Living The 1/6-World: Collecting Streetwear

[Above shown is the latest ensemble I was able to buy from a local
flea market, and put together for a quick snap. The figure-headsculpt
is a bootleg of a Paul Leung figure gotten from Hong Kong years back!]

Purchasing "casual fashions" these days for 1/6th-scaled figures, is not that hard an activity. And by "casual", I mean basic streetwear, non-military clothes, for the everyday joe clad in swish clean wear for the 12-inch figure fashionista. From straight cut jeans, to shirts (both long or short sleeves), dress trousers, and perhaps even a tee with a provocative print, are readily available at brick-n-mortars, as well online venues. And yes, the power suit is in, and you can grab them anywhere - for a price, that is. But this post is not about them. No point going on about what you can now readily find in stores or online auctions, is there?


But in the early 2000s, it was harder than you think to score non-military clothing but thinking back, the selection was wider than anyone could have imagined, from a variety of producers - some of which are listed below. I might not an expert (nor claim to be), but I have my fair share of collecting streetwear to know what I'm going on about, even if folks around me did not care much for it.



I remember in place of average-joe wear, the advent of hip-hop "urban streets" meant a whole lot of big-tees, baggy pants, street-sneakers, and a whole lot of urban attitude, which seems to be missing these days, in lieu of a super-up automatic weapon, naturally. Shown above are a selection of Hong Kong based designer-figure clothings from Eric So an Michael Lau - which no doubt fueled the "need" for streetwear clothes, moreso than anywhere else - which concentrated primarily on "military" or adventure-based figure-collecting. But alas, a lot of brands have come and gone, and new labels appeal to the mass-needs of the consumer. Which would also mean collections might be dumped out somewhere somewhen, innit? (The mercenary toy-collector in me rears it's ugly headspace muahahahahaha)


I'm not about to tell you where you need to shop, I'm here to share with you I have bought and perhaps what you could look out for. Do note that the wears listed here are predominantly MALE-based. Female clothing might be easier to find, but hella harder to fit! And NO, I am NOT SELLING any of the clothes in my collection! There are predominantly three (older) series to look at today, starting with the more recent HAZEGEAR series - kitbashed specifically to address the haze-pollution problem plaguing Singapore, even till this day. Shown below is a hodgepodge of brands all kitbashed together (along with parts-breakdown, to perhaps help you in your quest/s…):

Above-Left: Inner Bape Tee from unknown brand / outer-jacket from Sideshow Toys
Above-Right: Orange short-sleeved shirt from unknown HongKong-brand / Black tie from Elite Brigade

Above-Left: Red long-sleeved hoodie from unknown brand / grey-urban cam sleeveless jacket from TUAS
Above-Center: Yellow inner-shirt from Cool Toys / Tie from DML / Outer-jacket from Soldier13
Above-Right: Black-tee with print from unknown brand

Top-Left: Beige suit from Sideshow Toys (one of the Bond villains) / Cap from a PMC figure / Bag from a "urban figure" that is not in 1/6-scale!
Top-Center: Suit made from a local toy retailer (Yellow Box) / Checkered-top from a Japanese brand
Top-Right: Suit from Cool Toys / inner-shirt from Elite Brigade
Bottom-Left: Black leather-jacket from a Andy Lau figure I forget from whom
Bottom-Center: Brown leather jacket from Cool Toys / Inner blue shirt and tie from Sideshow Toys' Cigarette Smoking Man
Bottom-Right: Inner sleeveless jacket from Cool Toys / Outer-jacket from Fun Toys.

Listing the clothes-breakdown might need another dedicated blog-post! So pics will do for now :p

DA BRUDDAHS or Da Neighbourhood was a series of African-American action-figures all decked out in a variety of clothes, from street to corporate, to neighborhood folks. As non-PC as it may seem, they have been the largest amassed bunch folks I have in my collection, and as well different sculpts collected, they too required a different selection of outer-wear to sot their characters and roles in "Da Neighbourood". This is still a work-in-progress, but alas I have not been collecting as much these days as I planned to.

Above-Left: DML Pilot Bomber Jacket with furry-hoodie edge / Black short from BBI Carlos, ladies-cut Jeans from unknown brand / Dr Martin boots from TUAS
Above-Center: Sweater-shirt from Ken/Barbie / Boxers from Fun Toys, Jeans from Brothersfree / New Balance brand-sneakers
Above-Right: Puff sleeveless jacket from DML Skull set / Checkered short from Cool Toys / Red pants from a game-character (i forgot who lol) / Shoes from Fun Toys

Above-Left: Puffy-jacket from Cool Toys / Oversized black shirt from a Wresting figure lol / Pants from Cool Toys / Nike high-cut sneakers
Above-Center: Jacket from Jenny / Shirt from Elite Brigade / Unknown brand Sweat pants / Unknown brand molded plastic shoes with laces
Above-Right: Hooded camo-jacket (forgot the brand) / Shiny pants from Cool Toys / White-shelltop adidas sneakers from Hot Toys

ART TOY FASHIONS (posted above featuring mashup of designer art toy vinyls and 1/6-bodies) basically utilized art toys along with 1/6-bodies, but decked out in fashionista-finery. Barbie-doll bodies were chosen to fit clothes and dresses from Jenny, while the guy's clothes ranged from more obscure Japanese-made labels, to Hong-Kong releases from box-sets.

