the art of eric so

"My name is Eric So! I've lived , studied and worked in Hong Kong for 3X years. My first painting exhibition was in 1996 and i started making figures in 1998. Back then I used to collect toys and action figures, and I used to think that some figures I owned could've been made much better, so I start to re-paint and re-touch them. Eventually, I started making my own!"
read more about him here (click on "about the artist")

where there is also a video of Eric So's Sology, a wrap-up of
what he had been up to this past summer. [via StrangeCo.]

*kewl shitte*
my first memory of Eric So was back in 2000, when i first noticed his Due-G figure on the display shelves of Falcon's Hangar. i had then started collecting 12"-fgures and was intrigued by the "freshness" of said figure. and of coz the price of said item was beyond my regular spending limits. and i left it/her standing alone on the shelf with her pleading plastic eyes ...

subsequently, as i got more insanely obssessed further into the world of designer-vinyl-figures of Michael Lau (who used to be an inspiration and toy-hero), i "researched" further into the world of Eric So whom i felt was a rip-off of ML then and found that he had a style of his own. as inspired as these two Hong Kong designers as they "might" have been of each other, they both have their different appeals. and i developed a serious liking for Eric's 12"-figures. so much so i went back to the same shop (nervous that the Due-G has been sold ~ t'was after all a coupla months' back) and now? "She" proudly sits on MY shelf, along with the Black Due-G Pair ~ which i had gotten off Ebay. (and of coz that was the start of my downhill-ebay-odyssey, innit? *heh*)

Eric's figures were instrumental in my eventual "conversion" to mainly "street wear" figure collecting (as opposed to the regular "military" offerings the market was/is swamped with) and i could only but look-on with lust and desire for his figures and design. besides his 3-Tigers, Sprite, Sam Lee Vinyl and two versions of his Mask figures, i have not delved further into his toys. (of coz me being in financial blackhole did not help lah nahbey). Not focusing on purely hip-hop-streetwear (ala ML ~ which i too loved) and providing a mirror to "regular fashion joes" on the street ~ was what endeared him to me. for which helped me develop a wider taste and preference for said figure-collecting-sense ... and i have to thank Eric So for that. :)

but have always looked forward to his offerings and design. tho designs come and go and not all of them appealed to me directly (ala recent Futura figs), i guess tis his 1/6th-offerings that pull at my toyheartstrings.

and seeing his gallery of toys brought a phantom tear to me beady-eyes ... and i can only but hope i would have the opportunity to be able to see what else he has to offer, in these toytimes to come :)

Other Linkies:
Interview With Eric @ Pixelsurgeon
Interview with Eric @ Action Online
Check out the World of Estate for more of his "everyman-vinyl-characters"


a final plea:
does anyone know where the heck i can find this 1/6 Green Hornet Car? *swoon*

*aiyah ~ once a fanboy always nearly-always a fanboy* heh :)