How the Sparks kept me going through 2024

Hello friends, I hope your summer is going well. Things are moving along on my side of the world. I just wanted to highlight a team that has been helping my mental state this year. I had been open these past few years about the effects that COVID-19 had with my work, professional, and personal relationships. Avoiding crowds, and trying to keep my family safe has been difficult. I discovered that going back, and emulating my artistic influences helped me reconnect with the things I loved. I was feeling a little creatively drained spring of this year. That was when I started writing about my love of basketball, and streetball art. I decided to give myself a creative challenge. I decided to draw the Los Angeles Sparks, our local WNBA team.

I knew that this challenge wouldn’t burn me out as the team had 12 members. It would be easy for me to illustrate the lineup. The last time I challenged myself in a similar fashion I went overboard. In the heart of the lockdown I discovered that drawing bikes helped my mental well being. When I wrote the blog I said I had drawn around 50 F1 BMX bikes. A few weeks later that number had grown to over 100 bikes. As much fun as I had drawing them all it also drained me creatively.

Granted there were over 140 players in the league, and I could probably crank them all out in the summer, but then I’d be back to square one. So this time around I set myself a cut off. Draw only one team of players, and leave it at that. I’ve been a fan of the league, and team since it was founded in 1997. I’d make sure to draw female basketball, and streetball characters in my sketchbook because the sport belonged to everyone. I didn’t want to be known as the guy that only drew guy players.

I might do more detailed illustrations in the future if the mood strikes me. For now I’m happy with how the team turned out. Are there any sport teams you follow? Or are there ways you can express your creativity that helps recharge your mental, and emotional batteries? I’d like to read about them 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!

Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 11

The indication that the US was ready to elevate the status of street fashion, Hip Hop music, and Black culture in general happened in the late ‘90s, and early 2000’s. The rise of athletes like Allen “The Answer” Iverson, Stephon “Starbury” Marbury, Gary “The Glove” Payton, and Rafer “Slip 2 My Lou” Alston were unlike the previous generation of pro athletes. They were gifted with skills, and had built their reputations in college, but more important to many in the streets during the summertime. The NBA, like many professional leagues guarded their image. They made sure that coaches, and players dressed in suits while doing interviews, or sitting in the sidelines while injured. They would fine players for breaking any codes of conduct in games, and in public as well.

To many the polished images that the league presented was bland, and predictable. Seeing clean-cut college prospects move into the pro ranks was becoming stale. Suddenly there was a rise in rash, tattooed, outspoken, and genre-changing athletes. Young players that had the audacity to not only talk back to Michael Jordan, but also to cross him up, and humiliate him on court. The NBA couldn’t get them to conform to the old ways. When the organizers realized that the players with street roots represented a large population of their audience they changed course, and started using them for marketing. They started highlighting rappers sitting court-side on television, they started inviting Hip Hop acts to perform at the All Star Game, and even loosened their rules on visible tattoos.

Electronic Arts developed a number of pro sports video games, but they too felt that it was high time to incorporate more street culture into their library. So they had a sister developer called EA Big start creating action sports titles, like the iconic SSX Tricky snowboard game. But more important they released NBA Street in 2001. On the cover was a fictional player named Stretch Monroe. He was sort of avatar of the classic NBA stars from the ’70s. He was somehow still actively holding down the game in the streets against players more than half his age. The world would never be the same following its release. The studio would also add NFL Street, and FIFA Street into their catalog. They were essentially smaller groups of the top players, and teams, playing a looser version of the sport on the playground. Rather than be more like a simulation game, the focus was more on capturing the arcade experience. NBA Street was essentially a call back to the classic NBA Jam arcade hit from a decade earlier. I called NBA Street one of my favorite games of All-Time. The game had smooth controls, and an easy to learn combo system, which allowed you to crossover opponents for bonus points. It was as if EA Big figured out how to incorporate the combo mechanics of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, but put it into a sports game.

