Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 8

In the previous entry of this series I mentioned which of Michael Lau’s 100+ gardener figures was my favorite. For those that missed it the character was Jordon, a seven-foot-tall basketball player from the gardener universe. His design hit me with the same force as seeing Lau’s original Maxx figure from a few years prior. It took me a while to understand fully why I enjoyed the figures as much as I did. The first thing I did was acknowledge that Lau had captured street culture in an entirely new art form. The gardeners looked just like my friends, and heroes in 1/6 scale. That was how I thought about it for decades.

Only recently however did I realize why my reaction went much deeper than that. Lau’s gardener figures represented an idea, and not an ideal. As I said previously they were not an unattainable beauty standard like a Barbie doll. They were imperfect figures. The gardeners had buck teeth, big ears, acne, scars, and pot bellies. They were anxious, fun loving, brooding, competitive, and loving at the same time. They were as human as any one of us. They were also icons, representatives of the culture.

To me the gardeners were a perfect snapshot of the world I grew up in. Eventually I would grow old, and die. As would my family, and friends. No matter how well my hero Tony Hawk could skate, the wheels would eventually fall off. One day he’d finally hang it up, and leave behind his name, and legacy. Maxx on the other hand would always be the young, determined skater. He would forever be youthful, forever be idyllic, forever be a brilliant skater. By extension the culture we lived in would also last forever. Certainly characters like Mickey Mouse, Pac-Man, Mario, and Bugs Bunny could also last forever, but they represented corporate mascots, and not my family, and friends. At the core this was what I enjoyed best, the symbols that the gardeners represented. If I couldn’t collect every figure that Lau released, then I’d try to focus on the ones that I vibed the best with. 

My older brother was into 1/6 scale figures well before I was, but even he agreed that Lau was working on another level. He would point me at the manufacturers like Hot Toys, and Dragon Models as they made the comic book, sci-fi, and movie figures he collected, but also the more street-influenced designs. My brother also pointed me to Enterbay. They had the NBA license, and they were releasing highly detailed 12” figures. I couldn’t deny the quality of the sculpts. They easily captured the look of the actual pros they were based on. Their uniforms, and accessories were perfect. Even the shoes were correct for the player. When I first learned that my brother was spending on average $250 per figure I was shocked. I told him that there was no way the figures he was collecting were remotely worth what he was spending. Mind you he was collecting before I even knew who Michael Lau was. 

Without saying a word he took out one of his Punisher figures, and asked me to have a close look at it. As I held the figure I commented how heavy it was, and solidly built. It could hold any pose without loosening up. It really wasn’t anything like a Barbie doll. I turned it around, and around looking for imperfections, but there were none. The head sculpt was scary realistic. I could see the veins on his neck, the eyelashes on his face, and the scars on his head. The stitching on his trench coat was flawless, his boots, armor, and costume looked as if the comic book had been brought to life. I handed the figure back to him, and said that it was impressive, but I still wasn’t sure about the price. Without saying another word he opened the trench coat, and started removing all the weapons he was carrying. One by one he showed me the knives in sheaths had actual metal blades, that the magazines could be removed from his machine guns. When he opened the revolver and shook out the individual bullets in the cylinder I never questioned him again.

I explained to him that as much as I appreciated the absurd level of detail that went into the NBA figures that they just weren’t for me. I said for starters they were just out of my price range, no matter how much I loved a particular basketball player, I couldn’t justify the purchase. It didn’t stop me from being jealous of the people that were able to collect them without a second thought. My brother taught me that some artists sculpted, and painted custom heads for figures. Others made 1/6 scale uniforms, sneakers, and various accessories. I could invest as much, or as little as I wanted building a collection. I could buy an inexpensive generic 1/6 body, and get a custom head, and uniform of my favorite players. I’m not going to lie, I did consider going down that route. When I found out that some collectors turned entire rooms into entire 1/6 scale NBA courts, with working baskets, and Jumbotrons I just about lost my mind. I didn’t have that kind of space, let alone budget. That didn’t stop me from searching online for how much I could get selling my blood. My brother was leading me down a very scary rabbit hole.

