But then I got interested in Barbies... you know, the boobs and all... I even hijacked my cousins Barbie's collection... undressed them all with just one think on my perverted mind: to satisfied my libido........ And that marks a point where I realize that you could never rip off Ken's shorts........................ Naaaaaah, do you really think I did all of that? I just made that up. But you are thinking what I made you think, right? Hehehe... Aneehoo, where was I? Oh, yes, Barbie's big-sexy boobs.
I still have those toys... I even have some of them on my office desk: Wolverine looms over the printer while Yoda secures the inbox and Homer Simpson scratches his head beside the phone. They are the foot soldiers that cartoons, movies, and comic books send into our mundane reality......
But now, a new kind of plastic pet is on the scene - one not born of a corporate media franchise..... These action figures emerge directly from the minds of their artist-creators, and they're intensely cool - funky fusions of surrealism, urban fantasy, and punchy design that are at once arty and in-your-face..... For a certain breed of niche collector, these toys have become the new sneakers....
Junkie by Michael Lau
In Japan, where uber-trendy clothing labels like A Bathing Ape and Bounty Hunter are responsible for some of the most startling dolls, they're even called "fashion toys."
In London, the high-profile streetwear label Maharishi sells a special-edition doll dressed in the designer's signature camouflage.... The few American shops that specialize in these action figures - 360 Toy Group, on Manhattan's Lower East Side; Kidrobot, in San Francisco and SoHo - look more like boutiques than toy stores....
ERIC SO
Eight years ago, So hacked G.I. Joe and transformed him into Bruce Lee. Today his creations, like Masks 02, sport G-Shock watches and gas masks; Coca-Cola has licensed his work.
The origins of this scene lie in Hong Kong, a commercial center not usually associated with creative design. In 1996, Neco Lo organized a festival there called Toycon, a gathering of fanatic collectors of classic Japanese toys: Ultraman, Astro Boy, Kikaida. In 1997, Lo invited Chinese artists Michael Lau and Eric So to exhibit some 12-inch figures of their own creation. Their approach: cannibalize body parts from American dolls like G.I. Joe and Ken, and then add heads, shoes, and outfits fashioned from leather, foam, and cloth. So presented a set of Bruce Lee dolls, while Lau showed off a group of exaggerated street toughs based on his own friends, trendsetters in Hong Kong's budding hip hop underground......... They were a surprise hit, especially with the toy-crazy Japanese. In a few years, Lau and So were licensing their figures to Sony and Coca-Cola, while Toycon morphed into what it is today: a small but crucial international gathering of action-figure designers....
PETE FOWLER
Super Furry Animals cover artist Fowler spawned the Monsterism series, which has scared up a major following with critters like Worm Bank, Big Monstrooper, and Yensquid Bank.
JASON SIU
After years of drawing Frey Mui, a comic about a girl and her panda, Siu went 3-D. Today the hip hop attitude of toys like DJ Dom has become his trademark.
DOINK DESIGN
Blown away by the figures on eBay, designer Charlie Calderin decided to get in on the action. His Rippa Bear made a killing this past Halloween.
MICHAEL LAU
Lau was the first to reimagine the action figure as a piece of art. He modeled his early work on friends in Hong Kong's hip hop scene. His latest, like Crazychildhood girl and her cat, wear bags over their heads.
All of this remind me of something.... I did try to pull off the body parts and put it on other dolls... the result was hideous! Barbie has Hulks's arms and Olive Oil's legs.... Homer Simpson's head on Doraemon's body..... and Spiderman now has Superman's wings!
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All pictures was taken by Mike Lorrig
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