Matt designed Q-Tea in 2004 which was a winner entry in the “Design-a-Qee” platform toy competition held by Hong Kong based figure producers TOY2R founded by Prof. Raymond Choy.

Q-Tea Qee was based on the Bear platform figure. On the head perched an English brown squirrel and depicted on the tummy was a steaming hot cup of tea. The backside was slightly twisted with the squirrels inners exposed and the tea cup chopped in two, and inside the cup was a floating eyeball in a bloody soup. Not so cute after all, and a “don’t judge a book by its cover” moment for many toy scene fans and collectors.

In 2005, Matt came up with the idea for his début figures, “Lunartik in a Cup of Tea” a quint essential English cuppa, married together with an adorable little wide eyed character.  All in all there was no massive back story, no huge publicity campaign, it was just one man, wanting to express himself and through his art with a strong British message and a mind for all things quirky.  The message “Take a Break, Have a Lovely Cup of Tea” was coined.

Made from resin, 30 unique pieces were produced by hand as a starting point, and sold directly to collectors worldwide. The funds that were generated by this venture were put into making a small scale vinyl figure production run in 2008.

The first wave of figures came out as a vinyl collectable in 2009, with a series aptly named “The collector’s Edition”. This line consisted of 5 fresh flavours; White, Earl Grey, Rosie Lee, Ice Tea and Green Tea.

Each figure stands 6.5” tall and comes packed in a lovely window box with silver spoon, 2 sugar cubes and a tea bag shaped information booklet accessories.

A Milky Do It Yourself version and exclusive Highland Toys Green Tea version with “The Red Eye” called “Cherry Green” In association with the toy distributor partners Highland Toys from Amsterdam.

Quality control was key with these Teas. Matt’s always has had a strict approach to taking care of his products.

Brew It Yourself, a fun play on words for the “Do It Yourself” artist market. Standing 6.5” tall, these “Brew It Yourself” figures, were limited to just 300 pieces and named “Milky”.

The cream colour pays homage to the first batch of resin figures produced back in 2006. Nowadays many great artists have used them as a platform figure for their creations.

To celebrate the release of the 6.5” figure and to show off the potential of the Milky D.I.Y figures, Matt asked a handful of renown toy scene customisers to participate in the first ”Chari ‘tea Custom Tea Tour” including; Pete Fowler, Jon Burgerman, Ian Stevenson, Tortoy, Caitlin Ashford to name but a few.

The Tea tour travelled to many prestigious venues in Europe including London’s favourite toy store the Forbidden Planet Mega Store and the amazing Sixxa Store Vienna.

The Tea tour finally came to a close in the Kid Robot store in London, where Matt held an auction party for the sale of the figures with all the profits raised going to the Children’s Charity the NSPCC.

One Cup of Never Enough – Blind boxed mini figurers.

Twelve fresh flavours and four special brews.

White, The Earl, Rosie Lee, Green, Orange, Cinnamon, Lemon, Berry, Rooibos, Black, Oolong and Mint.

The four Chase figures: Mr. Tea, Lunar Tea (Glow in the Dark), Q-Tea, Lady Grey

Same as the first Tea Tour, this time just on a smaller scale with more artists.

Artists included; Pete Fowler, Phil Corbett, Paul Shih, The Trantulas, Steve Talkowski, Triclops, Uamou, Ronzo, Dead Lemming to name but a few.

These customised set of Mini Teas travelled 5 locations around Europe.
They were all enclosed in designer display units.
These teas currently reside in Matt’s personal collection.

Mini Tea custom cups for the Mini Tea Tour 2012

2012 – ZX TEAS – Super Infused Flavours.
210 Teas produced, with 30 of each colourway.

The ZX Teas were a Limited Edition run of Black Teas which have all been super-infused with flavour.

There are seven different SUPER INFUSIONS to choose from, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink  and Purple.

Each tea stands 6.5″ tall, and comes complete with cup & saucer, silver stirrer and two sugar cubes!

Collector’s Edition Series 2 – 2011:
Standing 6.5” Tall;  these new flavours included:
Berry, Orange, Lemon, Mint and a Lady Grey Chase!

Limited edition 6.5” Tea which pays homage to the “Mini Tea series One” chase figure. This one Glows in the dark!

Mini Series Two – Seriously Addictive Stuff!

12 fresh flavours and 4 special brews;

Mono Earl, Bubble Tea Apple, Bubble Tea Berry, Emperor Tea, Mushroom, Wild Shroom, Star Tea,  Jasmine, Majes’Tea, Camomile Tea, High Tea, Organik Tea.

Chase figures:

Un-plugged, Licker Tea, Ani-Chai, Midnight Tea

This series contained Tea Tokens.
Collect 19 Tea Token and receive a FREE signed “Cherry Green Tea” direct from Lunartik.

Loose Tea – Brew It Yourself.

This platform figure is a blank canvas for artists to work on.

They come loose, just like all good tea should!

Mr. Tea – 6.5” vinyl figure.

A homage to the Great Mr. T. It just had to be done.

Comes Complete with a cup & saucer, golden tea stirrer & sugar cubes. NO MILK!!

Limited Edition to just 100 pieces, signed and numbered.

Mini Mr. Tea was a series chase figure from “Mini Tea Series One”.

Over the past decade, Matt has produced a number of Signed Special Brews and has collaborated with some extra special people. Here’s the check list.

2015:
Professor Elemental – Edition of 240 Mini Teas.
Christmas Ginger Brew – Edition of 100 Mini Teas.

2014:
Clutter Magazine Exclusive – Furry Cup – Edition of 200 Teas.
Royal Tea – Edition of 100 Teas.
Spectrum Cups II – Art Teas – Edition of 45 Teas.

2013:
Mys’Tea’roius – DKE Special – Edition of 100 Teas.
Fros’Tea Christmas Special – Edition of 100 Teas.
Witches Brew – Halloween – Edition of 230 Teas.

2012:
”Lunartik in a Sole” An artist collaboration with Niels de Jong.
Bloody Hot Pumpkin Tea – Halloween – Edition of 50 Teas

2011:
Spectrum Cups I – Art Teas – Edition of 40 Teas.
Snow Mountain Tea – Edition of 5 Tea.
Pumpkin Tea – Halloween – Edition of 31 Teas.

Celebrating the Tenth anniversary of Lunartik in a Cup of Tea.

Matt Jones designed twelve fresh new Mini-Teas: Q-Tea 2, Raw Tea, White Tea, Golden Earl, Tea Overload, Street Licker, Mr. Tea, Black Diamond, Spooky Brew, Frigid, Quite New Brew and Golden Tea.

Each comes signed and numbered, limited to 100 pieces per cup with Collectors Card included.

The Year of Tea was based on a customer subscription service from Lunartik, with one Mini Tea arriving to your door every single month of 2015. The series chase figure was “Cherry Blossom Tea”, which smells just like real cherries!

Good News: Matt’s put up lots of NOS Tea in his online Tea Emporium Shop!

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Cheers for supporting,
Matt Jones