Choosing only a handful of artists from a fairly large community of super talented folks might be the most difficult task I have in our Golden Toy Awards. Yet it must be done...so here are five artists that really excelled over the past year.

madjoe artist

5. Mad Joe Customizer (Overkill Creations)
Even though he has customizer in his name...Mad Joe creates some killer original resin figures. Amazing sculpting work as well and crazy character designs are just the start of why MJC made our list. Yo!

esc artist

4. Erick Scarecrow (ESC-Toy)
The man behind ESC-Toy made our top five again this year. This is the 4th year in a row that he's done that. He has consistently impressed with small run resin pieces featuring new characters/sculpts as well as vinyl and plush.

matt doughty artist

3. Matt Doughty (Onell Design)
If you go to any of the conventions, you probably have seen Mr. Doughty. The really tall guy with a beard - wearing shorts - who's always turning Glyos parts into something crazy he just imagined up. Even though a lot of the artwork behind Onell is collaborative amongst a number of artists...Matt can accept this for all of them.

ashley wood artist

2. Ashley Wood (3A Toys)
Ashley Wood's paintings are amazing. Ashley Wood's paintings turned into 1/6th scale toys are even more amazing. Whether you fancy the World War Robot, Popbot or Adventure Kartel, Ashley and 3A have been killing it over the past year.

end artist

**WINNER** 1. Eric Nocella Diaz (Argonaut Resins)
I know it's arguable...but I think the past year has proven that END is one of the hardest working men in designer toys. The man IS Argonaut Resins. The last year has seen him release Tuttz, Kings of Atlantis, Sam Fout's Bone Ghost Agents, Destroyer...and I'm sure there are several other I missed. (Four years ago, Eric was recognized for his Buzz Carney sculpt)