Gauntlet Gallery
What is KAWS’s piece called “400% Bearbrick (Karimoku Wood)”?
Summary
A 400% BE@RBRICK produced in collaboration with Medicom Toy and the Japanese furniture maker Karimoku, rendered in finely crafted wood rather than the standard plastic. BE@RBRICK is Medicom's iconic bear-shaped collectible platform, and the 400% size is a substantial display object. The Karimoku wood edition elevates the format into a refined, artisanal piece that foregrounds material and craftsmanship. KAWS's involvement applies his iconography and design sensibility to this prestige collaboration, merging his pop vocabulary with the heritage woodworking of a respected Japanese manufacturer.
Why It Matters
The BE@RBRICK platform is one of the most important canvases in designer-toy culture, and collaborations on it sit at the heart of the Japanese art-toy ecosystem that launched KAWS to international prominence. A Karimoku wood edition represents the high-craft, premium end of that world, where a mass-produced silhouette is reborn as a handcrafted object using traditional joinery and fine timber. Such pieces matter because they demonstrate how KAWS and his peers pushed the collectible figure toward genuine luxury and art-object status, blurring the line between toy, design, and sculpture. For collectors, the wood material commands a premium over standard vinyl BE@RBRICKs and signals connoisseurship, attracting both KAWS devotees and dedicated BE@RBRICK and Karimoku collectors. The piece exemplifies the collaboration-driven, materially ambitious strand of KAWS's output and the broader cross-pollination between art, fashion, and Japanese craft that defines his cultural footprint.
Collector Perspective
This appeals to crossover collectors, BE@RBRICK enthusiasts, KAWS fans, and admirers of Japanese craft, who value the premium wood construction. Its display appeal is considerable: the natural grain and substantial 400% scale make it a tactile, design-forward centerpiece that reads as fine craft rather than plastic toy. Within a collection it documents KAWS's place in the high-end designer-toy scene and pairs naturally with other wood and collaboration objects. Original packaging, certification, and pristine wood surfaces are decisive value factors at this tier, and the artisanal material gives it standout presence among more common vinyl editions.
Historical Context
The work belongs to the collaboration-rich designer-toy world centered in Japan, where Medicom's BE@RBRICK became a shared platform for artists and brands. KAWS's deep ties to that scene, from Bounty Hunter to Original Fake, made such partnerships a natural extension of his practice. The Karimoku wood edition reflects the maturation of the art toy into a premium craft object, a strand running parallel to KAWS's fine-art and monumental work and demonstrating how material experimentation elevated the collectible.
FAQ
What is a 400% BE@RBRICK?
BE@RBRICK is Medicom Toy's bear-shaped collectible platform; 400% denotes a large display size, substantially bigger than the common 100% figures.
What makes the Karimoku version special?
It is crafted in wood by the Japanese furniture maker Karimoku rather than standard plastic, giving it premium, artisanal, design-object status.
Is this a KAWS original or a collaboration?
It is a collaboration object built on Medicom's BE@RBRICK platform with Karimoku craftsmanship, carrying KAWS's design involvement.
Why does the wood material matter to collectors?
Wood editions typically command a premium over vinyl, signal connoisseurship, and attract crossover BE@RBRICK, KAWS, and Japanese-craft collectors.
Related Works
About the Artist
KAWS is the working name of Brian Donnelly (b. 1974, Jersey City). He began in the 1990s subverting bus-shelter and phone-booth advertisements, then built a singular visual language around the Companion — a Mickey-Mouse-descended figure with crossed-out X eyes — alongside Chum, BFF, Accomplice and a cast of appropriated cartoon characters. His practice spans paintings, screenprints, vinyl and bronze sculpture, and the monumental KAWS:Holiday installations shown in cities worldwide. His work is held by the Brooklyn Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and major private collections, and he is among the most collected artists of his generation.