Urban Vinyl in the vein of Michael Lau and Eric So, seems to have slowly given way to a new wave of cuter character based toys. At least one westerner designer, Jimmy Baldwin, is pushing back with his new Vandals toys which exude the urban vinyl vibe. The Vandals concept comes from the germanic Vandals which exerted their might during the 4th and 5th century. The first Vandals figure from Jimmy Baldwin’s firm, Colouring In Ltd., depicts Gunderic, the first Vandal King, transformed into a modern urban warrior. Gunderic stands roughly 6 inches tall and will be available in November for a suggested retail of 40 pounds in a limited release of 300 pieces. He comes with a cloth t-shirt, cloth bag, woven beanie and a detailed skateboard accessory.
While I dig the historical concept behind the figures — I’m not sure it’s conveyed adequately through the figure design. Perhaps some visual tie ins to the original Vandal Kings might make this a much stronger figure. In it’s favor, the cloth acessories are somewhat of a departure for smaller urban vinyl figures. Realistic clothing and acessories are typically associated with the more expensive 12" figures and it’s nice to see that filter down to smaller figures as well. Additionally, the tats look pretty sweet. It’ll be interesting to see if this figure can push against the seemingly setting tide of hip urban vinyl peeps.
