Domo Comes Stateside

Aside from window shopping in Kid Robot and involuntarily caressing all the smooth plastic surfaces on anything not inside a display case, I don’t have much experience with America’s designer toy craze. According to Paul Budnitz – a seminal figure in bringing the art-cum-action-figures stateside – in 2001, stylized vinyl figures and plush dolls from Asia started trickling into the country. Just a few years later, a fully-fledged US subculture developed including talented artists and collectors with disposable income.

I couldn’t find any hard evidence, but I’m thinking Domo is one this fashion’s major progenitors. The furry love child of a pillowcase and Smokey the Bear was conceived in 1998 as mascot to Japanese television station

And now, just like his offspring, Domo’s stateside.  While a Nickelodeon series has apparently been put on ice, Big Tent Entertainment and video-sharing site, Veoh have partnered up for a 12-episode series starring the little guy girl thing.

###Here’s a primer on what Domo’s all about:

It’s cute in a Saturday-Morning-Cartoon and claymation-is-always-cool kinda way, but clearly meant for more of a Wubbcast set. It lacks the gratuitous violence present in Pib and Pog that would make it more attractive to older generations, though there are still some winks to those with a reading level post 6th grade. It’s also produced well enough where the fantastic animation and ridiculous situations can be enjoyed by all.

Find the episodes and some of Domo’s Japanese commercial clips over on Veoh.