Andrew Byham's "The Pocket Walrus" resin & cold cast copper collaboration with his youngest!

I love that UK artist Andrew Byham works on Designer Toys with his kids, this time around bringing his youngest son into the fold. Yes, "The Pocket Walrus" was originally conceived by Byham's 13-year-old son, who is probably the only person to see a living pocket walrus while searching for spare coins in the sofa cushions; as the story goes, he spotted one clinging to a 20p piece. This discovery led to a backstory for the beast:

There is an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean inhabited entirely by animals who cannot resist shiny shiny objects. One of these animals is The Pocket Walrus, who stowed away on a passing cruise ship and ended up in England. Much like the urban fox he's become quite bold and at ease in the human world, mostly living inside sofas and armchairs. We can only assume they're attracted to their new habitat by the shiny coins that inevitably fall out of people's pockets and disappear down the back of the cushions.

While the sculpt is far more rough than normal for Byham, one must bear in mind that this is only a 1.7-inch tall figure, each hand-cast in resin and painted. Available in three versions — Green, Grey, and Cold Cast Copper — each made-to-order "Pocket Walrus" has the creation process filmed and posted to YouTube, so each new owner can see how their figure was born! Available now in the Collect & Display shop for £20 (approx. $34) apiece.