Een tijdje terug ontdekte ik het Toypunks project. Inmiddels hebben Justin Kovalsky en Chris Nelsonde, de makers van deze documentaire over de link tussen (designer) toys en de punk- en straatcultuur in Japan, netjes meegewerkt aan een MiniMail. In twee delen. Dus voor de snelle rekenaars onder ons: dat is twee keer genieten!

Will your documentary for once and for all explain to the girl/boyfriends of collectors that it's absolutely normal to like toys as an adult?
'Haha! We're not sure that the term absolutely normal applies, but we'd be happy improve the love lives of collectors everywhere! That would be pretty fantastic.'

Why do a lot of guys collect them? What do you love about them?
'Well, people seem to collect for a lot of different reasons! Fun, aesthetics, obsessiveness, nostalgia and trendiness all come to mind. We collect toys because they are cool.'

True!
'It sounds like a simplification, but, to paraphrase Hikaru Iwanaga from Bounty Hunter, when you first get into toys, it's similar to the first time you hear a genre of music that you'll always love. For him, that music was punk. If the feeling hits you, it's like "WHAAMMM!" There is just an essence to a killer toy; historical and cultural references combine with keen attention to detail, volume, form and color. They have integrity and when you look at them, they are just sort of rule!'

Are there different scenes for people who like true action figures (aimed at kids) and designer toys (aimed at adults)? Is there any animosity? Like you have between skateboarders and inline skaters?
'Hahaha! That may be true, but we don't really follow that type of thing. These days, there are different scenes for anything and everything. Expending energy on that seems sort of misguided to us.'

Yea
'We're way more into exploring connections between various subcultures rather than focusing on division. For example, if we're talking about action figures, Eric So from Hong Kong is an amazing artist. He's taken the action figure to unbelievable places, creating reverent, beautifully detailed figures of someone he looks up to as a cultural icon, Bruce Lee. What we find interesting is people creating with this kind of passion and defined viewpoint. That's what inspires, that's what lasts, and that's what we're seeking to explore through toypunks.'

EDIT: Overmorgen meer madness.