Although I had no intention of buying an Enterbay figure, I was intrigued by their NBA accessories. An NBA locker complete with hangers, body wash, deodorant, and shampoo was surprisingly cool. It would make for a good backdrop in a pro basketball diorama. Then I found out that the company also recreated the various trophies from the league. These included the MVP, scoring, All-Star, and Championship hardware. Unfortunately most of these could only be acquired if you bought one of the deluxe figures, which could sell for up to double the price. Of course the best accessory that they offered was a scale hoop, and backboard. It even had a working play clock. It was absurdly cool, and prohibitively expensive. I could never justify those purchases. Or could I? Not too long ago one of Lau’s contemporaries created a custom version of Michael Jordan. Eric So had been at the game nearly as long as Lau. He had collaborated with Sprite, Motorola, Playboy, Adidas, and other high profile clients as well. His figure was subtle, like a CoolRain design. It was nice but not half as cool as the Jordon figure by Lau.

I was convinced that I would never find an urban vinyl figure that scratched the itch. Thankfully I had already stumbled across a set of figures way back in 2002. In order to capitalize on Lau’s popularity eBay, and toy importers were tagging every vinyl release from Hong Kong as being from Michael Lau. There were a few actual figures, but a lot of clones, and bootlegs as well. The one that stood out to me was a set of 1/6 scale figures called Super-X Basketball. The box art was very much in the Lau style. There were even smaller figures that had been released called action figure minis. These were slightly taller, and more articulated than Lego figures. Thankfully the demand wasn’t too high for the set, and I was able to score all five of both the large, and small figures relatively cheaply.

I was hoping that an unscrupulous seller hadn’t just walked off with my money. I had to wait forever for a giant package to arrive from China. When it did my brother joined me for the unboxing. The figures were everything I expected, and more. I started with the minis. As I opened the box, and foil package containing the figures I got a laugh at the packaging, and design. As with most unlicensed toys from China there was nothing in the packaging that said NBA, or would infer these were based on real people, or real teams. Yet long time basketball fans could gather everything they needed from looking at both the style of each character, the colors of their jerseys, and numbers as well.

Each of the minis not only came with a complete figure, but they also had an alternate top, with a basketball, and backpack as well. The figures were printed with their own unique expression, and hairstyle, or bald head depending on the character. In case you couldn’t tell the designers skirted copyright laws by letting fans infer who each character was based on. The colors on the jersey, and even style of font were based on existing NBA teams, and players. For those unfamiliar with the lineup #3 was based on Allen Iverson, his uniform was based on the Philadelphia 76ers. #34 was based on Shaquille O’Neal, and his jersey was modeled after the Los Angeles Lakers. The same applied to #8 who was based on Kobe Bryant. The manic-looking #15 was based on the high flyer Vince Carter from the Toronto Raptors. Rounding out the cast was #23 who was based on Michael Jordan from the Washington Wizards.

The figures were very much a snapshot of an era. Jordan had moments of brilliance during his Washington era, but he was about to retire while Kobe was coming into his prime. Iverson was one of the most influential point guards of all time, he was also one of the players that brought street credit into the pros. Shaq of course was still a force of nature. Carter was a human highlight reel with his incredible athleticism, and crazy dunks. These players not only represented a great cross-section of the all-stars, but could arguably be considered the greatest starting five of all time. 

It would be hard to imagine coming up with a superstar team of players from the present, or past that could beat all of the Super-X ballers in their prime. This was what I really loved about the crew, and about the gray era that the Hong Kong designers were working under. They were creating the spirit of the greatest team that never existed. When I opened up the larger figures I was in for a treat. But I’ll talk about that in the next blog. Were there any toys, sports, or athletes that you felt passionate about? Did you have a favorite basketball player? Tell me about it in the comments section please. 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!

Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 7

Hello friends, I hope the year is treating you well. If not then I hope today goes easy on you. If you’ve been keeping up with the blog in the past few weeks then you’ll remember that I have been talking about Michael Lau, and the birth of urban vinyl art. Previously I mentioned that the creators from Generation-X were remixing culture into something new, and fresh. They were pulling their influences from growing up. Everything from music, to fashion, movies, video games, and even toys ended up coloring their work. They redefined comic books, manga, video games, and collectables for the next few generations.

