Arts & Entertainment

Munny Is What You Make It

By Paul Friswold 

Kidrobot touched off a revolution with the Munny, although you’d never know it from looking at a stock version of the seven-inch-tall vinyl toy. The featureless little dudes lack the articulated joints, kung-fu grips and tiny plastic accessories that put the “action” in “action figure” -- and that’s the whole point. The Munny is whatever you make it. You can draw on it, paint it, custom-build your own clothes and accessories for it, even resculpt it entirely with an X-Acto knife and Sculpey clay. The only limits to the Munny are those of your imagination. In the hands of creative people, Munny becomes a zombie emerging from a fresh grave, a Santería priest, a cyborg, a three-dimensional portrait done in the style of the Old Masters. Munny artists pride themselves on custom modifications, beautiful paint jobs and unique interpretations of the characters' possibilities. On Friday, May 18, from 7 to 10 p.m., you can see some of the most imaginative Munny mods at the second St. Louis Munny Show at Star Clipper Comics (6392 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-725-9110 or www.starclipper.com). More traditional 2-D artists such as Matt Kindt, Jim Mahfood and Martin Mazorra have figures in the show, as do vinyl-mod mavens such as SHAWNIMALS and Nanospore. The most amazing thing about it? That at one time, every piece in the show had an identical appearance -- but now, no two look even vaguely alike. Admission to the show is free, and from 6 to 7 p.m. on the opening evening, Star Clipper has a toy swap and giveaways; live sets by DJ Agile 1, DJ Crucial and DJ Needles go throughout the night. The Munny Show remains on display in Star Clipper’s new gallery through Thursday, May 31.
May 18-31