TOYSREVIL Reviews: DOROBANII by Javier Jiminez
WHO-IS: "DOROBANII is a little and timid jackalope that used to live in a North American desert. He was used to his life: some chilling at the desert, then some house robbing at the city. He stole a little bit of everything: from human food he enjoyed to small jewels and things that could pass unnoticed and people would think they had lost.
One day he entered the wrong house at the wrong time, and ended up locked inside of a suitcase on its way to Japan!" (See what happens next in this animated video)
I managed to snag both the first "Original" colorway edition (US$45 per), and Halloween special (US$50 per / limited to 15pcs) - direct from the artist's online shop - which to me is a real boon to be able to access collectibles via online than the "old days" of Ebay a coupla decades back (giving away my old age here ~ *old-man-cough*)
FYI: The price mentioned do not include postage/mailing costs.
The figures possess zero articulation, and seem to be full-solid resin (versus hollow resin), and are of a decent heft. The sculpt features smoothed edges and no blemishes. The hand painted work showcases non-crisp lines, especially the sewing lines in the OG editions' wife beater top - gives it that "indie toy" charm we have come to embrace in this art toy culture.
The added fade pushed it beyond your usual "indie toy" fare, and you somehow feel you are holding a "OOAK custom toy", IMHO.
The figures are finished in a high gloss surface, like "polished porcelain" - so much so you could see the reflection of my sexah topless body reflected as I snapped a picture! … Go ahead and ogle, my friend … I will not judge you … :p
Designed and hand-painted by Javier Jiménez (www.javierjimenezdesign.com) and sculpted by Cristina Ravenna (Instagram @cristina_ravenna) - Dorobanii is adorable to the hilt, even with his chest fur peeking out of his wife-beater (in the OG edition), and especially cute with his "vampire" cape in the Halloween edition OMG hahahaha
His expression is altered by adding eyelids, and possess the charm (yes, twice I have used that description) suitably apt for most occasions, even staring intently at a bowl of tomato clam chowder! Ah, the innocently intense stare of a "kleptomaniac", I suppose! LOL
Besides the obvious design aesthetic Javier is known to present on both his art and toy figures, another aspect to the attraction and allure of his work, is his choice of colors, which to me provides a sense of visual depth in terms of an artistic sense, but also ingrained with a richness of "design" sensibilities.
Dorobanii stands out amongst the crowd of kawaii-characters in a sea of big-eyed-cuties, with his slight sense of skewered innocence and deceptively harmless demeanor, at least in my impressions of the character, and that works fine for my tastes :)
Subsequent revealed editions included his releases for Design Festa - which I adored - and no doubt future editions will retain his sense of FUN, methinks! Folks are to stay tuned to his Instagram @javierjimenezxl / Twitter @JavierJimenezXL and Facebook page for updates!
These are my first Javier Jiminez toys, and I could not be more jazzed about them!
Cheers,
Andy
