Here's a gallery of almost all of the Michael Lau items I have. Each figure came with an extra pair of shoes, hat, in the case of Davy he came with a CD, trio of intertwined cats and fold out poster. I managed to get most of the items from eBay before many collectors discovered who Michael Lau was. Now the prices have gone through the roof and it prevents fans like me from picking up many new items. If there is one benefit to having other Hong Kong artists flood the market with similar figures is that prices have stabilized a little in the past few months. On the right is the first Gardenergala art book published by Sony as part of the Viewsic partnership / gallery openings in Japan. The book features pictures all of the Gardeners and a sticker sheet with several Gardeners on it. It is highly recommended for people interested in Michael's Work. |
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Here is a picture of my cabinet at work. I sit and work at a computer all day staring at the figures I have lined up.
You can see the Michael Lau figures in addition to other items, the Calpis bottles, the Davy CD, the LMF CD and prototype LMF Sci-Fi Robot, a Maharishi sticker sheet and postcards, and even a Gardenergala credit card application plus a card from the Minami Go! Round Artwalk Exhibition. Both cards are from Japan. The figures from left to right: Stone-Edition Davy, Box C, Young Miss, Lazy Brian, Lazy XXX, B/W, Lazy Tatto, Young Square, Lazy Yan, Square, NY Fat, Miss, Maxx (from the box set) the Michael Lau mini figure in Colette blue and the 3" LMF Sci-Fi Robot. |
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Being an internationally recognized artist allows Michael to have exposure in a variety of magazines.
The Japanese skateboard and street culture magazine "Ollie" pictured far left, sometimes has articles and reviews of Michael's work as well as the work of his contemporaries. The figure and toy insert pictured left was from the February 2003 issue. |
Here is a picture of the Calpis bottles I have. Calpis sells different types of drinks, everything from fruit to energy drinks are supplied by Calpis.
The bottles on the right are from their X-Style water. This is water loaded with carbs and lightly flavored like Gatorade. Thanks go out to my friend John from iRC for giving me his bottle and getting my collection started From left to right: Billy with Wakeboard, NY Fat, Maxx and Miss |
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Above are the two posters I have of Michael's work. Above and to the left is the Tom.com poster Featuring the Tom Kids. It is autographed by Michael. To the right is a poster for LMF, the band is lined-up along with several Gardeners in LMF gear. Michael is hidden in the illustration. |
If you are serious about collecting Michael's work you must pick up his Gardenergala box set. It features an art book with full size reproduction photographs of all 101 Gardeners.
The box set comes in a custom hard plastic case with an embossed Maxx on the front, an actual 6" Maxx and a CD-ROM with short animated movies of the Gardeners and an interview of Michael Lau by Tokyo Tribe creator Santa Innoue. |
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From left to right: Davy (Big Fly) audio CD sleeve, CD case (notice Davy in fireball robot suit), actual Stone Edition Davy figure.
Davy came with his pets. These are three cats intertwined into a little base. |
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Here is the pride of my Gardenergala collection. Lazy Brian and Lazy Yan were the first of the original Gardener figures I owned. I got Lazy Tattoo later but both he and Brian are from the PARCO exhibitions in Japan. From left to right: Lazy Brian, NY Fat, Lazy Yan (Based on LMF band member MC Yan) Maxx and Lazy Tattoo. Look at the detail on Brian, Maxx and Tattoo! Those are actual metal earrings, chain wallets and chain bracelets. NY Fat has a jacket made by Maharishi and is holding two spray cans in his hands, there are even pockets in his jacket for two more cans (not pictured). Yan is even holding a pair of dice in his hand. |
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I first saw the art of Michael in the pages of Ollie several years ago. What followed were a few odd run-in with his art in advertisements, on sports bottles, posters and eventually a portfolio of his work.
The image on the far left was from a Casio watch G-Shock insert in the pages of Ollie. It would be the very first time I had been exposed to Michael's work and eventually develop into a passion. Immediate left is a detail of the character Fatwest holding his wakeboard. |
The images to the right are from the Japanese magazine Figure Oh (No. 40) This issue has a one page spread on Michael's work.
What makes this issue so unique is that it is the only magazine (that I know of) that features a picture of two Gardenergala 4.5" figures. They are pictured from left to right: NY Fat and DJ Tommy. These figures are unique considering they are the only fully articulated, non-super-deformed, Gardener figures that are not in the 12" scale. |
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On the left is a Spring 2002 issue of Figure Oh (No. 52). As you can tell by the cover the Japanese have finally realized the influence that Michael and his fellow Hong Kong figure artists have in the figure industry.
This magazine is useful for people interested in seeing a list of products Michael has made, as well as items that aren't for sale. There is an interview with Michael, Brothersworker and Eric So inside as well as pictures of just about all the figure work those Hong Kong artists have made. |
The pictures on the right are from the magazine Vapors "All City Magazine" (Jan/Feb 2002).
