uncle abdul the suicide-bomber vinyl figure from metin seven x crazy label
Metin Seven (creator of Seamour Sheep & Marty Mole) has just announced a new designer vinyl figure (produced by Crazy Label) named Uncle Abdul; a satirical suicide bomber character from the Seamour Sheep online comic strip series [read here / here / here]
i had to ask Metin about the announcement of this figure, especially during this faithful date
today, September 11th ... /// CLICK HERE TO READ & VIEW EXCLUSIVE IMAGES
TOYSREVIL: how did Uncle Abdul come about? what was his genesis?
METIN SEVEN: First of all I find it very disturbing to frequently hear on the news that people blow themselves up to solve problems. In my humble opinion, violence is never the right answer to anything, and the act of killing is the worst form of violence.
Secondly in order to keep people thinking and discussing I think no subject should be an absolute taboo that is free from any satire.
So one day I decided to create a suicide bomber character for my Seamour Sheep comic strip series. I wanted the character to be someone who isn't really aware of the seriousness and consequences of being a suicide bomber, but had simply turned into a suicide bomber because he didn't know better. In a certain way I guess this is not too far-fetched when regarding the real world.
TRE: was Abdul specifically designed to be turned into a vinyl-toy?
METIN: Not really, although the comic was created along with the intention to create derived designer toys, so the thought of an Uncle Abdul toy might subconsciously have been present when I created it.
TRE: why release him now, as a vinyl? especially on this faithful date; September 11th? do you fear any repercussions with the announcement of this figure's release? that perhaps people might not see beyond the surface-design and namesake?
METIN: I can only truly hope that people will understand the satirical thought behind this comic figure. It is absolutely not my intention to hurt anyone's feelings or to provocate anyone, only to keep people thinking and discussing about the senselessness of violence.
And because the subject matter is still very up to date, looking at Afghanistan, Iraq and the conflict between Palestine and Israel. I truly hope that people will want to see the satirical intention of the Uncle Abdul figure and I hope he makes people think about the subject matter once more. It's never too late to change.
TRE: agreed. not talking about it and hoping it'll all go away if we all ignore it; will not make it go away ... okay, back to the toy: what do you hope to do with the release of Uncle Abdul?
METIN: To ironize any act of violence and to make people aware of that in a satirical, cartoony way. And of course I hope that designer toy collectors will appreciate the release.
TOYSREVIL: when is Uncle Abdul (i noticed he's an "older gent" rather than a young buck) scheduled to drop? any quantities/production limit planned at this point in time?
METIN: I don't know such details yet at this moment, I'm sorry. My wife and I have just finished designing the box, but it's up to Crazy Label when Uncle Abdul is ready for the world. The only thing I can say is "soon!" :-) Stay tuned to seamoursheep.com for more news as it becomes available.
TRE: fair enough, my fren ... (of coz not forgetting to stay tuned to this blog too!!! LOL) and please forgive my vinyl-frivolity for a moment, but i didn't notice the Red-Nosed Marty Mole in the foreground until now! how do i lay my hands on one!
METIN SEVEN: One Red-nosed Marty is inserted in every master carton (1 out of 108). The red-nosed Marty editions are very rare, there are only 14 in existence. Only Willy Wonka's golden ticket is more exclusive! :-)
TOYSREVIL: only fourteen? aaaaahhhhh! LOL - cheers for your time for this little Q&A, Metin! best of luck with Uncle Abdul - and maybe sometime soon we will have another chat about the "Sheep Devils", yeh? muahahahahahahaha :)
/// added: BoingBoing (and netizens) weight in (very) heavily on the subject matter here.
[Abdul-image via Andy Woo's flickr / comic-strips courtesy of Metin @ Seamoursheep.com]
i had to ask Metin about the announcement of this figure, especially during this faithful date
today, September 11th ... /// CLICK HERE TO READ & VIEW EXCLUSIVE IMAGES
TOYSREVIL: how did Uncle Abdul come about? what was his genesis?
METIN SEVEN: First of all I find it very disturbing to frequently hear on the news that people blow themselves up to solve problems. In my humble opinion, violence is never the right answer to anything, and the act of killing is the worst form of violence.
Secondly in order to keep people thinking and discussing I think no subject should be an absolute taboo that is free from any satire.
So one day I decided to create a suicide bomber character for my Seamour Sheep comic strip series. I wanted the character to be someone who isn't really aware of the seriousness and consequences of being a suicide bomber, but had simply turned into a suicide bomber because he didn't know better. In a certain way I guess this is not too far-fetched when regarding the real world.
TRE: was Abdul specifically designed to be turned into a vinyl-toy?
METIN: Not really, although the comic was created along with the intention to create derived designer toys, so the thought of an Uncle Abdul toy might subconsciously have been present when I created it.
TRE: why release him now, as a vinyl? especially on this faithful date; September 11th? do you fear any repercussions with the announcement of this figure's release? that perhaps people might not see beyond the surface-design and namesake?
METIN: I can only truly hope that people will understand the satirical thought behind this comic figure. It is absolutely not my intention to hurt anyone's feelings or to provocate anyone, only to keep people thinking and discussing about the senselessness of violence.
And because the subject matter is still very up to date, looking at Afghanistan, Iraq and the conflict between Palestine and Israel. I truly hope that people will want to see the satirical intention of the Uncle Abdul figure and I hope he makes people think about the subject matter once more. It's never too late to change.
TRE: agreed. not talking about it and hoping it'll all go away if we all ignore it; will not make it go away ... okay, back to the toy: what do you hope to do with the release of Uncle Abdul?
METIN: To ironize any act of violence and to make people aware of that in a satirical, cartoony way. And of course I hope that designer toy collectors will appreciate the release.
TOYSREVIL: when is Uncle Abdul (i noticed he's an "older gent" rather than a young buck) scheduled to drop? any quantities/production limit planned at this point in time?
METIN: I don't know such details yet at this moment, I'm sorry. My wife and I have just finished designing the box, but it's up to Crazy Label when Uncle Abdul is ready for the world. The only thing I can say is "soon!" :-) Stay tuned to seamoursheep.com for more news as it becomes available.
TRE: fair enough, my fren ... (of coz not forgetting to stay tuned to this blog too!!! LOL) and please forgive my vinyl-frivolity for a moment, but i didn't notice the Red-Nosed Marty Mole in the foreground until now! how do i lay my hands on one!
METIN SEVEN: One Red-nosed Marty is inserted in every master carton (1 out of 108). The red-nosed Marty editions are very rare, there are only 14 in existence. Only Willy Wonka's golden ticket is more exclusive! :-)
TOYSREVIL: only fourteen? aaaaahhhhh! LOL - cheers for your time for this little Q&A, Metin! best of luck with Uncle Abdul - and maybe sometime soon we will have another chat about the "Sheep Devils", yeh? muahahahahahahaha :)
/// added: BoingBoing (and netizens) weight in (very) heavily on the subject matter here.
[Abdul-image via Andy Woo's flickr / comic-strips courtesy of Metin @ Seamoursheep.com]
