Background
Every year at San Diego Comic Con a few booths will pop up out of nowhere and surprise you. I had no idea about STD Toys before the show, but there was definitely a buzz around their new products.
Dez Einswell, the D in STD, debuted two of his Doodle Barn figures – Whyno and Memono – although it wasn’t until recently that the vinyl figures were officially released.
Packaging
Each figure is packaged in a box that looks like…well…a box. They appear like a wooden crate (maybe a barn?) with an opening front door. Once you open the front flap, which is secured by Velcro, there is a cutout of the enclosed character. You can actually see the figure through the cutout window.
The Figures
The Doodle Barn family currently includes two figures – Whyno and
Memono. Whyno is approximately 8” in height. He is dressed up in his
favorite removable rhinoceros costume. The costume slips on and off of
the vinyl figure over the ears, so you can display him in whichever fashion
you like.
Memono is a little shorter and a lot skinnier as he stands in at 6”
tall. What would make a man in his business clothes dress up like a
monkey? Who knows! What we do know is that each figure is limited to
400 pieces, made of rotocast vinyl and has one point of articulation
(neck)
Our Opinion
Looking at early pictures of Whyno and Memono, it appears that there
was previously a chinstrap on the figures’ costumes. While I actually
like that look better, I can only imagine the reports of torn
chinstraps. There is an obvious difference in quality between the
vinyl figures and their costumes. While the lines on the figure are,
for the most part, tight…there is some paint bleeding on the removable
outfit.
So why did Dez Einswell’s Doodle Barn figures receive all of that
attention? I think it’s all in the eyes. Dez’s unique designs draw
your gaze towards his characters’ eyelids (and maybe teeth). The
eyelids make up at 80% of each character’s face…while the eyes, nose
and teeth are scrunched into the bottom 20%. Here’s hoping to more
Doodle Barn figures in the near future…
The line is being distributed by Merit International.
You can pick up these figures at the following:
Doodle Barn - Whyno - $80 Memono - $60
Whyno and Memono Grades:
Quality: 7/10
Paint: 8/10
Durability: 9/10
Hype: 9/10
Fun Factor: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: 9.0/10
