Brothersfree, Ltd. from Hong Kong are three uber hot artists, illustrators and toy designers: William Tsang, Kenny Wong and Winson Ma. They are riding the "Urban Vinyl" craze that is going on right now. Stores like Kid Robot are cashing in from the cross-over appeal of these super-cool toys and vinyl figures. Kid Robot is the only toy store in the nauseatingly hip SOHO district in New York. They also have stores in LA and San Francisco.What's so cool about Brothersfree? They were one of the first to create toys and vinyl figures with an urban edge to them. Their themes have nothing to do with the traditional science fiction or military genres so pervasive in the toy industry since....well, forever. Instead, they brought a cool, edgy, comic-book 3D visualization to everyday characters
like their Brothersworkers series which focuses on blue-collar characters we see everyday in construction sites. Their 12-inch figures feature faces that look like they came out of a manga and that's their appeal. They often feature extremely intricate tattoos, clothing and equipment in order to justfiy their high cost: between $100 and $200 each.A few years back, a mini-figure collection was released. 2.5 inches of sweet Brothersfree goodness in an affordable package! I was hooked and purchased a set after it went on sale from Kid Robot. They retain the 3D comic visual style Brothersfree is famous for, come with little tools and even tattoos. Pretty hard to find now as I just checked on eBay, but i'm sure they will pop-up from time to time. Luckily for you, they did come out with a newer series which seems to sport more detailed paint jobs and focus on emergency workers such as fireman. ABC-express on eBay has un-opened cases of 15 pieces in a blind assortment for $85 not including shipping. They also have the 12-inch figure "Tank" construction figure with the six-pack abs shown above for a reasonable $125 not including shipping.
No comments:
Post a Comment