Collectible Cities’ Joe Lattimer and Caitlin Derer on crafting pocket-sized art toys of icons like Frida Kahlo, Sherlock Holmes and Dracula

Joe, Caitie, it’s great to connect. For anyone new to Collectible Cities, how would you pitch these toys? And what led you to launch the company?
We make pocket size icons of your favourite historical movers and shakers! Caitie and I used to travel a lot and we were constantly inspired by Japan and Korea, where almost every city or attraction has a mascot and the design quality is incredibly high. When we returned to London, we felt most souvenirs were quite cheesy or dated, like the classic waving Queen figurine.

London has such rich history, and we wanted to create something thoughtfully designed, something you would actually want to display on a shelf or desk at home as a reminder of your trip. It felt like a really fun brief, so we took it on ourselves!

Being new to the industry, how steep a learning curve was it?
Very steep. Everything was new to us. We had no prior experience in the toy industry. We are both designers, so we had to learn the ins and outs of manufacturing, fulfilment, shipping, barcoding and so on from scratch. We made plenty of mistakes early on, but with every new product we improve. From day one, we have documented the entire journey on Instagram and TikTok – the highs and the lows – and that transparency has helped us build a really engaged and supportive community.

What was your first launch?
Our first launch was a set of five London characters: the Queen and her corgi, Henry VIII, a Beefeater, Sherlock Holmes and Shakespeare. We partly funded the project through Kickstarter. From the start, our goal was to see these toys stocked in London landmarks such as the Tower of London and Shakespeare’s Globe. It took time, but we are now proudly doing well in both locations.

Terrific. They look great. What informed the style?
We were heavily influenced by the animation we grew up with, such as Postman Pat and Mr Benn. We wanted to capture that nostalgic English charm while elevating it with a more premium feel. Each art toy comes in a colourful gift box, and a numbered collector card in first editions. If we do new editions, they’re in other colourways so the first edition always remains limited and special.

You mentioned the Queen and Sherlock Holmes earlier – what guides who you give the art toy treatment to?
It started with a selection of characters that we thought would be fun visually and are synonymous with London. We probably should have done more market research at the beginning, but we trusted our intuition and made what excited us. We saw a number of different audiences develop from there – literary, royals… We’ve been listening to what our community wants to see next paired with our personal interests, and some commercial considerations.

You recently embraced licensing – what sparked this and who is the focus of your current licensed launches?
We both have a deep love of art and music, so licensing felt like a natural way to reach a broader global audience. Our first licensed collaboration was with Frida Kahlo, which opened many doors internationally. With this line, we’ve been able to get into Museo Frida Kahlo (Casa Azul), the Art Institute of Chicago, Bendigo Art Gallery, and most recently the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for an upcoming exhibition.

We were also approached recently by the Edward Gorey Trust to collaborate. Start-up capital for these collections has been a big hurdle as a small, independent company – one of a few reasons we continue to utilise Kickstarter. Originally, we planned to produce just Dracula, but there was overwhelming demand for Edward Gorey himself, so we were able to expand the range by raising over £28,000.

What does this year have in store for Collectible Cities?
We are releasing the Edward Gorey and Dracula art toys in April. Beyond that, our focus is expanding into more retailers across the UK, the US and internationally. We are actively exploring new licensing opportunities and may begin looking more seriously for investors… Know anyone?

Let’s put it out there and see what happens! And any further launches?
Creatively, we are also experimenting with smaller production runs using our own 3D printers while developing larger and more premium art toy releases. Alongside the art toys, we also produce keychains, temporary tattoos and greeting cards, which help support and diversify the business.

Last question! What fuels your creativity?
Everything around us. Pop culture, history, travel and the communities we are part of. Inspiration comes from staying curious and constantly observing the world.