Well, I hate to be the guy that says crappy stuff. This is a weird post. Two new figures from the folks at KR. Look, we spend a lot of time bashing KR, and I think for good reason (granted, there is a lot of crappy stuff coming from Japan right now as well). Also, Nicole is a nice person, and I like her. But, for once, I want to get specific, even though it will probably come up later to bite me in the ass. It is time to call things for what they are. As always, these are my opinions, and are presented not to offend, but explain. Here we go.
Two releases. Frostie Beats and Kidpunk 16 (three editions). First off, I though the concept and general execution of Frostie was pretty cool. The boombox is executed pretty crappily, but the figure itself looks like fun. I am sure anyone with more hip hop knowledge than myself will have another reaction.
The Kidpunk is another story. Yeah, it is a cartoon of punk, I got that, that happens all the time in mall punk, that does not offend me more than anyone else that does it. (And boy howdy does it merchandise well with all over printed bubble cloud sweatshirts!) My offense comes from the fact that they clearly are aping bands directly, yet not paying them for it. Yeah, we aped black flag, but we gave them away to the fan club, we did not sell them. But to make a run of 500+ figures, and then take someone's records and just straight rip it? Lame. Dead Kennedy's should be pissed, not only the record cover, but the tee too. Let's face it, they should have paid the bands they were referencing a licensing fee to do it. We paid Gorilla Biscuits, we paid Balzac. We pay Toho. I guess the fundamental point of view is this: When you can get permission, why wouldn't you?
That and the fact that somehow KR is trying to pass themselves as paying homage to their punk rock heritage is ridiculous. When was that part of the KR history?
(man i wish their ws a vomiting smily..)