MICHAEL LAU THE TOY DESIGNER

Nowadays, it’s not so cool to be a Toys “R” Us kid. The cold commercial–toy wasteland has collectors flocking to warmer sources for their fix. Enter 33–year–old Hong Kong?based designer Michael Lau, the pioneer of pint–sized art. Drawing was Lau’s first love, but he never intended on making a career out of art and design. After a brief stint in advertising, the world of 3–D called, and in 1996 he answered with his creation at Toycon, a festival for classic Japanese toys. Almost immediately he put a kung–fu grip on the world of limited–edition toys with his figures. Lau’s innovation was to spin vinyl into 12” figures. Easier to mold and relatively cheap, soft vinyl became his canvas, and scores of imitators soon followed, leading to what’s become a full–blown collector’s craze. In Lau’s world, characters like his Gardeners and Crazy Children are a reflection of everyday style and culture—vinyl skins we are all comfortable in.

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