Jason Freeny’s 7” Visible Qee

After more than 2 years in the laboratory, Toy2R has announced the upcoming release of Jason Freeny’s 7 inch Visible Qee. Based on an original illustration by Freeny, Toy2R has taken every effort to recreate this limited edition production Qee in unequivocal detail including having the actual artist sculpt the Qee innards. Freeny’s dissected custom figures are amazing, and The Blot’s been waiting for a toy company to step-up and create a production version of his work. Toy2R definitely took on this challenge and knocked it out of the park!

While Jason Freeny’s 7” Visible Qee is really cool, I am a little perplexed. As Jeremy Brautman pointed out on his blog the news of this release came just 1 week “after Toy2R’s announcement of a very similar anatomical Qee simply called 7-inch Visible Qee” with “the main difference between the two [being] that Freeny sculpted (and signed off on) the Freeny version, whereas the sans-Freeny Qee was inspired by, but not designed by Freeny.” Seems like a really strange decision to produce both versions but only give Freeny credit for one of them. I am guessing the non-Freeny version will be cheaper with a larger run size, but aren’t they practically the same figure?

Jason Freeny’s 7” Visible Qee will drop later this year with a retail price of $80. Available in original form and the extremely limited glow-in-the-dark edition, this is a wonderful figure for any fan of designer art toys. There is a limited edition version of the non-Freeny 7” Visible Qee. The Glow in the Dark Edition 7" Visible Qee is an Artoyz exclusive had has a limited edition run size of 200.

René London 8” Dunny by Triclops Studio

This is not a Dunny, or is it? UK art studio Triclops paints Kidrobot’s Dunny platform with their version of the surrealist brush! Inspired by witty and thought-provoking Belgian artist René Magritte, Triclops plays with reality and illusion by interpreting Magritte’s own self portrait. Its transparent blue vinyl head bears a wandering set of clouds on the back and painted green apple obscuring the face. On the back of the Londoner’s dark suit it is written “Ceci n’est pas une Dunny,” challenging observers’ perceptions of reality… much like Magritte’s Treachery of Images painting where he states in French, “This is not a pipe.”

Again we get a design which made its original debut on a Kidrobot t-shirt. Is this their way of circumventing leaks? While I like the idea behind this 8 inch Dunny, these photos really don’t have The Blot excited for its release. It just seems kind of flat to me. And without knowledge of the artist and painting it pays homage to, it might come off as dull to many casual observers. Then again, who isn’t familiar with at least one of Magritte’s surrealistic paintings?

This illusory vinyl figure comes accessorized with a black bowler, umbrella, and a pipe to complete his distinguished air. The René London 8” Dunny by Triclops Stuido arrives in Kidrobot stores, kidrobot.com and specialty retailers on August 18th for $75 each and has a limited edition run size of 1,000 pieces.