Posted: April 11th, 2011
Filed Under: April 2011 , Back Issues , BLOG , MONDAY GIVEAWAYS
Congrats to our Monday Giveaway winner, no.16!
He sent her doodles. She sewed him a doll. Ten years later, Sun-Min Kim and David Horvath are sitting pretty across their quirky Uglyverse.
by Oliver Saria
all photos courtesy of Pretty Ugly, LLC
It’s been nearly a decade since Sun-Min Kim sewed the first Uglydoll, and her company—Pretty Ugly LLC/Uglydoll, co-owned with her husband, David Horvath—has grown in (measured) leaps and bounds. What started off as drawings David included at the bottom of love letters he sent to Sun-Min have evolved into a plush phenomenon.
At different points along the way, however, Uglydolls, which play off oddball characteristics and perceived ugliness, may have never seen the light of day.
The Ugly saga began at Parsons, a design school in Manhattan, where David, now 40, and Sun-Min, now 35, met as students in 1997. Both studied illustration (Sun-Min more diligently than David, who spent most of his time doodling bizarre creatures and dreaming up kooky narratives). From the moment they met, they bonded over the mutual belief that toys were the perfect vehicles to tell stories.
Their initial meeting, however, was not love at first sight. Though they shared many interests and marveled at each other’s artwork, it took some time for Sun-Min to reciprocate David’s affection. The turning point came when Sun-Min broke her arm while snowboarding at the end of 1999. During her convalescence, David offered to make her an apple pie and rode the subway in the dead of winter from New York to her apartment in New Jersey with bags of apples tied to his arms. Apparently, it was stellar pie because they started dating shortly thereafter. But by 2001, Sun-Min’s student visa had expired and she returned to Korea, unsure how she might find her way back.
The answer came in a chance visit David made to the Giant Robot store in Los Angeles shortly after Sun-Min had sent him a felt, 12-inch, plush version of his illustrated character Wage—an orange, apron-clad grocery store worker. By that time, David was living in the West Coast where he had befriended the Giant Robot store owner (and Giant Robot publisher) Eric Nakamura. As David recounts, “I was just showing him [the doll], but he thought I was pitching him a product. He was like, ‘I’ll take 20.’” Soon, the dolls flew off the shelves.
In a matter of 18 months, Sun-Min—still stuck in Seoul—hand-sewed nearly 1,500 felt dolls, an even more amazing feat considering that she had never sewn anything prior to that. (Incidentally, a doll from the original hand-sewn collection now fetches upwards of $1,000 at auctions.) Meanwhile, her friends in Korea ribbed her for doing piecemeal work normally reserved for housewives who earned extra cash sewing eyeballs onto dolls at 10 cents per eye. “She studied in America,” her friends joked, “but now she’s [back in Korea] sewing eyeballs.”
Meanwhile, David pounded the pavement looking for boutique stores across the country that would carry their line. In the process, he cultivated a network of retailers whose clientele got the whole Uglydoll vibe: the oddly shaped bodies, the snaggle-tooth overbites, the perplexing deadpan look, the understated positive message that being unusual is actually pretty cool.
More importantly, David recognized that the dolls were Sun-Min’s ticket back to the States. He told himself, “You better get your ass out there because if you don’t, then she’s gone.” For David, Sun-Min was the missing piece of the puzzle. She breathed life into his drawings and was the one who came up with the line’s simple, self-deprecating brand name.
Had David and Sun-Min never met, had he given up trying to woo her, had she never broken her arm, the attractively ugly dolls may have remained doodles. David admits, “Sun-Min was the main motivation.”
For her part, Sun-Min sewed constantly—furiously, in fact. Meanwhile, her parents never discouraged her. “They were just amazed how many dolls were piled in my room,” Sun-Min recalls. In short order, the characters expanded to include, among others: Babo, Wage’s best friend, a loyal, protective toothy lump who loves cookies (and, yes, he’s named after the Korean word for “stupid”); Cinko, a round-headed, triple-eyed oddity who prefers to stay dry; and, Target, the oldest, hairiest and arm-iest of the dolls (since old age can come with extra appendages and whiskers).
