Mimoco - USB Device

We’ve had our eye on Evan Blaustein, founder and CEO of Mimobot (www.mimobot.com ) for a while now. Blaustein took the plain-looking USB drive used only for functionality and turned it into a designer collectible, coveted by thousands. So popular are the little mimobots that the collections almost instantly sell out!
In Conversation with Evan Blaustein…

How did you conceive of the mimoco idea? What inspired you to develop these cute robot-usb drives?

Ultimately, it was Cécile’s (my fiancée) and my love of designer toys that inspired us to conceive our line of mimobot designer toy USB flash drives. We’re huge fans of contemporary character artists like James Jarvis (UK), Nathan Jurevicius (Australia), David Horvath (USA), Devilrobots (Japan), among many others worldwide. That combined with my background in new media and passion for consumer electronics all converged to yield the mimobot designer flash drives. But most importantly, the timing was right – flash drives have always been an underappreciated medium, and to merge them with the art toy revolution was an opportunity we weren’t going to pass by.

Who’s buying these Designer USB drives?

Our customers are creative types and trendsetters. They come from metropolitan areas like NYC, LA, and Paris. They’re evenly split between men and women, and the sweet spot ranges from 18 to 34 years young, although kids and an older crowd definitely respond to the characters too.

Mimoco toys are more collectibles than USB drives - it is almost a cult. Is this how you envisioned it?

Absolutely! mimobots are collectible designer toys first and foremost – created by artists, produced in limited editions, loaded with removable bonus content – that also happen to have the functionality of a USB flash drive. However, the cult-factor is not something one can really plan for. I think our do-it-yourself ethos, authentic underground status, and the strong emotional connection one forges with their mimobot have been major factors for our customers’ goodwill towards our company and product.

Tell us a fun fact about the Mimobots.

Actually, designer flash drives had been a priority of mine for a little while, but the “a-ha moment” occurred when Cécile fished out a Tron Bearbrick from her purse when she meant to pull out her flash drive instead. The Bearbrick was painted with circuits to look like a character from the movie Tron, and it was the literal interpretation of the circuitry and character that evolved into the mimobot concept.

Do you have any plans of having celebrities to design the mimobots?

Well, it is true – we have plans for mimobot characters to be designed by renowned musicians, fashion designers, and animators. But that’s not until 2007…