I was usually slow to catch up to the trends when they took off, but I was at the right place, and able to see the rise of urban vinyl from “The Godfather” himself. I’ve often been asked if I had a favorite gardener figure from Mr. Lau. There was one that I loved head, and shoulders above the rest. However like many of his figures I never expected it to be released in its original 12” format. Just a reminder that Lau sold only a handful of 12” figures in the late ‘90s. This was before his first international gallery shows. The ones that I know specifically he sold in the Hong Kong Toy Expo were Maxx, and Uncle. The last time one popped up at auction it sold for $35,000 USD. 

A decade later he did small runs of Maxx, Tattoo, and BB. There were about 599 made. These releases cost around $400, or more for the special editions. Those weren’t as rare as the limited edition of Maxx that he released to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the gardeners. In 2018 he created 9 Maxx figures that were identical to the ones he had sold decades earlier, including the hand made box. Those that missed the boat the first time around had a chance to purchase them for a few grand. As with some of his rarest items they were only available via lottery system at the gallery during his shows. When one of these was resold at auction it went for $15,000 USD. In case you were wondering how many gardeners there were you could see all 113 of them on my fan page. Let’s assume that each one was actually made to buy, do you think you could pick a favorite?

If I had money, and were born in Hong Kong I’d have a fantastic collection. For someone living in the US in the early 2000’s when international sellers were scarce my collection was halfway decent. This was especially true for someone that was broke all the time. I stopped collecting when my future wife entered the scene, as I knew I would be spending my money on our family. Also collectors had priced me out of the market. Drops that I would normally score would sell out before I could even enter my shipping info online.

Yet none of the 12” figures that Lau released were my absolute favorite. The re-release of Maxx certainly came close, the versions of young SKATEMAXX, and older WORKMAXX were also brilliant. If money were no object then they’d be mine. Yet they were not my absolute favorite gardener. I had said on many occasions, and to this day I believe that the greatest vinyl figure ever released was child f. The King of the Crazychildren. The entire line of Crazychildren were brilliant. The release of each figure included an extra piece. If you collected all the figures then you could assemble a mystery figure out of those pieces that was based on Lau himself. The S.F.C.C. or science fiction crazy children set pieces could assemble a massive “robot” Lau made of vinyl that looked like cardboard boxes.

With all that said child f. was on another level. He debuted around the time that a bunch of contemporaries were flooding the market with “me too” vinyl figures. The King figure was more than a challenge to the rest, he was a statement. He was perched on cardboard boxes of previous Lau releases that were taped together. He had a gold tooth, a soft plastic crown, and in his hand was a mini Lau figure. The tiny figure was the original mystery figure from the first generation of Crazychildren. His contemporaries simply didn't have the experience designing characters, let alone a history they could pull from in order to create such a self-aware piece of art. Years later Michael released a larger version of the King that was more in the proportions of the 12” gardener scale. This time his crown was reflective, he had a more recent “Crazy Michael” figure in his hand, and he had a red cape, which was actually a shower curtain. As cool as the classic, and new version of the Kings were they were still not my favorite gardener.

There was a variation of Maxx that I felt was almost equal to the King, and in some ways even better. Soul Maxx was one of the new gardeners that made his debut with the garden(palm)er series. These were 1/12 scale, or about 6 to 8 inches. This version of Maxx was a kid, much younger than he had been presented before. The funny thing was that Michael would always sculpt him with some chin hair, even when he painted a toddler Maxx, the character still had a beard. Soul Maxx was presented in skull paint. He was colored entirely in black and white, including his clothing, and shoes. The other palmer figures were contained in white spray cans, except for Soul Maxx. His can was jet black, with a tombstone on the front. The figure included a skateboard, ghost sheet, black crown, and wire stand so you could make the figure look like he was floating above his board. When you saw the figure it was easy to see why he might be my favorite. Sadly I never got the figure, also he was not my absolute favorite gardener. That honor would belong to one of the tallest characters in gardener canon.