Fortunately, in 2002, Sun-Min returned to the United States for the Toy Industry Association’s Toy Fair in New York, the same event where four years later Uglydoll would win “Specialty Toy of the Year.” After a successful debut at the fair, Sun-Min and David split time between Los Angeles, New York, Japan and Korea until they wed in 2005. They settled in the Los Angeles area and have a 4-year-old daughter named Mina, who also pitches in with the family business. She even named one of the characters: Tutulu, a well-mannered, straight-A student with psychic powers who can share your fortune with a wobble of his ears or a wiggle of his feet. It remains her favorite doll, natch.
Almost 10 years after Sun-Min sewed that first doll, the Uglydoll empire boasts a huge warehouse in New Jersey, a freshly 
launched line of ceramic merchandise, popular fan conventions known as Uglycons (the next one is slated for 2012), new offices in Los Angeles, an inaugural flagship store in Korea, and a celebration in the works for Wage’s 10th birthday. The Uglydoll site—a frenetic, colorful page that sometimes feels like you’re watching cartoons on acid—is where the dolls are sold and blogged about.
Though mass-market retailers have come calling, the married creatives politely keep turning them down. They still remain fiercely loyal to the small specialty stores.
Perhaps, it is this unwavering sense of integrity that has attracted the company’s legions of fans. Avid collector Lee Runnels of Costa Mesa, California, likes to retell the story of the first Uglycon she attended at the Giant Robot store with her son, Griffin, who was 6 at the time. She and Griffin waited in the rain to buy the latest doll, only to be told that the dolls had sold out when they got to the front of the line. Incredulously, a doll scalper (yes, they exist) in line ahead of them had used his friends and relatives as mules (yes, doll mules exist, too) to purchase more than his allotted two-doll limit and refused to relinquish a single one even after seeing Griffin reduced to tears. Word got back to David, who sent Griffin a Sailor Babo doll just in time for Christmas with a personal note. Runnels attests, “It wasn’t a PR move; it was a genuinely nice thing to do for a 6-year-old kid. Part of the reason that I love these [dolls] so much is that I know the people behind it are good. There aren’t a lot of Davids and Sun-Mins. They’re special people.”
Runnels also recognizes that the dolls have a certain cache. “They have this hip credibility. It’s very cool… and they’re still a little bit of a secret.” The secret is certainly starting to get out, perhaps nowhere more importantly than in South Korea, where the saga has come full circle with the opening of the first Uglydoll store in August 2010. Tucked underneath a staircase in a touristy, traditional neighborhood in Seoul, the store is a sentimental milestone for both David and Sun-Min.
“I really wanted there to be a shop [in Korea],” David says, “because that’s where it all came from.” Sun-Min adds, “We always dreamed of having a store. As a Korean, it’s really amazing, and it makes me happy.”
Moreover, the store is helping to change perceptions. The friends that once made fun of Sun-Min are now beaming with pride. According to her, toys in Korea were mostly bought for babies. Growing up, she didn’t have many playthings and would fashion dollhouses out of recycled paper and boxes. “Now, people [young and old] are collecting our dolls in Korea. I see that there are changes in the perception of toys. Not just toys, the message.”
The message being: We should embrace what makes us unique. It’s a lesson that—like the toys themselves—one should never have to outgrow.
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I love to collect ugly dolls because they make me to smile I know this is weird but I like it.
I’m afraid of butterflies & ladybugs…give me spiders and Madagascar hissing cockroachs any day!!!
I growl like a platypus!
