Heya friends, I hope that you are doing well. I did some art recently that lead me down a history tangent. If you are familiar with my blog then you know that I am a huge fan of sneakers, and sneaker culture. With that said
it isn’t easy being a sneaker freak. Not because there are too many options, but because I am tall, and have a big shoe size. Most sneaker companies only make shoes up to size 13 or 14. Anything above that wouldn’t be cost effective for them. There is no doubt that I would have had a massive sneaker collection if I were a smaller person. Because of that I collected sneaker magazines from Japan. I could only appreciate their designs, and long for shoes in my size. When I started working I didn’t spend too much money on shoes, Instead I focused on art toys, magazines, game books, and comics. Like many sneaker fans I have certain shoes that I wish I had. At the top of most collectors lists are things like the movie accurate Back to the Future II Nike Hyperdunks. Also from the movie Aliens the Alien Stompers from Reebok worn by Sigourney Weaver were peak hi-top fashion. I’d love to have those boots in my size. Aside from that I actually had regular sneakers are on my grail list.
I’m a huge fan of clean, and classic designs. Movie sneakers not withstanding there were two types of shoes that I wish I had in my collection. The first pair were nothing fancy, and didn’t have people camping outside of the sneaker shop days in advance. Nike released a design called the Sweet Lew around 1995. The name was more than likely based on Lew Alcindor the birth name of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. It was a retro-styled sneaker that was a nod to the classic Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers. It was interesting that almost a decade later Nike would actually buy their competition at Converse. I was absolutely smitten with the look of the Sweet Lew. The black version especially oozed style. In my eyes it was a peak example of classic fashion. Then there was the opposite end of the spectrum that appealed to me. There was the pair that could be considered closer to high art. It was the only artist collaboration that I wish I owned, or had actually came out. It was not a pair designed by Michael Lau, The Godfather or Urban Vinyl. Designer Jeremy Scott created a pair for Adidas. These hi-tops featured gray stripes, and purple nubuck. The standout features were plastic orange chains, and ankle cuffs. I just about lost my mind the second that I saw them back in 2012.
I instantly recognized the inspiration behind the sneakers. These Adidas shoes were an homage to the toy line from the ‘80s called My Pet Monster. American Greetings were known mainly for their plush figures which could be located in the greeting card aisle of any store. Their most successful line were the Care Bears. The company recognized that there was an untapped potential for stuffed toys for boys. Rather than make a manly Care Bear they invented an entirely different line that would appeal to the rough and tumble, and sometimes gross world of boys. Around 1986 they introduced us to a large plush character with dark blue, and purple fur, massive teeth, and orange handcuffs. The cuffs had a breakaway action, and were large enough for kids to wear as well. I thought it was a phenomenal toy back then, and still think it was one of the greatest toys ever made. I never owned one of the Pet Monsters, and I could have if I had asked my parents for one. It was an expensive figure back in the day, and mint editions go for hundreds today, if not a thousand if they are in the box. With both of my parents working it could have been a birthday or Christmas present.
Yet when the figure came out I was getting older, and I knew that I had to be selective with my present requests. So a BMX bike was at the top of the list, followed by monster truck toys of all sorts. I got the bike, and over the years I was gifted some amazing Hot Wheels, and monster truck toys. I gave away my bikes, and most of my Hot Wheels to my younger cousins. I held onto a few monster truck things, until a storm destroyed my magazine collection. On the blog I talked about
losing my monster collection, and spending more than a decade getting it back. During that time I never forgot about how cool the My Pet Monster toy was. When the collaboration with Jeremy Scott was announced I was super hyped. Even if they didn’t make the sneakers in my size I wanted to buy a pair just to have, and appreciate. It joined my love of the toys, and sneakers. To me it would have been an art piece. Sadly the project was cancelled because critics said that the ankle cuffs were akin to slave chains. They didn’t even ask the artist what the influence was, they just ran with the narrative that he was mocking Black culture. It was the dumbest possible take, but it got the press, and public to force Adidas to cancel the project. I would forever be mad about it.
The entire reason I started thinking about those sneakers from years ago was because I had been watching YouTube videos on retro toy collectors. Several of them would feature rare Monster figures on their channel. Watching them do the toy hunting rekindled my love of the character. I began thinking about what I would do with the Monster if I were to reboot the line, or do a collaboration. The first thing I immediately thought of was making a skate version of the monster. So I came up with an ink drawing called My Rad Monster. It was essentially the classic toy holding a skateboard. Then I began thinking about how my version would be a different color, and even have different accessories. I’d give my version a helmet, torn sneakers, and put the cuffs on his ankles instead of his wrists as a nod to Jeremy Scott. I’d even give him an open mouth with a green tongue. The original version had a closed mouth.
My first illustrated version had bold flat colors. It looked very much like the graphics we would have seen in the late ‘80s / early ‘90s. It had no highlights, shadows or anything else. It looked good to me, but I thought it didn’t really capture the feel of a fuzzy plush figure. So I went and did an updated version with more of a fur look to it. I made his eyes a little bit bigger as well to make him look more cartoonish. I even used my rainbow checkered skateboard that
I had created for a different retro illustration. I think it did a better job of looking like the kind of toy that would have hit in the ‘80s. What do you think?
If I had lots of money I’d commission a toy maker to build me a figure. At least my illustration captures the heart of what I wanted to see in a reboot. I’d like to know if there was a toy from your childhood that you always wanted but never got. Would you collect it today if you could, or would you rather reboot it? Tell me about it in the comments section. If you enjoy this blog there are several ways you can support me. You can
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