DESIGNER TOY

Be@rbrick Krooked Skateboarding

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About this Platform

Bearbrick (rendered Be@rbrick) is a collectible toy designed and produced by the Japanese company MediCom Toy Incorporated. The name is derived from the fact that the figure is a cartoon-style representation of a bear and that it is a variation of MediCom's Kubrick design. The at sign in the place of the letter a is a visual device that is a part of the Bearbrick brand, and as such, a trademark of MediCom Toy. The first figure was released 27 May 2001 as a free gift to visitors of the World Character Convention 12 in Tokyo. Since then Bearbricks have been released in several different sizes using a variety of materials, including wood, felt, and glow-in-the-dark plastic. The standard size is seven centimeters high, and these figures are referred to as 100% Bearbricks. Other Bearbricks are named for their size relative to the standard: 50% are four centimeters high, 70% are five centimeters high, 400% are 28 centimeters high, and 1000% are 70 centimeters high. A 200% size chogokin Bearbrick has also been produced standing 14 centimeters tall. A 150% size "Bearbrick Light" has also been produced in 2012, standing 10.5 centimeters tall with a key chain on its head. Medicom Toy is a Japanese brand specializing in the creation of collection toys and figurines since 1996. It has been founded by Tatsuhiko Akashi. It all started with the Kubrick, a so -called standard figurine at the Lego and Playmobil border, a figurine made up of 9 blocks (in Japanese 九 (Kyū) means 9). This new format quickly was very successful and the kubricks will quickly take many licenses from Star Wars to the Planet of the Apes. In parallel Medicom Toy Produced toys of collecting art, sold in limited quantities and very quickly develops many ranges with the RAH (Real Action Heroes), the Mafex (Magical Action Figures Ex), the VCD (Vinyl Collectible Dolls) or even UDF (Ultra Detail Figure). But the planetary success will come with the Be@rbrick, an adaptation of the kubrick in a small bear version with a small plump belly. These figurines in the form of printed bear with different drawings and patterns will make the success of Medicom Toy putting the BE@RBRICK At the Pantheon of designer toy. Many artists and Brands have collaborated on this line of products, in particular Nike, Keith Haring or Kaws, but we also find characters from Movie theater from universes such The artworks crackle with movement fittingly—Gonzales is a dancer, in the tradition of Merce Cunningham or Trisha Brown, but on wheels. His teenage years in 1980s Los Angeles were spent traversing the streets, which, by proxy, became his moving canvas. He earned a reputation as a pioneer of modern skateboarding—a master, albeit one not bound by flawlessness or precision, but the anarchy afforded only after achieving true mastery. It was as if he haphazardly broke the laws of nature, causing time and space to bend to him, leaving a wake of influential agitation behind him. His art, like his poetry, is not separate from his skating. Gonzales’s canvases are filled with painterly technique honed over years of drawing and painting, but they also exhibit a shambolic quality; the works are precise and imprecise all at once. This particular body is inspired by the disappointment he felt when his business partner “sold out” in the early 1990s, the faces are bursting with bitterness. They are put-on fake smiles, cheerful in the face of misery and embarrassment. Years later, however, the harsh cynicism has softened, and the power of the smiles seems to have cracked the regret. Indeed, Gonzales seems to be saying,

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  • Retail Price $6.00
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