TOY-REVIEW: Yes, I Do …. 30mething Toy from Jan Lamb x Crazysmiles
The last thing I had expected to be purchasing, on Sunday morning, was a "toy figure". Much earlier in the day, I had visited my TCM doctor ("Traditional Chinese Medicine") and was waiting on for my mum's session when I ventured to To a Payoh (with my dad, of course) and visited Popular Bookshop, when I chance on this familiar figurine on the CD-shelves. I had seen the figure online before, and frankly was not too impressed with it. But seeing it in person, was a delight - especially in a bookstore that sold CDs and DVDs? And perhaps yes, I might have been starved for toys at that point, but I digress … There were two colorways available: An attractive hawt pink, and this all black with white-eyes version.
The allure of the color 'pink' faded fast for me when Kidrobot was rocking a lot of their exclusive colorways of other folks' designs in this hue, and as well Clutter has made a splashing comeback (and we all know about their penchant for pink) - so I stuck with my ultimate color of choice: BLACK.
This is a "2-in-1" limited edition which comes with both a CD album and a toy figure designed by Jan Lamb (and apparently Michael Lau?). Limited to 9,999 pieces, the figure measures 9.5 cm x 9.5 cm in size, and comes in 6 colorways, all housed in an open-window box. YesAsia.com has it priced at US$29.49 (I bought it at slightly under SGD$37.00).
$37 for a set, where the CD might cost at least $18, and the toy costing around an average of $19? For the figure itself, it does not seem that bad (ironically for a "crazysmiles" stamp at the feet, it seems worthwhile) but then again it might be a chore to collect all 6 x colorways at a go? I am not a huge fan of Jan Lamb the recording artist, so it's a stretch for me anyways :p
The figure is packaged together with Jan Lamb's 2009 CD-album: "Yes, I … do 30mething" (I've yet to listen to the album tho, and frankly there is no impetus to as tis the figure was what I was after in the first place), and the figure itself was housed in a plastic-molded tray, and firmly fixed in too!
The design iconology of the heart-shaped figure is replicated throughout the package too.
Featuring two points of articulation at the feets, with a molded body (does not feel like vinyl tho, more PVC maybe?) along with jpint-lines along the sides. The triple-eyes was a slight delight, with differing designs on either side, of a heart-shaped form, which fits firmly in hand - like a literal heart-in-hand? Nice!
What may not be immediately clear from these images (yes, I wished I had a better camera too) is the charming grin, which differs from either side. There is a nice 'puffy-cheek' grin sculpted on one end, which in turn made me smile -so that's a little triumph for this piece, IMHO.
All-in-all, this is a decent lil piece to own, and/or if you have spare change to pad up your quirky collection of retro/kitschy-pieces, but nothing epically a "need" to be had, IMHO. There's still that pink colored one down at To a Payoh Popular bookstore if you want to score one tho! LOL
What also got my attention was the "Crazysmiles" logo at the base of the feet, with '30mething" printed on the other. Weirdly made the difference between a regular-piece, and a 'branded toy". Ah but for the power of a logo and brand name!
A little trivia for folks who might not be in the know of earlier urban vinyls: Jan Lamb has a nickname of "LambDog", and Michael Lau (which owns "Crazysmiles") has produced a variety of LambDog figurines thru the years. From street-wear, to soccer-fiends, to KISS homage figures. Crazysmiles also produced the Soft Hard figures for both Jan and his longtime partner Eric Knot, not too long ago in 2008.