I think that monsters are the perfect Easter basket surprise…oh, and I collect vintage staplers!
tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/geekymom13/status/58927688890585089
I’m a unique geeky mom who loves pop culture and Uglydolls! Tooks my kids to WonderCon and got a picture of IceBat walking around the UglyDoll booth. Disappointed to find out our beloved Bop ‘n’ Beep were discontinued. It was my daughter’s first UglyDoll keychain that went to school with her everyday then one day didn’t. :( Luckily I found one of the last ones online. :)
My unique trait is that I have Happy Cat’s and Buddha’s all over my house, in every room. They make me feel safe.
I can lick my elbow…is tat unique??
Hi. i am 12. what makes me unique? well, i am obsessed with things everyone else in my class doesnt even care about. i hate justin beiber (is that how u spell it) and love old music like the beatles. John f. kennedy is my idol. he accomplished many awesome things before 11-22-63. AND UGLYDOLLS, boy. i love love love them. I love my icebat the best, he was my first. i wish i had alot of money for uglydolls. i just love to stand out and be different than the “crowd”. even by dressing awesome. peace! i hope i win
I am unique because I am a 50 year old raising a 12 year old. All my friends(my age) kids are grown and I am just now experiencing puberty. I am very lucky tho because she is amazing and brilliant-and LOVES uglydolls, the Beatles, and JFK. She is not your typical 12 year old, so I am the not so typical mom of a not so typical kid.
http://twitter.com/#!/pickseyy
http://twitter.com/ctbeiser/status/58308627521478656
Link to tweet.
I can hum and whistle simultaneously.
i am the only one in my family and group of friends that LOVES uglydolls. i get made fun of by everyone i can think of, but my unique trait is that i am proud to be called a weirdo for liking “ugly” little creatures that make me smile. i play flute, i draw, love chocolate, and play Spyro the dragon on my PS2. being ugly means being yourself and being proud of who you are. thank you Sun-Min and David for giving me the ugly i needed. I love being UgLy :)
I think my most unique trait is that I don’t care what people think of me.Year after year I’m getting more and more ugly buddies(starting to reach the 50 mark) and I’m constantly asked when I will grow up. But I believe that it doesn’t matter if your 10,20,50, or even 70 years old. If you have the courage to follow your heart and show who you really are, you can do anything. I used to hide my uglydoll collection, but over the years I have learned that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I love uglydolls! And I’ll scream into the universe and everyone can laugh at me.But deep inside everyone has a kid in them. Most are just to afraid to show it.
And thats my most unique trait. I’m truly still a kid and always will be. And thats nothing to be ashamed of. And I’m going through some financial and lots of problems in my life, and my uglydolls always help me get through it. Thank You David Horvath and Sun Min Kim!
And always remember, be yourself and stop holding back your emotions! Your life be be much more awesome:)
I’m a Korean who is terrible at math. Is that unique?
I can eat a cookie if I place it on my forehead without touching it with my hands. @Bamidala
U-G-L-Y I ain’t got no alibi! After nearly fifty years on this planet I’m still searching for how I’m unique.
the most unique thing about me is that i’m very nondescript, but distinct. i remind everyone of someone else they know, but they can spot me from hundreds of yards away. apparently my voice is especially unique.
My most unique trait is the ability to immediately assign personalities and histories to inanimate objects. It’s a blessing and a burden. A blessing because I am never lonely, but a burden because I actually feel bad for broken, unused, or otherwise “sad” inanimate things.
My most elaborate example of this is the backstory I have for my first car. Here is the short version: She was a Saturn named Lola. Her story is that she is actually originally from Saturn, and came to Earth to be friends with humans. We found each other, and were the best of friends. When I finally had to get another car because she was breaking down (but never broke down completely and left me stranded, mind you… she would just fall asleep at stoplights), I determined that she actually went back to Saturn to comfortably retire and the car that was left behind was just a shell, sort of like how cicadas do their thing. The car I have now, named Mona, is actually Lola’s best friend from school a while back. But that’s a whole other story…
“Unique” is certainly the word for it!