NBA Street was a breath of fresh air. I was never a fan of the traditional sports games. I didn’t care about building franchises, trading players, or grinding through seasons. The more realistic those titles were the less interesting they became to me. Giving slightly exaggerated abilities to a handful of star athletes made them feel more like super heroes, and less like mortals in the game world. Suddenly the game play had much more potential to me. The same could be argued of Hawk, and his fellow pro skaters. They could survive impossible drops, perform back-to-back tricks mid air, and grind rails without losing momentum. There was still a lot of realism in the games, but reality was not the goal. It was more on the fantastic spectrum of what was humanly possible. In addition to the brilliant game play were the visuals. The aesthetic of the players in the franchise was more animated. The proportions employed by EA Big was the predecessor to the All Star Vinyl figures by Upper Deck.

You could imagine how much I loved the look of the players in this game. They were the kinds of basketball players that I would draw, but finally animated. The impact of the Street series on me, and on basketball fans in general could not be understated. If you don’t believe me GQ called NBA Street 2 the greatest basketball game ever made. It would be hard for me to counter that argument. The game was an instant hit, and spawned a number of sequels. Yet like the Hawk franchise, the greedy publisher forced the developers to crank out sequels with diminished quality over the following years. I predicted that the market would be flooded with streetball games in 2005. The team at EA Big in Canada didn’t have time to innovate, they didn’t have time to look for newer or better game play options. They substituted evolution by adding all sorts of over-the-top gimmicks. Eventually the series would burn out. However the template they created would be picked up by indy developers.

JoyCity the South Korean company was founded in 1994 as Chung Media and was later renamed to JC Entertainment in 2000. They released a an MMO PC game called FreeStyle Street Basketball in 2004. The game did well over the years, as did many other MMOs coming out of South Korea. Freestyle2 Street Basketball came out in 2015. The game did even better, and expanded the universe of playground basketball characters that JC Entertainment had established. Their cross platform successor 3on3 Freestyle Basketball originally came out for PC / Steam on Dec. 2016, and Xbox Aug. 2018. Other studios were eager to cash in on the trend. Beijing Halcyon Network Technology Co., LDT released Dunk Nation 3x3 in 2017. The Asian collective All9Fun which developed games for Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao released Basketrio: Allstar Streetball in 2020.

As a fan of the Michael Lau, and by extension urban vinyl school of design I could tell that his work in the early 2000’s had certainly rubbed off on the character designers working in South Korea, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The style of the characters, the proportions, the attention to outfits, and presentation was unmistakable. Lau was not the only influence, Eric So, CoolRain, Brothersfree, and Jason Siu also colored the aesthetic that went into toy, game, and collectable art for the next two decades. Looking at the designs featured in the games by JC Entertainment, Halcyon, and All9Fun was a master class in bridging the aesthetic, culture, and shifting role of online gaming.

Let’s start with the stylized characters featured in all of the above mentioned streetball games. What really stood out to me were the styles of the designs. When the studios created basketball players, they were very much in the vein of Michael Lau, Kadir Nelson, and Chris Brunner. I would even put my name as a contributor of that style even if I only impacted 0.01% of the artists out there. The trio created some lanky, stylized, forms that worked great for basketball. They even made sure that sneakers these cartoonish character wore were large, and reflected the style of the time. It didn’t matter if their kicks were licensed or not. They made sure that players could read the fashion of each athlete which gave them additional layers of personality. The type of physical build they put forward didn’t work with all sports, but on the fast paced game of basketball it was perfect. These designs worked amazingly well in animation. The long arms, and legs, the oversized hands, the flat, expressive faces were the ultimate athletic canvas.

I noticed that the Asian studios were quick to use street culture, to use Hip Hop as the backdrop of many of their titles. The graffiti, the fashion, the music, the overall visual language. The oldest trailers for Freestyle Street Basketball had a graffiti artist using spray paint to bring the characters to life. A deejay was scratching beats on a turntable while a black basketball player without pupils was putting together a freestyle routine. This character would eventually be named Deacon, and featured prominently over the years. Many years later when Freestyle2 was announced a new Black character with gold hair named Leo debuted. He was essentially a new take on Deacon. Almost every studio was quick to feature Black characters in their opening animations, and online marketing as well. This was a form of signaling to the community that the streetball was authentic, however the staring roles didn’t go always go to Black characters. At least not in the early days of the streetball MMOs.

