Designers who are planning a toy occasionally wonder whether to produce their figure in resin or vinyl. Both materials are being used to make wonderful and attractive figures. Here are brief overviews of the materials.
Resin is a rigid material that comes in two liquid parts. Mix the two parts, pour the goop in a flexible silicone mold, and wait. The resin will cure and turn solid, the rubbery mold can be opened and the finished piece removed.
Resin reproduces small details well, but is relatively fragile compared to vinyl.
Vinyl comes in two common “flavors”, PVC and “Soft Vinyl”. Munnys and Dunnys, produced by Kidrobot, are examples of rotocast PVC, usually referred to as vinyl. The characters made by Super7, and Lulubell are rotocast soft vinyl, frequently referred to as sofubi.
Rotocast PVC is a rigid pellet that is heated and poured into a metal mold. The mold is turned, depositing the vinyl evenly throughout the negative space. The vinyl cools, becoming firm enough, and flexible enough, that the shaped figure can be pulled out of the mold whole.
Sofubi is a fine PVC powder suspended in a resin-like matrix. It comes in a soupy form and can be poured cold into a metal mold. It is heated to cure, and becomes rigid. Like PVC, it is flexible enough during the curing process to be pulled from the metal mold in a single piece.
Vinyl is less prone to breakage than resin.
Raw resin is more expensive, per volume, than raw vinyl. Silicone molds for casting resin are less expensive than the the metal molds use for casting vinyl.
This means that for very small runs of figures, resin is a great option. The silicone molds required for a run of 60 pieces might cost somewhere in the range of $300-$500. Each unit might cost somewhere in the range of $15-$35, depending on size and complexity. Total cost for a run of 60 resin figures might be somewhere from $1200 up to $2600, depending on the source of the sculpt and the size/complexity of the design. Each piece ends up being $20-$45.
If the designer is thinking of a larger run, from 500 to 1000 units, vinyl is the smarter option. Metal molds might cost somewhere in the range of $2000-$6000 depending, of course, on size and complexity. Each unit might cost somewhere in range of $8-$25. Total cost for a run of 1000 vinyl figures might be somewhere from $10k to $31k.
The bottom line is that resin costs more per piece, but the total out of pocket is less for the smaller run. Vinyl costs less per piece, but the total out of pocket is higher for the larger run.
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