The concept of “rock ’n’ roll dolls” has been around seemingly for ages—The Beatles, KISS, and Michael Jackson have all taken the plunge throughout the decades—but it wasn’t until 2009 that punk rockers began getting the “doll treatment” on a regular basis when the Aggronautix company began issuing “Throbbleheads.” Subsequently, the likes of GG Allin, DEVO, Jello Biafra, Mike Watt, and Rancid, among countless others, have been immortalized in polyresin.
“At first, I wanted to make a GG Allin designer vinyl toy, but it was just too expensive, so I settled for a bobblehead—or ‘Throbblehead,’ as I branded it,” founder Clint Weiler shares. “I was working publicity for all of these legendary punk bands, and I felt they deserved to be immortalized, so that’s when the idea of a complete line of figures came about.”
Weiler is the sole president, owner, and founder of Aggronautix, but others have helped along the way. “Craig Holloway [is] an amazing illustrator who helped conceive the initial Throbblehead design and illustrates the posture of a figure so the sculptor can sculpt it,” Weiler explains. “Penn State Great Valley has an awesome maker studio and helped me print prototypes when developing new figures. Daniel Gillies creates awesome little commercials for my Throbbleheads when I need [or] want them. He’s also a member of The Meatmen.”
So, how do the artists get selected for the Throbblehead series? “Most of the time, I have someone in mind, and I pursue them through management or label people,” Weiler says. “Other times, I act on suggestions from my customers. There’s also the people who reach out to me to become a Throbblehead, but that’s rare.” For cult icons and punk rockers who want to lend their likeness to an Aggronautix product, Weiler says the best way for them to do so is to contact him through aggronautix.com.
When asked which dolls are Aggronautix’ hottest sellers, he acknowledges, “All but a few have sold out, so they are all pretty hot. The fastest ones to sell out were J Mascis [of Dinosaur Jr.], Fat Mike [of NOFX], Milo [Aukerman of Descendents] V1, and GG Allin ‘1991’ Extra Filthy [Bloody] edition.”
“I would love to make Stiv [Bators of Dead Boys], but the clearances are foggy,” Weiler says. “It would have been Cheetah Chrome and Stiv on one base, similar to the Dwarves Double Throbblehead. Cheetah was onboard, but we couldn’t get the other part together. I also really wanted to make Pete [Shelley] and Steve [Diggle] from the Buzzcocks in this same way. So crushed over Pete’s death; they will always be one of my most favorite bands.”
In 2018, Aggronautix released the gnarly GG Allin 25th Deathiversary Bust, depicting the legendary punk rock monster as a zombie. “It’s based on a drawing by Lou Rusconi, who does a lot of work for [Allin’s brother] Merle [Allin] and The Murder Junkies,” Weiler says. “I gave the drawing to Arlen Pelletier, who is a world-class digital sculptor. He really brought it to life in three dimensions. Eddie Bradley finished it off with a masterful paint job, and history was made!”
Has Weiler ever thought of creating a scratch ’n’ sniff GG Allin doll? “Not really,” he admits. “People like to joke about that concept a lot, though, so maybe it is something that needs to happen.”
Aggronautix is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2019, but Weiler wasn’t always sure it would last this long. “It was a goal, but not from the very beginning. At first, I just wanted to make sure that people would actually like the concept,” he says. “As we released more and more Throbbleheads, the branding came together, which I really have to thank Marco Palumbo, my art director, for. He’s been along for the ride since day one! I can give him an idea I have, and he’ll nail it almost instantly. He’s extremely talented in that, and every, regard.”
Besides Throbbleheads, Weiler says Aggronautix carries “all types of punk rock products, from vinyl and CDs to DVDs and Blu-ray, plus pins, posters, books, and more.” They also have some big projects brewing, but Weiler declines to offer a sneak peek. “I can’t really talk about things before they happen, because there’s always the possibility that shit falls through,” he says. “Rest assured we’ll continue to crank out your heroes in polyresin for the foreseeable future!”