The star characters of each of the JC Entertainment games fit a similar model. The oldest star character the studio created was Saru, in some of the oldest advertising, and trailers his jersey actually read Sabu. The character wore red, and black, the classic Chicago Bulls colors. Had a tribal tattoo sleeve. He was essentially the prototypical cool streetball player. His design influences were a cross sample of elements that the Asian market would identify, even if they weren’t familiar with the stars in the NBA, or US playgrounds.

The character’s name, and his jersey was more than a nod to the ‘90s era Bulls which were known the world over. The outfit was based on the protagonist Saru gang from the highly influential Tokyo Tribe manga / anime, which was first published in 1993, and was serialized in Boon magazine between 1997-2005. This was often the first exposure that many fans in Asia had to Hip Hop culture. Even if they had not known anything about Tokyo Tribe the young basketball hero in a red jersey was also seen in Slam Dunk. The manga was first published in 1990, and went on to get translated into multiple languages as well. It was a primer for many fans to basketball culture. Saru’s design would be easily identifiable as the hero to the Asian market, just as Stretch was recognized as the star of the NBA Street series in the west.

The next hero of the Freestyle series was Jack. By the time the sequel was released in 2015 the urban vinyl school of design had already changed the looks of characters in games, and animation. The reception to lanky heroes was welcome in several genres, especially basketball. The cool culture was street culture, Hip Hop was everywhere, and style was more important than substance. The athletic uniform was out the window, as Jack played shirtless, in leather pants, and sneakers. It was an absurd outfit for playing, but the cool factor was unarguable. At the same time JC Entertainment still featured characters in traditional outfits, but was letting players create custom characters that wore all sorts of costumes, and accessories. The studio had essentially placed Freestyle2 in a universe similar to Lau’s gardeners. People walked around with boxes on their heads. Or there were animal people, or cyborgs inhabiting this world where everything was settled through basketball tournaments.

The thing that always bothered me about the street basketball games coming out on Steam, mobile, and consoles from overseas was that Black characters always seemed to be relegated to supporting characters at best, or villains at worst. Well, actually there could be subtext in the designs that was even worse than evil, and that was outright racist. Dark skinned characters were sometimes portrayed as aggressive, tough, and sometimes ape-like, if not outright apes. I wish I could say that this was a trope that was abandoned generations ago, but it would still rear its ugly head from time to time. The light-skinned champion against these apes, or savages in a Black setting was a tradition that had always bothered me in all media.

It went back to the days of Tarzan of the Apes, the adventure books from 1912 featured the white champion as not only being the strongest, and bravest warrior in all of Africa, but he could also talk to the animals. In essence he was superior to every Black man on the continent. This type of white savior story had spread around the world for decades, coloring other cultures perception of dark-skinned characters. As a Mexican-American I was sensitive to how minorities were portrayed in media. I could never imagine how a Black kid would even react when faced with the same tropes. Even Michael Lau was not immune from centering the gardener universe around the light skinned Maxx. His best friend, and rival Brian was Black. They went back-and-forth against each other in skate contests in the pages of East Touch magazine. 

Having the pair as skaters, and not the more stereotypical basketball players was a refreshing change of pace. Brian, and his girlfriend Elsa not only added much needed color to the lineup, they were symmetrical balances to Maxx, and Miss. The Black characters also demonstrated that no matter how cool Maxx was, the Black kids in the neighborhood were just as cool. The show of diversity certainly lent more street cred to the gardeners, but throwing anthropomorphic animals into the world of figure art could also be seen as exploitative out of context. Say for example Coolrain releasing a series of vinyl figures called the Dunkeys, as in Slam Dunk Monkeys. Of all the animals he could have gone with maybe monkey basketball players was not the wisest of choices. I know that falling back on ugly stereotypes, or insensitive racial jabs wasn’t Lau, or Coolrain’s intent, as it wasn’t for most of the character creators at the time. This wasn’t a fast, and hard rule.

Black heroes would get some moments to shine in Western culture. The comic book character T’Challa the Black Panther was created in 1966 by Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby. Luke Cage created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. debuted in 1972. The most recent Marvel breakout star, the biracial Miles Morales created by Brian Michael Bendis, and Sara Pichelli debuted in 2011. These were all examples of white creators putting Black heroes into pop culture. There were other Black stars in the Marvel, and DC books after the creation of the Black Panther, but new comics rarely presented Black characters as the focal point. This fact was even more pronounced in Asian countries. Of course this had a lot to do with the ethnic makeup of the nations. This didn’t stop the creators from using Black supporting characters to ground their work.

