Can we have a talk about racist iconography?

OK, I have a question, I don't want to be divisive, but what's the deal with the all of the Nazi imagery in the toy scene, it seems like there's been an influx of Swazi, Hitler, and Pickininny imagery,

I was absent from buying toys for about 5 years, and I don't remember it being this prevalent. To top it off, it's coming from artists and producers I really love. Some pieces I can understand, with the toy being an obvious villain, but people who have a fascination with hip hop culture also making (aforementioned Jig-a-boo) figures is mind boggling.

It's really sad when I scroll far enough on a toymakers page, and there's a Hitler figure. So what's the deal, can anyone explain this to me without calling out any toymakers? Talk shit about Nags and HxS all day, but I've never seen a Swazi on either of their figures. I understand that the swastika was appropriated, and I get that not all swastikas are bad, but that's not what I'm talking about.

 

This has been brought up multiple times, I think in the fugliest toy thread? I will never ever buy any Nazi/Hitler toy, or even Putin for that matter, myself

 

It’s because these toy makers are pieces of shit who think Nazi crap is e d g y .

 

Nags have a hidden swastika in their anus. True story.

 

I never saw that, but the name Boryoku Genjin (Violent Caveman) and the "Made in Occupied Japan" stamp were certainly jabs at Americans.

(EDIT: I forgot that some figures also had "Fuck USA" stamps.)

We had a brief discussion about the Nazi stuff on the fugly thread about a year ago, here:

http://skullbrain.org/bb/index.php?...-while-collecting.42327/page-235#post-1017737

 

Sad to say that my opinion of a prominent sculptor/brand that I had really enjoyed took a 180 after a terrible Nazi 'toy' last year.

 

I get that it’s been touched on but a for instance is today I was scrolling through IG at a makers page, eventually, amongst his older work was a Hitler woodblock he had made, and in the comments another toymaker I like said “This is so fire, I want it so bad”.

And it was like a kick in the teeth considering how badly I wanted his current release.

These aren’t just unknown edgelords either. I'm just wondering if it's strictly in Jest, or are the Nazi's supposed to equate to monsters, so it's ok? Am I missing something?

At least the KaijuTan hitler was wearing clown makeup and on the body of a pig. I would never buy it, but that's something I can wrap my head around.

Also I can't imagine someone ordering a Hitler Dollie, and having it inspected by customs. 'No you don't understand the subtle nuances of his mustache made of eels'.

Also again it's not just Nazi's there's so many historically inappropriate depictions of African Americans as well. Like a lot of the shit I've seen should go in the Jim Crow museum.

 

There will always be people in art and music who try to shock and offend, and people who lap that shit up. Also, there seems to be a distinct lack of education in certain countries about the holocaust. A short documentary shared on the fugly thread stuck in my mind, where a young Japanese man is shown the nazi swastika and he asks, is it a logo for a clothing brand?

It's bizarre but true. There have been nazi themed weddings in China, clothing stores called 'Hitler' etc in Thailand ... there was a punk band in Japan who dressed as Nazi officers ....

 

I feel like, as a creator, if at any point, while banging out concepts, I think to myself "oh I know! I'll put some dicks and random nazi references on it!", I might want to reevaluate my creativity. Maybe I should go on sabbatical, go to a drink n draw, meet people who don't suck at art and learn something. I'm just saying.

 

I can see this being the case because of the distances involved and the isolationist/homogenous nature of most Asian countries. Maybe its changed now, but we in the UK were taught very little about other countries history in school . . . only the shit that directly affected the UK.

Not agreeing with or condoning in any way, but with this perspective and seeing the Japanese desire for perfection in all they do, I can see why some may be distracted about Hitlers aim and methodology - looking to create the perfect human race and executing his plan so clinically - without grasping the full horror of the genocide.

Oversimplifying, but I'm also guessing that Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn't put the US/British/allied countries in too much of a good light either and may skew perspectives.

Whilst there may be a little 'self-professing prophecy' involved, 'Hi! My name is Loco and I am a Racist' by Bayne McNeil is an interesting read regarding inherent sub-conscious racism in modern Japan . . . which even as an old white gaijin, I have noticed on occasion.

 

Yeah, I had a Northern Irish girlfriend who used to get annoyed when people criticised her lack of knowledge on english history topics, even though most of Ulster is part of the UK, she always said her schooling was still very Irish based.

 

He just made a gas mask German soldier, dude. It's not a toy for me, but i'm not offended by it either.

 

I
I don't follow much new stuff . . . who are 'we' talking about. Any chance of posting pics for context?

 

I think he's referring to this toy from Karzworks

 

yeah that's the one and I think it is horrible.

 

I think we just shouldn’t be drawing any inspiration from a fucking war. These are supposed to be toys (or art, we had this argument before) and there is nothing fun, cute, or toyish about war. I also have been weirded out by green army men since I was a kid, so maybe I’m just too sensitive. I don’t know.

 

The toy was also named "Mutant Nazi."

 

I mean, ffs it certainly has the whiff of nazi about it without even knowing the name!

 

I'd also say, I've not seen one person with that toy in their collection. Nobody online in the usual places, proudly showing off their 'Mutant Nazi'.

 

There are some companies out there that realize they're selling internationally and need to change their products, which I see as a good thing. These recent Medicom figures of the bullies from Robocon have had the designs modified so that they don't feature Buddhist manji that look like swastikas anymore:

 

Now they look like taped nipples instead

 

#freethenipple

 

#SoftVinylHardNipples

 

Only because Andy asked for this..
Screenshot 2023-10-15 at 5.09.16 PM by Michael McGowan, on Flickr
Screenshot 2023-10-15 at 5.10.27 PM by Michael McGowan, on Flickr
Screenshot 2023-10-15 at 5.10.18 PM by Michael McGowan, on Flickr

 

It's a bummer that people warp the art into something hateful.