Hello everyone! Greeting from Zero studios. Sorry for not having a blog post in a while, but life gets in the way of fun sometimes. I just recently, I had the absolute pleasure to interview John Jenson aka Phantomotoi is his nom de plume on Instagram. His account is brilliant and should be seen by all retro toy lovers and toy collectors and makers. His affinity for Micronauts practically jumps out of the screen if you should visit his account. He even makes custom aftermarket parts for the figures to change them into something familiar yet completely different.
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
B.A.M. (bit about me)
Hello, my name is John. I love life through loving what human beings create… ESPECIALLY toys and art (all mediums, all disciplines). I have been working in the art field since 1989 in a variety of mediums, mostly self-taught with the exception of LIVING at libraries and some college ‘art & design’ courses that were entirely traditional media (sculpture, serigraph, painting, life drawing), no ‘computers’ … yet. This was the 1980s traveling into the 90s, so good info HAD to be mined. I still read print a lot. I love the movie ‘Book of Eli’.
This led to starting our (my brother David and I) own commercial art and design business, which we carry on with currently, with disciplines in mediums changing a bit due to client demands and evolving technologies. For me, it’s been a ‘labor o’ love’ really. I love self-expression.
What made you choose the handle Phantomotoi?
I call what I do ‘Phantomoshop’ because what I do now in the present has the potential to out-live my own existence … like a phantom, and the ideas and objects we conceptualize and create hold that energy long after our own lifespan for one reason or another. An ‘unknown reality’ in a sense. This has a lot to do with my vintage and collector toy business ‘Phantomotoi’. The ‘energy’ of the past never dies.
I ask this question of everyone, but it really is an important question. What toy broke your brain as a child? How about now? Has there been one lately that you fell in love with?
The toy that started all of this fascination was Mego Micronauts ‘Biotron’ - the U.S. version of Takara Japan’s ‘Robotman’ that my Dad let me pick-out for my birthday at our local toy store, ‘Uncle Tom’s Toys’. It was the first time I had interacted with a toy that seemed to be ‘piloted’ by a second intelligence, much like what Gundam, Transformers and many more toy-lines and animation series would eventually grow into & out of. The scale (3.75” - tall) of the figure that fit inside Biotron’s ‘chest window’, like a ’Time Traveler’ or ‘Acroyear II’ (The chrome heads knocked me out as well!) was something that has always resonated with me for some reason. Now, Star Wars had just come out around this time, but I was not attracted to any of those toys, being disenchanted by the limited articulation and hype. Besides, once I was shown what Japanese toy and model manufacturers were up to prior to ’Star Wars’ release, anything in the U.S. just could NOT hold my attention … except for Mego Micronauts which were originally an all Japanese-toy brain-child. Currently, not much has changed. I still gravitate towards Japanese toys, art, and culture. I have a massive fascination for the age of their genius.
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| Biotron aka Robotman |
You are a true underground renaissance man. Toy collector, toy creator, artist, musician, you wear many hats. But what is the one that calls to you the most?
Art or music?
That’s funny… my Dad used to ask me the same thing. It seems to work like this for me … the noises we (Brothers Jenson) create and the objects we make are a direct derivative unto each other… much like the ice cube is to water. One is a direct reflection to the other, only in an alternate state. I NEED to create an amalgam of these two states for what it is that I’m currently doing … otherwise, it doesn’t seem to gel. In many ways making your own music is the only therapy that can I can find to tame the human insanity. So, crank those JAMS and bust-out the epoxy resin!
Who is your biggest inspiration?
My biggest inspiration for ALL of this is my family, brother Dave, sister Antoinette and Dad. My Mom is an excellent dreamer and creator. I love to watch her hands while she crochets. She is also ‘Microkath’, the maker of all the micro-scale accessories for the ‘Phantomophigure’ toy-line that we have been developing and exhibiting since 1995. Without my family, NONE of this would have come to fruition.
what gets you out of bed when you've felt creatively dried up on occasion?
When I don’t feel very inspired, I grab a Microman figure, put on some tunes and phreak-out!
Do you and your brother work closely together when it comes to art? Walk me through that process.
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| Zee brothers Jenson. Dave and John |
My brother Dave and I have been in the creative arts and music since 1993 … owning an art/design/illustration business together, publishing and showing large bodies of work, mostly in the commercial arts and print/publishing field, contributing many projects to several publishers, including Northlight publishing co. who was a leader in art & design ‘How-to’ books back then. Ahhh, ‘print’. Now, we have Youtube. ‘How’ times have changed!
So, the process of those ‘Brothers Jenson’ goes something like this:
Recognize the design-conundrum at hand, agree on a worthy concept that might show a ‘sliver’ of potential, execute towards a shared vision of solution and balance mutual critique through concept to project completion. Most importantly, HAVE FUN and LAUGH FREQUENTLY! Our parents were always supportive of our ideas … as long as we were NOT sitting around, watching the television or moping around being ‘the pessimist’. They did not tolerate ‘boredom’, telling us at a very early age ‘you make your own boredom’. Copy that. I think I’ll make my own ‘EXCITEMENT’ instead!
I LOVE CLUTCH. I have been fortunate to have seen them LIVE 5 times, 3 when headlining. PURE POWER! Mostly definitely one of my favorite bands. The first album I got was ‘The Elephant Riders’ and my FAVE albums (there are two) are ‘Blast Tyrant’ and ‘Robot Hive/Exodus’. I got a body-full o’ goosebumps just TYPING those album titles!! Great stuff. Neil IS the Charles Dickens of Hard Rock! Indeed! I like when his gifted ‘word-smithing’ boils all that b.s. down to NOTHING! ESCAPE from the PRISON PLANET!!
You can find more on Phantomoshop, Phantomophigures, Phantomotoi and Brothers Jenson @
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