New Frog Squadt Vinyl Toys and Interview With Ferg
|Ferg‘s newest Squadt, the Fr0g s001 [swamp dwllr], vinyl toys are a triumph in toy art engineering. Inspired by one of his favorite childhood toys, the G.I. Joe Frogman, the Fr0g Squadt occupies that wonderfully (Pantone warm) grey area of “playable” toy and “art” toy. Ferg had been thinking a lot about “playability” when I interviewed him last summer. At the time, he said:
If the piece is basically a toy…a figure or character, with an artistic execution, then why not make it fun to play with? I’m definitely going down this path right now and getting way into the many playability options that a piece can contain.
In hindsight, I’ve got to think he was talking about Fr0g. Behold playability options galore!
Fr0g features a brand new helmet, flippers, tanks, wet suit and frog eyes. He comes with an sMP5, spear gun and diving tanto (gun and knife are accented in a wonderful fluorescent green), and both classic arms and Squadt 2.0 articulated arms. Let’s not forget about the K11 spot companion (not shown, but also sporting a wet suit and flippers). You have to try to picture this stuff in 3D.
Click through for pictures to help you picture it.
With his DTA-award-winning Trouble Boys, there were so many layers, options and possibilities for play or display. The Fr0g vinyl toys appear to step it up a notch, staking a claim as a shoe-in (or, flipper-in? sorry…) for a 2012 DTA. It takes time to sync up so many small parts, and Ferg is really pleased with “the overall fit and finish…the way the helmet, hoses and tanks interact.” He also gives props to the flippers* and Benny and SiuYin at threezero.
*Flippers as in footwear, not people who re-sell toys at inflated prices!
You know when you’re talking to someone, and their enthusiasm is just infectious? This is that.
Ferg: I am REALLY stoked about this one. It’s crazy how much fun I had making it.
Jeremy: Oh yeah?
Ferg: I mean I always have fun designing the pieces…and many of them are personal in some way, but this one took me back…I thought about it a lot…like probably too much.
Jeremy: As in your wife was like “Clay, are you listening to what I’m saying?”
Ferg: Yes. Totally.
Ha! Who hasn’t been there?
It was really important to Ferg for the Fr0g vinyl toys to have an essence of the G.I. Joe Frogman, but retain the Squadt vibe. He obtained the counsel of a trusted source who confirmed that while Fr0g referenced the ancestral Frogman, he remained firmly within the Squadt oeuvre. Expert sleuthing has revealed this insight to have come from a conversation with Ferg’s 10-year-old daughter, of which Ferg proudly says: “I could totally tell she wasn’t bullshitting me.” How could she be? Fr0g totally rules!
It’s been a journey from his first sketch to the turnarounds to the prototype to the final production piece, and reckoning time is almost at hand. Fr0g s001 [swamp dwllr] is the inaugural Fr0g Squadt. Collect yours on March 5th at 12PM CST in the Squadt Store. It’s what Jerry Seinfeld would want you to do!