Seinfeld and Vinyl Idolz

It was the show about nothing. And for nine wonderful seasons, minus one mediocre series finale, Americans tuned in to watch it every Thursday night. On Friday morning, we talked about Thursday night’s episode. It was Seinfeld and it was “Must see TV.”

Young or old, we were all wrapped up in it and its whacky characters spewing out nonsense. Nonsense it may have been, but it worked its way into our collective dialogue.

If you didn’t know it was not okay to double dip a chip, you now know double dipping is “like putting your whole mouth in the dip.”

You’re relaxing at home, watching the game, and the doorbell rings.You weren’t expecting anyone to come over. No visitors were expected. It’s the dreaded  “pop in.” No one likes the pop-in. Don’t like that gift Aunt Petunia gave you for Christmas, you now “re-gift” it to the next person.

 

Before Sex and the City brought its cast of sex hungry girls to HBO, Elaine taught us who and who was not ”spongeworthy” and guys can now blame certain things on “shrinkage.”

 

Of all the characters to have graced Seinfeld none were more memorable than Kramer. We didn’t know he had a first name until season four. Even when we learned it, we would still call him Kramer.

During nine seasons, we weren’t sure what he did for living or how he afforded his rent. He had many endeavours though. He wrote a coffee table  book about coffee tables that turned into a coffee table. He was the first man ball-boy on the pro-tennis circuit. He co-invented the Bro (The Mansiere!). Kramer even developed a restaurant where people made their own pizzas. He’d give the customer the dough and the ingredients all the customer would have to do was cook it. When you think about it Kramer invented Papa Murphy’s Pizza. Elaine labeled him a “hipster doofus” well before the new wave of hipsters hit the scene, but he was our doofus.

Now Funko, the creators of the Pop, have teamed up with A Large Evil Corporation, under the name Vinyl Sugar, to create vinyl statues of some of the greatest pop culture idols. The product is appropriately named Vinyl Idolz.

Unlike the Pop and some other figures on the market, these are made entirely of vinyl. It’s a good decision too. The piece is solid. It doesn’t feel fragile in your hands. More importantly the vinyl allows for more detail compared to other figures made from plastics.

The Kramer figure is a perfect example of the Idolz. From the hair on his head to the short pants, it’s chalked full of small details that will make any collector and any Seinfeld fan happy. The expression on the figure’s face is pure Kramer.  

Some folks will notice the Kramer figure is not “life like.” The Kramer, with the big eyes and four fingers on each hand, is definitely a stylized version of Kramer. It’s as if Vinyl Sugar opened a portal to the world of Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit. As a side note- Nick Park looks surprisingly like Wallace) dipped the character in and brought it back into our world.

There are companies (NECA, McFarlane Toys) out there If you want realistic detail. If you want fun then the Kramer figure is for you.

There’s one downside to the Kramer- it won’t stand up on its own. The Kramer comes with a round base withtwo pegs on it. In theory, the two holes on the bottom of the Kramer’s feet should slide onto those pegs. Be careful when placing the figure on the stand. The pegs are spaced out farther than the feet. The figure has no give so you may break the figure if you try to force the two together.

Vinyl Idols also retail for more than Pops and most other figures found at your local store. However, it’s money well spent.

You know what figures we want to see in a future wave?  Jerry, Elaine, and George.