of a kid at the same time. Life can be very stressful and disappointing at times and I believe that we all should hold on to piece of our inner child. I truly hope that our customers enjoy these bobble heads as much as we do.