Remix Culture, a bonus entry!

 

I hope you enjoyed the Remix Culture series from the past few Fridays. I had some material for a bonus entry this week. Previously I shared with you my love of basketball, and how I fell into urban vinyl art. I revealed that some of my favorite toys combined both basketball, and vinyl figures. The Super-X figures by Dragon Models, All Star Vinyl figures by Upper Deck, and most recently the Street Mask figures by JT Studios were the gems in my collection. They brought me tremendous joy. Those weren’t the only toys that I was happy with. I also had a great collection of Oswald figures, and plenty from Michael Lau, the Godfather of the urban vinyl movement.

One of the reasons I was able to build a great collection over my lifetime was because I was very selective about which 12” figures I bought. Those figures could be very expensive compared to the other toys in my library. For the price of a single 1/6 figure I could get a half dozen Oswald plush dolls. In order to maximize the return on my investment I had to be very picky. When I started collecting the high-end basketball figures I knew that I would have to give up on curating another line. I knew exactly what I would never be able to add to my shelves; space figures. Like many of you I’m a huge fan of space. Like a really, really, really big fan of space; astronauts, and science in general. Growing up I would check out books on space travel from the library. My parents, and brothers supported my fascination. They got me a really nice telescope when I was a kid, and today my wife, and I have a high-end telescope. The science behind space travel had always been part of my identity. 

In grade school my friends knew that I was a big science nerd. They could often find me going over books on rockets, and space shuttles. At least that was whenever I wasn’t reading about monster trucks. On the blog I mentioned that Lunar Lander from 1979 was the first simulator-style arcade game that I could remember. I credited it with sparking my love of arcade games, and planting the seeds that would eventually see me land a job working mission support with JPL. When I joined Instagram one of my first photos was from the Challenger memorial in Little Tokyo. My family was there in Downtown Los Angeles in 2012 when the Endeavor got a flyby. It was definitely a highlight for me. When I left JPL for my current job I took that love of space with me. At that time our office had moved into a bigger building. Every holiday meant we were going all out. Catered tacos for Cinco de Mayo, hot dogs, and burgers for the 4th of July, big Christmas parties etc. We celebrated Halloween with everyone on the staff showing up in costume.

I had created a couple of custom rash guards for my kid, who was a huge fan of the Aquabats. We would go to their concerts when we could, and everyone loved her outfits. I would usually dress as a Sandflea, the arch-rivals of the Aquabats. After a few shows I decided to create a space-themed rash guard for myself. I created all the vector art for the outfit, including the graphics that looked like mission patches on the sleeves. The logos were a call out to other space themed bands, video games, actual missions, and even Disney attractions. The silver shorts were from AND1, a white anti-negativity helmet, goggles, and white Converse sneakers completed the outfit. I wore it to work, along with my NASA-themed laptop bag. My coworkers loved it as much as the fans at the concerts. Hopefully this proved how much of a fan I was of astronauts. When I said that it hurt giving up on collecting astronaut toys I meant it. Budgeting money for Michael Lau figures meant I would miss out on something equally cool.

Science fiction toys, spacemen, and aliens had been in pop culture since the start of the 20th century. When I told fellow collectors that I wished I had more space toys I wasn’t talking about Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica or any other sci-fi lines. I meant actual astronaut figures, like the classic 12” G.I. Joe astronaut toy that debuted in 1966. There was a major shift in pop culture post WWII in America. Astronauts reached peak cultural relevance in the ‘60s thanks to the space race between the USA, and the Soviet Union. It would rise again in the ‘80s thanks to the Space Shuttle missions, and disasters. It was hard to imagine, but space travelers were treated like celebrities decades ago. There was a time when no singer, athlete, or movie star could even compare. Because of that popularity some of the best toys ever made, at least in my book, were inspired by astronauts. These figures looked amazing whether they were based on actual Kennedy-era NASA astronauts, Ronald Reagan-era Space Shuttle pilots, or even fictional space explorers.

Being on the cutting edge of what was possible had inspired me all my life. I had always enjoyed action figures based on anything other than soldiers. I talked about it previously that the Adventure People by Fisher Price meant more to me than the G.I. Joes by Hasbro. Regular people that had cool jobs inspired my creativity more than glamorized combat. There was no job cooler than that of astronaut. They were the ultimate explorers. In my mind they were the last people that were really pushing humanity into the future. There was something to the uniforms, hoses, patches, helmets, life support, and especially space ships that really sung to me. It was an aesthetic that was cutting edge in form, and function.

