Designer Toys For Big Kids: John Crowe, Co-founder of Neon Monsters

In the Cave of Wonders at the F Factory in Miami's Design District, San Francisco-based Neon Monsters brings one-eyed monsters, glowing resin tree-stump tables, and limited-edition vinyl toys to Art Basel. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

In the Cave of Wonders, John Crowe, Isaac Pritzker, Jacob Pritzker and Kristy Klinck are the brains behind the one-eyed monster Mitch and Circuitous Psnail — all members of the Neon Monsters family. The group is based in San Francisco and is a temporary resident at the F Factory in the Design District. Neon Monsters sell unique collections of comic books, graphic novels, vinyl records, giant robots, and designer toys. These toys were created primarily for big kids, but little kids are also welcome.

The owners of Neon Monsters have always been interested in visiting Art Basel but could never find the time. This year they were fortunate to be invited to be a part of the Limited Edition Experiences — a multi-brand environment featuring the world's most sought-after designers and fashion brands.

"We all love art and love to work with art. It seemed like a perfect fit to come and create a pop-up shop for the Fendi F Factory," says John Crowe, co-founder of Neon Monsters.

Their original limited-edition toys like Mitch, the one-eyed monster, and Circuitous the Psnail have been creating a buzz in the Cave of Wonders, where several glowing entities and brightly hued little blow-up monsters fill the space.

"We have 5 different colors in an edition of 10 pieces each. Each figure is about 12 inches and carries a significant weight. We are showcasing some of the artist's designer toys we sell in the stores, and some of our own products. We have 2 of our 6 tree-stump tables that are lit in resin. The tree-stump coffee table art measures 4 feet in diameter by 18 inches tall and can be lit with LEDs. We have our character Mitch, a plush version of him. An edition of 6 different colors, 10 of each of Circuitous Psnail — another character we developed. We are developing a group of characters that are the Neon Monster brand, and they are stars of our blog site. On the blog we have characters talking about themselves and reviewing the products that we sell," says John. "People are just very surprised to see what we have done with the space."

They are primarily an object pop-up, but they do have limited-edition t-shirts by the same artist who does their prints. Prices range from $10 to $7,500. You will find Neon Monsters at the F Factory, Moore Building, 191 NE 40th St, 2nd Floor, Miami Design District.

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