My most unique trait is squirrellyness and uniqueness!
my most unique trait is that when I’m taxed to do something I go at it 100% until it’s done. never let up.
Ooops, hit submit too soon… my unique trait is that I like to photograph my toys in day to day situations (which I found it isn’t so unique after finding all of the like minded folks on Flickr, but is certainly unique in my circle of “flesh and blood” – non-online – friends).
Love, love, love the Uglyverse! And the fact that this Ugly Empire came out of their love for each other makes it all the better! We have a few of the older action figures…
My most unique trait is that I know a little about everything. I can talk about any topic at functions and weddings.
I’m like a wiki for bargain hunting and love helping out people look for the best deals.
I have a double-scar (two scars, same place) above my right eye. The first from my brother chasing me in to a door at a hotel in Montreal when we were kids, the second from a haunted prison attacking me while I was working, as a zombie, in its haunted prison. I have NO OTHER permanent disfigurements, but two in the EXACT SAME TINY SPACE.
My most unique trait is that I collect Ugly Dolls! No, really. I have three tattoos!
I’m trying to win some Ugly Dolls via @KoreAm. Check it out http://iamkoream.com/monday-giveaway-uglydolls/#comment-7410
My most unique trait is that I look pretty awesome in glasses.
My most unique trait would probably be that I am more comfortable with books than people.
Tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/chloeeesays/status/58019226073563136
I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you…
I am me.
This story is one of many which is unique in how love can either tear us apart or brings us together stronger in unexpected ways. Just like Sun-Min Kim and David Horvath.
I would say that my UNIQUE trait about myself is my strong emotions within. I have great compassionate for everything around me. I see beauty in everything. I feel love for everything & I taste beautiful flavours everywhere. I see the world whereby i am living in with always a single tear in my eye. This is my interpretation in 2 very simple meaning. First, a single tear to represent the beauty of the world i am living in or Second, a single tear to portray the selfishness of humans to destroy our beautiful world.
Thank you ^.^v
I am a Vegan-Catholic-Pro-Life-Anti-Death Penalty-Green Party-Cat Loving-Teacher… Also, I made sure there are enough Uglydolls for each of my students to read to one during reading time everyday. They have a daily fight over Turny Burny.. They even made up a “Turny Burny” Song…
I am a Vegan-Catholic-Pro-Life-Anti-Death Penalty-Green Party-Cat Loving-Teacher…
My unique trait is the odd talent I have of being able to identify fonts by looking at them, memorizing names, celebrities, movies, songs by listening, and odd trivia.
I can wiggle my ears, and can move my second toes on each foot independently of all the others.
also: i know at least 5 of the people who commented below and how they got here. that’s weird.
i’m a guy. i play the flute. it happens
Totally true…I can burp the alphabet.
I find much entertainment in debating with my husband which rappers would be allowed into thugz mansion.
Tweeted, my account is cuhlaire02.
More uniqueness: I play the ukelele, I’m from a small tropical island called Guam, am in a college preparatory boarding school in Massachusetts, but dream of living in San Diego and working at the Invisible Children offices. If I could bring back one dead person, I would bring back Flannery O’Connor. Her short stories are so intriguing, they are concise and profound, and she gives an honest opinion: “The truth doesn’t change according to our ability to stomach it.”
I am the only female Varsity golfer at my school in Massachusetts, I’m vegetarian, an avid viewer of Spongebob, and a devout fan of 박명수 Myung soo Park, the Korean comedian who gets angry at everyone and is always annoyed. I never loved flowers or trees with light green leaves because it’s a time when Mum is sick for many days at a time.
