Collector’s Corner : Clive Barker’s Jump Tribe

For many reasons, there are some die-hard Clive Barker enthusiasts who will not have heard of the Jump Tribe.  It’s okay — They’re not exactly Horror fare.  Think more like Abarat for a younger audience.   They were announced in 2005, with plush toys by art asylum; books written and painted illustrations by Clive Barker.

The first one anyone gets is Yaboo.  This is a Comicon Exclusive from 2005 San Diego Comicon and it’s more of a prototype to get people excited about the Jump Tribe.  It has the same book as the later commercially produced “Yaboo With Wings.” The main differences between this plushy and the other 4 commercially produced toys are:

1. It has an opaque box with no viewing window.
2. The plushie itself is not made from a fuzzy fleece.  It’s a smoother material, and it has much more of a home-made feel.
3. Lastly it doesn’t have wings.  This is the Yaboo before he jumps through the Zelaquar, or dimensional hole where he learns magic and gives himself wings.

Next we have the other four.  Yaboo With Wings, Kungu Na, Billum and Twoth.  With the exception of Yaboo with Wings, all four have their own original book with paintings and stories by Clive Barker.  Yaboo with Wings has the same book as the 2005 Comicon Exclusive Yaboo.  These four Jump Tribe also are bound inside boxes with windows and have colorful paintings of all the characters on the back of the box.  I won’t go into the stories of the Jump Tribe, or the characters, because that’s the fun of collecting.  If you want it spoiled, I talk about it in our “Rare Stories Part 3” episodes of the podcast.

So what happened to them?  After the 2005 announcement and the Comicon exclusive Yaboo, there was a delay and the commercially available toys were removed from Art Asylum’s web site  be a delay where these toys were not available anywhere.  I tried to order them on Art Asylum’s site and they were gone.  Then after a Google Search I was only able to find they were available for pre-order at a store called Camelot Books .  I ordered them, or to get an apology email a few days later explainging that they would not be getting any in stock.

In one of the famous Revelations interviews (The Thirteenth Revelatory Interview By Phil & Sarah Stokes, 2nd and 3rd June 2006) While other fans I have come to know later (including Jose) were asking more profound and impressive questions,  I asked what happened to the Jump Tribe.  This was his response.

Revelations : “We’ve got a few questions about things that need quick confirmation answers, we think, followed by some longer questions… Where are the next Jump Tribe plushies, – Ryan Danhauser”

Clive : “I can’t tell you about the Jump Tribe stuff right now because something is happening and I can’t talk about it, but something exciting is happening. “

According to wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Asylum]

At the 2006 Toy Fair in New York, Art Asylum announced revised street dates for Jump Tribe – with the first wave planned for March 2006 and the second wave following in July. Unfortunately, the March release did not materialise, nor did their dedicated Jump Tribe site and Art Asylum have not, as yet, announced a rescheduled date.

 The company dissolved in 2007, and some assets (including the Art Asylum name and the Minimates brand) were acquired by Diamond Select. The company still maintains a New York City office, and many of Diamond Select’s toy lines feature design and sculpting work by former Art Asylum staffers. The Art Asylum logo appears on all packaging, and the Art Asylum site is now Diamond Select’s official blog.

After 2 years of saved ebay search notifications, I was able to find Kungu Na available for auction.  Competition was fierce, but I won the auction, after spending about $260.00 on him.  The box was a little beat up, but I was wondering if I had the only one in existence!  I was very pleased with myself.  A couple more years go by (2010), and I flew to a  Clive Barker Signing at Texas Frightmare Weekend  and while I was waiting in line to get a picture with Clive, I see this lady (later I would see her again at conventions) named Brandy (AKA Sicko Filmz) in front of me, with all of the Jump Tribe, out of their boxes and squished to the outside of her backpack by the netting pockets.  I can’t believe it, they were all there!  I had only seen pictures!  Brandy told me of her struggle to get them from a Japanese store, where they made her name her price (not in a good way–more like, how much do you have?’)

Fast forward again to the year 2012, and they show up in my search.  Not just one, but all four, individually and in complete sets (minus the Comicon exclusive Yaboo, which ironically has been easy to find all along) and at a reasonble price!  I couldn’t believe my luck!  I bought the other three I was missing, bought a set for Mark Miller of Seraphim Films as a wedding present (sorry Stephanie) and then told Brandy about it.  There’s this seller in Ireland that must have a warehouse of them!  Like me, she was a little annoyed that they weren’t so rare anymore, because we had both spent a lot of money on them.  She questioned whether they were knockoffs.  I can attest that they are real, and you can still get them today.

Happy Collecting!