Before Michael Jordan was the Jump Man, a little Japanese company had their own character named Jump Man (who was called Mr. Video befor that). Jump Man of course became Super Mario, eventually. The Nintendo mascot has reportedly become the most recognized fictional character in the world, even moreseo than Mickey Mouse. That is a major accomplishment. Mario was welcomed to the wold of pop surrealism by Ron English last year with his Mario Grin, which is the palette for JPK's latest custom.

If you were able to see this in person, you'd know how massive it is. I had to do a double take at NYCC when I walked by it at Toy Tokyo's booth. The subject matter is equally expansive. The client who commissioned the piece asked Jon-Paul Kaiser to model Mario's clothes after the universes of Star Wars and Game of Thrones. The most evident reference is the horizontal piping [no Mario pun intended] going down the arms and legs, similar to an X-Wing pilot's uniform. I think my favorite aspect of this custom, though, is how subtly JPK's initials appear on Mario's hat.

Photo credit: Justin Allfree

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