Uamou from another planet...
Back in 2005, I came across Ayako Takagi's work in Playlounge (yeap that shop again). There were the polystone sitting Uamou and Katz & Beer figures. At the beginning, I was attracted by Katz & Beer more and now I know why!
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| Sitting Uamou |
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| Katz & Beer |
Uamou materialised in 3D form from the comics and illustrations in varies poses: sitting, walking, angry etc. He's certainly Ayako's main character, as she told me that she has the Uamou idea and universe in her mind since she was young. A figure with a pose, reenacting a scene, freezes a moment in time, which works very well for action figures from movies and comics, is not the reason I collect designer toys. For me, the simpler Katz & Beer's standing pose gave me more freedom to imagine and to play! I think that is the most important aspect of a designer toy for me, that makes me want it and create my own story for it, in my head and in my photos. I have since sold my walking and angry Uamou figures.
Fast forward 2 years, the clear resin Uamous were released in 2007, that's when I really got hooked, especially the Buuts Buuts Uamou. Distilled down to the simpliest form and rendered in crystal clear resin, they interact with their surroundings like no other toys I've ever seen before. Just look and let your imagination run wild!
In true Japanese Kaiju vinyl figure fashion, the Uamou family exploded in 2009, waves of different colorways were released. I must confess, most of the time I really hated toy figures with many colorways. When Toy2R brought out yet another colorway for a Qee, Mintys or Bossy Bears in the most unnatural colours that I couldn't imagine, etc. Maybe it is down to the Uamou's simplicity form again, or possibly the mini dimensions? I bought most of the mini vinyl Uamou colorways that I could get my hands on *wallet weeping in the background*. This time I can't really explain it with words, so I will just let my video and photos do the rest of the talking :) Hope you like them too!
See more Uamou toys including Uamou studio photos at my Flickr set,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/doc18/sets/72157620818229081/
Here comes the Keepers count :)
+1 black Sitting Uamou
+1 Katz & Beer
+1 clear Uamou (with pink heart) & Boo
+2 mini clear Uamous (in bottle & keyring)
+1 mini tiny white Uamou & Boo
+70 mini vinyl Uamous
+30 mini vinyl Uamou & Boo (varies happy, sad, ouch & dazed)
+14 Fortune Uamous
+8 One-Eye Fortune Cats with Uamou coins
-1 white walking Uamou & Boo
-1 black angry walking Uamou & Boo
