The Hundreds Garfield Vinyl Toy
I was trying to stay out of this one, owing to higher priorities, but then Tomopop had to go and pose this question:
Since when is Garfield any different than a creation a vinyl artist came up with?
Well, if one accepts the (increasingly slipping away) parameters that designer toys grew out of urban and lowbrow subcultures, then you only need Wikipedia to know why Jim Davis is not of the same artistic movement as James Marshall (Dalek).
I hold no grudges against Garfield. (When it came to orange 80s cats though, I preferred Azrael of Smurfs fame.) Speaking of retro, this figure, produced by streetwear brand, The Hundreds, and designer toy company, The Loyal Subjects, calls to mind, Nerfuls on Wheels, a Parker Brothers series I dug as a kid.
I think therein lies the problem. To people who’ve been collecting designer toys for a while, this Garfield figure is about 5 years too late to the vinyl hype party. As a result, rather than seeming edgy or innovative, it just kind of hangs there a bit awkwardly, like Garfield himself, looking hungry.
How is this Garfield different from other cross-pollinations of designer toys and cartoon characters? In the case of Ron English’s “Grins” series, the artist is using everyone from Charlie Brown to Teletubbies to express irony. Kaws’ recent Pinocchio (shown above) is, to me, part of the same self-reflexive “let’s see what I can get away with” joke that brought us shit-on-a-stick toys a couple years back.
The newest Garfield figure isn’t saying anything to me. The only conversation it generates is probably one that happened a while ago in a room in LA:
Dude 1: Skateboarding is cool.
Dude 2: Dude. Streetwear is cool.
Dude 1: Dude! Toys are cool.
Dude 2: Pass me that joint. Dude. Remember Garfield?
Pre-orders begin Monday on The Hundreds’ and The Loyal Subjects’ websites. Stay tuned for Ziggy on BMX.
Who really cares, there is tons of bad art out there. Like you said just a little late to the party with a bad idea. I think one interesting aspect to this toy is it might be fodder for a good customization further commenting on its awkwardness. The uproar stems from its inclusion in a “scene”(for lack of a better word) that some people consider very exclusive, much like punk rock music for example. Like I’ve always said if you don’t like it don’t buy it, that will speak the loudest to the people who made this. +1 for the Ziggy comment.
As I see it, the problem with this toy being classified as “designer vinyl” isn’t one of subject matter so much as execution. Save for the shirt, it is a perfect Garfield toy. Proportions, color, detailing, etc are all exactly how you would expect a Garfield toy to look and would not look out of place sitting on the shelf at Walmart (this isn’t a slam, having a toy at Walmart means you’re in the big leagues). To see this same toy being sold at somewhere like MPH, Rotofugi, Munky King would be strange, as the design itself seems a little bit too rote and milquetoast to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with many of the progressive designs that have emanated from the scene.
Just because it’s made out of vinyl, doesn’t make it part of the “movement” by default. Although there has not been a definitive clarification or an agreed-upon consensus of what constitutes a product as being “designer vinyl”, there exists attributes that are shared amidst many of the standout pieces over the years, namely transformative, stylized and/or distillation of archetypal and iconic ideals.
For me personally, I think that the opportunity to redefine and reinterpret the cultural importance of Garfield was squandered. The resulting interpretations could have been a decently impactful new meme for this scene. And yes, it may have been in the contract that alterations and deviations to the character were not permissable and/or the terms might have been highly restrictive but if it had been me licensing this property sitting across that table with pen in hand, I wouldn’t have signed the contract. There just wouldn’t be enough artistic freedom there for me consider this as a viable use of my time and effort. Now if they *did* have the option to redefine this and just didn’t? What’s the point then?
Anyways, I love Garfield. In fact, I won my first grade class drawing contest with a composition of Garfield on the moon in an astronaut suit and sitting in a moon rover saying “Science is purrr-fect”. So, yeah. Not hating, jess sayin.