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Show sTS TK SECTION SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER 5. LIFE & STYLE EDITOR I Etyssa Andnis eandrusOheraldextra.com 344-255- 3 1 I 2004 wm- .3 - I Gorilla . warfare: Every day is 'it abadhair day for FUSE Industrial Design's -- .!- ,.Bv f - ilk .. .... 1..J..C ,.S yi x 5 Jt" jk Art toys are getting VHi t, - AjC. ' ' aplush reception Clarisa Ramirez THE if- - v?" v ' DALLAS MORNING NEWS DALLAS Toys have always been popular with children and collectors, but now there's a new breed booming: handmade art toys. These subversive, provocative toys are no teddy bears, and they're targeted at adults. Companies such as Ugly Dolls, biggerKrissy and FUSE Industri"" al Design's Furilla are major players in the budding market. Ugh Dolls are so sad looking you want to protect them; the biggerKrissy critters bristle with attitude and insane furriness; Furilla looks like a freak of nature g with its appearance. Art toys are collectible and have been displayed in museums from the across the country traveling Plushtastrophe exhibid tion that started at the Basil Gallery in Portland, Ore., to the Characters By Design show in Jury at Dallas' Gray Matters Gallery. What makes them collectible is their peculiar appeal, limited availability and affordability compared to other art forms. Toy company Kid Robot, for example, sells designer-mad- e toys ranging from $5 to $400. Andleed Dawood, director of administration, touts Kid Robot as the first retail company in the United States to sell a large assortment of collectible toy s in one place. Paul Budnitz founded the company as a Web site in 2002 after seeing the art toy movement explode in Hong Kong. Its first store opened in San Francisco in October 2002, the second in New ' York in September 2003. A third is planned for Los Angeles. Budnitz doesn't provide specific demographics about Kid Robot's customers. Suffice it to say that grown-u- p enthusiasts with a sense of whimsy, or at least a longing for lost youth, are fueling the trend. Katsu Tanaka, owner of Just Be Toys in Portland, says when the economy got rough, Nike president Mark Parker kept them afloat. "He's one of the biggest toy collectors," Tanaka gorilla-gone-wron- 1 Hall-war- - f - Cowboy poet Colen Sweeten Jr, seen here in his SpringySle home, has performed his work for ; ftUHtK BOHDaily Herald a vbriety of audiences ranging in scoptfrom an appearance on "The Tonight Show" to visits with elementary school students. m trie stag Horhe Springville cowboy poet has his w ityvtim words Doug Fox DAILY HERALD variety of audiences ranging in scope from an appearance on The Tonight Show" to visits with elementary school students and he is a regular participant at the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering each January in Elko, Nev. He has received many accolades for his work over the years, the most recent coming on Jury 31 during the 33rd Festival of the American West in Logan. Sweeten received the American West Heritage Pio ' """""l olen Sweeten Jr. is a simple f If J man of many words. It's a rare combination of V qualities that has made the 85- -, year-olSpringville resident one of the cowboy poets in the . UhitedStates. Sweeten has performed his work for a Tap J d soft-spoke- See COWBOY POET, by Colen H. Sweeten Jr. For twenty years he carried me To all the places I had to go, I fust loved that dappled gray pony, The one I called, 'Little Joe." Thiswas the kind of a wind-u- p That Little Joe just didn't deserve, And. that's about the time I admitted I was startin' to lose my nerve. Three years ago last Apru When I first started to get sick, I put Little Joe on retirement In the pasture on the crick. I was just a gutless Now the vet says his heart is bad And all his joints are swollen and sore. He offered to send me a buyer Who would come rieht out to mv door. ' He puffed and groaned and he stumbled As we made our way up the lane, I let him go slow 'cause ' But I said, "No thanks' I made a promise I told Little Joe he'd get every chance, And Yd never let them put him in a can Or ship him away to France. So the next day in the afternoon my old pony uptothefoothiUs About as slow as a funeral ong. I led sick old man Thinkin'ofgoin' back to town, To hire a drifter from the street To come and put him down. 1 But retirement didn't work out for him, It wasn't all that it should be; : Because twenty-si- x years for a horse Is like a hundred and ten for me. "i neer Skul Preservation award in recognition for his extensive years of writing, performing and publishing cowboy poetry. Still, despite the notoriety he's achieved in his lifetime hobby, in person, the unassuming Sweeten is genuine and Then again, some would say that's the major part of his charm. "He's really authentic," said Elaine More than a Uttlt i about pain. i To the spot where the horses stood, And about then I realized Neither one of us looked too good. I gave him a pat on the shoulder See Where fun is good business: Toy company Kid Robot, which makes ElDunny Logo, sells toys' ranging from $5 to $400. And Little Joe threw up his head, I heard the last two beats of a worn-ou- t heart, Then he droppeibeside me dead. ; " At the end of the lane he staggered And I stopped to give him a rest, I walked on over to the gate ' And just stood there looking West. ,' - I happen to know I limped a little as I walked back. D2 ; The pistol hung heavy on my hip Like a pocketful of debt; Id wiped my eyes with the back of my hand i 'till both my gloves were wet. 1 watched the sun 'till it was gone Before 1 put on my hat. More of Sweeten's poems, D2 Courtesy photos 1 CSS D5 n I thanked the Lord, then 1 asked Him If He could just let me go like that. . ART TOYS, |