Proto Monday >> Thomas Han’s Pushers

Today we have a look at production samples for two of  Thomas Han‘s Pushers produced by Munky King — the Pirate (Blue) and the Spirit (pink).  First shown in unpainted form at SDCC ’06, these two (of four) masked and winged Pushers bear stunning paint jobs with delicate and nearly perfect line work complete with spray fade for a nice gradient effect.  The masks can be removed to reveal concealed designs.  While no release date has been set yet for Thomas’s first original toys, they are definitely in the home stretch.  Look for a special edition release at SDCC ’07.  To find out more about the Pusher characters we asked Thomas Han himself for the lowdown.

Tell us about the Pushers.

The Pushers are basically an ongoing theme and set of characters in my paintings.   Basically they are what they are…  Pushers.  They’re pusher men. They push ideas, thoughts,  and actions that you do everyday. There is the animal, there’s a spirit, there’s a monster and there’s a pirate. All four of those pushers are extensions of everybody’s subconscious. There’s debauchery, the monstrous side of you, the spiritual side of you, and there’s the animalistic side of humans. They are a manifestation of all that.

Why Masks?

Everybody has a facade.  Everybody’s portraying themselves in different scenarios, in different times, with their different personalities they have inside themselves. Sometimes you feel mad, sometimes you feel sad, sometimes you feel happy — basically you wear the mask.

Tell us about the paint job.

For every toy, I try to add a little bit of graphic design to ’em with a bit of an actual scenery feel.  I always try to do something different than what people are coming out with. So it’s fresh and kind of new. I created the design and had this awesome graffiti writer called SANO put on the design with the spray and the line work.  The factory replicated it  really well.  It’s really clean — kind of like pinstriping. It’s not actually pinstriping but it was definitely influenced by it.  I like to step out of my element and do something different.   

[Thanks to Thomas for sharing his insights on the Pushers.]

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