What is an AP?
Today the APs of my Anesthesia Bust (White and Bronze editions) go on sale in my online store.
What is an AP?
AP originally stood for Artist’s Proof. It is a term from the printing industry. It referred to the sample prints sent to an Artist so they could confirm they were happy with the quality before the full run could go ahead. These APs were often kept by the artist and sold later as a little bonus income. Sometimes people collect AP prints rather than prints from the main body of the run. So sometimes the APs are more valuable as there are far less of them (traditionally not more than 5% of the edition size).
In the Art Toy world the term AP has been adopted to mean the percentage of product that the company making the toy gives to the artist who designed the toy. This amount can vary depending on company and contract from a couple of toys to half the run. Though in my experience it’s not more than 10% of the run.
The thing to note about APs in the Art Toy world is that in most cases these are the full and only remuneration the artist ever gets from the production of that toy. So the total amount of money that the artist is ever going to make from that release, is from the sale of their APs. There is commonly no lump payment from the toy company or percentage of wholesale sales etc. forthcoming. (This is not always the case but is by far the most usual way of doing things in this scene).
So if an artist you enjoy has a new toy out, and you want to really support that artist, the very best thing you can do is to go check if you can buy direct from them. See if you can pick up the AP before getting a regular one. If the artist has sold out try heading to an independent toy store. Buying any toy from an independent toy store will not only support the people running that store, and the company making the toy, but show both of them that this artist’s work is something worth supporting in the future. So it’s all good.
Support artists you love!
Buy from independent stores!
Support the scene you enjoy!
