Looney tunes get edgy with kidrobot

Kidrobot is no stranger to taking established franchises, such as Mega Man, Family Guy, Street Fighter, and Futurama, and bringing them up to speed in the collecting world with new vinyl mini figures and limited edition collectibles. The toy and clothing company has set its sights on the Looney Tunes franchise, something that everyone knows and most love, in their newest crossover.

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Kidrobot's Mini Series for Looney Tunes

Available at select retailers and through Kidrobot’s online store, the Looney Tunes line-up will contain the 3’’ Blind Box-style Mini Figures with some containing a myriad of accessories at $11.99 each; the even smaller Blind Box Keychain series (which doubles as zipper pulls, due to the removable keyring) rings up at $5.99 each; and the oversized Mark Dean Veca Tweety Bird art toy, available at $75 for the premium collector.



The hyper-stylized takes on classic characters admittedly threw us for a loop. To say we expected the likes of Daffy Duck dressed as the devil, covered with splotches of dark crimson and carrying a container of gasoline wasn’t what we remembered on Saturday mornings back in the day, but it was somehow just what the doctor ordered.



“Each character has its distinct personality and attribute,” says designer Michael Ly. “Most Looney Tunes products out there do not play on these tongue-in-cheek stories that make the characters so special. I wanted to bring these to light and marry them with the design, but with my own subtle style. The characters currently have a softer vibe, which I felt would have been interesting taking them into the more aggressive and edgier look.”



Ly could have fooled us, as they toe the line on what might be considered edgy for the brand. Porky Pig dressed in police garb with a sinister grin across his face and a baseball bat? Check. Tweety Bird donned in black with bat-like wings and facing piercings? Sure, why not. Bugs Bunny—complete in drag, like the cartoon—with a wicked smeared lipstick smile similar to Heath Ledger’s Joker? That’s what’s up, Doc.


Some of the best pieces opt for traditional depictions with twists. Sylvester has a feather sticking out of his mouth to indicate Tweety’s fate, complete with a metallic paint scheme. Marvin the Martian (adorning a tear drop tattoo on his face) uses glow-in-the-dark paint to pop in the night. The best of the bunch, Wile E. Coyote, is bandaged, battered and bruised from his pursuit of the Road Runner—complete with Bomb Man’s bomb from the Mega Man line of toys. Less is more in some cases.



Of course, the Mini Figures are very stylistic in their approach, but Kidrobot thought to create something more traditional for the common Looney Tunes fan. Donning a sinister smirk across the mug of every character, the keychain set has a bit of artistic swagger while keeping the traditional look and feel of the Looney Tunes brand. You can expect a normalized version of Tweety and Bugs here, for example. The mini keychain set contains the same exact character set as the Mini Figures, so do not expect to see Elmer Fudd or the furry red monster Gossamer on the prowl here.



The series is surprisingly on-point. There was a bit of speculation as to how much you could do with the Looney Tunes brand to make it interesting while still complying with the franchise’s image, but Kidrobot did a lot to make the line-up stand out for vinyl collectors.