I recently stumbled upon a piece of pretty devastating sex toy news…
Fucking Sculptures of Berkeley, California …
… has closed for business.
Shit.
For those of you who don’t know who they are, these guys were creators of some pretty amazing soda-lime glass dildos.
And although many people cringe at the idea of putting something glass in places where the sun doesn’t shine…
they were among a handful of sellers that actually sold something of quality (materials, crafting methods, etc.).
Breakage would probably be the first thing that people worry about. However, they made a point of making sure their products were body safe (under normal use) – even going as far as dropping test toys on the floor to test their structural integrity.
Cool.
Also, the fact they were very environmentally conscious of everything, right down to their packaging, was another plus that set them apart as something special.
Getting one of these was an investment.
It was also your own personal piece of kinky art (no two pieces being exactly the same), so much that you could have it on your fireplace mantle and people wouldn’t have the faintest idea you got freaky with it.
And you can’t friggin’ get them anymore!
No curly unicorn-like swirls, no glitter or marbling, not even tours around where they made them. The only place you can probably find them is in any of the commercial sex shops that bought their toys for resale.
My thought as to why they closed?
(I actually emailed politely asking why, but no answer)
They didn’t outright say (just that they are “moving on”), but my guess is that they had the same problem that other small businesses have – and I’m not talking about 99% of the crap you find on Etsy.
I bet it was the inability to compete with a huge sex toy market that can churn out hundreds or thousands of products in a day – regardless of quality – in some far-off country that can charge less than minimum wage to its workers.
Bleh.
Not enough people are willing to support these kinds of places to keep them afloat – the time and price tag that is attached with those who care about making something that won’t give our orifices cancer or make them mutate into something out of Japanese hentai.
As an artist, I can fully relate to the struggle.
I can relate to wanting to shove my pen into the eye of someone who wants to pay Amazon discount bin prices for everything.
Then again, I could be totally wrong.
Maybe they just wanted to make other things or move on to another field. Perhaps there was personal stuff that made operating a self-owned business impossible. Who knows – everyone is being very quiet on the matter.
So, now we are left with one less player on the field.
And one less item on my Christmas list.
What’s the point of this impromptu eulogy?
I have no idea.
I could say, “Go out and support the little guy.” But there honestly aren’t many of them left – and I’m not counting 99% of the crap you find on Etsy from people who have no idea what they are making and just want to turn a fast buck.
I guess the only thing I can say is this…
If you have one…
Don’t drop it.
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If you have any more news on why they closed down, I would love to know.
Anything you want to add? Share in the comments!
