The EQSO story: from sketch to Kickstarter, then to art fairs

Every art toy starts with a character. Ours is called EQSO. Here is its story, from our first sketches in Lille to the art fairs of Paris and Osaka.

A father-and-son duo

Popterror is Romain and Fred. Romain is a 3D artist trained at ArtFX: he creates 3D effects and animations for film and advertising. Fred is a graphic designer and art director who studied at the Beaux-Arts in Tournai: he has worked as an illustrator and art director for brands such as Samsung, Airbus, France Télévisions and the M6 group. In 2023, in Lille, France, we decided to create our own art toy universe together.

Who is EQSO?

EQSO is an inhabitant of planet XO, fascinated by our pop culture. It adopts its codes: streetwear, skateboarding, graffiti. Each series shows it in a new style, with bold colours and minimalist poses. Its silhouette, antennae and attitude came out of long graphic research.

From prototypes to Kickstarter

Our first EQSO figures were 3D-printed resin prototypes. In February 2024, we launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of the first series: it reached its goal. Series 1 was born: Deep Blue, Cherry Lady and Black Skully, three 12.5 cm vinyl art toys, 500 copies in total, now sold out.

Series 2, posters and the MEDA collab

With Series 2, EQSO took on new colours: Dark Light, Xtra Red and Purple Fire, each limited to 300 copies, in a premium box with a signed certificate of authenticity. Signed A3 posters came with the series, and Lille artist MEDA reimagined Series 1 as three hand-signed A2 posters: our first collab.

EQSO goes big: art fairs

To bring EQSO into the art world, we made it as large-scale sculptures, 50 cm and 120 cm tall, painted and hand-signed. They were shown at the District 13 fair at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris, at SPERA Art Fair, at Osaka Art Fair and at Grenoble Art Up. See them on our Exhibitions page.

The Crew: EQSO’s gang as a blind box

On 11 September 2026, EQSO was joined by its gang: EQSO The Crew, our first blind box. Six 8-9 cm vinyl characters, Skully, Vandal, Purple, Cherry, Supagreen and Cyclo, and a secret figure at one in a hundred.

Where to find EQSO

On our shop, and from retailers such as the Straat Museum Shop in Amsterdam, HypaHypa online and Art By Uzume. All the addresses are on our stockists page.

What’s next?

EQSO keeps growing, and we also put our know-how at the service of brands and artists with Popterror Studio: figures, blind boxes, sculptures and collabs with EQSO.

Are you an artist? Our whole journey is detailed in the guide how to make your own art toy. And we also make sculptures for brands: see our custom giant statues.