August 20, 2010

Lone Ranger egg and Tonto dog

Lone Ranger and Tonto by Sket OneSket's always created amazing customs and really excels at translating beloved characters to 3D toy form. His recently completed Lone Ranger and Tonto set for a lucky and no doubt happy collector is yet another fine example of his talents. An Egg Qee and a Dog Qee pair never looked better.Comment:  Why would someone depict Tonto as a less-than-human dog? Because Americans view Indians as semi-mythical creatures from history, not as real people.

A "savage" Indian is basically a talking dog (wolf) in human form, so that's what this artist has given us. He's encoded America's stereotypical thinking in a "harmless" toy.

For items with similar problems, see Bears Replace Indians in Store Window, "Wild West" Shrinky Dinks, and Lego's Tribal Hunter Mini-Figure. For more on Tonto, see The Lone Ranger.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you saying an egg is not less-than-human?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1 food is more human than any living thing especially animals.

Rob said...

No, I'm saying the egg figure is vaguely human while the dog figure is clearly nonhuman. That makes the egg superior to the dog.

John Lees said...

How is an egg more human than a dog? Surely a dog being a living creature puts it closer to humans than a tasty breakfast treat?

dmarks said...

Due to the salmonella scare, the Lone Ranger is much more dangerous than Tonto here.

At least until he falls off the wall. Then it is not sure whether or not all the kemo-sabe's horses and all the kemo-sabe's men could put the Lone Ranger together again.

Rob said...

It doesn't matter how close or far an egg is from humanity. The egg figure looks vaguely human: like a corpulent version of the Lone Ranger. The dog figure looks like a dog.