I’ve challenged myself to do one thing everyday that makes me nervous because it is out of my comfort zone. Yesterday I was at an all school event in our auditorium on-stage with 10 other student government candidates to be interviewed in a Q&A session in which the questions are a secret until the moment they present it to the entire student body. I felt alive and completely nerve-racked, and no, I’m not the roller-coaster, bungee jumper type, I’m the big headphones and cute heels girl. But it’s to better myself, make myself more open-minded and experienced, and to expand my comfort zone. I firmly believe and concur that “remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose” which is what Steve Jobs once said.
Anyhow, I hope this didn’t bore you. Just leave knowing that I’m full of surprises; I’ve got onion layers very much like a green ogre I adore.
Thank you.
I have weirdly dexterous toes– I can spread them, make them do the wave, and move the last two individually. I never realized how odd it was until my fiance called it a vestigial trait that I probably shouldn’t have anymore.
I’m 16 and I’ve found my calling: INVISIBLE CHILDREN. Not literally invisible young people, but an organization that advocates and fundraises for child soldiers in Northern Uganda. Since four years ago, I grew up with Tony, a northern Ugandan who likes Usher, 2Pac, and being a G. He also studies in places similar to a sewage, in the dark, with just one flashlight. He is just one of the children who are “invisible” because when they are kidnapped, raped, killed, tortured, and/or brainwashed no one can see it happen. Africa’s vast land is horrid and chilling in that way.
I haven’t thought of this as such an important part of myself until this winter, where I was recommended to get an evaluation for clinical depression. I had lost two close friends to lymphoma and leukemia respectively. I channeled what energy and positivity I had left after grieving them for a month into this organization. I brought the spring tour of the organization to our school, and have been advertising for the annual event, this time called the “25.”
I believe that my confidence for my future is unique, and that the specification of majoring in Organization Services of a Human Development major is uncommon at the age of 16. I want to do more for others, and sympathize less for myself-that brings me happiness. That was the unlimited box of tissues to my tears and dreadful thoughts about my life being worthless.
P.s. Ugly dolls are my favorite, I’ve bought several for my friends’ birthday gifts but I don’t have one. Eeep, if I finally got one that would make my week!
Thank you,
Afroken is my religion.
I think my most unique trait is my scar on my right eyebrow, which I have named Paco, after the little boy in the animation, Jackie Chan Adventures. Paco has been with me since I was 2 years old. Apparently, I received Paco after I bumped my head against a portable heater. He is almost 1 centimeter long and quite bald. Many people ask me about Paco and ask why I don’t hide him by filling in my eyebrows, but I like Paco just the way he is. He has been with me ever since I could remember, so I don’t think I would be comfortable if he wasn’t with me.
Paco and I would be very happy if we were to receive UglyDoll action figures. Thank you.
I can make a dog bark and bird noises really really really really really well. =) I can even show you.
If i can’t get a doll, can I get some a subscription to koreAm? making noises doesn’t make any monies!! bingo!!!!
I think I’ve recently developed allergies to the boy I tutor. My eyes and my nose are a complete mess whenever I’m there.
tweet: http://twitter.com/#!/oasis789/status/57674028583895040
I like to think being a straight guy addicted to asian tv dramas is pretty unique.
my middle name is “unique.” jk it’s “ju lie.” which is also my first name.
That’s a tough one, but I’d say my obsession with colorful, quirky, silly things … like Ugly Dolls!
My favorite songs to dance to are TV theme song and commercial jingles. For example, the show Bones is great for rockin out to for a solid 23 seconds.
http://twitter.com/#!/Abby__Kim
one more for the twitter link
It’s weird and unique, but I can completely spread apart all of my toes. It’s a good way to make people blow beer out their noses late at night.
I have one attached and one unattached earlobe! And so does my oldest son. He’s adopted. Amazing.
My Resident Assistant in college got her boyfriend an UglyDoll for her boyfriend. He cried. They’re that special. I think everyone deserves to have an UglyDoll. B:
I don’t know how unique this is, but I’m the kind of dad that would buy Wage, the UglyDoll pictured above, for his daughter’s first stuffed toy–before she was born. :-)