At center stage right now is the brand-new Bu$ine$$ Monkey vinyl piece by artist/designer Joe Ledbetter (JLED for short). Brought to you courtesy of the good people of Munky King, otherwise known as "the toy temple". He's 8" tall in an edition of 500 and he comes in five colorways including a black and gold variation caleld Lava Munky King and an icy blue Snow Tomenosuke (in his underwear). Each comes with a tweeting bird perched atop his squiggly tail. Here you see the monkey (aka "scrooge") with the money! Let's have a closer look at the block-fisted wonder.
We felt it was necessary to let him out in nature since Spring has most certainly sprung in Texas. The window packaging does a terrific job of showcasing the figure before he's unleashed. The box art is bold and colorful - the senses are set. The inner plastic protects the figure en route very well, and the extenuating parts are further covered with small plastic bags for extra safety - we were mightily impressed with the care that went into getting this here in one beautiful piece. So let's pop him out of his cage....
The overall finish is practically perfection, and the black detail lines throughout the figure make him an animated and geometric beauty to behold - as if he popped right from a comic book or went from 2D to 3D and retained his boxiness. Normally this quality would be a turnoff - but not so here - the cubic nature of the figure really impresses and makes him quite disctinctive.
In these two details you can see the bottom of his feet and his cranky feathered friend who seems only interested in chirping one thing in his ear, "money, honey"! And he, too means business. The painting is flawless over the entrire figure, and the colors are exciting and somewhat "realistic" in this version. I especially like the details on the shoes, and the bold fists that ground the figure to whatever surface you place him.
RATING:
Paint: 10/10
Sculpt: 9.5/10
Design/Packaging: 9/10
His ball-shaped body is a perfect center point for the balance throughout this otherwise unusually weighted and perfectly unwieldy figure. This monkey's head twists with a clean articulation as he clasps on to his hard earned cash for dear life. And his expression simply says - "it's all mine folks"! Those there be crisp dollar bills! I'm very impressed with Ledbetter's style (check out his blog), and this is my very first impression - so keep 'em coming! Get this flavor for your collection at Munky King.