Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 13

Earlier in this series I talked about changing the conversation. Most of us in the west would always associate China with counterfeit products, even though they also produced most of the authentic goods the world consumed. It was a heck of a thing to have praise for the product, but disdain for the country producing it. Michael Lau was raised in Hong Kong, a nation with one foot in the East, and West. Because of this distinction he absorbed, and remixed western culture in a new, and exciting format; the vinyl figure. When his contemporaries followed suit I didn’t have much respect for what they were doing because they were retreading the same idea. But I took a step back, and acknowledged that they were not all cash grabs, many of these creators were also celebrating the new art form.

In the early days artists followed along with what Lau was doing, essentially making street fashion character toys, whether they were stylized 12-inch figures or squat 6-inch collectables. They were almost all universally variations on a skater kid, or a Hip Hop kid. Then other studios like Brothersfree demonstrated that figures could be made out of industrial workers, robbers, or even clowns. The doors had been blown open. The best designers like Jei Tseng Studio were able to remix cartoon stars, video game characters, mythological heroes, basketball players, and even superheroes into something new, and unique. Comic book fans would be able to identify right away who some of the Street Mask series figures were just by looking at them. The four characters Ken, Ray, Derek, and Gino were inspired by the DC Justice League characters Superman, Flash, Batman, and the Green Lantern respectively. 

Yet these figures weren’t licensed from DC, nor were any of their fashion accessories licensed from similar manufacturers. The red crossbody bag on Ken was based on the SUPREME bag, but the matching font said SUPER instead. The studio was able to create something unique by layering multiple levels of detail, and meaning on their figures. This was whether they were using genuine branding, or a remixed logo. JT Studio understood the assignment. This trend had been happening for generations, not just in figure art, but all of the creative arts. In the 20th century millions of musicians jumped on the rock, punk, new wave, and Hip Hop sound after they first heard the music. We wouldn’t have had the Bauhaus, Modern Classical, Art Nouveau, or Art Deco movements unless it the form had also been embraced by millions of creators. Yes there were some derivative artists, but there were many fresh voices that helped propel the various formats forward.

The creators from Hong Kong, and China were remixing culture in real time. They were mashing together fashion, movies, music, cartoons, comics, and toys. Taking the elements that worked from different formats, and seeing how it would look in a figure, or game, or model. It was something that they had been accelerating at all through the ‘90s. In fact they were remixing, a remix before it even got a chance to catch on. This allowed the designs of urban vinyl figures to influence game character designs, and vice versa. I had talked about many of the biggest streetball MMO’s in previous entries of the series. JC Entertainment released FreeStyle Street Basketball, Freestyle2 Street Basketball, and 3on3 Freestyle Basketball. Beijing Halcyon Network Technology Co., LDT released Dunk Nation 3x3. All9Fun released Basketrio: Allstar Streetball. 

The designs in each basketball MMO were fairly well done. They pulled heavily from the stylized proportions of urban vinyl figures. Billy for example, the character pictured above looked like a vinyl figure I would have collected. The proportions of the 3D model, the style of his hair, gold jewelry, and designer sneakers certainly told a story. Streetball players in the real world all had their own distinct personalities. Some were flashy, some were powerful, some were tricksters. Their look, and their style of play reflected those personalities. The games from JC Ent. made sure that the library of characters they created represented a broad cross section of society. It was something that JC did better than a lot of other studios.

The games they had been developing since 2004 did feature a number of traditional looking male, and female basketball players. We’re talking about matching jerseys, knee gaskets, sneakers, etc. However they also had characters wearing regular street clothes, and people from all walks of life. Working professionals, inventors, mechanics, gang members, robots, and the wealthy elite. This with the case of Billy, and his rich mentors Robert, and Grace. Just because they came from wealth didn’t mean they knew nothing about the game of basketball. They were every bit as dangerous on the court as they were on the boardroom.

