wanted: gardener be@rbrick

An Open Letter To The Famous Toy Designer, Michael Lau

Dear Michael,

I am an obsessed fan, a crazy toy collector who used to check eBay diligently for your 12-inch Gardener figures, hoping there would be a seller who was insane enough to part with his.

But after years of waiting in vain, I've learned to accept defeat (and the fact that those footlong toy figures with poseable extremities could cost me much more than an arm and a leg).

So I've switched to running after your 6-inch vinyl Gardeners instead. As the pictures below will show, I've been quite successful in acquiring a decent collection of your shorter Gardeners. You can't imagine how proud I am of these 'guys'. :-)

(Left to right) Maxx, Square, Tatto

Fatwest, Prodig, Brian

Young BB, BW, Mono...

Box B, Box C...

Future, Womax...

... and the catatonic-looking DJ Tommy.

But here's my case: much as I am devoted to your Gardeners, I am, above all, a Bearbrick lover. As such, I can't help but wish that one day, you'll find in your heart to create a 'Gardener' Bearbrick, complete with the hip streetwear and edgy attitude. Not just generic bearbricks (like the ones on top which you created for the 2001 Hong Kong Toy Con) stamped with the name of your toy company, Crazysmiles.

Please? :-)

Yours truly,
Bearbrick Lover

(Inset: top, right) 12-inch Prodig Gardener pic from crazytoyz0709.blogspot.com

taking toys out of the box

Whenever I talk about the urban vinyl/designer toy/art toy culture to non-collectors, I always drop the name of Michael Lau, the Hong Kong toy designer who pioneered it.

In the late 90s, when toy figures consisted mainly of superheroes, robots, anime/movie characters, and Barbie/Ken-types, Lau created figures that were a reflection of the thriving youth culture. Instead of metallic armors and space suits, his toy figures wore hoodies, hip-hop jeans, chains, earrings, tattoos and cool rubber shoes. They were known as the 12-inch Gardeners, a collection of 100+ 'cool dudes' that were rare as they were unique.

Today, you won't be able to get hold of one – they are completely sold out, and no collector will ever want to part with his. You have better chances of scoring a 6-inch vinyl version. Below are two of them – Box B (with the recycling symbol) and Box C (with his pants down).

(Below) Snapshots of Michael Lau's Gardener book: The original 12-inch versions of the box head dudes.

Of course, Lau has also designed Bearbricks, two of which are shown on top. These two 'packing tape' Bearbricks were produced by his own company called Crazysmiles for the August 2002 Toycon in Hong Kong. You can see they were inspired by the Box Gardeners.

A Michael Lau Bearbrick that I'm really dying to have (in case they decide to mass produce it in a smaller size) is the one below – a 24-inch one-of-a-kind bear that was part of the Bearbrick Worldwide Tour exhibition.

A Bearbrick packed with Lau's originality, no less.

Info from The Art Of Michael Lau / Toys: New Designs From The Art Toy Revolution by Strangeco & MTV / batgwa.com