In Slam Dunk for example the main character followed the pattern of manga heroes. Sakuragi Hanamichi was the typical high school Japanese kid, that happened to be a loser with the girls. He would become a better person, get a girlfriend, and shine as a star athlete in the end. The respected team captain was the Black center Akagi Takenori. Akagi was the more physically imposing of the two, and wiser by far, but it would be absurd to think that a Black character would be the lead character in early '90s Japanese stories. The manga Tokyo Tribe, and its sister series Tokyo Graffiti borrowed Hip Hop culture, and fashion wholesale. The main character was the deejay Kai Deguchi who had a fresh line-up, listened to rap, and went clubbing with his crew. His rival was Mera, the dark skinned, big-lipped heavy in a fur coat. If you didn't know better you could swear these heavily were biracial characters, if not heavily coded Black characters.

By focusing on somebody that looked like them the books helped Japanese kids understand Hip Hop culture, or appreciate the sport of basketball. Yet there was something much deeper in understanding the layers of Hip Hop, and streetball that didn't necessarily come through in the manga, whether or not the star was Asian, or Black. This was something that I had referred to on a much earlier blog about the rise, and fall of streetball. I'm going to paste something from that exact series right here regarding the influence that streetball had on China. There was a young man that became hooked on the early AND1 mix tapes, and tour, Wu You aka MoreFree is the Chinese legend that helped spread the gospel overseas. He would challenge visiting NBA players to 1-on-1 battles, and dazzle them with his skills. As audiences learned to differentiate streetball from traditional basketball then local courts started building reputations, just as they had done in New York, Chicago, and LA. Dongdan Court in China is considered the Holy Land. When the summers heat up you could find the best players competing  at Dongdan.

A Westerner might call the Chinese "biters" or just laugh at their attempts to incorporate Black fashion, and language into their lexicon. But then again where did they get the idea that streetball is about fashion and tricks? It had a lot to do with how the west presented themselves in the mix tapes and of course in the entertainment industry. Asia was quickly getting sold on the idea that streetball was about entertainment, and not basketball. The big shoe companies learned that there was no one approach that could appeal to all audiences. They had to be sensitive to differences in culture, language, art, music, and presentation. Nike couldn't simply release USA Battlegrounds merch in mainland China featuring the name of Holocombe Rucker Park in Harlem, or the Venice Beach Courts. The Chinese had no point of reference to NYC, or LA's street roots. Dongdan Court on the other hand would make more sense. That was why they began creating custom streetball campaigns in their biggest markets. The Beijing 99 campaign by Nike incorporated many symbolic characters from classic tradition, and had the best street players from around the country compete. This was the type of world that influenced creators like Michael Lau, Santa Inoue, and their contemporaries.

At this point the basketball player, and even streetball legend was a cultural standard in Asia. This was thanks to the exposure of AND1, and the Mixtape Tour at the end of the '90s/early '00s. While Japan was known for its various basketball manga, including the title "REAL" which focused on wheelchair basketball, the creators in Hong Kong had already released streeball manhua.  In every instance, whether it was a comic, anime, or video game the light-skinned hero would remain the star of most of the popular basketball titles. Would this change in the future? I couldn’t tell you. I could however say that the approach that most of the streetball games from overseas did push the genre in some fresh ways. I will look at this in the next entry of the series. Were you a fan of any of the EA Big Street games? Did you ever identify with a minority character in any game or comic more than the main character? I’d like to hear 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!

Remix Culture, how Asian designers changed the game, part 9

In the previous blog on this series I talked about biting the bullet and ordering my first non-Michael Lau set of vinyl figures. I longed to have my own Lau-style of basketball players, seeing as he would never release a 1/6 scale version of his iconic Jordon gardener. Around 2002 I scored a set of highly stylized 12-inch basketball players called Super-X from the company Dragon Models. I also got the mini action figure set that day. I checked eBay recently and the only person selling both sets together was asking for $1600. Needless to say when I originally got the figures I didn’t even pay a fraction of that. As I said before I was at the right place, at the right time when a trend was first starting to take off.

