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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Star Wars - Vintage Collecting Art

I got my first star wars figure when I was 7 years old. It must have been in '78 since it was on a card and I didn't get in on the early bird kit. It was R2-D2. My brother got C-3PO.

Right after seeing the movie and before there were Star Wars figures, I dreamed of them. The best I could imagine at the time were rubber bendy versions that matched a beaten up Spiderman I owned. To actually have these figures was the official start to what would be considered "collecting" to me. I needed to have them all.

What really stuck with me was the colorful card-back packaging. The toy package photos, mixed with saturated colors behind the blister where the figure resided made me hang on to the open packages so I could look at the photos and the other toys I wanted on the back. The nostalgia behind these toy memories are some of the most vivid that I can recall from that age.

This new art piece is a fun/macabre statement on collecting. On the left, I have the vivid and colorful memory of the original 12 Kenner Star Wars Figures - with the words "Collect them all!" The purest way I look back on and cherish these figures. On the right, I'm depicting the other side of collecting, where it's all about value and variants, and less about being a kid. This is accompanied with the tag line "Dissect them all". A much less attractive representation of being a collector, and a loss of innocence in the toy itself.

I hope you enjoy - AND, if you will be in San Diego this year for Comic Con, stop by booth F5 and say hi! Let me know which figure was your first.

Friday, July 6, 2012

The Avengers


I saw The Avengers movie again recently and I was inspired to draw up the team. A mix of comic and movie stylings.