That's a pretty amazing collection! I've always liked the James Jarvis toys, just never got around to picking any up...which is probably a good thing, because that's a rabbit hole I don't need to go down!
@---NT--- I got insanely lucky with my Leon pair. They’re pretty difficult to find, and even when you do they’re usually costly. The Martin X decorated after the Kid Hunter is a favorite of mine. I gotta bring more photos here soon, including Martin and the Back Drop Bomb Kid.
I picked up the Stussy Leon from the old Covent Garden store (that became a KidRobot for a brief period). It was released in conjunction with some Stussy Nike’s. Leon worked at that shop. I probably got the Sillything version from the Amos webstore. The original Martin remains my favourite figure because it was the first of the then new wave of post McFarlane toys I learned about, having seen it in an issue of The Face. Bounty Hunter’s role in making it and both the 10 year later version and the King Kun bridges the two brands nicely. These crossovers tie the collection together like a rug to a room. I would love to see some BDP photos!
The Leon’s are probably my favorite Jarvis toy. I just like the natural angry face on it, but the overall silhouette of the figure is fun in its posture. I also love the Nike’s being a staple of the feet. But the Martin is such a jovial character. The red shirt/blue jeans version is my second favorite. The Back Drop Bomb kids are cool as shit, but I’m missing the counterpart version. It has its shortcomings with me; they get dirty and scuffed VERY easily(mine was new in bag and hardly touched), the underarms collide with the hoodie if articulated too far down, and the head doesn’t articulate. Even still, this is a GREAT street figure and I’m glad to have found one with general ease. The gun he comes with is fuckin’ awesome. I’ve also noticed a handful of Japanese characters have the gas mask as a design element. I wonder if there’s anything to that? Spoiler
As ever, amazing photos @xSuicide Squadx! The gas mask definitely became a cliche/trope of the HK vinyl scene pretty early on, eg ThreeZero's Agent figures. As a layman, I suspect a gas mask is a tad easier to deploy than coming up with a character face. I'm not on twitter, but if anyone into this thread is, it would be interesting to ask https://twitter.com/tyoempire?lang=en how they came up with the BDB Kid character.
@Bounch Funnily enough, I just came into a pair of the Threezero Agents. Pretty eager to finally hold one in my hands. Damn things never seem to come up, but suddenly did recently. Bounty Hunter themselves also have the CMC Kid and the Pagoda Kun. But there are quite a few of the early Hong Kong designer soft vinyl dolls that adorned the gas mask. I’m not opposed to it. It’s rather menacing, but also has a rebellious nature to it. Fighting back sort of thing. As for the Back Drop Bomb Kid, I think it may have been a character designed for the band Back Drop Bomb, and BxH picked it up to be made into a toy. I’ve seen it on shirts and some CD art, but I have no idea which came first.
This is on the BXH splash page at the moment... [image removed as the image is no longer the one I posted! - it was the latest Skull Kun all black colourway]
That’s one of the newer shirts they just released. Such a cool design. Love the black and red. Looks like an alternate Fulci zombie flick poster. I hope they release a second wave of the matte black Skull Kun.
Their splash page changes too quickly! The day I posted was the murdered out (I’m coining that’s, see if it gets traction) Kun. looking forward to hitting up Yahoo Jp when I emerge from my lair.
@Bounch Surprisingly, I’ve only seen one of the new Skull Kun show up online, and it was priced at almost $450. Hopefully that means peeps lucky enough to come up on ‘em are super into it, and plan on keepin’ it!
@akum6n It is real. I’ve seen an interview video with Hiddy where it sits in the background on a group shot of his personal collection. It’s a badly pixelated image, but the video is old and not of much quality! You can see the DX in question next to a red prototype, and a couple blank OG Skull Kun.
@xSuicide Squadx Thanks! I would never have figured that one out. I can't believe you remembered that toy from a background shot in a video.
@akum6n It’s a rather short segment of a video, and I’ve fawned over the coolness on those shelves before! I instantly recognized it when I saw it hit Manda’ and it didn’t last long. It’d be awesome to get my hands on that red one!!!
Japanese sofubi. Drops tomorrow. Count Chocula tribute to sit alongside the red/pink Frankenberry that dropped late last year.
Just got some fantastic confirmation that the homie in Japan was able to come through for me. And second friend in Japan has also revealed that the Skull Kun smells like chocolate out of the bag!!!
Missing out on the matte black/glossy all black Skull Kun was a major bummer, as that release could not have been more perfect to my tastes and aesthetics! However, this Count a Chocula homage not only more than makes up for it, but is also perfectly awesome! And comin’ out of the bag it smells like chocolate! Fingers crossed a Boo Berry version is on the way soon!!! Spoiler
I for one like it. Universal Monster mash up vibes with the blank monochrome choice being an obvious choice for BxH. This ain’t no Mechacreatch or Planet Asia it has STYLLLLE BABY