"2Tribes" was a HK-brand that produced fleece-wear looking jackets. I know of only 2 colorways produced and released (Orange and Grey, shown above), as well as a Bear-suit (don't ask).

And as well they produced a series of "hand-made" sneakers, each with it's own "bowling bag" accessory. The white sneakers had different colored soles (Blue and Red), and as well there were different colors released. I have seen them but did not procure them. What was appealing then, was that the velro-on straps could literally be velcroed on, which reminded folks of Michael Lau's early hand-made sneakers (which no doubt fueled this rage).

The shoes were released blister-carded with bubble, while the jackets were housed in a simple cardboard-box with pull-open sleeves. Each jacket went for around SGD$25 per piece, while the shoes clocked in at around SGD$15. These days, the price might vary. Wish I had a decent pic to show you folks tho...

"Cool Toys" was yet another HK-brand that produced stylish streetwear in the form of jackets (both puffy and casual-sports) and urban pants. One of my fav lines, these guys were unfortunately not as cheap. But they do offer decent sewing, and a swell style! I remember blowing SGD$500+ in a single day while a local shop cleared it's space of casual wear (which no one wanted to buy, or perhaps a SGD$30 puff-jacket was too high a price to plonk down money for … welcome to my former insanity, folks!). You might recognize the name found in many of the breakdowns posted above :p


Another HK-brand (who am I kidding, most of them are!) was "Fun Toys", which produced an even larger selection of clothes, boxers, baggy-pants and shoes! But alas, their sizes were exceptionally HUGE. I do not know about "subsequent" releases, but the batch I had procured (via someone who had visited HK during the day) featured clothes that were extra huge, and pants so baggy, one and a half-dolls could get in on the action. The shoes as well was atrociously big (I had earlier plonked down SGD$300+ for shoes in the brand, mind you).

["Fun Toys" winter-jacket were the only decent fit! Seen above on my Father-X kitbash]

Back in early-to-mid 2000s, one of the regular brands that produced a decent amount of streetclothes, was Dragon Models. Their earlier "Wai Sir (CID)" "Chow" and even gangster "Dee Junior" had folks hunting down their denim jeans and shirts (which can be found in Law Enforcement figures, and subsequently when HK Urban Swat was released by various brands, pandemonium ensued) - which seem utterly pedestrian and placid now, but back then? GRAB! Then not too long later came the release of their suits (ala Michael Chang) and soon enough, everyone needed suits LOL


Other brands like Hot Toys had their unlicensed figures that folks looked onward like eager hawks for them to be parted and sold separately (*raises hands*). Anyone remember the baggie-pants of Keanu? (Pre-"Speed" LAPD SWAT). Or hell, even the Matrix-Neo? Or the swish leather-ensemble of "Ethan Hunt"? (I have a faux-leather jacket collection that you will bot believe lol). And who did not want a plaid short from "The Director"? Heh.

Looking outward of the Eastern part of the world, brand like Sideshow Toys unfortunately offered clothes that were a part of a figure and not highly "part-able" (aka "stripped and sold loose"), save but for a few dudes dressed in suits (Cigarette Smoking Man being one of them *cough*). And who could forget decent white or black tees from Elite Brigade? Still the sharpest fit for 1/6th these days, IMHO. There were also a huge series of wear from "Adventure Gear" (name might be wrong) - focusing on Action Man.


There are a myriad other brands that exists out there, if not in bulk-styles, or dedicated clothes. As well there were a short period where Hong Kong produced casual-clothed figures - but THAT, my dear readers, is another post for another time :)


During the mid-2000s, another Eastern producer stepped-up to provide 1/6th-sized clothes - an (apparently "claimed") Thailand-made in-flux of camo-prints in both jackets and pants, bearing the Bathing Ape style! While extremely colorful in it's presentation, the design-details left a whole lot to be desired - but nevertheless I am one of many who snapped them up! Unfortunately, there never seemed to be any "brand" or name attached to the clothes, so I cannot share that with you, or any particular locale to score them at. As well there was available a series of molded shoes as well, which were a slightly firm-fit with guys' feet, but were swell for female figures. Again, I do not have their "brand name".

Just a small sampling of 1/6-Casual Wear from the "past" to look out for. I used to claim I collect "only" streetwear - which might not necessarily be the entire-kitchensink-truth back then, but these days, they still ring true, as my eyes wonder about hobby stores or flea markets for miniature clothings - thinking back, I was even so obsessed with casual and streetwear, I had even WISHED I had a "shrinking rayon where I can shrink my own regular sized clothes to 1/6th-scale, for my plastic boys to wear! NO JOKE! And while those maniacal-days might be behind me, I seriously doubt if the feeling/desire/need will ever leave me - this much I am sure of!

Good luck in your "toy hunt" folks!