There was a tremendous amount of storytelling in Freestyle2, 3on3 Freestyle Basketball, and the other games. This came through in seasonal events, and even through the designs of the characters. When Billy made his debut so too did Team Black Lightning. The street kids were ready to take the game right to the one-percenters, and you were free to choose a side. While audiences became familiar with Saru, Jack, and Joey over the years there were technically no heroes, or villains in the universe, just different clashing personalities. The majority of the cast represented a particular subculture. Over time new teams would pop out of the woodwork. If there was something cool out there in the universe it would eventually end up in the game. For example people on both sides of the Pacific thought wuxia heroes were cool. What if there was a modern team that pulled elements from the ancient kung-fu masters? That was essentially the inspiration behind the Ace of Wulin team. 

The Wulin team's special moves on offense, and defense were inspired by their martial training. The name wulin was derived from “martial forest;” the secret society of wuxia heroes from fiction. Rich people, goths, and kung-fu masters, were just some of the teams that broke up the classic pro, or even Hip Hop designs going back to NBA Street from 2001. The studios weren’t afraid of coming up with designs that might work in a stand-alone science fiction adventure. Some characters like the cyberpunk mascot named Zero could transform into his armored alter ego with boosted stats. This sci-fi monster had no connection to basketball. I’d be lying if I said that the design didn’t go hard, and wasn’t someone that fans were eager to try.

Not every entry had some level of forethought. Sometimes the studios would just fit pop culture characters, or celeb look-alikes into the game. Not that it made sense to just give the Jared Leto version of the Joker from the Zack Snyder DC universe movies a basketball. Or say give the enigmatic guitarist Buckethead a basketball. Yet those characters, or rather ballers inspired by those characters ended up in Dunk Nation 3x3. Fans of pop culture that understood the reference appreciated these weird designs getting inserted into their favorite game. It was certainly an easy way to fill out a roster of recognizable faces without paying for a license. Speaking of putting in non-traditional, high-profile characters in a streetball game… what if the developers put fighting game icons into their titles? The designers at All9Fun placed several characters that were heavily inspired by Capcom, and SNK’s biggest stars in Basketrio. Of course they got away with it by changing the names, and details just enough so they wouldn’t get a cease and desist letter.

These were examples of the remix culture that I was talking about. After adding all sorts of traditional basketball, and streetball archetypes, the studios then started populating their worlds with unique figures. When they couldn’t think up new designs they instead starting asking “what if?” and found ways to incorporate musicians, actors, comic book characters, sci-fi, or fantasy heroes. The designers at all of the studios didn’t bother to ask for permission to use a character, or likeness in their game. They just went ahead and did it. Like the old saying goes “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness, than to ask for permission.” I didn’t think it was a good look to poach the designs of Street Fighter, or King of Fighters characters. I appreciated the hustle, but at least JC Entertainment bothered to create an original wuxia team without just copying from a Japanese developer.

Of all the remix figures that I enjoyed, at least for this genre, were the ones based on actual basketball players. After all they made more sense than comic book superheroes in a streetball game. The way these icons were remixed was what amazed me as an artist. I’d like to explore it a little bit more in the next blog. Until then I’d like to know if there was a character in an MMO that you thought looked cool enough to be featured in a stand alone game. Or if you knew of a character that was such a blatant rip off that you couldn’t believe the publisher wasn’t sued. 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 5

In a previous blog I mentioned that I thought Pal Wong was doing a disservice to the art toy community when he released his own line of 12” figures. Especially as he was poaching the earlier style, and designs of Michael Lau. Then I mentioned that Korean figure artist CoolRain was capitalizing on the movement, and like Eric So from Hong Kong I didn’t seem to have a big problem with it. Where did I draw the line? I think context had a lot to do with it, and I think the intent of the creatives could easily be taken out of context because they were Asian.

