‘GUU…’ That’s the sound of the powerful stomach growl and source of the name of Malaysian artist Jacquelyn Wong’s rice-eating yōkai character and first soft vinyl toy. She will release the OG Guu (~4”, 30 pieces) for pre-order from her Badjujutoys site for $85 starting on Friday (5.18) at 6 PM PDT and running through Sunday (5.20) at 7AM PDT. For this first edition, she will be hand-painting each figure herself. GUU is set to ship in July.
From his squat, horned appearance to his own legend, Guu is Jacquelyn’s original creation. The spirit’s friendly yet powerful appearance mirrors the tales of his contrasting nature which turns on how much or little rice he’s had to eat.
Guu, is a creature that resides around rice fields and farms in close proximity to humans. The name “Guu” is inspired by the sound it makes when its stomach rumbles. Guu is known to grow bigger in size and cause trouble to others when hungry. So, people sometimes leave rice balls or rice wine around as offerings to keep them happy. It is believed that a well-fed Guu will bring blessings to those around them. [Press]