This magazine is a street culture magazine that talks about hip-hop, DJ, graffiti art, collectibles, skateboarding and just about anything else that can be deemed cool by the global community. This issue is notable because there is an interview with the distributors of many of Michael's projects, Ningyoshi's Workshop. |
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The 2002 Plug In Toys, Hong Kong Toy Show, happened at the end of April 2002. All of the top Hong Kong artists were featured along with some emerging artists.
To the right is the cover of the flyer from the Toy Show as well as one of the pages featuring the Soccer Lam figure. There is also a quick interview with Michael and what figures he plans to release at the show. For the record Michael released the Pig from the Crazy Children and the Soccer Lam figure with a promise of a few more new figures for 2002. |
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To the left is one of the four different postcards from Hong Kong artists featured at the toy show.
One side of the postcard features a small calendar for the month of April and the Crazy Children figure Deadkid in silhouette. The back of the postcard features the name of Michael's workshop Crazysmilesco. |
Here are two magazines with early Michael Lau work. On the far right is the Japanese skateboarding magazine Ollie. This was the issue where I was first exposed to the art of Michael Lau in an insert for G-Shock watches. It is the July, 2001 issue. Ollie #27 if you want to look for it.
On the immediate right is the January 2001 issue of Quest Magazine (#01). The Quest issue features an interview with Michael, a look at his workspace and various unique pictures of his early Crazy Children and Tokyo Tribe 2 figures. The premier issue of Quest also came with a set of Michael Lau designed DC Shoes for 12" figures. Happy hunting! |
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In the 2003 book Agents of Change: the history of DC shoes. Michael is mentioned for his art and use of DC shoes and clothing to anchor his Gardeners in youth and street culture.
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In the book Iconography by IDN PRO Michael is one of the few artists selected to represent his work as both an artform and a brand, or icon through the Gardeners and Crazy Children.
Michael's contemporaries and friends such as James Jarvis, Prodip and Junkie are also featured in the book. |
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Issue 31 of the international graffiti magazine Graphotism featured an interview of Michael on the verge of his London exhibition. The article is unique and extensive given his rare English interviews. In the interview Michael shares that the original Gardeners aren't for sale even when requested by the President of Nike.
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Michael's second oversized book, in commemoration of the Hong Kong Nike Flagship store is a must get for fans. It comes in a faux wooden box and features the original 103" gardeners plus the three new gardeners with assorted sketches from Michael. I added this book to my collection in 2008.
His collaboration book with Terry Richardson is also part of my collection. It is interesting to see Michael sketch the alphabet but also meant for mature audiences as his humorous Terry Richardson sketches contain nudity and sexual acts. In 2007 I added the Crazychildren King to my collection. Child F as he is known, is among one of the most original and creative figures I've ever seen and am proud to share with my friends and visitors here. I had taken a break from collecting for a few years. I spent the better part of the summer and fall of 2008 playing "catch up" with my collection and on this website. While I have a long ways to go I can say that Jordon, Eyer, DJ Tommy and Prodig are now members of the family! |
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Sometimes companies contact me with a message for Michael. I forward the messages to him and have been doing so for years. He is always nice enough to respond to my queries.
This summer he surprised me by sending a Nike BMX China Federation figure. He even autographed the rider and bike to show his appreciation for the fan site. How awesome is that! Michael Lau, you are the best! |
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The winter of 2008 saw the Maharishi version of Miss and one of the noisiest and naughtiest boys in the world, Stereo, added to my collection. Thanks to Graham for finding these figures for me!
The final figures added in 2008 were also the most special. Michael and finace´ Florance were married on Dec 22, 2008. He was kind enough to send me a wedding invitation which came in a special red box with gold print on it announcing the wedding details. Inside was a red envelope with traditional Li Shi money as well as two figures wrapped in red paper. It was a Black Michael and White Florance hugging, tied together with a red shoelace. On the backs of the figures were the wedding details as well as a + and a - symbol. Opposites do attract! I wish Michael and Florance a wonderful lifetime and happy memories. Thank you very much for everything! |
At the end of 2010 Michael celebrated the 10th anniversary of the gardeners and the opening of the kindergardeners exhibition. He sent guests an invitation anouncing the Happy Crazy X'Mas! When guests opened the card it played back the song "We wish you a Merry Christmas." | |
The names of the gardenes as well as friends and family of Michael were printed on the name cards inside the invitation and at the exhibit. If you look carefully you can see my name "noe" listed in the group. I also received a snowglobe with a golden CrazyMichael inside of it. Easily one of the nicest Christmas surprises ever. | |
Click on Michael's back to go to the Bootleg Information page. |
There are rules regarding the images on these pages:
Fan-based web page and illustrations by Noe V. Created circa 2001, restored in March 2024, updated infrequently |