Product Description

Plastic Culture explores the world of toys: why we love them, what they represent, and why there is a growing market for "designer" and "art" toys aimed at adults.

In this book, British author Woodrow Phoenix takes a look at our relationship to toys in the twenty-first century, with particular reference to Japan—an exporter of both merchandise and ideas. Plastic toys based on Japanese comics, movies, and TV shows, from Astro Boy, Godzilla, and Gatchaman, to Power Rangers, Sailor Moon, and Pokémon have had a powerful effect on the imaginations and markets of the West, and have kick-started trends in design and pop culture that have crossed from Japan to the West and back East again.

Brimming with lavish, full-color illustrations of cult and limited-edition toys, and with an in-depth look at the work of Japanese artists Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, Hong Kong trendsetters Eric So and Michael Lau, and many other leading players in the world of designer toys, this is a book that will appeal to a wide range of readers: from those interested in the latest trends in contemporary art, to toy collectors, and to anyone with an interest in Japan's influence on contemporary pop culture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #256510 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 112 pages

Review

"This might be one of the better toy surveys around. Less hipster and more substantial, I think this might be the smartest book on toys." - iant Robot

From the Publisher
Welcome to the world of plastic culture. A world where toys have been freed from the playroom to run rampant across desktops and living spaces, galleries and fashion houses, design showrooms and furniture outlets. How did toys infiltrate the mainstream? Why has Japan had such a powerful effect on the imaginations and the markets of the West?

About the Author
Author WOODROW PHOENIX searches for the answers to these questions as he takes us on a lavishly illustrated journey from the postwar development of the toy market right up to the present, stopping along the way to interview Japanese toymaking giants Kaiyodo and Sanrio, cult Hong Kong toy designers Eric So and Michael Lau, world-famous Japanese artists Junko Mizuno, Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, and many other leading players in the world of designer toys.

Customer Reviews

Urban Vinyl
Ah, what a wonderful invention plastic is! Nearly limitless possibilities, able to be shaped into almost any form, take on any color, and endure across the centuries. As functional as it is fantastic. Of course, it was only a matter of time before artists took this malleable material into their capable hands, and created something that the inventors of the plastic would have never imagined. In this case, it is toys.

"Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World" supposes to tell the story of plastic, and its journey from function to fantastic, from commerce to art. Supposes to, because unfortunately the book seems to have fallen victim to a loss of focus, or possibly a conflict between writer and editor. Instead of this history of plastic, and their connection to Japanese culture, what the writer wanted to write about was an artistic movement called Urban Vinyl, originating in Hong Kong and then spreading to Japan and the US. That's his passion, and it shows.

The first half of "Plastic Culture" is rough. It begins with a very brief history of plastic's invention, and its use in toys across the years. There is some brief connection with Japan, introducing the Kaiyodo model makers who perfected the garage kit. There is a half-hearted section on using toys for marketing purposes as mascots, mainly mentioning McDonalds Happy Meal toys and the Olympics. Trying to swing the story back to Japan, Sanrio is covered with their successful line of Hello Kitty figures and other characters. These articles are all short on text, and heavy on pictures, jumping rapidly from section to section without much logic or interest. Its pretty boring, and not very well researched. Then, on page 43, author Woodrow Pheonix begins the section on Urban Vinyl. And it all changes.

The Urban Vinyl movement began in Hong Kong, with a couple of young talents started taking apart GI Joe figures and putting them back together street-style, dressed in the latest Hong Kong fashions and with an attitude that GI Joe never imagined. These two, Michael Lau and Eric So, exhibited their work at galleries, and inspired other artists to see toys as a medium of expression, rather than just playthings. The movement jumped across the water, to Japan with its ingrained toy culture, and then to the US underground comics scene, where artists like Dan Clowes ("Ghost World") and Archer Prewitt ("Sof' Boy") began teaming up with Asian designers to produce unique figures combining all of their talents and visions. Into this comes Takashi Murakami, famed for his Superflat exhibition and one of Japan's greatest modern artists, who sees the concept of creating original works of art in toys, rather than just reproducing existing works in plastic. Yoshitomo Nara, another prominent Japanese modern artist, follows suit. Its fascinating.

If this book had been called "Urban Vinyl," and started with Lau and So in Hong Kong, then been given enough depth to explore the artistic movement completely, it would have been incredible. Woodrow Pheonix has a real passion for this movement, and a deep insight into what makes it tick and how the pieces fit together. His interviews with Murakami and Nara really made me reconsider the way I see toys, and it was great to here these two giants of modern art put forward such opposing yet complementary viewpoints on Urban Vinyl.

But it wasn't, and so "Plastic Culture" is really only half a great book. That second half is really something, and worth picking up the book for. It makes me want to learn more about Urban Vinyl and hopefully someday Pheonix will get to write the book that he should have. I will be first in line to pick it up.

toys
If you collect vinyl and for the price of a used copy this book is nice to have around.

Urban vinyl at its best!
This is an amazing book! Eloquently written, with great insights into toys as a whole, this book gives a comprehensive overview of the emergence of designer vinyl. Great images!