In the US we often considered luxury products coming from China to be cheap counterfeits. The nation was notorious for loose copyright protections. Clothing, shoes, and entire stores had been written about as poaching established brands. When it came to copying an IP nothing seemed out of bounds, least of all 12” vinyl figures. These things were not isolated to one country. South Korea had similar counterfeit markets as well. A portion of customers buying knock-offs was because they weren’t aware that they were fake. They wanted to appear like conspicuous consumers, to keep up with their neighbors, so they spent billions of dollars supporting the gray market. On this blog I’ve called out time, and time again how manhua artists copied illustrations from SNK, and Capcom manga when creating licensed, and unlicensed comics. I even did a multi-part series on the game Xuan Dou Zhi Wang / King of Combat for poaching designs, and elements from several fighting games. At the bottom of the blog I linked all the entries in that series.

The thing about Chinese, or Hong Kong creators was that anything they worked on was met with suspicion from consumers in the west. It didn’t matter if they were making a comic, game, toy, or fashion piece. The first thing that people overseas did (myself included) was try to dissect what they were doing, or try to find the direct connection to something that existed previously. I don’t think that this level of skepticism was equal compared to creators from Japan, or the US. It seemed all but impossible for me to give the Chinese credit for the work they were doing, and any new ground they were breaking. One of the things that hurt the reception from people in the west was that any new trends were instantly jumped on by contemporaries, and competitors. Copycats flooded the market as soon as a trend started.

I’m sure you’ve seen countless ads for Chinese, and Korean MMO’s that looked identical to each other. Worse yet they were poaching the designs from popular RPGs. I saw it happen in the figure market with Lau, where several contemporaries became much better known from being at the right place, at the right time. It didn’t seem fair to me that he didn’t get his flowers from the west for the movement he started. As I started putting together this series I took a hard look at the trends of copying, counterfeiting, and thought that maybe I had the wrong mindset. Maybe I was looking at the process from the wrong perspective. If I considered the intent, and context of Korean, Chinese, Hong Kong, and even Taiwanese creators then I might come to a different conclusion.

I began thinking of the culture, how the Chinese were manufacturing the lion’s share of consumer goods that the west enjoyed, but getting none of the respect for the labels. When it came to fighting games I thought of how many marital arts from China had been presented by studios the world over, but were always met with skepticism when a fighting game came from a Chinese developer. I thought of how many artists in the West were called geniuses for “remixing” established brands. Andy Warhol and his can of Campbells soup, Roy Lichtenstein making millions for copying old comic book panels, or Ron English taking jabs at US icons. It was art when they did it, but when the Chinese artist did it then it became a counterfeit. The oddest thing was that counterfeits could boost the sales of genuine products.

What if the Chinese were remixing culture, remixing brands, and not hung up on IP because it was not part of their cultural lexicon? This could work in a society that favored the collective good, rather than the individual achievement. Yes there were some creators intent on creating a knock-off to dupe prospective buyers. They wanted to sell a cheaper alternative to people searching for a brand name product. There were also some creating an homage to an established brand, but determined to put their own unique spin on it. They would make up variations of established logos, colors, and brands. Sometimes with a lot of creativity. Who would be the judges in determining what was on brand, versus a fake, versus an artistic interpretation?

Context had a lot to do with how we reported, and perceived these copies. In any case the nation was able to turn an idea into a product in record time. The volume, and speed that Chinese, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese creators were able to get toys, games, and fashion out there was dizzying. They were remixing products before the trends were even able to spread around the world. This approach made me reconsider the way I thought about the games, toys, and fashion items they were putting into the market. The difference between what Michael Lau, Eric So, Pal Wong, Jason Siu, CoolRain, and the Brothersfree trio did was so subtle that to many collectors it was imperceptible.

The figures that Michael Lau released were always a step ahead of his contemporaries. They were layered with details that some people missed. Take Meter Chen for example. The initial for the character’s name was based on the familiar McDonald’s fast food “Golden Arches” but it also represented the three legs of the character. The story behind the design made much more sense in context. Meterchen was based on an actual friend of Michael, the globe trotting journalist from East Touch magazine walked everywhere, hence the three legs. He spent more time in airports than at home, hence the rolling suitcase. He lived off of fast food, hence his packaging looked like a black, and gold McDonald’s bag. The levels of storytelling were amazing, but you could still enjoy the three-legged figure without any other context. It wasn’t always this deep with figures from some of his contemporaries. Not that it mattered, the style of his characters, and toys inspired countless variations, or “remixes” if you prefer.

