Now regulars here, and followers of us on twitter, know that I am a fan of toys. I used to design toys and frequently post items of interest to the Disneyana fan here, on twitter and flickr. One of the coolest manufacturers of vinyl toys is a company out of Japan called Medicom.
Medicom produces a wide variety of licensed materials, as well as housewares, clothing and more. They have extensive rights from most of the major studios around the globe and their production values on their toy lines are exceptional.
One of their most popular line of collectibles is the Kubrick line of toys. The Kubrick line (from wikipedia) is a line of collectible block-style figures and associated products created by Japanese toy company MediCom Toy Inc. Kubrick figures are produced in three scales, designated as 100% (six centimeters high), 400% (24 centimeters high), and 1000% (60 centimeters high). The basic Kubrick figure design has a body that resembles an extremely simplified human form, somewhat similar in appearance to Playmobil or Lego figures. Produced in limited numbers and not re-released, Kubricks are highly sought-after by collectors. Kubricks are predominantly collected by adults; the packaging recommends the figures to collectors 13 years or older.
As with any licensed toy manufacturer, capturing the character is paramount to the success of the line(s). Medicom has some great artists in their line-up who obviously love Disney characters as much as the rest of us. Some of their recent creations have classic characters in their typical poses like monochromatic Mickey Mouse:
Or typical Donald Duck:
The impact of Medicom designs are evident in the industry and their influence can even be seen in some of Disney’s toy lines. Here you see Medicom’s Ugly Monsters toys:
…and Disney’s line of Mickey Monsters:
Their greatest successes, in my humble opinion however, are when they reinterpret some of the classics with a modern twist. Like this version of Mickey Mouse as the Mad Hatter from the recent film directed by Tim Burton. The combination of the quirky costume worn by Johnny Depp on our beloved Mickey Mouse seems perfectly natural in this version of the Mad Hatter:
Now the only issue with these collectibles is the scarcity in the states. I have been trying to become a distributor for Medicom, but there requirements demand a brick and mortar presence in order to sell these products. That leaves us with paying inflated prices through the larger toy distributors like Sideshow toys or waiting out the auctions on ebay. Personally, I have had greater success working through some sellers on ebay to obtain some of these toys but will continue to persevere are becoming a distributor here in the states.
Have you found a great line of Disney toys? Let us know in the comments section. After all, the holiday season is fast-approaching.
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