What is Urban Vinyl?

You can't be a geek without toys – no, I don't mean your Mac, I mean statues, action figures, wargaming miniatures, prizes to stay mint-in-box; we all hoard them like treasure.

Urban Vinyl is about toys - hot toys, new toys. Toys for grown-ups that the kid in you will love. It takes that toy-collector in our hearts and shakes him up with the coolest rock- and street-art, confronts him with something contemporary, quirky and controversial. It’s savvy, dirty, smart, three-dimensional design, gaining its name from our streetwise culture and the vinyl of the figures themselves.


Fantastic Plastic

In the late 90s, Hong Kong artist Michael Lau took the concept of ‘toy’ and transfused it into something unforeseen – he created the ‘Gardenergala’ world to give his figures a realistic backdrop – a life in which they could dwell. The original ‘Maxx’ character came in a custom box with accessories and hand-drawn graphics. Maxx had a selection of friends; Lau made them in extremely limited editions and they took the art world by storm.

From simple beginnings, this concept has been played with by artists and trend-setters across the globe: in the UK by Pete Fowler and Jon Burgerman, in the US by Frank Kozik and Gary Baseman, in Australia by Nathan Jurevicius. Expanding and stylising over time, the ‘Art Toy’ has become the new design expression of our plastic culture.


Qees to the City

The chances are you’ve heard of the ‘Qee’ – the first 3D pocket ‘canvas’ created by Toy2R. Beginning life as a stylised bear, it’s decorated by named artists, a limited number of figures in each case, and sealed in identical ‘blind’ boxes.

Add another layer to the magnetism of Vinyl – if you were ever a card-gamer, hoarding the rarities from ‘Magic: The Gathering’, now your quest for treasure has three dimensions. Not only are the Qees individually compelling, but you have a set to collect – and in among the blind-boxes there are ‘chase’ figures – maybe 1 in 400 – to keep you digging on the ‘x’.


Types of Vinyl

The 3” Bear ‘Qee’ has multiplied in size and evolved into other forms – Cat, Dog, Pig, Bunee, MonQee. Paul Budnitz' Kidrobot produced the ‘Dunny’; individual designers created shapes of their own - the Labbit, the Mad*L. As the canvas has diversified, Art Toy collecting has swelled into a vibrant, wickedly colourful sub-junk-culture.

It remains true to Lau’s vision – each ‘toy’ has presence, character, individuality and history; a world to inhabit and a story behind its creation. It’s only restriction? Imagination.


Celebrity Culture


Urban Vinyl has also come to embrace modern celebrity culture – in among the shapes and stylisations, you’ll find the fusion of art toy and personal fame. Called the ‘Kubrick’ – yes, after Stanley – it’s an immediately recognisable caricature of a well-known idol – musician, actor, popular culture character – even superhero. From the best bands to the stars of stage and screen — these aren’t just ‘action figures’, these take your hero and make him into something wickedly different.


Royal Plush

Anyone who’s been to the San Diego Comic Con will know the Art Toy sensation has grown – how the designers have become rock stars in their own right. You’ll also know that Urban Vinyl isn’t even Vinyl any more – it’s swollen to encompass works of wood, metal, plush, cloth or latex. It’s even beginning to spread into your desktop technology – if you don’t yet own a Mimobot, you just can’t call yourself a geek!


The Vinyl Countdown

Science fiction and fantasy push the boundaries of our understanding and imagination – they should widen our mind’s eye. Urban Vinyl does the same thing – it’s contentious, it’s meant to be – and it’s not to everyone’s taste. To me, art is like humour, it can dare the places in our hearts and minds that normal prose dare not breach.

My desk at home is covered in fascinating and bizarre creatures – from other worlds, from inner minds, from glorious geeky wackiness way in excess of my own.

This is where I’ll introduce you to some of them.

Welcome to the Vinyl Hotspot.

The picture at the end of this document was taken at the Titan Entertainment Group studio and is the property of Forbidden Planet Limited. The toys (just so you know) belong to me and my mate!