Slideshow: Zurich designers Atelier Volvox rescued these unloved plush toys and gave them a new lease of life by turning them inside out - eyes and all.
Samuel Coendet and Lea Gerber collected the toys from second-hand shops and forgotten corners of nursery schools before cutting them open to reverse the fur.
The Outsiders toys received the Recycling Design Preis 2012 in Germany last week.
See all our stories about toys here.
Here's a little text from the designers:
Outsiders are second-hand plush toys of various forms and sizes, who are given a new life by opening, reversing and resewing them.
Due to this procedure an old, worn plush toy becomes a "brand new" product - with a slightly different look. Despite their bizarre appearance, however, Outsiders are friendly and adorable.
Materials: plush toy; yarn
Source of materials: second hand shops, nursery
Designer: Samuel Coendet, Lea Gerber
Click above for larger image
now that's wonderful!
Looks exactly the same as william wilson did with his vintage characters in 2003. http://www.designboom.com/contest/view.php?contes…
ever heard of Annette Messager or William Wilson and his project 'vintage characters' made in 2006?
These are exactly the same as my favorite project from this competition 5+ years ago! http://www.designboom.com/contest/view.php?contes…
Exactly the same as Kent Rogowski's project: http://www.kentrogowski.com/projects/bears/?p=boo…
I am sorry to say that we have sold exactly the same toys by william wilson at commissaires, back in 2005. I have one sitting on my desk right in front of me. Odd the Atelier was not aware.
Pierre Laramée
So not very original seems to be the consensus
disgusting.. for me as a sensitive person.
absolutely brilliant
It seems like everyone had done this project before, so let them do it too!
I'm a little bit afraid of those animals! Sure kids would get nightmares of them…
Like the ending of the Simpsons Treehouse of horror 5 @_@
Really creative and to think it is also made up of very simple materials. They also look really good.
To the sensitive person above: I understand where you're coming from, but the sensitve person in me feels much worse when such toys are abandoned and forgotten. It's heartwarming to see these guys get a new life. They're still awfully cute and friendly, as the writeup says. And, apparently this project copies a previous one, but that doesn't make me like it less. When an idea is good, it *should* be replicated.
very nice ….. they looks very friendly ….. more than typical toys :) :)
I agree with Jennifer, total rip off of Kent Rogowski's great work from 2000!!! There even is an amazing catalogue (2007) with photographs in exactly the same style as above.
Looks like Lia Menna Barreto's Inside Out Rabbit from 1995!
Next time I'll order teddy Inside-Out instead of Unagi.
The soul is matter; teddy inside- out rules! :D
Truly cute teddies and a great idea! As the discussion shows, it seems that already several persons came up with it. So, it is basically not astonishing another atelier did just recently. However, it appears odd to me on which basis the persons before can judge if the outsiders are simply a copy/"rip off". I woudn't blame Volvox (2012) as less as I would Wilson (2003) without any substantial reason. Anything else is purely speculative! Indeed "the soul matters" (see above) – let's the outsiders make insiders ;)
They need a little sign on each them saying "KILL ME PLEASE, I AM IN GREAT PAIN"
Ahahaha! It looks weird and creepy but it’s a nice concept :D