PLEASE READ THIS: Rotofugi Could Use Your Help!

Hopefully the above picture caught your attention but, to be clear, Rotofugi are not going out of business. At least, not yet. The 12-year-old designer toy retailer and gallery have revealed that "the plain and simple fact is that we're just barely making it [by] as a business." Ever since the global economy crashed in 2008, a financial game changer that the art toy community as a whole is still recovering from, Rotofugi have been "relying heavily on things like a line of credit from our bank, credit cards and loans." The problem is that, "as of this week, we've exhausted our credit and made cuts to just about every aspect of our business to the point where it's hard to find anything else to cut." What does this all mean?

It's actually really simple. If you'd like to see us stick around, and you've had your eye on a toy or a piece of artwork, now would be a great time for you to buy it. We're not looking for a handout, but at the same time, we need your business now more than we ever have.

In addition to shopping at rotofugi.com, you can also support them by buying toys from their personal collection on eBay. While I'm personally not a fan of temporary fixes and bandaids, Kirby and Whitney assure us they "have some concrete plans in place to offer more services and[,] with a little luck, increase our revenue to a point of sustainability." Seeing as how the designer toy scene needs retailers like Rotofugi, with their brick-and-mortar shop as well as gallery area, to continue attracting and educating new people, I can't encourage you enough to splurge a little on yourself and help them by buying something from their shop.