INSTINCTOY
IP Character
INSTINCTOY
 ·  Japan
INSTINCTOY
Designer Hiroto Ohkubo · Japan

We are Muckey and Fluffy — the characters that Hiroto Ohkubo has been building since 2005, out of a small studio called INSTINCTOY somewhere in Japan. Muckey came first, in 2013. A bear, more or less. Except that Fluffy — a small flying creature with an instinct for comfortable fur — had already moved in. The head lifts. The teeth show. What the face does depends on the angle and the light, which was always the point. Ohkubo spent years refusing to explain any of it, which turned out to be the right decision. Fluffy went independent in 2019, released as Monster Fluffy: 18 parts, movable arms, available in colorways that glow in the dark. That same year, a soft vinyl figure we collaborated on with Takashi Murakami sold through the MoMA Design Store. In 2020, Pop Mart brought us into the blind box world — first with Relax, then Shock, then a series of collaborations that have continued ever since. In December 2025, INSTINCTOY held a 20th anniversary exhibition in Daikanyama, Tokyo. Ohkubo showed twenty years of figures. We were all there.

About INSTINCTOY

INSTINCTOY is a Japanese designer toy brand founded in 2005 by artist Hiroto Ohkubo, known for premium soft vinyl figures built around the Erosion Monster concept — characters that infest or merge with hosts, most notably Muckey (introduced 2013) and Monster Fluffy (2019). A 2019 collaboration with Takashi Murakami produced a sofubi edition sold through the MoMA Design Store. INSTINCTOY partnered with Pop Mart in 2020, launching the Relax and Shock blind box series and expanding into plush pendant and gift series. TOYSEZ maintains a complete database of all INSTINCTOY blind box series, limited editions, and secret figures — including release dates, collection URLs, and a full chronological series guide for collectors.

Designer: Hiroto Ohkubo

Hiroto Ohkubo is the founder and sole creative force behind INSTINCTOY, the Japanese designer toy brand he established in 2005 at the age of 22. Self-taught through years of collecting, Ohkubo began producing his first original soft vinyl figures in 2008, developing a signature aesthetic rooted in what he calls the Erosion Monster concept — creatures that infest, merge with, or inhabit other characters, resulting in forms that sit uneasily between cute and disturbing. In 2013 he introduced Muckey, a bear character whose head is partially overtaken by Fluffy, a symbiotic flying creature. The relationship between host and parasite — and the expressiveness achieved through movable parts — became the defining language of his work. In 2019, a collaboration with Takashi Murakami produced a sofubi edition of Murakami's Mr. DOB sold through the MoMA Design Store, one of the highest-profile institutional validations of the designer toy form. That same year, Ohkubo launched Monster Fluffy as a standalone figure and began his collaboration with Pop Mart, which brought the Relax and Shock series to international audiences starting in 2020. INSTINCTOY's 20th anniversary was marked in December 2025 with an archive exhibition in Daikanyama, Tokyo.

Complete Collection Database

TOYSEZ maintains a complete database of all INSTINCTOY blind box series, release dates, and collector guides. Browse by category above or explore the full release chronology.