7 inch vinyl figure
Edition of 500
Produced by PlayBeast
‘Chinpira UK’
Storm as football hooligan doll launched.
A WELSH designer has kicked up a storm of controversy with this football hooligan toy.
Dressed in a baseball cap and Burberry-style scarf, he’s armed with a mobile phone to arrange fights and a chair leg to beat up rival fans - and he’s been drinking lager.
Meet Chinpira, a six-inch figure which is set to go on sale just in time for the Euro 2004 football championships in June.
Cardiff-born graphic artist Mark James says his creation - priced at £60 - is art. But critics say Chinpira - which means hooligan in Japanese - glamorises hooliganism. Mark said: “I’m not looking to lampoon or ridicule hooligans nor glorify them. The figures are more of a social study into the fear and media outrage this phenomenon generates. “I started to work on Chinpira about two years ago when I saw a documentary on how Japanese police were preparing to cope with the arrival of English hooligans for the 2002 World Cup.
“The way hooligans were talked about was completely dehumanised, as if they were animals or these mythical creatures. Especially when police were given cards on how to spot a hooligan, it was like they were spotting an animal importedfrom the UK that they’d never seen before.
Highlighting how hooligans communicate with each other on mobile phones, Mark has made a feature out of the trademark - but with a futuristic twist.
“Chinpira comes with a mobile phone backpack which enables him to communicate with other Chinpira,” says Mark, who is also behind the cult Cardboy toy figures. “The backpack also has wings which allows him to get to regroup with others in double-quick time.”
But spokesman for Cardiff City Supporters’ Club Vince Alm blasted the toy as “irresponsible”. “A lot of football fans and football clubs are working hard to eradicate hooliganism and put their house in order, the last thing we need is someone trying to encourage youngsters into thinking hooliganism is cool by producing a toy football hooligan. “I would hope that parents would not buy these toys and I’m sure this guy could think of much better ways of making money,” he said.
And Ceri Stennett, from the Football Association of Wales, took a similar view. “Anything that attempts to make football hooligans out to be heroic I wouldn’t think would be a good idea and I don’t think many right-minded people would think so too. “Just because he wants to use art as an excuse to make these toys I don’t think is tremendously clever or funny, especially for those that have been on the receiving end of hooliganism,” he said.
The quirky, cutting-edge figures have already attracted a cult following. They were launched earlier this month in New York to critical acclaim.
