Show and Tell: Paul Shih's Lil' Death

10:00 AM on 06.04.2010   |   Call Niero

I love things that are handmade and I love things that are adorable, so when I saw Paul Shih's Lil' Death figure, I knew I had to get one. I already have one of his pieces in my collection, the orange Pandara that fellow Tomopop staffer Leah managed to snag back at Halloween, and it's such an amazing piece that we both just had to have his friend Lil' Death join our collection as well. What Lil' Death is is beyond me; I think he's a bear-with-scary-face-makeup music lover and grim-reaper, but regardless, he is adorable.

When Lil' Death came out, I was still in the midst of my Paypal fiasco where I could not use my account, so I contacted Paul Shih and let him know my predicament. Lo and behold, he held one for me for a few weeks until I was able to send him money, and now, all the way from New Zealand, is Lil' Death!

Hit the jump to check out more of this adorable little creation!

When Lil' Death got to me, I expected him to come in the same way as his Pandara brethren: in a zippy plastic bag with a header! I personally love packaging like this that is so often found on handmade pieces, soft-vinyl pieces, and kaiju as it lets me see the figure right in the packaging. It still has a nice little illustration or title attached, and gives me all of the other information I might possibly need and doesn't take up space once I've taken the figure out. Unlike all of my PVC figures who have an entire bookcase dedicated to storage of their boxes, I'm able to put Lil' Death's packaging away in a drawer with about 20 other packagings like it and still have room for more!

Here's a closer look at his header, which lets me know that Lil' Death is part of the Hollow Threat realm by Paul Shih as well as some helpful web-links to where to find more info. Also shown here is that Lil' Death is apparently a witch that likes heavy metal music and heals the ills, casts happy spells, prays for the sun and rain, and spreads the words of metal god. Lil' Death isn't so dark and evil after all!

And here he is out of his packaging! He thought it'd be best to sit on a gravestone and protect the dead there. He was happy though since it was such a nice day out and he thought he looked rather king-like sitting on his throne of the dead.

Here's his adorable little face! Lil' Death's face actually has two mouths, the happy bear mouth and the big, scary, metal face that I like to think he painted on himself to look more tough and intimidating. The contrast of the happy little bear smile and the big, scary, toothy grin are great, but they're also done very well as they both incorporate the same cartoony style. I also have to worry about this guy a little bit; he doesn't have any pupils!

Underneath his face is the lone detail on the whole figure, a little white cross. I don't know if Lil' Death is a Christian or if it's just a part of his metal-core culture, but it's a nice little addition that ties the figure together and looks rather nice. I'd like to think that this is a little button or something holding the front of his long, flowing cape together and more than mere decoration.

Lil' Death also has a set of adorable little ears! I love how they're white little ears poking out of his cape and they really add to the adorableness of this little figure. The use of a white and black color scheme with no other colors makes each little part of Lil' Death really stand out and still somehow manages to convey all of his character with it.

On the back of the figure is, well, nothing! From this angle he looks like a little tombstone himself - save for the ears - and is a nice clean silhouette. All I can imagine is him turning around slowly to reveal his face and intimidating on-lookers who are then wooed by his cuteness.

At the bottom of Lil' Death are these little nubs that are almost tentacle-like. They're actually the flowing of his cape down to the ground, but they serve to add some motion to a lifeless and otherwise stoic piece. They also manage to hold him steady rather well!

There was one other thing in the box with Lil' Death, Paul's Business card! Looks pretty cool, I like the lions a lot and the shield is pretty classy, let's flip it over and see what's on the other side!

It's the little ghost friend and a ghost Pandara wearing a baseball cap that's been personalized to me! I love when artists include little doodles and personal touches to hand-made pieces, and this has to be one of my favorite! I love the Pandara wearing the baseball cap so much as I personally wear baseball caps every day so that I can keep my long hair out of my eyes. This was like the perfect little cherry on top of an amazing ice cream sundae!

All things said, I'm super happy to have one of these little rockers in my collection. He stands about 4 or so inches tall and conveys so much character that I just really love him! Also, considering that he was completely hand-made in resin and self produced by Paul Shih, the price point of $40 was a steal for something so amazing! Paul Shih has produced yet another amazing piece and I can't wait to see what he puts out next!

If you want a Lil' Death for yourself, you can still get one of the 20 produced from Paul's webstore for the low low price of $40, so go and help him find some lovely new homes for the ones that are left! Be sure to check out the gallery too and remember to rock on!