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KIDROBOT
PLUG-IN TOYCON REPORT DAY 3
by Gregory B
Hong
Kong, April 21, 2002
--A bit of a surprise at the crazysmiles booth on the last day
of Plug In 4/2002. The bets were on either cc15, a gardnergala
book, or the long shot -- cc King (upcoming “Maxx” book/CD/figure
will be released by viewsic (Sony) in Japan next month). Instead,
more Lamdog!
This release
combines old with the new. As usual, attendees could purchase
one of each of the two goodies. First was a black T-shirt with
gold graphics by graffiti artist Junkie, bundled with
a Lamdog Dog (2001 key chain style) with a long chain and
gray camo parka.
 
The second
choice was a mysterious, oddly-shaped black blister pack, marked
simply “LAMDOGXJUNKIEXCRAZYCHILDREN.” After a
bit of work carefully tearing open the packaging, I found a familiar
6” Lamdog figure shrouded in another Junkie-designed
camo parka.
The figure is the 10th (?) variant of the venerable 2001-era Lamdog
mark 2 (Think normal, gray, black, orange, gold and KISS (x4)
variants). This version is entirely black with a gold graffiti-style
Junkie design on the front and the “LDGXJUNKIEXCRAZYCHILDREN”
logo on the back. He also sports sneakers with gold Adidas -style
stripes, and a big, gold tooth. Finally, his eye-lids are at half-mast.
No cap as with many of the previous variants, and you need to
buy the T-shirt if you want him to be accompanied by his best
friend.
The T-shirts
had sold out by mid-afternoon, but attendees were allowed to purchase
multiple 6” Lamdogs at around 5PM. They were sold out by
the end of the day. Overall, an interesting surprise, and we are
still left with anticipation of soon-to-arrive Maxx,
cc King and additional crazychildren.
One of
the most promising new artists at Plug In was artist Pal Wong
and his company, Pazo Art. His display included over 20
one-off 12 inch action figures, recognizable hipsters in the “urban”
style. I was told that many of the figures were closely based
on his friends. Overall, the quality was quite good and designs
appealing and imaginative.
He was
taking pre-orders for two 12” action figures, and selling
2 rotocast vinyl figures. The roto figures, P.A.S.A. and
Rapper also fit squarely within the urban genre, and are
available in 3 variants each. P.A.S.A wears an angry scowl and
carries a big, crazy gun, and Rapper has a vintage ‘70s afro
and a microphone. They are both available in Normal, Limited (grayscale
monotone), and Toycon Limited (black with white accents), and
a white with black accents prototype was shown. They are limited
to 300 and fewer pieces per variant, and should sell for US$60-$75
each. KidRobot will be selling each very soon.
On the
12” front, Gowster is a spray-paint wielding graffiti
artist wearing jeans a black jacket and a knit black cap. Futurism
looks vaguely vampire-like, with pointy ears and a goatee. He
wears a hooded sweatshirt, mid-length camo pants and sneakers.
Of course, they both come with the obligatory wallet-retaining
chain.
Hot
Toys will be producing these which ensures solid quality.
Speaking of which, a weary looking Howard Chan was seen
hanging with the Brothersfree guys on Sunday. Howard is
the man at Hot Toys, and has been incredibly busy in the final
production stages of Pazo Art’s figures as well as the extremely
complex and intricate Smart and Seven by Brothersfree,
and Deadman by Jason Siu. Expect to see each for
sale by the end of May.
Jason
Siu was on hand with his assistant, Mona, signing Monkey
Playground figures, previewing his Deadman figure, and selling
the super-limited first offering of his new rotocast vinyl figure
series, Dancing with Gravity. This new figure was limited
to 100 pieces, and sold out within about an hour Friday morning.
More are promised, which is a good thing, because it’s a
fairly unique design within the ever-expanding world of urban
vinyl.
The figure
is a boom-box toting hip-hopster with a gold tooth and gold chain.
He is designed to rock back and forth, but I was unable to see
it in action. Jason is producing and releasing this series himself.
For those
who haven’t yet heard, Jason announced a new 12” action
figure a few weeks ago called Deadman. Deadman is an Anti
Hi-jack terrorist killer. He looks a bit like Giger from Monkey
Playground (dreadlocks, stylized facial sculpting) in modified
HALO paratrooper gear. Amazingly successful combination
of ultra-realistic detail and fantasy.
Deadman
is being produced by Hot Toys and will be limited to 100 pieces
of each of 3 variants (Hong Kong, Japan, and worldwide). Expect
Deadman sometime within the next month, and be prepared to shell
out the dough – he will likely sell for over US$200.
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