Review – Bryan Collins’ Beast Buddies

Kidrobot’s store may be the sort of place I’d rather never visit again, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t create some very cool designer toys. Toys like the Dunny, a 3-inch platform toy that’s decorated in dozens of different styles by different artists. And besides the “official” releases that are painted/manufactured in China, there’s also an entire secondary market for customized Dunnies. And that’s exactly what we’re going to look at now, a customized 3-inch Dunny from artist Bryan Collins.

Packaging

I love it when artists treat the packaging as part of the design, and Bryan Collins’ Beast Buddies customized Dunny didn’t disappoint me at all. Packed in a tiny, hand-assembled cardboard box, just opening the Beast Buddies is fun because there’s no telling what you’re going to find inside. Why is that? Well, the Beast Buddies concept, according to the official description, is:

“This is a 3″ Dunny, hand painted with acrylics. Beast Buddies are a mystery until you open it’s cage and let the monster free! Each one is as unique as you are. Surprise yourself with an original hand painted Dunny.”

So until you actually tear the box open you’ve no idea which one of the Beast Buddies has landed on your doorstep.

The box is a little rough in places, and the glue bubbled some of the sides a little, but none of that detracts from the perfect little pack that’s a perfect way to blindpack customized toys. The design is a little toned down compared to the toy inside, but the effort’s appreciated and this is just as much a part of the experience as the toy itself. I rarely keep packaging, but this particular box is going to be resealed and placed on the shelf right beside the toy that was hiding inside.

Eye’M A Thief, Beast Buddies #11

My particular Beast Buddies toy is a shiny, gloss-covered guy with a head full of eyes. I’m not sure how many times Bryan sprayed this guy with gloss, but the result is one smooth, shiny toy that hates cameras (look at all of the reflections in the photos). And what’s really nice is that the paint job didn’t detract at all from the toy’s articulation; the head and arms still move just as well as any factory-painted Dunny.

The toy’s blue head, and many-colored eyes, blends into the purple-colored body. Tentacle-like designs painted on the body and the back of the head create a darker patch of space that ties the two pieces of the toy together, though the pattern is a little subtle and can be difficult to see in anything but bright, direct light. Also, the design isn’t quite as dark on the head as it is on the body so the blend isn’t seamless, but it’s attractive and the thin strokes show that Bryan has some serious control over his brush. Dunnies are a tiny piece of canvas to work on but Bryan doesn’t appear to have any problems at all working on a piece this small.

As you can see in the photos, the toy’s also decorated with a few colored spots — dark blue on the head and pale purple and light blue on the body — and no matter how hard I stare at the details I just cannot find anything that looks like a mistake. Bryan’s got some real control over his brush; any time that I paint details this small I’m never completely happy with the result. If I could get edges have as crisp and smooth as what I see here I’d be overjoyed.

Original Art!

Curled up inside the box around the Dunny I found the original sketch that Bryan used to design my Beast Buddies toy. It’s a great extra (even if it’s gonna take a few weeks to get the piece to flatten out) and I love seeing how the final design changed from the sketch; my toy doesn’t have the mouth on the belly like the sketch has. It’s a pretty basic extra, and probably wasn’t too tough for Bryan to include in the box, but it’s a nice touch and the sketch will look just as good on the shelf as the box will.

Closing Thoughts

I don’t own many custom toys, and I think I own even fewer tiny platform toys than I do customs, but this one stands out as one of the sharper, smoother works of toy art that lives in my collection. Limited to a run of 100, Bryan Collins’ Beast Buddies series is an excellent idea and makes for a perfect addition to any designer toy collector’s shelf. As a custom it’s too special for an office environment — who knows what happens with the toys when you’re not around — but if you collect Dunnies, or if you just like to collect custom toys, this would make a great buy. They’re a little expensive, coming in at about $48 after shipping, but the quality of the paint is some of the highest that I’ve seen on any custom toy.

I wouldn’t buy a second one of these, but I’m happy that I have one of them in my collection.

Philip Reed has customized a few toys over the last few years but never anything as small as a Dunny. And even if he tried to customize a Dunny there’s no way that it would turn out as smooth, crisp, and shiny as Bryan Collins’ Beast Buddies toys.