Toy OTD: Japanese Toy Story 2 Squeak Toy: Wheezy (Signed)
A toy doesn't necessarily have to be flashy or complicated, as long as it's done well. This is easily my favorite toy of Wheezy, mainly because the sculpt and paint job really capture the character beautifully. It's just like the toy in the film (but the manufacturer did give it a squeaker for a little extra play value). It's the difference between simple and easy - making this toy on-model is a simple idea, but it's far from easy.There's nothing but a cryptic "PPW" on the feet, so I have no idea who produced this figure. I'm not sure how much it cost originally, or how much it'd cost to get one now. A Tomy Wheezy is for sale right now on eBay, but if you look closely, the proportions of the face (especially the size of the beak) seem different. You can get that one for about $94.00 USD, including shipping. Ouch! You'll have to set up an eBay favorite search if you want to try for a better price.
On a whim, and since Joe was always around at the studio, I got this toy signed soon after I got it. I don't have any of Joe's drawings or many pictures of him, so needless to say, I'm glad that I have this now as a nice memento of Joe and that time that I got to work with him.Labels: 90s toy, japanese toy, joe ranft, squeak toy, toy, toy of the day, toy OTD, toy story, toy story 2, vinyl toy, wheezy
posted by Jeff Pidgeon at
7:11 AM
6 Comments:
What an amazing thing to have.
I'm listening to the Pete Docter interview from the Spline Doctors blog and Pete mentioned Joe a bit.
Really cool.
Joe was a great story guy and a super fellow. It's a shame he passed away so young.
Wow, what a great toy and wonderful reminder :)
What a sweet memento that is.
Jef, I don't know if you remember Nassos from my class(I'd be surprised if you didn't--he's loud! lol), but he took a lot of video of all sorts of things at Calarts--Bob's design lectures, The haunted house everyone worked on in '88 or 89(can't remember now!)--and a night I blogged about when Joe did some closeup magic for a bunch of us(Mark, me, Ashley). He's found the old vhs tapes and I'm going to finally see this stuff after almost 20 years. Maybe you're in some of it too. : )
I doubt I'm in any of it, but that's cool that Nassos recorded those!
I don't think I ever met Nassos in person - maybe I did - but I've certainly heard about him! He's part of CalArts folklore now, like Mario's banana film, or the short Toby. :D
Do you know what Bob Winquist is up to these days? I'm assuming he's long since retired by now.
Bob still lives up in Valencia I believe. The last time I saw him we were having an estate sale of some of Maurice Noble's stuff and he popped by with his friend. I mentioned I was an old student of his and he kindly said that he rememberd me but I doubt he did. I told him that this was some of Maurice's stuff and I think it weirded him out. He didn't stay long. The funny thing was that he was wearing regular sunglasses without the gold triangle!
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