Introducing MR DOB Sofubi by Takashi Murakami x INSTINCTOY
Pop Culture Icon Takashi Murakami announced today that he is collaborating with INSTINCTOY on producing a sofubi of his "MR DOB" character, and without seeing the images of the unpainted prototypes shown here, my immediate thoughts are of the constant Sold Out status of Murakami's collectibles (COMPLEXCON's KaiKai & KiKi, DOBtopus and MR DOB), and the consistently intense queues INSTINCTOY experiences at their shows/exhibitions - than how epic this release is going to ben much less stressful for collectors to hunt! LOL
Scroll thru for more words (quoted) and images to gawk at;
"I am going to collaborate with INSTINCTOY @instinctoy_hiroto_ohkubo on vinyl toys to be released starting early summer of 2019. Our first project is going to be on my very first-ever character art, Mr. DOB. I first read about Hiroto Ohkubo, INSTINCTOY’s president, in a Facebook post of Shuichi Miyawaki, @sennmusann Kaiyodo’s @kaiyodo_pr president. Mr. Miyawaki, normally a merciless critic when it comes to figure production, earnestly praised Mr. Ohkubo as the very best in vinyl figure production, so I knew he was the real deal. Immediately after reading the said post, I searched INSTINCTOY online, got in touch with the company, and sent two of my sculpture staff from Kaikai Kiki to go meet Mr. Ohkubo that very day at their headquarters in Shiga Prefecture." - shared @takashipom.
"The minute they met, there was a spark — I am told they spoke non-stop for two days straight. I have since met Mr. Ohkubo in person and, having been exposed to his tremendous passion for vinyl figures, logical analysis of the industry, and clear vision for the future, have become a total fan. These are the images of the masters for the vinyl parts being produced by INSTINCTOY. I’m sure you can sense at least a hint of their obsessive attention to details, the earnest passion for figure production." - added Takashi Murakami
Hiroto Ohkubo of INSTINCTOY has well shared the genesis of the project; "Near the end of last year, fate smiled upon us and we got to collaborate with a contemporary artist, Takashi Murakami. INSTINCTOY was tasked with making his character art into a vinyl figure (SOFUBI) this year."
"The first project is going to be Mr. Murakami’s very first character art, Mr.DOB. To prepare for producing his art works, I was thinking that the most important part of the production would be the process of creating the eyes, with their signature design and highly complex details. We came to the conclusion that we had to separate all the parts, paint every side of the individual parts, and assemble them afterwards. Our goal is to make the miniaturized version of his sculpture come to life! When I saw the actual sculpture of Mr.DOB at the last Wonder Festival Winter, I felt as if I were being drawn into Mr.DOB’s eyes. This is exactly what we want to achieve, to give our customers that feeling, when they hold the 223mm vinyl figure of Mr.DOB in their hands." - shared @instinctoy_hiroto_ohkubo.