The thing that I enjoyed about Lau’s work was that his gardeners represented a culture, rather than a specific person. Something similar could be argued for the Super-X starting five. They were inspired by the greatest to ever play the game, but whereas the actual players were at different stages of their careers this set would forever be them in their prime. I’m glad that four of the five that inspired this set were still with us. Although I wasn’t always a fan of Kobe I could not deny his work ethic, and his mastery of the game. Sadly Kobe, his daughter, and their friends died in a tragic helicopter crash in 2020.

The “Black Mamba” had changed the game, and could be one of the few to be considered a legitimate challenger to the title of G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) against even Michael Jordan. Allen Iverson’s tribute to Kobe Bryant helped put perspective on what his rivals, and friends really thought about him. The figure based on Bryant had a vinyl sculpted afro. His Super-X figure name translated from Chinese to “Hair-to-hair ratio.” I have no context for the meaning behind this name.

As for Iverson, his figure might have been the coolest in the lot. Number 3 on the team was named Lightning Son. His sculpted cornrows oozed personality. Each of the figures not only came in a game uniform, but they all came with a change of clothes, basketball, and sticker set. As someone that longed for the street style featured on the Michael Lau gardeners this was easily the next best thing.

Number 15 was called Tyrannosaurus. This character was based on Vince Carter, who at the time was playing for the Toronto Raptors. The character had a red tyrannosaurus tattoo on his head, and a purple sweatshirt with a tag phrase “raft raft.” I’m not sure what the Chinese meaning was behind those words. The Michael Jordan character was called Fei Ren Dun, again I had no idea if that meant something special in Chinese. The nice detail about the street outfits that each had was that they were in the team colors for the players they were based on. In this case of number 23 the navy blue, and black mirrored the colors of the Washington Wizards.

The largest of the crew was number 34 aka Dakou. I couldn’t find a meaning for Dakou, but I did learn that daku meant to cry loudly in Mandarin. Maybe the character inspired by Shaq was a crybaby? I certainly wouldn’t say that to his face. Each of the characters had a slightly different height, reflecting the size differences in the actual NBA players. Sadly for Dakou his body was rail thin. The designers at Dragon Models didn’t realize that he needed a much broader frame to keep him from looking strange. His massive head needed a custom body to make him proportional to the character art. But that was a minor gripe on an otherwise amazing set of figures.

The only thing that was missing with my new figures was a backboard, and hoop to display the set with. Unfortunately Enterbay wouldn’t have a 1/6 scale backboard for a few more years. When it did come out it would cost hundreds, which would be more than I paid for the entire Super-X lineup. I couldn’t justify that purchase. The other backboards featured in toy lines were either too small, or unrealistic. I never thought that I would find something to display them with. Then one day my mom got her hands on an Avon catalog from a co-worker. She said there was a doll in there that I would want to order. I didn’t know what she was talking about until I turned to that page. It was exactly what I needed.

Get Real Girls was an action sports response to Barbie. The dolls were released in toy stores in 1999, and Avon Kids had a few that they made available in their catalogs. There was Corey the surfer, Nakia the basketball player, Gabi the soccer player, Nini the hiker, Claire the scuba diver, and Skyler the snowboarder. Nakia was from Washington D.C., and was obsessed with playing basketball in New York. She was wearing a basketball jersey, and shorts. Plus her hair was braided, as an actual Black girl might have had while playing. Her figure set included a basketball, hoop, and backboard, gym bag, sports bottle, cell phone, sunglasses, necklace which doubled as a bracelet with a silver basketball charm. Needless to say that once I assembled the backboard I had something that I could proudly display my Super-X figures with.

Nakia had tons of 1/6 scale items that weren’t even included in the future Enterbay releases. The figure set also included a passport with her story, post card, and sticker stamp. I guessed that each doll in the series also share their own story as well. Barbie might have been a general role model for all women, but she didn’t capture the love for action sports like these figures. The Get Real Girls line was rebooted in 2016 as a Kickstarter project. I finally had a basketball vinyl collection that I didn’t think any creator in the US would ever top. That was until four years later when one of the largest trading card companies in the world did just that. I will talk about it on the next blog. For now I’d like to know if you followed the NBA in the early 2000’s or if you had another favorite era, or group of players? Did you collect any 12" figures? Let me know 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!

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!