I like KAWS. I think this particular release is boring/lacking, but people tend to forget, KAWS is not primarily a toy maker, and as far as I know, he's never sculpted anything that's been put out with his name on it. I've always seen his toys as a small side project in comparison to his work and involvement in the art world.

However, since his collaboration with Sorayama, I've yet to be wowed by KAWS. As of late, I think his character choice has been poor, and the level of modification so minimal, it's quite disappointing.

If KAWS seeks to advance in "our" world, I think he should focus more on collaborative pieces. So far I think these have been the most intriguing in more recent years; Sorayama, Yue Min Jun, Lazzarini. Otherwise, maybe he should try taking some of his abstract characters into consideration.

The Yue Min Jun colab is my favorite of all and would kill for one of those !

First of all, a disclaimer: I'm not a huge Kaws fan, I don't collect his work but I do casually follow it.




I feel like any artist name could be filled into this statement and say the same thing. I think Kaws gets called out more for this because his choices of referencing pop culture are more obvious.



I agree with your 1st paragraph entirely. However, I feel like all of Kaws toy collaborations are the same; A mixing of an artist's style/character merged with a Kaws aesthetic. The pop culture icons get more scrutiny because you've seen those characters a thousand times, and they are exactly that, pop icons. The artist collaborations look more interesting because you haven't seen that character a thousand times, and the artist Kaws collaborates with usually have an aesthetic that is vastly different than his cartoony norm. While I admit they are visually more interesting, I can't say they are different or anymore imaginative than the pop culture icons. If Charles Schultz, Disney, or any of the pop culture icons Kaws references in both his work and general aesthetic weren't burned into our brains as known characters, we might find them just as visually interesting as the other artist collaborations.

I want a KAWS Kermit the Frog

^^Yo man you said it! That would be so cool. And maybe a Sesame Street character too... I love all his $tuff.

I really wish the Yue Min Jun collaboration had been a mass production piece.



I definitely see what you're saying. I just think the collaboration pieces are more interesting than his most recent character choices-Pinocchio, Tweety, Snoopy, not to mention the execution has been a little weak. I thought he did great with figures like Vader.

It'd be nice to see KAWS go the soft vinyl route one more time, outside of a BxH collaboration.

I guess my point of view is that I grew up with Disney, the Peanuts gang, and all that 80's stuff. And I love it! Who doesn't love Disney, right?! So use those as inspiration and help fuel your own imagination and own creations.

That's what Walt did and came up with his own universe and empire. .So to me this just seems lazy on Kaw's part. You know, not coming with NEW stuff. And I know these are just toys, but it seems that his use of pop culture is just copying except for some Xs, come on man!!! That's sad if thats what it comes down to for people to like "your" stuff.

Having said that, I'm glad for his success and wish him nothing but the best and continual success, which I'm sure he will! There's always a su...a collector out there.

And I respect everyone's opinion here and am glad we have a place to discuss toys! Cuz I know I don't have anywhere else for this type of nonsense!

I want Kaws "Degrassie high"!
By the way, the Kaws Joe is pointless! I don't get it?

10/29
17,640yen

OK, that price tag is totally bogus for this piece.

240.00! Aww hell no

As long as people keep buying it.

$240? What a friggin' joke.

The Lazzaiini version, did not sell very well, concider the fact it is a Kaws!

well, that's rather the point, isn't it? the kaws x lazzarini pieces were, bluntly put, hard to look at. it's like listening to the "dark side of the moon" when you're NOT chemically imbalanced, or standing too close to a good jackson pollack. it intentionally puts you off kilter, and honestly, who wants that? okay, so i'm going all "artsy" and veering off into dangerous tangental corridors, so let me put it this way...

you're most salable product is the one that speaks to the widest possible audience.
put even simpler, design to the lowest common denominator.

this is the lowest common denominator, people. it was either this, or "ziggy."

my favorite kaws piece, its been all downhill since then =P

I guess we can expect "as little design as possible" from Kaws in the future, then!

i thought the Kaws x Lazzerini set was awesome. I have all three pieces and I think one should see them in person to really appreciate.

i'm not discounting the kaws x lazzarini companions by any means, and apologies if i came across that way. i think they are by far some of the most original kaws pieces out there, but i personally attribute more of that to lazzarini than i do to kaws. =)

+1

at first I was wondering why this piece is getting more hate than the Pinocchio set. It might have something to do with the fact that we have been unindated with Snoopy toys forever? I agree this toy is un-inspired. At the very least it would have been better to put him in the pose leaning against his dog house. or I would have really liked to have seen a detachable snoopy on top of his dog house in full flying ace regalia with a skull head complete with X's.

Joe Kaws standing here looking somewhat awkward just doesn't do it for me.

the fuck...

Exactly.

Nothing against Kaws per se (I actually love some of his colabs, Pushead for starters) but first Tweety, then Pinocchio and now this is all a bit too much for me. I totally agree, this really is un-inspired to say the least. Having said this I still hope he decides to go for some interesting collaborations with his next toys (possibly with other artists) and stops being lazy.