By the time I was an adult, and able to start collecting the astronaut figures were few, and far between. If I didn’t have a space toy that managed to survive childhood then I wouldn’t see anything new. The people at Dragon Models, the same people that made my Super-X figures, released an Apollo 11 figure in 2002. At around $300, this figure set the standard by which every following astronaut toy would be measured against. Unfortunately for me this was right when I was on the hunt for Michael Lau figures from Hong Kong. It was at that very moment that I knew I could never afford to collect 12” figures from the space line. I could get two, possibly three Lau figures, or the entire Super-X team for the same price. The choice would be easier in that context. That didn’t stop me from keeping tabs on other explorers. What I saw started making me reconsider the choices I made.

Artists in the 2000’s started going down some really creative paths when designing a new generation of toys. These creators saw the reaction to every new release was met with nothing but love from collectors. It didn’t matter if the artists were remixing kaiju characters, sculpting original cartoon animals, putting together robots, or celebrating everyday heroes like construction workers, cops, and chefs. There was a person out there that was a fan. Not only did they want to support every new release they were also eager to see creators push the envelope. They wanted to see horror elements get added to the art toy format. Monster toys were nothing new, but creature urban vinyl figures went extra hard. Sure astronauts were cool, but what if they were zombie astronauts instead? Or what if they were alien shapeshifters pretending to be astronauts? This was the kind of storytelling that made the movement really stand out from traditional toy lines.

I was happy with the collection of vinyl toys I had built in the 2000’s. There was one figure that popped up in 2014 that hit me like a freight train. The South Korean artist CoolRain created a figure to celebrate Air Max Day on March 26. It was the 27th anniversary of the release of the Nike Air line of sneakers. Nike had all sorts of artists contribute pieces to their gallery, and CoolRain outdid them all. He created a custom astronaut figure, that at first glance looked similar to the Dragon Models figure mentioned above, but was even more detailed. Upon further inspection this handmade figure had modern uniform fittings, not the classic Apollo gear. The mission patches were a collection of Nike logos, and brands. The space boots were fictional sneakers dubbed Astromax. The figure got the same reaction from me that Michael Lau’s Maxx, and Jai Tseng’s King generated in me. They were works of art that completely blew my mind. They had that rare combination of elements of everything I loved, in this case astronauts, sneakers, and figure art.

The pieces that CoolRain created for Nike were only used in the gallery shows. CoolRain had no intention of mass producing these works of art. His follow up in October of the same year was arguably just as cool. The Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner had set a record in 2012 for the highest skydive of all time. He rode a balloon to the very edge of space, almost 120,000 feet up. He jumped from a capsule in a pressurized suit. It was like an astronaut speed suit designed to survive his supersonic fall back to Earth. On the second anniversary of that record breaking jump Zenith had opened a store in Singapore. The high-end Swiss watchmaker had sponsored Felix’s jump, along with Red Bull. It was called project Stratos. They commissioned CoolRain to design a figure to celebrate the occasion. What he delivered was one of the best pieces he has ever designed.

The duo of Astromax, and Baumgartner figures not only made me insanely jealous, they also sparked my imagination. The only consolation that I had was that these figures were so complex that they would never be reproduced for collectors. So nobody except for CoolRain would ever be able to display them. At least that was what I thought. CoolRain developed a resin statue version called Astrocat. It was a variation of the sitting Astromax figure as part of his “Everyone needs break time” line. He collaborated with other artists to have their trademark figures sitting on a bench, taking a breather. When it was his turn he released a few of his figures in statue form also sitting on the bench. I was absolutely tempted by this figure, but didn’t like that it was a statue, or that it had cat ears on the helmet. It seemed out of place on an otherwise great collectable.

I kept an eye on what CoolRain, and the other figure artists had worked on over the years. Nothing ever inspired me to save my money except for the recent Street Mask line by JT Studio. This spring of 2024 I absolutely lost my mind. It was the 20th anniversary of CoolRain’s debut. He announced that his fans would finally be able to buy the figure they had long been clamoring for. CoolRain, and Blitzway would release four variations of the Astromax figure. The original white uniform would be joined by silver, blue, and black. Each one had all the same details as the original art toy. This news would have made me extremely happy at any other time. Unfortunately I had purchased the King, and Flash figures from JT Studio just a few days before the press release went out. The JT figures cost so much that I promised myself I wouldn’t buy any other high ticket item this year. I considered them my birthday, and Christmas presents from myself, and my family.

It was a cruel twist of fate that the only non-basketball 12” figure I would justify purchasing finally hit the market. I should have known something like that would happen. I’m not going to lie. I am saving every penny that I have in the hopes that the figures do not sell out before the end of the year. That I might be able to get one before the resellers scoop them up. Only time will tell if that’s possible. If I get one then you’ll find out about it on the blog. If I don’t then I’ll just remain salty about it until my dying day. Anyhow this wraps up the bonus entry for my remix series. I’d like to know if there were any toys you collected, or any expensive figures you had on your wishlist. Tell me about it in the comments section please. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!