Michael was aware of what the contemporaries were working on the entire decade of 2000. He was creating paintings, sculptures, and other mixed media projects in the interim. Like many artists he didn’t want to rest on his laurels, he wanted to be seen as something other than the vinyl figure guy. He made sure to share his toy influences on his future projects, but in entirely new formats, including massive resin, and fiberglass statues. He coined the term ar+oy, pronounced ArtToy, the meaning was that 'All Art Are Toys, All Toys Are Art'.

Many of the larger pieces he created went to private collectors, and international galleries. He didn’t want to leave his community of vinyl figure fans out of the loop. He released a few 12” figures between 2011 through 2015. A young version of Maxx called STREETMAXX, and an older version called WORKMAXX in which he had a mustache, and was wearing Carhartt brand workwear. This helped appease the demands of audiences for his original gardeners. These were limited to around 800 or less for each character. Of course fans wanted more. In the middle of the decade he dropped another line that would force his contemporaries to take notice.

The Michael Lau x How2Work Garden(palm)er series came out in 2013. The name itself was chosen because they could fit in the palm of your hand. Each drop featured nine figures in a box that looked just like a case of spray cans. It wouldn’t be the first time he had released art toys this way. A collectors set of the NY-Fat graffiti gardener figures in spray can cases came out a few years prior. What made the palmers unique was that they were 1/12 scale figures. Unlike the squat 6-inch mini-gardeners these figures were proportional to the original gardeners, but now roughly eight-inches in height. Each character even featured the same clothing as the original gardeners from 1999. Michael had a tradition of rewarding his most die-hard collectors. In a callout to his 2001 Crazy Children series each of the nine Garden(palm)er figures came with a bonus piece. If you collected all nine figures then you had enough pieces to assemble the mystery 10th figure. The mystery figures across all four seasons introduced entirely new gardeners into canon.

The rest of the figure community soon caught on that they could release figures in different scales, and proportions as well. They would not be locked into 1/6 scale, they could go 1/12, or 1/9 scale, just as easily. Or they could make figures that were round, or square, out of wood, resin, metal, or any number of material. The point was that fans would show up. The community was hungry for more. The studio that understood the assignment was Come4Arts. Their Corner Bar Series were essentially drinking buddies in roughly the same 8” area. Instead of spray cans each figure came in a fake beer can. Of course a set came in a six-pack. It was some very clever work from the Chinese group. I only wish I had bought the palmer figures when I had a chance, but I was on a very tight budget at the time. The toy importers were selling them at roughly $400 a box. So imagine that spending $1600 in four years on figures wouldn’t work out for me. I understand that serious collectors out there spend that much on single items. Good on them, I’m totally not jealous! (imveryjealousactually)

As fantastic as the palmer set was, they didn’t feature my favorite of the gardeners. A few of the original 6” mini gardeners did have some of my absolute favorite characters. I’d like to talk about them in a future blog. For now I would like to hear your thoughts on remix culture. Was it possible for Chinese, Korean, or other creators to get credit for remixing familiar brands, and logos without being accused of being counterfeiters? Or here’s another question for you. What’s the most you’ve ever spent on a toy, or figure? Tell me about it in the comments section please. If you wanted to read about the birth of the Chinese fighting game Xuan Dou Zhi Wang / King of Combat the series is below. 

Copycat Culture, part 1 

Copycat Culture, part 2 

Copycat Culture, part 3 

Copycat Culture, part 4 

Copycat Culture, part 5 

Copycat Culture, part 6 

Copycat Culture, part 7 

Copycat Culture, final part 

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