Remember when I started this series weeks ago I mentioned that I really loved basketball? I genuinely meant it. When I first discovered the art of Michael Lau, I had no idea that there were basketball players in his universe. I simply thought they were just a bunch of cool skaters. The first time I saw all of the original 101 figures was when I got my hands on the gardenergala book. It was published in Japan as part of his PARCO gallery tour. The photos in the book were to scale, so I could see how they would have appeared in person. I went through the book with my brothers, slowly turning the pages, and being amazed with every new page. The amount of detail was absurd. My brothers couldn’t believe that each was more amazing than the previous, then I got to the middle of the book and gasped. Unlike the regular gardeners which were around 12.5” tall the lanky Black figures were closer to 15” in height, proportionally they were seven-footers. They were so tall than the tops of the afros were cut off on the page. 

Of these figures Jordon, the 49th gardener in the series, was my absolute favorite hands down. For the record No War, Tattoo, and Maxx were close runners-up. Seeing the basketball gardeners was a revelation. I had the same sense of “This is it! This is what I was waiting for!” As I did when I first saw Maxx. It was an artistic interpretation of basketball culture. It hit me even harder than the paintings by Kadir Nelson. Everything about the figure was brilliant. It encapsulated the elements of both professional, and street basketball. The size of the character, the afro, and sideburns were a callback to the legends of the past like Julius “Dr. J” Erving. His name, and the black, red, and white colors of his outfit were a nod to the G.O.A.T. Michael Jordan who was just about to retire for the second and final time.

Yet somehow Jordon's look also predicted a generation of bearded, street-influenced NBA players. Even Jordon’s accessories were spot on. The Gatorade bottle looked tiny in his massive hands, he had a towel to catch his sweat between games, the knee sleeve to protect his left knee, and of course the Jordan Air Force 1’s rounded out the look. If there could be such a thing as a perfect basketball vinyl figure then this was it. It would be the gardener figure that I envied the most, and the one that I knew Michael would never release to collectors. There was an outside chance that he would make a mini gardener out of the figure.

Sure enough seven years later, in 2008 Lau released Jordan in the smaller scale, and it was the one figure I absolutely had to get my hands on. I remember going in to work early, and loading the ordering screen on multiple school computers, my brother even helped me keep hitting refresh, and made sure I could get my hands on one. Always making sure to appease his fans Lau made sure that Jordon was considerably taller than the other mini gardeners he had released, so that they would have the accurate difference in the new format. Jordon would pop up on occasion over the next decade. He appeared on tees, and even a fiberglass statue that could only be purchased from a gallery via a lottery drawing.

Michael knew that he had hit perfection when he created the character. When he was approached by Wieden+ Kennedy, the people that created the Nike commercials, to design athletes for an ad he essentially removed Jordon’s afro, and put a #69 on his jersey. Even as an actor in a foam costume he looked amazing. Eventually Lau was able to collaborate with Michael Jordan, and release a “twenty-three” figure for collectors. His body was a recolor of Jordon’s but the head was entirely new, including the trademark tongue sticking out.

Around the time that the Jordan figure came out Eric So, and CoolRain were also designing vinyl figures for the NBA. By this point the relationship between Nike, and Lau was strong. They would collaborate on new exhibitions where the gardeners were given entirely new Nike sports outfits. Lau would even get to design a few exclusive Nike SB (skateboard) shoes, which today would sell for $9000, but not nearly as desirable as his padded cell sneakers for his “Crazy Michael” release which could fetch you $15000 today. Lau also got to design the uniforms, and sneakers for the Chinese national team during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. One of his massive paintings, the “Wall of Jordan” which was created for the 30th Anniversary of the Air Jordan brand would sell at auction for over $160,000 USD. It was official. Michael was not only an accomplished artist, he was shaping the culture that had influenced him tremendously.

I knew that his figures would only get rarer, and costlier from that point forward. It was impossible to satisfy the demands of the collector community, the art crowd, and fashion labels at the same time. Something had to give. Sadly I had to walk away from collecting Lau’s future releases before the start of 2010. I never stopped loving his work, and kept my fan page going for years after. I had to restored it after a hiatus because I wanted new fans to know where the movement came from. With that said I still had a desire to collect figures that inspired me. I knew that Lau would never release a collectable 15” Jordon figure, as Maxx, BB, and Tattoo had been consistently more popular. It didn’t stop me from tracking down the next best thing, but I’ll talk about that in a future blog. I’d like to know if you had a favorite Lau figure, or a favorite figure by any other designer. Tell me about it in 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!