Since the excellent Artist Series, fans of the MAD*L have been eagerly awaiting another release of MAD’s signature figure. The wait is over with yesterday’s release of the ATP MAD*L designed by MAD and produced by Wheaty Wheat. So is it as cool as it looks? Here’s our review and it’s in time to actually help you decide (imagine that!).
Designed for MAD’s Invasion exhibition at the All Tomorrow’s Parties
(ATP) Winter event, this figure features a happy-go-lucky character
with trippy hypnotic eyes and a humorous t-shirt graphic.
The character’s wide grin extends from the left side of the head all the way across to the right side of the head — happy indeed! This challenging design feature is rendered well with a very clean paint job. The "shirt" reads "I got this Dope Fig @ ATP ’06" in MAD’s bubble script and definitely puts a fun spin on memories of those dreaded "So and so went to (fun place) and all I got was this lousy t-shirt". The design is completed by blue stars of various sizes which cover the entire fig (‘cept for face and shirt).
This is a fun figure driven by the pared-down crisp graphics and nice characterization. It exudes happiness right down to the main feature — a GID blue body! While colored GID doesn’t work quite as well as the standard white/green classic treatment, this one is fairly bright.
This figure is quite collectible with a run of 400 pieces especially given the never-ending rise in run sizes. 300 of the 400 pieces are available directly from ATP for £40 (~ $78). While the price is definitely higher than previous pieces (‘cept for the Save Huck figure), MAD*L collectors and fans of colored GID will definitely want to add this piece to the collection. In summary, the design is nice, the quality is very good, it’s blue GID — only question is your credit card’s threshold for pain. Here’s hoping this is the start of a new wave of MAD*L’s from Wheaty Wheat including the mini MAD*L’s 😉
I wish I had the extra cash for this.