Review: David Horvaths’ Blue Egg Drop Ajaja Dunny

David Horvath fans rejoice!  Today marks the release of Horvath’s new Series 2 Two-face Dunnys as well as his larger 8-inch Egg Drop Ajaja Dunnys, both from Kidrobot.  And just in time, here’s our review of the Kidrobot exclusive blue Egg Drop Ajaja Dunny.  Vinyl toy reviews are a peculiar thing — this is our latest stab at figuring it out 🙂

Background and Design
Egg Drop Ajaja is a part of David Horvath’s deliciously askew and sarcastic universe.  His various Dunnys are not isolated designs, but rather characters intertwined in a battle of good vs. evil (or something like that).   So to set the table, Mothman is Mr. Evil and Little Inky is minion number 1.  Wonda, the intrepid photographer, is on his quest to defeat Mothman.  To do so, he enlists the help of Brad Luk (Horvath’s humor strikes again!) who discovers a green egg which turns him into Egg Drop Ajaja, the nemesis of Little Inky.  Of course this force of good doesn’t remain unchecked.  No sir, enter the evil Ajaja (blue).  The backstory tieing the characters and designs together makes collecting Horvath’s Dunnys more fun and meaningful.

Case in point, the Blue Egg Drop Ajaja bears the signs of Little Inky’s evil presence.  Little Inky’s manipulation shows through as his eyes and mouth(s) can be clealry seen on the evil Ajaja’s ears.  This apsect of the design is more than simply a visual homage to a previous Dunny.  Little Inky’s cameo on the Evil Ajaja marks the character squarely in the evil camp and points to the larger battle at hand.  Other than the color, the ears the are main visual difference between the Blue and Green Egg Drop Dunnys.  Oh, and guess which is more limited?  Want a hint?  Everyone loves evil!  Ok, fine — Evil Ajaja (blue) is limited to 600 pieces and the ?heroic? or is that unwittingly heroic Green Eggdrop Ajaja is limited to 2000 pieces. 

The overall design of both Egg Drop Dunnys is pure Horvath.  One look at these Dunnys reveals the creator.  While some collectors bemoan visual familiarty as a sign of waning imagination, it is often the sign of a honed style and meticulously (heh) planned universe.   The Egg Drops exude cool and happiness at the same time.  It’s hard  to look at splattered egg on a Dunny and not laugh out loud — at least once!

Figure Quality
Unlike older Dunnys which were hand-painted, the egg drops are one of the first Dunnys produced in the new factory using ‘pad’ printing.  As a result the paint job is quite nice.  There are some minor imperfections  at paint boundaries but in my opinion these are very small nit picks which don’t  really detract from the overall quality of the toy.   As is to be expected, the paint job is worlds better than the unfortunate Dalek Divers which represent the bottom end of Dunny quality. Beyond the paint quality, this Dunny has noticeably smoother articulation of the head and arms than older Dunnys.  There’s little resistance when you pose him — no thoughts of "hmm, I hope it doesn’t break" or "Maybe I’ll just leave it alone".  Though I don’t think it’s an issue with the 8" Dunnys, the stability of this toy is excellent — no worries that Eggdrop will take an unscheduled dive!   Oh as a final note — on the "sniff" test the Eggdrop ranks a 3 on the vinyl odor scale 🙂  Seriously, it’s there and somewhat pleasant if you like that kind of thing.  It’s certainly not distracting as is the case with some toys.

Packaging

Kidrobot has used a variety of inner packaging for the 8" Dunnys from the clear but flimsy plastic molds for the older ones (Voodoos, El Locos) to the opaque bags with cardboard collars to the most recent opaque and fairly sturdy plastic molds that snap together.  The current inner packaging   seems fairly robust and would likely be good for repeated use which is important if you lack display space or find yourself lugging your collection from place to place.

The box design is really nice and features a wealth of David Horvath’s art.  The highlight though has to be the side panel which details the origins of Egg Drop Ajaja.  The back-story is classic Horvath full of humor and subtle yet pointed sarcasm.  The pun-based names are hilarious — Brad Luck and Diamond Mind as is the quip about the relative value of  Ajaja eggs and Diamonds.  Exploring all the little drawings and sayings on a David Horvath box is almost as rewarding as opening and playing with the toy and the Egg Drop Dunny box is no exception.

Overall Impression

The Blue Egg Drop Ajaja Dunny is a very nice toy from the design to the high build quality to the great box.  If you’re a fan of David Horvath’s art (you never can understimate Mothman’s dastardly influence), this is a no-brainer especially considering that it is much more limited than the green edition and also has a nice tie-in to the older Little Inky Dunny.  Finally, if the Egg Drop is an indication of the quality we can expect from the Dunny line, collectors should be quite content.  If you want one you shouldn’t dilly dally, make tracks to Kidrobot and snag one before it’s too late.  Or you could take your chances and try to win one in our Eggdrop Dunny contest which kicks off today!

Just couldn’t help myself…  I know you were wondering!